First Ride

 

I just finished my first group ride, the West Valley Memorial Ride.

http://www.westvalleymemorialride.com/

Pretty wild experience.  I felt a bit out of place...plain T shirt, blue
jeans, and boots.  Just about everybody else had cool vests and jackets with
patches, and most bikes were very pretty Harleys.  Mine is...not so pretty,
since it's older and gets ridden daily.

After the initial speaches, prayers, and more speaches, we finally got
going, after another delay, caused by Vice President Blabbermou...uh, Biden,
who came over to CA to attend the firefighters who died in the latest round
of fires.

I expected the constant starts, stops, speeding up and slowing down, and
while I saw a description of the route, it didn't really click as to just
where we were going.

We went through  some of the busiest, bloodiest, going-to-die-iest freeways.
When we gone on the 101, I noticed it was empty.  It's never empty!  It's
always bumper to bumper, whether traffic is stopped or blasting through at
90mph.  But it was empty.  The local cops actually shut down the freeways we
went on, including the 405 and the 10.  They also shut down all the roads
for us.  Sweet!

I was a bit nervous.  I normally ride with plenty of space, plus a little
extra, between me and everybody else.  Here I was expected to ride fairly
close to the guy in front of me, and often I had someone sharing my lane to
the left.  I am not used to that, so I was on Red Alert the whole
60-something miles.

Fortunately, I was able to accomplish Plan A, which was to 1) Not hit the
guy in front of me, 2) Not run the guy next to me off the road, and 3) Not
do something stupid that gums up  the works.

We ended up at Paramount Studios, where they had music, food, about 6
vendors, and hundreds of really cool people.  I even met an old Army buddy,
who I had trouble remembering, but he remembered me due to a spectacularly
impressive accident that I somehow lived through.

I didn't follow my friend's advice to wear a long sleeve shirt, so now I'm
paying with a mild sunburn.  My bum foot is bumming pretty hard right now
from all the standing before and after the ride.  I'm mentally exhausted
from the nerve wracking not-hitting-other-bikers I did for roughly two
hours.

I feel damn good!

I picked up a couple shirts, a small leather bag for tools and whatnots, a
bunch of pictures, and some experience riding close quarters.

A damn good day.

CS

 



The other riders probably thought you were already a Brother.

Next time, wear one motorcycle boot and a long-sleeved shirt with one
sleeve cut off at the shoulder and wear a pair of jeans with the
opposite leg (of the jeans!) cut off at the knee.

The wardens will approach you and initiate you into The Brotherhood of
All Bikers, tell you the secret password, and teach you the secret
handshake.

Then you won't feel like you have to tell reekyites you went on a
charity run. 'cause you'll be a Brother.

 


So that's how your uncles broke you to the saddle...

 



I meant to say, "Wear one motorcycle boot *and one basketball sneaker*
and a long-sleeved shirt with one sleeve cut off at the shoulder and
wear a pair of jeans with the opposite leg (of the jeans!) cut off at
the knee.

Tell the wardens that you come from the west, heading east...

 


SNIP

Sounds like you had fun...next time wear the proper gear. ;^)