good stuff

We had a busy fun-filled weekend over here and Sunday we got up and decided to skip church to try to find the LOVE ride. We didn’t register; we just wanted to check out the scene. Maybe next year we will officially sign up and actually be a part of the sea of bikers.

You see, I’m married to someone I like to lovingly refer to as the motorcycle man. Since a boy he has had a love of motorcycles. His cool parents used to take him out dirt bike riding as a kid and the love just kept growing. Since we dated in high school I even had the pleasure of going out on one of these desert trips with his family. Back then helmets were not a big deal and dressing in gear, not so much! So he asked me to get on the back of his bike, of course I mean why not? He screamed off like lightning and even did a few wheelies with me on the back and we did have helmets on this particular first trip btw but when parents were not around, he preferred the wind in his hair. I thought I may just DIE! I’m a grounded kind of girl and for sure not a thrill seeker. I married my opposite as many of us do right? That was my first exposure. The guy scares me, I’m not lying…he still does. He is very skilled and confident in his riding ability but me; I still get all freaked out every time I get on that bike. He likes to ride without hands! Hello! Both hands on your handle bars please. He likes to knuckle punch other motorcycle riders (the ones he knows) so he will drive real close and extend his hand. I close my eyes when he does this. I hold my breath even.

See what I mean? Well I guess he is wearing boots, that’s good.

later when we had our kids, he wore full gear:)

When he was a young crazy adult he got himself a really fast rocket type motorcycle, all I can say is “thank goodness it was stolen within a few days of him getting it” It was so new and it happened that his insurance agent was out of town so he didn’t even have time to get it insured. His mom and I still think it was a blessing but for him it was horrible.

Once we began to have kids and they were of age we got back into the riding, picked up a few dirt bikes and started creating a few memories for our kids. I never rode though, I only stayed a passenger. Like I said earlier, I’m not a dare-devil and I consider myself borderline boring if you want to know the whole truth. However I fully enjoyed watching the kids, climbing on the bike of Rich’s bike to where I would squeeze him extra tight plus I got to photograph all the memories.

I just had so much fun reminiscing!!

Throughout the course of our marriage he would say, “I’m gunna get a street bike” I would just look at him and shake my head “no way, not such a good idea” We have young kids, besides we for sure didn’t have extra money to be buying a street bike. I also let him know that no street bikes unless we purchased life insurance. Then my dad who had sort of retired in regards to his Harley days was getting ready to sell his bike. I figured a Harley wouldn’t be so bad, I mean how fast can you go on a Harley and wheelies, I don’t think it’s possible. I think a Harley would be acceptable, I think I can handle that. So we got our life insurance, and Rich bought (still paying actually) my Dad’s Harley for a pretty decent deal. Thus the motorcycle man. That’s the short version and a little back history.

Now for my traditions. That’s what I will call them….traditions. When I’m going to join him on a ride I first paint my finger nails. I just have to. It’s my thing. I did it the first ride we went on and every ride after that.

The next tradition would be my socks. I make sure and wear my lucky socks. So I have a few little quirks/traditions.

Someone really should invest in a new pair of Chucks

Our ride this weekend was fun regardless of never finding the sea of bikes. We drove through a quaint neighborhood in Glendale and even saw streets blocked off with the bomb squad speeding past. It was insane. We decided after tootling around Glendale for a while to take our own route. We jumped on the 5 for a while then cut over to the 210 where we eventually landed in Pasadena and had lunch at the “original” Tops. I ordered their world-famous pastrami (I rarely, rarely ever order this btw) I just had a taste for the pickles and mustard and sort of sour meat. The meat was piled so high I could really only eat one half of the sandwich. Rich ordered a yummy cheeseburger and onion rings. I mean eating like this isn’t something we do on a normal basis, looking at the photographs, I was like “geesh, we really packed away some calories now didn’t we??” Then we just drove on home. It was a nice kind of day. A nice day for a Sunday drive with my guy. He even stayed relatively calm most the way.

This are some of the stragglers who didn’t leave with the big pack