TheBanyanTree: a dream realized.....

[Pam Lawley]

I am so proud of you, and excited FOR you Sachet!  Okay, and yes, just a
very tad bit nervous...

If I had to think of one single thing that I was absolutely, positively sure
I did not ever want to do in this lifetime, "driving" a motorcycle would be
it!  :)   (In fact, if somebody made me choose, I'd be out running with
Julie instead!)

But not to worry, I won't be someone crowding you on the road - though I
will be extra-conscious of you... Husband Number Two trained me to watch and
listen for bikes, and now every time I see one I'll be looking to see if
it's a chick with an ultra-cool-badass helmet!

Ride on...

And congratulations!!!!

On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 10:22 PM, Sachet <MountainWhisper at att.net> wrote:

> 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.
>
>