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Just Like Riding a Bike
By Mike | May 14, 2008
Daddy’s Little Biker Girl
Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri.
Okay, maybe not quite that easy, but what little I do know about riding a motorcycle did come back to me.
The sun finally showed its shiny face this afternoon, so after a sausage and a burger off the grill I felt the urge to take Eve for a spin. I sat down and went over the controls one more time as I let her warm up, then spent a few more minutes getting a feel for the clutch, rolling off in first gear, and finding neutral.
The Wife watched me roll to the end of the driveway and back up in neutral several times, then asked “Are you actually going to go anywhere? Just take off, already!”
Yeah, time to suck it up. I put on the helmet and riding gloves, checked for traffic, and rolled off. I hit second and rode down to the end of the street, then turned around. A familiar-looking red van came in off the T intersection and followed me back to my house. I pulled over to let them pass, only to find it was one of my poker buddies as he stopped next to me.
“You’re going to kill yourself, Mike!”
Thanks for the support, Pat! We chatted a few minutes, and I assured him I’d be alive to take his money at the next poker game. After he took off, I did a few more circuits up and down the street and around the corner.
I twitched the throttle once, but other than that I did fine. I cornered without having to think about it, and I felt comfortable hitting 25mph. I didn’t stray far, but I only had a few minutes to kill and I just wanted to get a feel for the bike anyway.
I’d say I accomplished that much. As my father-in-law reminded me, if I respect the bike I’ll do just fine. If the weather holds up I’ll do some more zipping around this weekend.
Topics: General, Motorcycles |