Newsletter Stories

4/24/02
"Riding Lessons"

Ok, here is where it starts to get interesting. After seeing her Mom ride, my 16 year old daughter has been telling me SHE wants to take the Motorcycle Training Course and learn how to ride. I figured it was just one of those fazes that a teenager goes through and that she would move onto something else. Well, she has now been asking me on a weekly basis for the last 2 months when she can take the class. So, last Sunday I pulled the Vulcan 800 out of the garage to clean it up and run it a bit and she asked if she could try to ride it. So I figured, why not? I'll give her my own version of Alan Jackson's new song "Drive". So I have her set in the front seat while I'm on the back to show her the controls and how to use them. I soon found out this was nothing like when I was running next to her bicycle holding on to the handlebars when she was 3 years old. I figured we would just do a few touch and goes with the clutch and that would be it.

Well, she picked it up really quick because the next thing I know I'M riding Bitch around the block behind my 16 year old daughter. This has got to be the most scared I have ever been on a motorcycle. Every time I would move it seemed like we were going to tip over. It must have been a sight seeing a 200 pound man perched up on that cushy touring seat looking like he had just found out that his entire 401K was invested in Enron, sitting behind a little wide eyed teenage girl with a grin from ear to ear.

Things that are normally second nature to me such as Curbs and Parked Cars all of a sudden became a big focus. Boy, I'm glad that picture didn't get into the wrong hands. She did really good for the first time. Especially with me on the back. It is not nearly as much fun as it seems being on the back of a bike and having NO control. I immediately came home and apologized to Mrs. C. for all the bad things I have done while she was on the back.