The Ride

Alright, on my last blog I wrote about how cold it has been around here and for anyone living north of Florida I don't expect much sympathy. But come on this is Florida and one of the reasons I moved here was to be warm. No I don't consider 40 degrees warm. As a matter of fact I no longer consider 50 degrees during the day to be warm.

One of the terrible side effects of having temps this low is that I am not able to ride the Roadie. Those of you that know me know that I really enjoy riding my bike. The only problem is that I am a fair weather rider. I am not one of those diehards that you see riding all bundled up in freezing weather or covered with vinyl to protect from the rain. No, at my age I enjoy a little comfort no matter how much I love to ride.

The Roadie has been sitting in the Roadie shed for what seems like an eternity gathering dust waiting to be taken out and given a little exercise. Well today I decided that it was time to put all the other needs on hold and go for a ride. We went to church this morning and had our small group meet at our house afterward and around 1430 with an outside temperature of around 65 degrees I had enough.

I changed into my jeans, put on my Harley boots, donned my leather jacket and headed for the Roadie shed. After disconnecting the battery minder from the battery, I pulled the choke, turned on the ignition and hit the starter. Well, the Roadie was mad because I ignored her for so long. At least that is how it appeared because when I hit the starter all she did was grunt. You know, like not now I have a headache. Well after a little sweet talking, yes it works with motorcycles too, she decided to wake up and those 1600 cc's of power came to life.

After letting her warm up for a while, Roadies don't like the cold either, I swung my leg over the seat and hit the throttle just to hear the power. Pushing back out of the shed I positioned the bike next to the pool without actually going into the pool, I need to draw a picture sometime, and put her in gear to turn and get her out the gate. After putting the stand down I put on my helmet and goggles and got ready to ride. Even though it had been a while since I last rode I was feeling really good and confidant sitting on that bike.

There have been times when I contemplated selling the bike thinking that I don't really ride a lot anyway and maybe I should just sell it. Then I go for a ride! Now my ride today was only about thirty minutes long but that was a very enjoyable thirty minutes. It's a biker kind of thing, but there is something about hearing the rumble of the exhaust, the unobstructed view, and the feel of the wind and sun all around you. When I ride, any thoughts of not having a bike go right out the window or in the case of the bike right over the handlebars. I don't have to ride a lot I just need to know that I can if I want to.

I can ride with my son in law or with some of the guys at church. I can take a nice ride with my wife on the back along some quiet stretch of road and stop somewhere for lunch or just to look at the beautiful scenery all around us. A car is a closed environment but a bike allows you to become part of the environment. OK so you can only eat so many bugs or shift to only a few positions when your bottom gets sore but where is your sense of adventure?

When I pulled the Roadie back into the shed after my short ride, I was invigorated. This is no small feat when you get into your sixties. I realized that as long as God gave me strength and the ability to ride I would continue to be a biker. There is something about riding that gives you a sense of freedom. I have had good days and bad days and then climbed on the bike and after a nice ride arrived home with a smile on my face and Kim saying "is that a love bug in your teeth?"