So to begin my story, lets just say I have had some experience in my life. Some really great and some not so great. I started out life in a very rural community with two parents, a half sister, and lots of horses and dogs. My father used to say that life was good if it was filled with Kids, Horses, and Dogs.
Well I had 4 kids, the horses have woven their way in and out of my life, and the dogs have been a constant. And now my kids are grown, I can't afford to keep a horse and I am to busy to do the animal justice, so I have moved on to a Harley. A 94 Dyna Wide-glide to be specific. Her name is Betsy, she takes me where I want to go, and I don't have to feed her daily. I can leave her in the garage and she is always happy to see me and ready to go explore the roads out there with me.
I am going to back up a bit and talk about the beginning of the transition to be a Two Wheel Woman. I was going through a divorce. My kids were getting close to adulthood and really didn't want to be saddled with a needy single Mom. A friend of mine said " Why don't you try a dating site, You have been mentally divorced for a long time". So I went on Match.com for a couple of months. After a couple of rocky starts, I met the love of my life, Joe. Joe is a truck driver, single, very self sufficient, and a grown up. He is a lot of fun, has a dry sense of humor, and we have been together constantly since we met. I truly found my soul-mate in him.
Another thing we have in common is a great wanderlust. We both enjoy exploring the world and seeing what is around the next bend. And Joe is into Harleys, in fact he had two when we met. I think purchasing the Bikes was one step in his midlife crisis. He first bought the Wide-Glide as it was his ideal bike. He rode it to Sturgis. Then he got the idea he wanted a bike with places where he could lock up his stuff. So he bought the Road-glide and the Wide-Glide was relegated to the back of the garage. He was always going to sell it to pay off the Road-Glide. But we all know how that goes. You can't sell an old friend.
A few months after I met Joe, we went on a trip to Yellowstone that he had planned with some friends. I rode on the back and a whole new world opened up to me. Travel on a motorcycle is completely different from a car. It is much more like being on a horse, but faster. We went 2500 miles on that trip and I was hooked. But after a while riding on the back became boring and painful. We started riding with people that never stopped and I was getting kind of over it. I found myself complaining at the end of the ride and I don't like that whiny side of myself.
I also had a few female friends that were riding their own bikes. I watched them while I was riding on the back and thought that I could do that. I then voiced this to Joe. Well suddenly Betsy (the Wide-Glide) was getting a tune up and getting her rotted gas lines replaced. She was all clean and sparkly again. Joe was reminiscing about his trip to Sturgis with her and their other travels. He had me get on her and ride her up our steep driveway and then coast back down the driveway. Getting used to the weight of the bike and braking.
Then we moved on to a dead-end road near the house. He would ride over to the road and I would follow in the car with the two dogs. We would switch when we reached the road and he would follow me in the car. I rode up and down the road at what I thought was blazing speed. It was actually 15 to 20 miles per hour and I never shifted out of first gear. There was an Ostrich farm at the end of the road and two of the big birds would come over and watch the crazy lady ride. I often wonder what they thought.
I then progressed to a business park close to home. I learned how to shift and turn without going into the oncoming lane. I spent several hours working the slow stuff in parking lots, etc. When I finally could make those turns comfortably I was able to branch out to more open road.
I had obtained my driving permit to ride a motorcycle when I started this whole process. About three months in I decided it was time to just get the license. I enrolled in a basic driver course near my home. This was one of the better decisions I made and I would highly recommend anyone do this prior to going on the open road. I was taught a great deal about how to handle the bike effectively in the class and how to be pro-active when things went wrong.
Well now I have been riding for about 3 years and Betsy and I have traveled about 20,000 miles together. I love the open road and the feeling of peace I get from riding through the corners and feeling the wind and sun upon my face. I really can't get enough of riding.
My intent for this blog is to document my experiences on the motorcycle and life in general. So please feel free to join me and follow along. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I do.
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