HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

In lieu of today's Pic of the Week, I decided to post a lovely little Valentine's Day story. I hope you enjoy!

Valentine's Day... the one day a year where that a funny looking little cherub flies around and shoots us with his love arrows to make sure we are either falling in love or staying that way with our committed significant others. A day to show the love of your life, just how much they mean to you and to let them know how much you appreciate them. I have a Valentine's Day story that will make you weep... well, maybe not weep, but you'll definitely feel the pain (after your laugh your ass off!).

In a previous "REMEMBERING... YOUR "FIRST" post... the one where I purchased my first motorcycle (the Suzuki 800 Intruder), I mentioned something about my bike getting home being a... "whole 'nuther story", and my hubby's testament of true love for me. Well, Cupid must have been behind on his love quota that year, 'cause that can be the only explanation as to what came over my very sensible and sometimes uncompromising husband on February 18th, 2006. A leftover stray arrow from Cupid's love bundle... right between the eyes. Oh dear...

It was a cold and cloudy February day, but I was very ansty to get going. After all, I was going to buy my very own motorcycle and I was so excited! In typical fashion, Harley decided to play his favorite little game of "Antagonistic Procrastination" that morning before we left the house. The one when he pretends to look at the coffee pot and says, "gotta check to see if we turned off this." And picking up his jacket and helmet in a verrrrry leisurely fashion, "Probably gonna need that." He loves to tease me incessantly when he knows it's a 99% probable chance, that under no circumstances during that time will he get in trouble for doing so.

We finally left the house and got to Troy, AL about an hour later and found ourselves negotiating the deal for my 2001 Suzuki 800 Intruder. Harley had already taken it out for a little test ride and came back with the good news that he didn't see any reason for it not to become mine. During the course of the transaction process, the sales dude kept taunting us with the fact that we could just go on and take the bike home right then, even though we already told him we would return for it next Friday with a trailer to transport it back to Montgomery. Being a newbie, I wasn't ready to tackle 48 miles of 4-lane on my first ride.

This must have been when Harley got struck by one of Cupid's wayward love arrows, because the next thing we know, he's decided he will ride the bike home for me and I will follow him in our truck. Woo Hoo... that's my sweetheart! He could tell it was killing me to accept the fact that my new beauty was going to remain here for another week before I could begin my practice rides on her, and this was his way of making up for our little game of "A & P" earlier that morning. Even though it was gray and overcast, at 48 degrees, Harley figured he could handle the ride home in the minimal gear he had.

So here we go... my big ol' loving husband sitting astride my little Suzuki 800 (which looked unnatural in itself) while I followed in Big Blue (our F150). Even though the weatherman said we only had a 35% chance of rain that day, we didn't get ten miles out of Troy before I saw the first light drops hit the windshield. Oh, oh. I prayed to the rain Gods... "Please don't rain yet!" For a few miles it didn't seem to do anything but sprinkle and drizzle. I figured if it doesn't get any worse than this, we're good.

Ten more miles up the road, however, and the sprinkles turned into a steady and somewhat heavy rain. In a matter of moments, I watch my hubby's large silhouette shrink down significantly into a small ball, kind of like one of those little rolly polly's only with arms and legs. I watched as he tried to hide himself behind the windshield to keep from being pelted with the falling daggers of rain. Seeing as how the bike was so light, the wind was whipping him around pretty wildly too. Knowing what I know now about riding a bike in the cold and rain, my hubby was getting very uncomfortable with the predicament he's found himself in.

All of a sudden, I see his blinker come on and he's pulling over, into an old abandoned gas station a little less than halfway home. I pulled the truck in beside him and wondered what he was going to do. He hopped in the passenger side and said... "Turn on the heat!" Poor Harley was soaked and freezing. He had no gloves and no rain suit and he was so cold he was beginning to stiffen up. I kept apologizing for the awful conditions, and he would just look over at me and say... "You owe me."

"Yes, yes dear... I know! Whatever I can do to make it up to you," I kept saying. I asked him if we should just turn around and take it back, but by that time, even though we were not quite half way, he had the choice of going back 20 miles, or forward for 28. Didn't seem like it made much sense to go back. So... forward we go.

Keeping my distance but making sure no one positioned themselves between us, I kept following Harley as we made our way toward Montgomery. At the risk of sounding like I'm repeating myself, again he crouched up into a ball and did his best to keep from weaving all over the roads from the cold windy rain. A few more miles up the road, I saw it again... the blinker.

This time when Harley jumps in the truck I notice how bad he's shivering. I'm getting worried now and suggest we just leave the bike parked where it's at and we'll come back and get it. At this point, we were probably only 12 or 13 miles from home. Harley just shook his head and said, "If I c-c-c-an just th-th-th-thaw out a li-li-li-tt-le bit. I c-c-c-can p-p-p-probably m-m-make it." We had the heat on full blast as he held his ruby red digits right up to the vents trying to get them to uncurl. We sat in silence for a few moments letting the heat circulate through his body when he looked over at me and reminded me once again... "You owe me."

Yes... I owe him. That was probably one of the most miserable rides Harley has ever had to endure and what he did for me that day was above and beyond the call of duty as a husband. We could have returned the next week and all would have been just as grand, but he knows how it feels to become the proud owner of your first motorcycle and he wanted me to be able to enjoy it as soon as I could. Thank you honey!

