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An Old Lady on a New Adventure
I use the term “old” loosely. I don’t feel old … well, you know how that is. I’ve heard 25-year-olds say they feel old! I asked my dad at his 80th birthday party if he was old yet. He said no, but he might be getting close. He’d let me know. The point is “age is a matter of mind. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter”. I’m going with that – it don’t matter!
I’ve wanted to ride my whole life. I remember sneaking into my uncles garage to look at his Gold Wing. I wasn’t supposed to be in there – it was dangerous. I remember hearing that, and totally ignoring it. I wasn’t as tall as the handle bars, but I was fascinated and … it made me happy. When I got old enough, I dated guys that rode. (In hindsight, it was poor criteria for choosing a mate!) I was introduced to Harley Davidson about 1975 when my (then) boyfriend (later first husband) bought a used Sportster. We spent that Pittsburgh winter upgrading it – chrome and candy apple red.
We rode that Sportster from Pittsburgh to Columbus to a motorcycle rally that was held at the fairgrounds. (I gotta say, four hours of highway travel on a sportster was NOT a fun ride!) We were resting under a tree among more bikes than you’ve ever seen in one place (unless you’ve been to Sturgis or Daytona during bike week). And here comes a Low Rider – driven by a tiny girl! Up strait she could only touch the ground with her toes. Forty years later and I can see it like yesterday – she whipped that bike around under the tree, put the kickstand down, and put her feet up on the handle bars. It was 1975, girls (at least the ones in my cultural arena) were just realizing that we could do everything boys could do. Hey … I could ride!
I learned how an internal combustion engine worked while watching that Sportster being rebuilt. The second-best thing Kevin ever did for me – the first being our son. Kevin also taught me how to drive stick (on a 1969 Opel GT), which has come in handy over the years. And especially so now – the Slingshot is a standard five on the floor, just like a car.
Then life took over. My daughter calls it “adulting”. I adulted the heck out of it for 35-odd years after the Sportster days. And then the proverbial mid-life crisis happened. I’m pretty sure that’s what it was. It started simmering at about 55. Even though you’re happy with everything, every once in a while you get the feeling something is missing. We had our house in the country, we were running two successful businesses, and we became empty-nesters. Now we had the time and the money, but I wasn’t confident enough that I could learn to ride at this point in my life and not die!
In 2015 Polaris started making the Slingshot. They weren’t big in Ohio – might have something to do with the weather. I saw one for the first time in Fort Lauderdale when visiting family. All the sudden, the desire to ride took on a whole new look. I didn’t have to learn to ride – I could just drive! I dreamed about it for a couple years but did nothing, because I am generally not frivolous or self-indulgent (and Bryan really hated the idea – he never rode and didn’t have that desire). Two weeks ago, my brother died. He was 16 months younger than me. His death, as death does, pushed me to realize just how short life is sometimes. Like they say, tomorrow is not guaranteed. I needed to “piss or get off the pot”!
As you can tell, I went for it. So the adventure begins … (Thanks, Dude)
