Had a great day of riding on Sunday. It was sunny and void of the wind we had been experiencing lately. It was the first day this year that I rode without leathers! I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, converse hi-tops, and a hoodie. It was fabulous and I rode all over town, talked to lots of people, and even had time to look for a new pair of light riding boots. As always, the bike draws a lot of attention…but, being gregarious means I don’t mind the bevy of questions that an electric bike brings EVERYTIME I climb off her.
Monday I had made a date to meet my friend Liz for lunch. She had come up from Fort Bragg to visit family and talk some business with me…as well of a little girl talk session. We had never met face-to-face but had spent time on Twitter (lilredridingliz) and my website,
http://motorcycletravelamerica.com. I have followed her on her blog at
http://lilredridingliz.wordpress.com/ and truly enjoyed reading it. She is a very interesting and creative women.
When I got dressed to leave, I was expecting the same lovely weather as the day before. Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, I was ready to take off. Unfortunately, I realized as I left the driveway that it was cold…and windy. Now, this little Enertia of mine is a spunky little thing and 50 mph comes quickly. Wind, being wind…it was blowing up my sleeves, around my neck and down my back, and up my pant legs. It was cold, people! Funny thing was…I just didn’t care. The wind in my face is like a drug and the feel of that machine under me is nirvana.
As I rode into the parking lot of the Red Robin restaurant, I could see Liz scanning the area in anticipation of me riding in. She knew the bike is silent so she wasnt relying on sound but sight. I stood on the foot pegs so she could see me over the cars. She laughed. After I climbed off the bike and gave her all the info on my new baby, we went inside for dessert and coffee. The rest is history….two girls giggling over apple crisp, telling each other life stories, and getting the waiter to take pictures of us. It was the most wonderful time! We made plans to meet up with some of our other Twitter girl friends at the BMW internationals in eastern Oregon in July (I might be the only electric there) and even talked about teaming up and doing some business together. Ahhhh…the power of social networking! Thank you, Twitter. We had a blast!
Riding home brought glances and stares and even a few people asking me questions through rolled down windows at the stop lights. On my Enertia I can actually hear what they are saying and they can hear my answers. Life is good here in my town. I am the only Enertia riding around…well, except my friend Dave who actually works for Brammo as a representative (and also who graciously delivered my bike to my door because the weather was too wet for me to ride it home from the Best Buy store). We plan to take a few rides together this year to “show off” our bikes and, hopefully let everyone know what a great commuter bike this Enertia is. I am currently “seasoning” my batteries to hold a full charge and should soon have the full 50 miles of riding pleasure.
The next thing I am going to have to break down and purchase are the saddle bags. I don’t mind riding with a back pack but, on Sunday I climbed off my bike at the local coffee shop/college student hangout and a young man began talking to me because he thought I was a student and younger than I am. I had to tell him that I am a grandmother…and possibily older than his mother. Awkward! It may not have helped that I had my hair in braids to keep the wind from tangling it. My kids always tease me about looking so nice and innocent and then riding motorcycles and having a concealed weapons permit! I really am an enigma……
My thanx to my friend, Liz, for sharing the dessert and her life with me. I raise my cup of milk…no comments, please…and toast our friendship. Here’s to many more moments of laughter. Next time we will have Cindi with us….oh, my!! (Motoette on Twitter)
Enertia-ette…on the treadmill, working off the apple crisp!
