Not everyone knows the history of my riding so I thought I would post a little about it. First, I come from a riding family....both my paternal grandfather AND grandmother rode their own Harley-Davidson in the late 1920's, early 1930's (cheaper than a car back then). The story goes that my grandfather arrived home with two bikes, one with a sidecar and one without. My grandmother asked which one was hers...he pointed to the one with the sidecar (for my dad and uncle to ride in). She shook her head and pointed to the one without. Guess which one she rode.....LOL!
My dad rode an Indian after the war and in later years Honda and eventually got his Harley, a Sportster. Both his brothers rode Harleys after the war. Currently both my brothers and both their wives, one female cousin, her husband and their son, one male cousin and his son, a step-nephew and his son, one step-son-in-law (bought hubby's bike) and my son & his wife (she's learning) all ride....and they are all Harleys except for my son and his wife.
I learned to ride when I was almost 55. My husband had been diagnosed with cancer (spring of 2001) and I told him it was a bike or a boat....we were going to start enjoying life. He chose the bike. On our way home from his checkups after his surgery, we stopped by the closest Harley-Davidson dealer. They had a gorgeous, used Electra-Glide.....we bought it.
We had several good local rides including our first ever EVENT. Every year Zippo, headquartered in Bradford down the hill from us, sponsors a dice run to benefit Kids with Cancer. We participated and had a great time....our first group ride, our first dice run, our first long ride.
Eventually Mike headed to the Cleveland Clinic for his radiation treatments. He spent the entire six weeks convincing me that I needed to learn to ride my own motorcycle. The more I considered it, the more it made sense. Once again, a trip home for the weekend and we stopped in at our Harley dealer. There sat my dream bike, a 2002 White Pearl Sportster Hugger (remember, I'm one of those in-seam impaired folks).
Before we left we had not only contracted for the Sportster, but traded Mike's Electra-Glide for a 2002 Heritage Classic Softail.
Things continued to move and change in our lives, we moved to Florida (job transfer for Mike), took the MSF course together and I started riding. I rode the Sportster for 3 months, about 750 miles and HATED it. LOL! Top heavy and quite torquey on the throttle. When we were in Atlanta for the 100th Anniversary Open Road Show, I sat on a 2003 Low Rider and was SOLD! We came home, talked to our salesman, and soon traded in the Sporty and picked my new 2003 Anniversary model Low Rider.
That is the bike that I rode during the Pony Express Relay for Breast Cancer. I ended up with 24k miles on it at 20 months. As I said in an earlier blog, it was sold when I ordered the 2005 Softail Deluxe which I have had just short of three years now.
So, 5 years of riding, 57k miles and now 4 bikes (3 Harleys and one BMW). Wonder what will be next?
My dad rode an Indian after the war and in later years Honda and eventually got his Harley, a Sportster. Both his brothers rode Harleys after the war. Currently both my brothers and both their wives, one female cousin, her husband and their son, one male cousin and his son, a step-nephew and his son, one step-son-in-law (bought hubby's bike) and my son & his wife (she's learning) all ride....and they are all Harleys except for my son and his wife.
I learned to ride when I was almost 55. My husband had been diagnosed with cancer (spring of 2001) and I told him it was a bike or a boat....we were going to start enjoying life. He chose the bike. On our way home from his checkups after his surgery, we stopped by the closest Harley-Davidson dealer. They had a gorgeous, used Electra-Glide.....we bought it.
We had several good local rides including our first ever EVENT. Every year Zippo, headquartered in Bradford down the hill from us, sponsors a dice run to benefit Kids with Cancer. We participated and had a great time....our first group ride, our first dice run, our first long ride.
Eventually Mike headed to the Cleveland Clinic for his radiation treatments. He spent the entire six weeks convincing me that I needed to learn to ride my own motorcycle. The more I considered it, the more it made sense. Once again, a trip home for the weekend and we stopped in at our Harley dealer. There sat my dream bike, a 2002 White Pearl Sportster Hugger (remember, I'm one of those in-seam impaired folks
Before we left we had not only contracted for the Sportster, but traded Mike's Electra-Glide for a 2002 Heritage Classic Softail.
Things continued to move and change in our lives, we moved to Florida (job transfer for Mike), took the MSF course together and I started riding. I rode the Sportster for 3 months, about 750 miles and HATED it. LOL! Top heavy and quite torquey on the throttle. When we were in Atlanta for the 100th Anniversary Open Road Show, I sat on a 2003 Low Rider and was SOLD! We came home, talked to our salesman, and soon traded in the Sporty and picked my new 2003 Anniversary model Low Rider.
