There are times in my life where I'm able to separate myself from the moment and realize how great some days really are.
Saturday was such a day. Met up with a ladyfriend I've been seeing recently, and for once I've met a woman who genuinely loves to ride as much as I do. She just gets it. Decided she wanted to head out to the west coast to catch the sunset, so off we go to Clearwater Beach. Traffic on I4 is usually nonstop horrible, but barring a little backed up traffic at 75, things didn't go terribly bad. Clearwater Beach is slow going, but that's any beach strip. Finally made it to a place called Johnny's Fish House, where we had a great dinner and a couple of drinks. After one of the most beautiful sunsets I can remember seeing in a long time, it was time to pack up and roll home.
Oddly enough, it was the ride back in the evening rather than the ride out in the daytime that made me truly remember why I love riding. Despite having all that space and a pretty comfy backrest on my Corbin seat, the new ladyfriend's preferred riding spot is wrapped tight around me with her head on my shoulder. Out on I4 for the ride home, she's one with me, I'm one with the bike, and we're all one with the road. It was one of those rides where it all comes together. Temp was cool, but not cold. There was traffic, but it wasn't heavy. Bike was running in top form. Crack the throttle a little and you can swear you can feel the air rushing through the intake the way it rushes into your lungs, feeding that perfectly agile, perfectly timed machine making thousands of internal explosions per minute and putting all of that force into one wheel that's entirely at your command. Use a little countersteer, and the bike moves like it's on rails. Open her up to gain a little ground and she leaps at the chance. The ride was about an hour and a half, but it felt like 20 minutes. One of the best I've had in a long time.
Hope you guys were able to get some time in the saddle this weekend. I know it's finally warming up enough to do that in some places around the country now. As a very respected friend who recently passed loved to profess, we may all ride different machines, some ride on road and some ride off road. Some ride sport bikes and some ride cruisers. But there are things that ALL riders share, and who we are as riders and why we ride are more important than WHAT we ride.
Saturday was such a day. Met up with a ladyfriend I've been seeing recently, and for once I've met a woman who genuinely loves to ride as much as I do. She just gets it. Decided she wanted to head out to the west coast to catch the sunset, so off we go to Clearwater Beach. Traffic on I4 is usually nonstop horrible, but barring a little backed up traffic at 75, things didn't go terribly bad. Clearwater Beach is slow going, but that's any beach strip. Finally made it to a place called Johnny's Fish House, where we had a great dinner and a couple of drinks. After one of the most beautiful sunsets I can remember seeing in a long time, it was time to pack up and roll home.
Oddly enough, it was the ride back in the evening rather than the ride out in the daytime that made me truly remember why I love riding. Despite having all that space and a pretty comfy backrest on my Corbin seat, the new ladyfriend's preferred riding spot is wrapped tight around me with her head on my shoulder. Out on I4 for the ride home, she's one with me, I'm one with the bike, and we're all one with the road. It was one of those rides where it all comes together. Temp was cool, but not cold. There was traffic, but it wasn't heavy. Bike was running in top form. Crack the throttle a little and you can swear you can feel the air rushing through the intake the way it rushes into your lungs, feeding that perfectly agile, perfectly timed machine making thousands of internal explosions per minute and putting all of that force into one wheel that's entirely at your command. Use a little countersteer, and the bike moves like it's on rails. Open her up to gain a little ground and she leaps at the chance. The ride was about an hour and a half, but it felt like 20 minutes. One of the best I've had in a long time.
Hope you guys were able to get some time in the saddle this weekend. I know it's finally warming up enough to do that in some places around the country now. As a very respected friend who recently passed loved to profess, we may all ride different machines, some ride on road and some ride off road. Some ride sport bikes and some ride cruisers. But there are things that ALL riders share, and who we are as riders and why we ride are more important than WHAT we ride.
