Leader Of The Pack

People are always amazed by my semi-obsession with motorcycles. Down in the office at work, we split a display board into three parts and my section is filled with torn pictures from motorcycle brochures. I usually follow any sort of interaction with the statement that my father and I are in a race to see who gets one first. If that doesn’t raise a person’s eye brow then I hit them with the fact that my parents at one time were all for me getting a bike instead of a car when I was in college.
The whole of my childhood was filled with stories of when my parents rode. They always seemed to lament the fact that after moving back to Washington from where my Dad had been stationed in California, that the weather here wasn’t nice enough to ride or to even keep a bike just sitting in the driveway. In a way most of the stories seemed to end with, “we had a bike, but then we had you.”
That sort of bloomed into a total interest of my own. My first boyfriend gave me the taste of what riding passenger was like with a simply little circle of a parking lot. From there it was something I threw myself into. My father and I started going to the conventions and I tagged along to the shops. I started learning everything I could about drive trains and engine sizes. As a girl I was a bit clueless about cars, but when it came to motorcycles, that was where I knew what I was talking about.
My boyfriend in college had always wanted a bike and my enthusiasm clinched it for him. He signed us up for the certification course and figured this would be the best way to make the next step toward owning. The course turned out to be the best thing for him and a total disaster for me. After laying the bike down twice and being bullied by chauvinistic instructors, I made the walk of shame to the van in order to wait for the rest of the class to finish up for the day.
After that I didn’t want to see another bike. I wanted nothing to do with anything that had only two wheels and a motor. Yet two years later I went on a bike ride with a friend of mine and, even though I was scared to death for the majority of the ride, I was in love all over again.
Planning on a day that hadn’t looked too promising in the beginning, it turned into the most perfect cloudless day. Taking a ferry out to an island we rode for several hours through the woods and awesome winding roads. In the end I was sad to end the ride. The next ride was out to the valley and the falls, the weather was hot and perfect, and the world was a beautiful place.
It was almost a year to the month before we went out again. A lot of procrastination and weather kept either of us from getting together to even get the chance to ride. It is true, you never forget. Jumping on the back we rode off with the plan to head an hour north and look at the tulip fields I had never seen before.
Holding on for deal life as we flew down the interstate, I remember thinking how funny it was that riding is always portrayed as this sexy activity. The leather gear and the situation of riding double has always led me to making outrageously naughty comments about wanting to “hit it while riding on a bike.” The reality of it all is mostly unsexy and I found that funny suddenly.
Being the cold female that I am, I always have to bundle up. This includes long johns, two shirts, a fleece jacket, and a snowboarding jacket. The worst thing I have to battle against is the wind chill. The great thing about a snowboarding jacket is that it’s designed against the cold yes, but the added skirts and cuffs that cinch down to keep out the snow also keep out the wind as well. All of this is anything but sleek, leathery, and sexy. Besides that holding on to the driver for dear life leads to knocking helmets, upper and lower back pain, and the inability to really look around at the beautiful scenery. Hooh that just gets me all hot and bothered! The bottom line though is that I still love it. It’s the closest to being able to really fly.
This last ride was the first time I was comfortable enough to sit back and not cling on to my friend like I could fly off at any second. This led to an incredibly more comfortable ride and after the five hours we ended up being out for, I enjoyed a whole lot more scenery this last time as well. I was seriously disappointed when we pulled back into my friend’s driveway, yet all the stress and unhappiness I had been holding onto for the last several months just blew away. Everyone at work mentioned how much more relaxed I seemed as well. It was true I felt completely more content with life.
It’s so hard to think about your troubles being the center of your life when you're being overwhelmed by nature and sensation. It never ceases to amaze me how little we notice life pass us by while driving in a car. Everything is climate controlled and focused on comfort. You’re shut away from anything going on outside, even when you should be paying attention. Being on a bike is about being out with the world and although the freedom is also the unprotected reason for high mortality rates; you’re experiencing everything around you.
My motorcycle fever is back to an all time high, leaving me drooling and whining every time one roars by me. I lucked out on the fact that the ex-boyfriend who I took the motorcycle certification course just got a bike about two months ago. When we met for dinner he road his new bike down to come get me. Thinking it was to good to be true I ran to grab my helmet and leather jacket before he changed his mind.
This was the first time I had ridden with someone who was fairly new to riding, as well as on a sports bike. The dynamics are the same, yet entirely different. Riding passenger on this bike meant I sat a whole lot taller than the driver. This leads to me catching a whole lot more wind sheer as well as the problem of sliding forward and back with the motion of the bike. Every time he hit the brakes I would slide into the back of him.
This was also the first time I had jumped on a bike totally dressed down. I was wearing my leather jacket, which has always looked like a riding jacket and had led to a lot of conversations to the fact when I went out with it. Being so use to layers I figured I’d never wear this coat for that purpose. Now here I was in my great looking leather jacket, my tight jeans and tennis shoes on, and some guy started talking all sorts of smack when we pulled along side his car at a stop light. Apparently I was looking good. This was the sexy experience that I had figured was impossible.
Hitting eight-one miles per hour on the highway we arrived at the sports bar where we would be eating. Sharing other riding stories we had basically kept us going through dinner. On the way home he found a long stretch of straight road and tucked in for better aerodynamics. Leaning in with him, it was crazy to feel the wind move around you with the shape of the bike as oppose to the fight I was use to on my friend’s cruiser. I may have been a cruiser snob before, but this sports bike definitely had my mind changed when I got off and walked into the house. That was a hell of an experience!
I have two passions right now, both of which I’m sure I’ll never be able to afford. The new ‘05 Mustang and any motorcycle out there will always make my head turn and reduce me to simple puppy like whining. Both are beautiful machines made to go fast. Who knows what the future holds for me. I can only hope that it isn’t another year till I get to ride again.