It’s  like my Facebook wall, or a scrapbook. The patches and pins I wear each have a story. For example, the patch I wear on my back is this one:

Bikers and riders who belong to an MC, RC or MM wear their club patch on their back, usually with nothing else, especially if they have to earn the patch.  Because Randy and I aren’t affiliated with any club, we wear this patch to show honor and respect to our military.  (We do belong to the Patriot Guard, but it’s not considered a club.)

Along the bottom back of our vests, we wear patches that tell about significant events.  I’ve got a patch from the Tail of the Dragon (where I learned to trust myself in curves, as well as trusting God to take care of me in all situations), the Apalachicola  Escort (we were part of a mile’s worth of bikes riding to escort the moving wall through parts of Florida, while thousands of people stood along side the road to salute the Viet Nam veterans who rode with us), and the 2009 Thunder Beach Spring Rally.

The front of my vest has pins that have special meaning to me.  On my right side, under my name patch are ten little metal heart charms, one for each of my grandchildren: Hunter, Dylan,  Chloe, Khloe, Layney, Destiny, Nevaeh, Reid, Talan and Esme.

On the left side, under my PGR patch, are mission pins.  Some missions were funerals for military or emergency first responders; others were welcome-home missions.

Some patches are for specific people- Bill “Snap” Lines was a great friend to everyone in the PGR; when he was killed in a traffic accident, some of his friends had a special patch made up.

And finally, I have some that are funny, but tell a little about me;  for example this one:

I always enjoyed watching “I Dream of Jeannie” when I was young; no matter how much she tried to help, she ended up causing trouble more times than not. I kinda feel like that most days.

Of course, these are only some of my pins and patches; you’ll just have to check out the rest of them the next time you see me. If you have other friends who ride, check out their vest as well.  Every one is individual, so you’ll probably learn something.

And as for the question of leather chaps and jacket – I do enjoy the look and feel of the leather, but  I wear my leathers for the same reason I wear a seatbelt – safety.  If I go down, they offer another layer of protection between the road’s surface and me.

See you on the road!

So anyway, last Saturday I had to ride into Troy to meet my brother with the saxophone. It felt nice outside, not too hot, with a good breeze, so I took the bike. About two miles from where 29 crosses 231, I saw it was going to rain on me pretty quick. By the time I got to 231, it was raining pretty hard, so I rode down onto 231 then immediately pulled off at the gas station; I called Lee and told him where I was and we met there.  After we got through talking, I loaded up to head back home. By the time I got onto the overpass again, it had started raining again – that little stinging rain. I was all tensed up,  like I was afraid someone was going to hit me.

Then all of a sudden, I heard a voice in my head saying, “Didn’t I tell you I’d take care of you on this bike?”   Of course, I knew He had  so I relaxed, and then I shouted! Not exactly a Dukes of Hazzard moment, but close enough for me.  I shouted and sang for most of the way home.

So when Brother Price asked us last night if we’d ever felt like shouting when we felt like the devil was after us, I  could honestly say yes! and I’m here to tell you, it’s a good feeling to be able to do that.

Either way, we’re a special breed- for so long, motorcycles were considered a man’s domain, and women were only another decoration. For some inspiration on early women riders, and how they’ve cleared the way for us, check the Harley site linked above- great stories from yesterday and today.

I’m glad we’ve come so far- whether sitting in the queen’s chair or the driver’s seat, we’re more in control of who we are… go for it, girl!

Headed back home, we came by a small country store in a curve- we always have to watch the vehicles  here. I guess maybe there’s a blind spot, or folks aren’t expecting bikes to come around. Anyway, a Jeep pulled out in front of us, just as we’re getting to the store. Instead of making some acknowledgment that they’d pulled out in front of us, and trying  to make sure we were safe, they just kept on coming out into our lane at their own little pace.

