TheBanyanTree: a dream realized.....

[Sachet]

I've been doing things in increments.

First I saved up for my chaps. Don't ask me why it was important that I 
get them first.....but somehow they symbolized more than any other piece 
of gear..... that I was truly serious about making this particular dream 
become reality.

Got a great deal on them, too; which is of paramount importance. And I 
bought them with money I earned from selling some of my college 
textbooks. So it's not coming from the family budget. That's very 
important, too. I got chaps instead of pants because that way I can just 
remove them when I get to work and be all set. Plus, they look & feel so 
badass. <g>


Hmmmm wait, *first* I had a friend take me out on his bike to teach me 
the basics, so I would know if I was too stupid to be let loose on the 
road or not. And I did very well even with his 6'3" 220 lb.'s behind me 
adding a weight differential that he kept reassuring me was making it 
harder for me to steer. I refused to ride his bike on my own. What if I 
tipped it over and damaged it?!?!? But it did confirm that I did very 
much want to get my own bike.

Sooooo....then I got my motorcycle permit. Which is so stupidly 
backwards. They let you loose on the road on a bike with absolutely no 
experience with the permit for up to 18 months, THEN you have to take 
the riding test to get your license. Why not require the riding part of 
the test FIRST?!?! Geez. It's such a crazy set-up.

So anyway, next came the helmet. That had to be very special. I wanted 
it to be feminine, but not too girly. My first boyfriend from high 
school, with whom I am still friends, describes it as: "Attitude...with 
a feminine streak. Perfect for you!". His comment made me smile, because 
that was my goal. And safety. Always with the safety or my brother (the 
Critical Care paramedic) will kill me for free. ;-)
http://tinyurl.com/293oyld

The first weekend in October I subjected myself to 2.5 days of intense 
physical, emotional and psychological stress as I took the Motorcycle 
Safety Foundation course and got my certification. Twelve hour days that 
wore us all out, but soooooo worth it. 
http://online2.msf-usa.org/msf/Default.aspx
Actually, the best part about the course is that now I know how much I 
don't know and will be more cautious.

The Monday following the course, I went and got my license.

That's when I got serious about shopping for bikes. I took the advice 
from my course instructors, a few of the classmates who had bought bikes 
and my neighbor who is my motorcycle guru and went to Blue Ridge 
Rider's. *With* a guy who knows bikes backwards and forwards. I am so 
bad at haggling. I just don't get the reason for it, and it is indeed a 
fine art. All I had to do was "try on" various bikes in my price range 
and let him do the bargaining for me. This turned out to be a very good 
thing because my first choice had some carburetor issues that I wouldn't 
have known about if not for him testing it out for me. But we found one 
that I liked a lot, met my criteria for size, handling and price, felt 
great and met all his guy criteria. And he got me a great price!

Then, because Asheville traffic is totally insane he road it home for me 
(an hour NW). In a thunder and lightning monsoon of a storm. On steep 
twisty mountain roads that are fun when it's dry and sunny, but 
treacherous in bad weather. I had such a tension headache by the time we 
got home from worrying about him riding it in such bad weather since I 
was hydroplaning even in my safe dry car. How would I explain to his 
wife and kids that something had happened because he was so insanely 
stubborn and insisted on riding it home even though I kept saying it 
could stay there until the weather cleared up, even if it took a couple 
of days?!??! I was ready to punch him by the time we got home. I still 
may. His wife wants me to. <g>

So the big day is here and I am so excited I can barely stand it. And 
it's raining so hard it took me 20 minutes to get home from the 
neighbors garage (where my bike is parked until I figure out my parking 
situation) and their garage is only a minute from my house, as the crow 
flies. But I took their driveway down onto the road and then it started 
raining so hard and it's so completely dark out I couldn't see my hand 
in front of my face and I overshot my own driveway because I was trying 
so hard to stay in the middle of the road so I wouldn't stumble into the 
creek which is lots higher and rushing considerably faster than normal 
due to all the stupid RAIN! When I could finally see *something* I noted 
that the lighted windows I was seeing up the mountain were triangler in 
shape and ours are rectangular, so THAT meant I was way down the road on 
the curve and so then I had to carefully feel my way back up the road in 
the pouring rain to find my own freakin' driveway. It was a bit freaky 
there for awhile. No way on this planet was I going back to the 
neighbors to explain that I couldn't find my way home. But ya know, it 
would have been nice if one of the guys had thought to offer me a 
freakin' flashlight! Of course, I usually always carry one, and they 
probably assumed that I had one, but since I was so excited about my 
bike I wasn't thinking clearly. Thass my excuse. <g>

And now it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. And on Thursday it's 
supposed to be very windy with gusts up to 35mph. I may get to ride this 
week. <sigh>

But.

In the meantime, I get to learn how to change my own oil and sparkplugs, 
etc. I want to know how to do all this stuff myself. It's my bike, my 
responsibility and my dream. It's a pretty amazing thing when another 
dream becomes reality.