ride

Today was the first day in SEVERAL months that I was able to indulge in a favorite past-time of mine. The weather cooperated by being sunny and in the low 50's. The activity? Going out for a ride on my motorcycle. Oh Happy Day it was. It took a bit of work to be able to start. Had to reinstall my battery (an ordeal in and of itself), find my helmet (over at the sister's house), and then get the motor to turn over. Let me give you some advice. If you leave a bike alone for four months or so, especially over the winter, put in a bottle of HEET before you leave it. My gas was so cold that it was almost freezing, as well as the octane had dropped a bit. Both of those items alone are not much, but together meant that my started had to REALLY work to get the motor going. It finally did, and I was off down the road to get the helmet. I take a right turn out of the driveway and hit the gas and came "this close" to losing it right then and there. My back tire was soaking wet from all the melting ice in the driveway, and I hit the gas at quite possibly the worst spot I could find. The road had a small ice-patch, and loose sand and salt all around it. Needless to say, the back end kicked out, the bike tried to lay on its side, and only the very lucky quick kick that I gave the ground enabled me to stay upright. I was now off down the road of freedom.

I was only out for about 45 minutes, but what a sweet journey it was. Nothing too strenuous, some city cruising with a half-hour jaunt on some of the small paved roads outside of Lincoln. It was so nice to feel the wind rushing by, to have to hunch my chin a bit to block off the wind coming over my jacket, to enjoy the comradrie of other bikers that I passed. Man do I wish that it would be sooner than another three or four months before I could go out again. As a parting thought, I give you all (especially other riders) this salutation.

Live to ride, ride to live; and either ride hard or don't ride at all