Harley Davidson Roadster

I have to admit... I was scared out of my mind but I didn't want to tell my friend how worried I was.  I mean, it was, afterall, my idea!  when I was a kid, my uncles had motorcycles and we used to get rides on them.  I think the last time I went I was maybe 7 or 8.  After that, my weight came into the picture... Looking back on it now that I have had the first ride in 30 years (MY GOD I'M OLD) and talking to my friend about it, this must have been simply an excuse, not the reality of it.  You see, I have had friends over the years who owned bikes... and I got the same excuse time after time... "you'll break the shocks".... this was a HELL of a thing to carry around with me, knowing how much I weigh, I thought this to be valid.

Well, my friend said that it was BS and so, one August night, I asked if she would take me on her motorcycle... and though we had a few misses (it took a while to come to fuition) i have now had my motorcycle ride and I AM ADDICTED!!!

I was afraid... I thought about it for the 48 hours from the time of her suggestion of Monday right up until she started driving... I think it took perhaps 3 minutes for me to be STUPID happy instead of afraid.... I had so many ideas in my head what it would be like... how the bike would tip and I would fall off, how I would hold on too tight, cutting the blood and oxygen supply from her head, making her pass out, thereby crashing the motorcycle... if THAT didn't occur then I figure for sure I would tip the bike on a corner (there was only ONE corner in all that time that was even slightly scarey in reality... I admit, I kind of had a moment of panic).  I mean, looking at motorcycles, I have always questioned the use of them, after all there are no car doors, windshields, seatbelts, airbags... or, well.... METAL surrounding a person.

the low rumble of the bike was the first thing that I really noticed... yea, ok, for THOSE reasons, but also for the feeling in my back, in my legs and in my feet.  I felt like I was in one of those massage chairs, (only without the weird squeezing thing that the chairs do to your legs) I felt the tension slowly vibrate its way from my shoulders, down my back, the hum was INCREDIBLE!  I felt my muscles relaxing, felt stress and anxiousness take a back seat with the fear.

I WAS ON A MOTORCYCLE!!!  I had a permanent grin on my face and wanted the ride to go on forever.  I cannot believe I waited all this time to venture to ask a mature person to take me on their bike!!  I wore sunglasses (i know now that there IS a reason for this... hello bug in your eye!!!) but I know that everyone around me saw the pure joy, the bliss the happiness on my face, I couldn't have shown it any more obviously had I had balloons and fanfare!  I'm honestly surprised I didn't get bugs in my teeth!

The way that she maneuvered the bike was so smooth, even on the corners, everything was just a slight move.  I admit, the clicking sound as the bike geared down at the lights had me starting to worry that it was because of my weight but I put that away and just let it be, after all, were it BECAUSE of my chunky ass, my friend would have jumped on the "you'll break the shocks" bandwagon, this is, after all a HARLEY DAVIDSON... the most coveted of bikes... nothing shows stature like a HD.  whenever we approached a light I was disappointed yet super excited... i looked around at everyone, so happy was i to be on the bike!  I saw some people on buses or in their cars that didn't see the awesomeness that was riding a motorcycle, but my goodness, they OBVIOUSLY had never been on one!  I think I may have caught my own look of "show off" on other people's faces... but never again will that look be directed at motorcycles... who can blame a person for loving the vibration, the sound, the feeling of the wind in your face, the bugs in your teeth (hehe) the feeling of the air slightly penetrating through the light weight jacket I wore.  Who wouldn't want to have that feeling of freedom, of nothing in the world worrying you, feeling the troubles on your mind, the stresses in your body slowly ebbing off to be left behind on the roads you travel.

I must admit, I do understand why women like to passenger on a Harley... honestly, with that much vibration I couldn't POSSIBLY drive one, I would be uh.... busy.  Long stretches I must admit are simply FABULOUS!!!

The ride ended far too soon, I think I may have had more fun on that ride than I can honestly say I got out of just about anything I have done over the past 10 years....

I can't wait to go again :)