I normally have a surge of fear kick in- will we be able to stop or swerve around them, or will we end up sitting in their backseats?  I geared down, then started blowing my horn at them; I’m not sure how effective that was, since my horn sounds like the Road Runner on the cartoons – beep-beep, beep-beep.  It apparently meant nothing to the driver of the Jeep because they just kept trucking along their merry way.

As I said, normally a healthy fear kicks in to make sure I’m taking care of business, but this time righteous anger rose up, and I could feel the dragon wings on my shoulder blades trying to break through my t-shirt and denim vest as I leaned forward.  My horns were trying their best to push my helmet off.  I geared back up and instead of settling in beside Randy, I kept speeding up. I could almost feel myself and my bike lifting into the air as I prepared to breathe fire on the Jeep and it’s driver.

After a few minutes, though, I remembered who I was, and slowed down enough to fall in beside Randy. Of course, the rest of the ride home was spent in repentant prayer- after all, it’s not up to me to spew flaming daggers at drivers who won’t pay attention to what’s going on around them…

Note to self: make sure my newly acquired dragon is seated correctly on rear seat before the next ride.

So I get lots of different reactions from people- the folks I grew up  with are surprised that I ride, because it seems out of character for me; I was a quiet girl in school, too shy to speak to most folks. My goal for the day was to get through it without bringing any extra attention to myself.

The people I go to church with were surprised; I guess because of who I look like to them – I lead children’s church on Sunday mornings, sing in the choir and love to do ‘homey’ things. So I don’t look like a person who would ride a motorcycle.

Some men are surprised, because I’m a’ girl’, and it’s not always a normal thing for girls to ride their own. I guess they think I ought to be somebody’s passenger, and that’s fine. Nothing wrong with it- I am a passenger sometimes, riding on the ‘Queen’s chair’ behind my husband. When those times come, I take advantage of them by taking pictures I wouldn’t ordinarily get to take; I also have the added benefit of getting to squeeze my husband while we ride.

But I do ride my own bike, and I love it. I ride by myself a lot of the time. I take trips to nearby towns, run errands or just ride for the fun of it. I don’t have to wait ’til somebody else is ready to ride, I just take off when I’m ready.

I also love to ride handlebar to handlebar with Randy. He loves looking over to see me riding beside him.

So many people ask me why I ride, so here are my answers.

I love to ride, because I’m closer to God then. There is no radio or CD player to make noise in my ear, so I pray more. I remember prayer requests, and talk to God about them.  I think about Bible verses I’ve read, and God shows me new things about them. I talk to God about the people in my life – my kids and grandkids, my friends, my enemies; and God helps me pray for them. I think about blessings in my life, and thank God for them.

I love to ride, because when I’m on my bike, all the extra falls away.  The extra pounds, the extra years, the extra worries. I don’t think of any of those things.  I’m just a girl on her bike, riding where I want to.

I don’t know why, but riding through the tunnel and coming out into the infield  is an awesome feeling to me- just a few seconds of darkness, then suddenly you realize you’re really in Talladega!

Last time we went, a strict speed limit of 60 MPH was enforced by police officers riding the upper rim of the track. This year we were just told to stay below the yellow line – Randy says he hit 100 MPH at least once going around. I was happy with my 65-70, and the escort bikes were waving us to go faster if we wanted. It’s amazing to watch them ride their bikes close to the top of the banked lane – riding on the right side of their tires, right pegs or floorboards almost touching the pavement while they ride. Randy said even as low as he was riding (right below the yellow line) it felt weird to see the pavement so close on his right.

Here’s a video I found on YouTube  that was made on Saturday (notice the guys at the top of the track):

While we were riding, I noticed several people taking pictures and video from the infield- as soon as I have links, I’ll add them here.

After riding the track (they allowed us four laps this year), we got in line to have our pictures made in the winner’s circle. We were there fairly early in the day, and I was #153 to have my picture made. The lady who took the pictures later told me she made over 500 pictures that day, and that wasn’t all of the bikes.

