Alright,
Normally I would never point out anomalies in my wife's English. I think she does a fabulous job always and even the minor linguistic gyrations are endearing and a very small price to pay given she can speak so many different languages well.
but the phrase "Let's be an Adventure" is now etched indelibly in my mind as a sentence that will forever strike moderate concern into my heart!
We went on a weekend trip to Napa on the bikes as per Jocelyn's request and like a fool, I was overly concerned with her endurance and comfort, this being one of the longest stints she has ever done on the Ducati.
We started moderately early in the morning on 680 to 29 and then to Napa where we spent some time window shopping and got a quick bite to eat.
Tooling about in town I couldn't help but marvel at how relaxed J is on the bike now. She seems to do everything right. Waits a moment and checks both directions quickly before starting off from a traffic light in a busy intersection, smooth stops, smooth starts, scanning constantly while riding, wonderful posture, nice turn technique etc etc.
As we were suiting back up to leave, I assumed we were going home. When I mentioned this her response was "Can we keep riding a little more?" There was still plenty of light and had no problems with the request at all
We looked at the map (I left the GPS at home) and she immediately pointed to Clear Lake and exclaimed "Let's go there!"
"Clear Lake? Liebchen, that's quite a ways from here"
"I'm not tired, are you?"
I KNEW at that moment that it was now a loving test of wills and I still felt good so it was in effect, all good.
Off we went and with a short stop in Middletown just to sort of "scan it" We continued onward toward lower lake.
I've left out thus far how BEAUTIFUL the ride was and how relaxing! The weather this weekend was brisk, but clear and clean. Perfect riding weather with amazing roads! (thus far)
Getting within the vicinity of Lower Lake we stopped to get gas and I noted that sunlight was starting to wane. J wanted to keep going to see the lake, but I convinced her via the map that the distance we had to go would ensure that it would be late, dark, and cold as we got closer to home.
She reluctantly agreed, and but didn't want to go home the same way we came up as that would be, in her words, "boring" and so she pointed to a road I had never been on "Berryessa/noxville" which looked a bit winding on the map but was distinctly emphasized on the map compared to surrounding smaller roads and so I assumed it would be a nice detour. She also saw it passing Lake Berryessa and was excited to see water. She said "Let's be an Adventure!" to which I replied "All your bases are belong to us!" which she knows is my key phrase when she makes some small error in usage
Well, whoever decided to draw the goat path of a road we were on as if it was a major highway on the map should be buggered!! It was in such bad repair and was filled with potholes (many of which were thankfully recently repaired) but despite that, the rougness of the passage was surprising to me!. In many places it was only one lane wide and it had about 6 water crossings over large cement slabs that had signs that said "Impassable During Rain"!
By the time we transitioned to nice smooth road again after miles and miles of this, I was pretty "vibrated" and my back was starting to kill me as I had to remain a little more tense with every hard bump the Ninja had to lope over on the rally road.
It was close to 5:30pm by the time we got home and we both motored into the garage simultaneously. I came to a stop and s-l-o-w-l-y swung my leg off the bike, stretching out my back.
J, in contrast literally jumped off her bike, kind of did her silly little bunny hop-clapping her gloved hands together dance expressing how much fun that was. I looked at my odometer 356 miles.
I wandered into the house stripping off my gear and hanging it up before semi-collapsing on the sofa... well actually I kneeled on the floor and rested my upper body on the sofa as that made my back feel better.
J, unpacked her things, got out of her gear, took a shower and immediately went across the street where they had invited us over for an impromptu party.
by the time she got back it was about 10:30 and I had been in the hot tub for the last 30 minutes. She joined me for a little while, and then we went to bed...
I had just switched off the light when I heard her voice in the dark...
"Can we go all the way to Clear Lake next weekend?
*...oh my aching back...*
Stefan
p.s. The two alternatives are that I am a wimp rider, or that she is Super-French-Ducati-Girl... Damnit, either way she wins!
