Biker babe

I haven’t really written anything specific about my time at home, and the thing that I loved most about being home other than visiting friends and family was IAN’S MOTORCYCLE!    Surprising, right??  Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be a biker chick.  Don’t worry….I’m not purchasing any leather chaps or researching what string of tattoos I want to ink my arm with.  But dang it if I don’t enjoy riding on the back of that bike!!  ***Before anyone asks, yes we are careful, and yes we wear helmets.  We’re not complete idiots!***

Ian bought the motorcycle last May before we left.  He could ride it, but since he didn’t have his license yet, he couldn’t take any passengers.  He took the safety course and got his license about a week before we left, but I was too busy packing and doing last minute things to joy ride on the bike.  However, this year during our little two week vacation, I had nothing but time!

Mommy and I had a little conversation about the bike when she picked me up in Nashville.  It went something like this:

Mommy: “So….do you think you’ll ride on Ian’s motorcycle while you’re at home?”

Me: “Honestly Mommy, it does terrify me a bit but yeah, probably.”

Mommy: *sighs* “I just wish you wouldn’t.”

Me: “Wait a minute!  How can you even talk???  When you were my age, you were on the back of Daddy’s motorcycle!”

Mommy: “Well..that was…..different.”

Different how….?  That’s my question!    Different because now she’s the mommy, and I’m the baby girl on the back of the bike.    Daddy sold his bike after Mommy got pregnant with my oldest sister, Christina.  It’s kind of hard to fit a car seat on a bike, you know?    Yet to this day Daddy says that he hasn’t owned his last motorcycle.  Growing up, every time a loud motorcycle would pass by our house and Daddy perked up his head or we were on a road trip and Daddy craned his head to check out the bike passing him, Mommy would call it “the call of the wild.” 

Anyway, the first day we were busy with David and Lucy’s wedding, and the next day we went to Lexington to visit my sisters, Christina and Amanda.  It wasn’t until we got back that we even had time to ride the bike to his grandfather’s house.  The first time was both exhilarating and terrifying.  I was seriously clinging onto Ian for dear life, and leaning…..forget that!  However, to have the wind blowing on you and to feel like you’re flying…..now that part was fun!    When we got off, Ian asked what I thought.  I told him that it would be a lot better if we never had to turn as leaning scared the bejesus out of me.  If there was a road that was long, straight, and didn’t have high speeds, that would be perfect!  I also wasn’t accustomed to the motor being right beneath me because my legs had tingles.  I now completely understand why people who ride for long distances walk bow-legged.    Even though I was only on the bike for about fifteen minutes, my thighs were unwilling to bend that way.

As the next week and a half progressed, I FELL IN LOVE with the bike.  Even though it was hot and the temperatures reached the 100s, we took it everywhere we could, and I cannot tell you how cool I felt on the back of it.    We’d meet friends for dinner, ride up on the bike, talk about our lives in Japan, and I’d think to myself DANG….WE’VE GOT IT GOOD!!  I felt awesome!  I did have an embarrassing moment once when I hopped off the bike, got my helmet halfway off when it stuck in my earring, and jumped around the parking lot shouting “OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!”  Ian had to help me because I couldn’t get it out of my earring. 

One thing that I didn’t like about the bike was the lack of shortage.  Ian has saddle bags, but they only hold so much stuff.  Everywhere we went, I wanted to take my purse, which took up the better part of one saddle bag, and then I’d stuff the other one full of Japanese pictures to show or gifts for people.  Ian kept getting onto me about dragging around so much crap.  He said that if I was going to ride the bike, I needed to learn to travel light. 

Another thing that I thought was really funny is that 95% of bikers will wave to one another.  It’s an easy signal to one another—the left hand is released from the handle and pointed with two fingers to the ground.  This is how you say “Hello.  I’m awesome like you because I drive a motorcycle” in biker language.    Every time a biker would do it to us or us to them it was like we were unofficially a part of a club or something.  I asked Ian what biker etiquette is for when there are two bikes side by side at a stop light.  Clearly you can talk to the other person.  Without the steel frame of a car, that don’t-talk-to-me-you’re-invading-my-space bubble is diminished.  One time when we pulled up beside a biker at a stop light, none of us talked, and to me it seemed awkward.  I guess I’m just not used to it.  Ian said that he generally will let the other person initiate the conversation.  If (generally it’s a he) he says something, Ian will reply back, but if he doesn’t, it’s no big deal, and Ian carries on with his day.

Two days before we left, we took the bike all the way to Murray and back to meet up with some of his cousins.  We didn’t take the interstate—I wasn’t ready for all of that just yet—so we took HWY 45 to 121 to 80.  Even though it wasn’t the interstate, those highways are all four lanes, and we were driving faster than we’ve ever been.  I’m not going to lie…..I’m not that big of a fan of high speed on motorcycles.  Driving around town or even short distances on four lane roads is fine, but when we were driving at interstate speeds, it was a little scary.  My head kept whipping around, and it seriously felt like I had to put effort into keeping it upright.  Plus the grit from the road would occasionally kick up on us, and it stung!  When we got back to Paducah, I realized that I probably should have worn sunscreen that day.  I’m not sure if it was the blazing sun or wind, but both of us had a pretty good “biker’s” tan that day. 

Remember that “call of the wild” that I was talking about earlier?  I’ve got it now.  Since I’ve been back, each time I see someone on a bike, I think “Ooooooohhhhh….I want to be on a bike!!!”  *sigh* I guess I’ll just wait another year……….