My turn in the winner's circle

Randy in the winner's circle

While we were in line to have our pictures made, we talked with several folks, including two who had noticed our PGR banners on the bikes. They were in the reserves and had the opportunity to see the PGR at work since we lost several soldiers from the Birmingham area within the last few months. We encouraged them to see the PGR site and sign up- we are always glad to have new members.

This year, they also offered a riding tour through the grandstands – we watched several bikes riding around behind the seats, which looked pretty cool. We didn’t do the tour – we’d taken the scenic route to Talladega, so I was already on my reserve tank when we came onto the track.

Longhorn Steakhouse provided everyone with lunch- hot dogs, hamburgers, cole slaw, chips and a drink – then to finish up, Mayfield had nice big freezers full of ice cream sandwiches.  There’s nothing quite like eating an ice cream sandwich in front of a fan,  while listening to some rockin’ music.

Some other goodies from the day- each biker got a pin for his or her vest; a local credit union supplied personal-sized tubes of sunscreen with a belt clip attached; made it more comfortable coming home;  the MOD also had nice water bottles available for $1 each; Longhorn gave out $5 gift cards to everyone who wanted one. Several vendors were there also: leather chaps, jackets and saddlebags. And don’t forget the  helmet stickers!  I love to find new patches, pins and stickers – I’ve got more flair than the waiters at TGI Friday’s.  Here’s what we found this time: I got “gun control means hitting your target”, “These colors don’t run” and “for some there’s therapy, for the rest of us there’s motorcycles”. Randy got “Why does everything my wife gets mad about have to be fun?”,  “I’m not as innocent as I look” and “It’s a sick world and I’m a happy guy”.

Of course, it wouldn’t be normal for me to go anywhere without a little excitement- this time I dropped my keys somewhere between the lunch table and the bathrooms. I didn’t realize ’til I was back at my bike, so we backtracked where we’d walked. I asked at all the vendor stalls but no luck. The key itself wasn’t that big a deal- Randy has an extra on his keychain,  but I hated to lose my keywhip- it’s a nice tan leather with fringe and beads (yeah a girly keychain – you got a problem with that? LOL).  A very nice person had turned it in to the volunteers room, so after I thanked them we loaded up and headed home.

All in all it was a great day- we hit rain several times going up and coming back – just enough to get us wet, but the sun soon came out and dried us off, so we kept cool most of the day. Beautiful weather and beautiful scenery just topped off an already perfect day – it’s always fun to ride, and when we can do something worthwhile like donate to the March of Dimes at the same time, it’s even better.

I’m looking forward to seeing where we go next year.

The current assignment on the DPS forums is themed “Relax”; this is my entry.
My original idea was to have DH and L’il Red on hubby’s bike, riding slightly behind me on mine. Red would take a picture using her P&S;, catching her dad’s shoulder and side of his head, framing me on my bike.
Well, you know what they say about ‘best laid plans’… DH’s bike is still in pieces in the carport, and the parts aren’t in yet.
So… I just rolled my bike in front of my green backdrop and took some pictures.
Then I stepped out into the road in front of my house and snapped some more pictures. If you were one of the folks driving by while I was waiting to get in the road, no I haven’t lost my mind, just having some fun.
Then I stepped back inside after breaking down the set (that backdrop support sure was very cost-effective, but it’s not the quickest to take apart).
Photoshop is wonderful, and it wasn’t too long before I had the shot I wanted (shown above). I’ve gotten several comments on it so far, and while it’s not perfect, I’m pleased overall with how it turned out.
Now, if we can just get DH’s bike back on the road- besides the problems he’s already having, we got a recall notice in the mail this week, regarding problems with the gears – my favorite part of the letter refers to ‘may cause rear wheel to lock up, which may result in a wreck, injury or even death’ – four letters regarding this were sent to the previous owner, and I can’t imagine why they didn’t take care of this- there’s no cost and it seems like a rear wheel lockup would put a serious dent in your riding fun.