Normally I would never point out anomalies in my wife's English. I think she does a fabulous job always and even the minor linguistic gyrations are endearing and a very small price to pay given she can speak so many different languages well.
but the phrase "Let's be an Adventure" is now etched indelibly in my mind as a sentence that will forever strike moderate concern into my heart!
We went on a weekend trip to Napa on the bikes as per Jocelyn's request and like a fool, I was overly concerned with her endurance and comfort, this being one of the longest stints she has ever done on the Ducati.
We started moderately early in the morning on 680 to 29 and then to Napa where we spent some time window shopping and got a quick bite to eat.
Tooling about in town I couldn't help but marvel at how relaxed J is on the bike now. She seems to do everything right. Waits a moment and checks both directions quickly before starting off from a traffic light in a busy intersection, smooth stops, smooth starts, scanning constantly while riding, wonderful posture, nice turn technique etc etc.
As we were suiting back up to leave, I assumed we were going home. When I mentioned this her response was "Can we keep riding a little more?" There was still plenty of light and had no problems with the request at all
We looked at the map (I left the GPS at home) and she immediately pointed to Clear Lake and exclaimed "Let's go there!"
"Clear Lake? Liebchen, that's quite a ways from here"
"I'm not tired, are you?"
I KNEW at that moment that it was now a loving test of wills
and I still felt good so it was in effect, all good.Off we went and with a short stop in Middletown just to sort of "scan it"
We continued onward toward lower lake.I've left out thus far how BEAUTIFUL the ride was and how relaxing! The weather this weekend was brisk, but clear and clean. Perfect riding weather with amazing roads! (thus far)
Getting within the vicinity of Lower Lake we stopped to get gas and I noted that sunlight was starting to wane. J wanted to keep going to see the lake, but I convinced her via the map that the distance we had to go would ensure that it would be late, dark, and cold as we got closer to home.
She reluctantly agreed, and but didn't want to go home the same way we came up as that would be, in her words, "boring" and so she pointed to a road I had never been on "Berryessa/noxville" which looked a bit winding on the map but was distinctly emphasized on the map compared to surrounding smaller roads and so I assumed it would be a nice detour. She also saw it passing Lake Berryessa and was excited to see water. She said "Let's be an Adventure!" to which I replied "All your bases are belong to us!" which she knows is my key phrase when she makes some small error in usage
Well, whoever decided to draw the goat path of a road we were on as if it was a major highway on the map should be buggered!
! It was in such bad repair and was filled with potholes (many of which were thankfully recently repaired) but despite that, the rougness of the passage was surprising to me!. In many places it was only one lane wide and it had about 6 water crossings over large cement slabs that had signs that said "Impassable During Rain"!By the time we transitioned to nice smooth road again after miles and miles of this, I was pretty "vibrated"
and my back was starting to kill me as I had to remain a little more tense with every hard bump the Ninja had to lope over on the rally road.It was close to 5:30pm by the time we got home and we both motored into the garage simultaneously. I came to a stop and s-l-o-w-l-y swung my leg off the bike, stretching out my back.
J, in contrast literally jumped off her bike, kind of did her silly little bunny hop-clapping her gloved hands together dance expressing how much fun that was. I looked at my odometer 356 miles.
I wandered into the house stripping off my gear and hanging it up before semi-collapsing on the sofa... well actually I kneeled on the floor and rested my upper body on the sofa as that made my back feel better.
J, unpacked her things, got out of her gear, took a shower and immediately went across the street where they had invited us over for an impromptu party.
by the time she got back it was about 10:30 and I had been in the hot tub for the last 30 minutes. She joined me for a little while, and then we went to bed...
I had just switched off the light when I heard her voice in the dark...
"Can we go all the way to Clear Lake next weekend?
*...oh my aching back...*
Stefan
p.s. The two alternatives are that I am a wimp rider, or that she is Super-French-Ducati-Girl... Damnit, either way she wins! 
I never said I didn't suffer the same affliction, just to a lesser degree 