That is the bike that I rode during the Pony Express Relay for Breast Cancer. I ended up with 24k miles on it at 20 months. As I said in an earlier blog, it was sold when I ordered the 2005 Softail Deluxe which I have had just short of three years now.
So, 5 years of riding, 57k miles and now 4 bikes (3 Harleys and one BMW). Wonder what will be next?
Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna
I know I need to simplify....how do I know? Because I keep doing dumb things....at home, at work, driving the car, working on the computer, paying bills (actually NOT paying bills), etc. Yesterday was a big OOPS at work (my apologies to the lady I talked into letting her house be shown in 45 minutes after our phone call - she wanted 24 hr notice - turns out it was the wrong house - OOPS).
Once again time flies....even when we're not having fun. It's been an eventful month. Here's a short recap since my last blog.
"How annoying", I thought. Computer snob that I am, I hate to give up any desktop space to something I feel isn't necessary. But since it was HER computer, I left it there. Well, before the day was over, I found myself interested in checking it out for my office computer (large monitor with lots of room).
After a week or two I realized that I felt like I was feeding my pet and felt guilty if I hadn't given him some flies that day! Oh my....this is like having a pet. Then I realized that this was the best pet....I never have to clean up after him, he's easy to take care of, I can talk to him and if I ignore him he'll never die. 
I was chatting the other day via email with a new friend. I mentioned that the great weather this past weekend brought to mind the song, 
Reality intruded, as it usually does, and I ended up being the proud mother of two by age twenty. I really wasn't thinking much in terms of dreams; every day was an adventure in itself. Working in a hospital brought back thoughts of nursing, but the idea passed quickly. 
I did get to travel some, growing up in Massachusetts - moving to New Hampshire in 9th grade - relocating to Florida in my senior year. The service claimed my husband as their own and I got to see Georgia and Delaware as well as revisiting New Hampshire and eventually settling back in Florida. The travel bug was planted, growing slowly but there nevertheless. 
The twenties flowed into the thirties - a new marriage, a third child and a new state to live in, Iowa. Dreams? Who had time for dreams? I had discovered computers and started a real career! Part-time college student, full-time programmer, over-time mother and wife. I guess I thought I was living my dream - for the time being anyway. 
Sitting back, looking at my life, I realized I was following the same pattern. Content with mediocrity in so many areas of my life, I had stopped stretching. I had given up reaching for my dream. Was this what I really wanted? Was this what my mother would have wanted for me? I didn't think so. My oldest children were out on their own, leaving only the eight year old at home. 
It's amazing what can happen when you realize you have stopped dreaming and start again. My life turned around. I met my soul mate, my husband Michael. My career soared, and I reached a peak that I had never even dared dream about. I did all the things I had always wanted to do, but never quite could find time for. I tried out for community theatre and got several parts. I tried skiing for the first time and I proved myself wrong - not only could I ski, but I even enjoyed it! 
Catastrophic events have seemed to shape my life in many ways. We had our dream house. Our kids were all grown and on their own. We were both at the top of our careers in well paying jobs. Were we happy? Usually, at least when we got to spend some time together. It seemed like our jobs kept us apart more than together. It was in February of 1996 that my father suddenly passed away. On the long drive back home, I found myself looking at every motorhome that passed by. 
The rest of the ride home headed us towards a new life. We both realized that we had a mutual dream that was languishing for lack of effort and if we truly wanted it to happen, we had better get busy. The elusive retirement was closer than either of us wanted to admit and yet we both knew we would want to continue working. Lots of research and reading, many trips to RV dealers & shows, questions - questions - more questions, but we did it. In September we bought our new (used) motorhome with plans to go full-time within 5 years. 
This is where the demon raises his head....so I must explain. When I learned to ride, for the most part I rode with my husband, trusted friends and family or solo. During the first two years I did ride with some organized groups but they were typically event type rides, not social ones.
It's just a road, an ordinary mountain country road. Beautiful scenery, guardrail-less twisties, steep drop-offs, but nothing that I hadn't ridden before. So why has this road become a demon in my mind?
Yes it's true - time does fly when you're busy. I can't believe how quickly the summer has passed. The heat has been terrible this year, I seem to feel it worse as I get older. I see many motorcyclists out there on the weekends, just too hot for me to enjoy it.
Well, the Lily Pad is definitely stuck in the mud. Today I had a job interview...spent two hours there and walked out with a position...oh, and my first day is TOMORROW. I'm excited, nervous, happy and sad. I wrote to a friend that I had good news and bad news....and they are the same news. LOL!
The second yard sale is over, the whole house is in chaos, I'm living out of totes, and I have no motivation. Hmmmmm, now do you understand the title? LOL!