Motorcycle Thoughts and a Short Trip

So I read this post from "The Great Motorcycle Pizza Tour" titled: "Ten Ways Motorcycling Improves Your Life"

It's a rather interesting list of things that motorcycles do to improve your life. He mentions that:

The unfortunate cage-bound citizens around us, however, don't understand. They see the risk, but not the rewards.

You got that right. How many people on the road have the privilege of traveling in or on their preferred mode of transportation?

You don't see minivan owners pausing for a moment to connect for just an instant with another minivan owner by waving. Although I am told that Mustang owners do wave at each other.

Pieces of his list:

1 -

Fun. Motorcycling is the second most fun activity one could engage in. The third most fun is eating pizza, and the first most fun I'll leave up to your imagination, because my mom reads this blog.

I got my motorcycle because I was tired of paying three dollars a gallon for gas and needed something cheaper to get me to work.

I didn't know that motorcycles would be soooo much fun.

2 -

Calm. Road rage? No thanks, I've got my motorcycle. Sure, I've had to stop at 20 red lights, been cut off twice and my ear itches something fierce. It's ok, because, unlike my poor, trapped brethren in their cages, I'm still having a great time.

I find that I prefer to travel places on a motorcycle, rather than on four wheels. On four wheels, the point was the destination. On two wheels, the destination was only half the fun. Getting there was the other half.

6 -

New friends everywhere. If you've got a motorcycle, you've got new friends. All you have to do is be willing to talk to them. For all I rag on Harley dorks, I've met more great guys on Harleys than jerks. And the great thing about the jerks is that most of them are just too cool to talk to you.

This was an unexpected thing that I found happening to me every once in a while.

I would be standing in line minding my own business, waiting patiently for the line to move so I could get my morning double-shot-no-whip-non-fat-real-caramel-white-mocha, when the person next to me would strike up a conversation about how they used to ride motorcycles but had to stop, or they would mention that their son rides motorcycles. It's like everywhere I go, there is someone that I can converse to about something, and not have to sit in the corner by myself. Cool.

Except for the one guy I met at Starbucks who got all mad at me because I had the nerve to put tiger ears and a tail on a five hundred dollar helmet. I bet whatever it is that he rides or drives, he does so only for the image and not the fun. Pity.

10 -

A bike makes your butt look fast. Seriously, just like a monkey makes everything funnier, everyone's butt looks better on a motorcycle. You know it's true.

I have been thinking on and off about a larger motorcycle. I will have to keep this in mind and take someone else with me - "Does this bike make my butt look fast?".

So I was pondering this list on the way to church this morning.

I was running a bit late because I spent to long on the internet trying to figure out what the weather was going to be like. Ordinarily, I would simply look out the window, but today I was going to a different church in the next town over to listen to a series that promised to be interesting.

The weather I finally ended up finding stated "30% chance of rain - something something something." I actually stopped reading after that because 30% chance rain was good enough for me.

So I was just leaving town, and the car in front of me headed out onto the freeway.

I paused for a moment, and then followed.

The roads were sort of dry and there couldn't be all that much traffic.

It turns out that the freeway was indeed mostly dry, (Okay, fairly dry) but not devoid of traffic. There was a fair amount of cars and trucks.

I also saw another motorcycle across the median in the oncoming lane. I waved and received a corresponding wave.

I have always wondered about waving to motorcyclists on the other side of the freeway. If they don't wave, was it because they didn't see you, or did they just ignore you?

While on the freeway I pondered the list. I was indeed having fun.

Yes, I was cold.

Yes, I was damp.

But I was rather happy.

On the way home, I took a longer way home, not on a freeway, with a detour through yet another town (so it went: Albany, Jefferson, Albany, Corvallis, Albany).

I would like to point out that it was cold because my gloves are not a warm as I would like.

I stopped at the store and bought a few things that I needed.

I also bought some things that I didn't really need. Fortunately, I fit it all on the Rebel with a bungee web that I had bought (I received some balloons at work for my birthday, and needed a way to get them home. No way, no how am I going to transport the balloons by simply tieing them on the end of the Rebel. Short fat woman on a motorcycle with tiger ears and tail on the helmet and balloons on the back - YouTube fodder if I ever saw it).

Here is a picture of my Rebel and my purchases:


At least it's not loaded up like those ones you see in Asia.



Ta!

Balisada