Happy Valentine's Day Harley! After 30 years, your still my sweetheart, my knight in shining armor, and the rock that holds me steady. I love you!

Lady R

REMEMBERING... YOUR "FIRST" (... continued... again)

first (adj.) being number one in a series; earliest in time; foremost in importance.

(... continued... again)

So, there we were, relishing in our new adventures and enjoying life to the fullest, thinking it couldn't get any better than this, when it happened. I got bit... and bit hard! I decided that I've been looking at the back of my hubby's helmet long enough, and it was time for me to see things from up front. I wanted to hold my own controls, roll myself down the freedom highway and soar with the birds I so often see keeping pace with us as we ride. This set off a myriad of anxieties for my husband, but once that bug took a hold of me, it wasn't letting go until it got what it came for. Becoming part of something big.

It took my loving husband darn near a full year to come to grips with the fact that I was going to ride my own motorcycle. His biggest fear was for my safety, and he did not feel comfortable with me on my own. Believe it or not, it was the sweetest gesture he could have shown me. I know it's because he wants to protect me from harm, but I had to keep reminding him that we can't live our lives in a bubble. Finally... with his blessing (and after successfully completing a Rider's Safety Training Class during the previous summer) another "first" came to light.

My dream as a lady rider came to fruition! In February of 2006, I became the proud owner of a 2001 Suzuki 800 Intruder!
For several weeks I had shopped the area and tried several bikes on for size. After searching high and low, long and hard, I found this little gem at Ward's Yamaha, in Troy(48 miles south of Montgomery). It was very slender in build and didn't seem too heavy (which was perfect for a newbie), painted a beautiful black with some teal accent on the tank, and it came stocked with windshield and saddlebags. She was in excellent condition and something about her sparkled. When I sat on her I knew... she felt like she was made just for me. No apprehension of top heaviness... no worries about feet touching or not... and I was absolutely thrilled when the sales dude told me that this sleek little beauty was stocked with 805 cc under her seat. My fear of outgrowing this bike to soon or being able to keep up with my riding pals was washed away.

7 thousand miles on the odometer... fully serviced... new rubber front and back... $3,000.00. I put down a binder and "floated" all the way back to Montgomery. I was on cloud nine with the fact that I was about to buy MY "first" motorcycle. After years of listening to my brothers talk about their hill climb competitions, Sturgis trips, and catching a ribbing with... "when are you gonna get your own?" ... I couldn't wait until I could call them all and tell them the good news.

There's a whole 'nuther story about how I got my lil' Suzi home, but I'm going to save that for Valentines Day... as it's a real testament to my hubby's true love for me.

For the first couple weeks, I would come home from work every day and crank that Suzi up and ride all around my neighborhood. Thankfully, I live in a large residential area that gives me plenty of streets, intersections, cul-de-sacs and hills to practice my skills on without ever having to cross over any major thoroughfares. After a couple weeks of driving all my neighbors crazy, I was ready to hit some real streets with real traffic.

Already being familiar with leaning and balancing, the transition from a passenger to a rider was not really that difficult, but it did pose a few new challenges. I now had so many other things to concentrate on (clutch, shift, brakes, mirrors, cages!) that I sometimes felt like I was missing out on the scenery around me! Secondly, I didn't realize how much protection from the wind I actually got from sitting behind the hubby until my "first" time riding on a highway going about 60 mph... OMG! I was afraid I was going to fly off! My finger lock on the grips were so fierce I made my hands go numb. Once I realized I was squeezing for dear life, I had to make myself relax or I wasn't going to make it very far before I gave out from exhaustion. I also noticed my vision kept jumping around like a stuttering 8 mm film. WTF? The front wind reeks havoc on the eye wear, so getting used to seeing the world as it fluttered before my eyes took a little getting used to. Funny how I never noticed these things before when I was hanging on the back!

As a new rider, I found it hard to calm the butterflies that would take over almost every time I sat on my bike and got ready to roll. For several weeks, we logged a lot of miles around our surrounding area which certainly helped to increase my road experience and build my confidence and skill level. It didn't seem like long before we were planning our "first" weekend road trip as a pair of riders. Even though I was a bit nervous, this was very exciting for me and I couldn't wait to experience it.
My "first" trip riding my own was to Little River Canyon in north Alabama. I can't begin to tell you how accomplished it felt for me, that I could ride my bike up to this Park sign and claim... "I rode here!" We probably logged a total of 750 miles on that first trip, and even though I remember being pretty tired when I got home... I was ready to plan the next one!

Remembering my "first" bike leaves me with great appreciation for it's role in where I am today as a rider. Getting the "kinks" out as a newbie rider was certainly a pleasure on this powerful, yet forgiving motorcycle. I became confident with my growing abilities as we enjoyed a systematic routine that allowed us the pleasure of riding together and taking life's pleasures to the extreme. Remember that "Life is Good" t-shirt I told you about in the last post? Yep... I was still wearing it!

Why then, for some crazy reason, was there a nagging desire to do more... want more... feel more.

REMEMBERING... YOUR "FIRST"
(to be continued... one more time)

Lady R