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Mom's Ride
By Greg Smith
We have all heard that lame excuse, "I’m too old for
that!" Perhaps it is true for some things. But, it is not necessarily true about
experiencing the thrill of a motorcycle ride. I came to this realization when I
had the opportunity to give my mother-in-law a ride on the back of my Kawasaki
Concours.
I admit that I am exceptionally fortunate in that I truly
enjoy my extended family. They are, in many ways, the perfect relatives. Every
twelve to eighteen months, they swoop in for a short stay of four or five days.
They stay in a hotel, take my wife and me out to very nice dinners and treat us
like long lost children. While Mom is out shopping (and often buying) with my
wife, Dad attempts to take the money back from me on the golf course. Usually he
gets a few dollars in the bargain. After a short stay, they vanish again. They
are near-perfect visitors.
Mom is a bit on the adventurous side, and I know that is
where my wife gets her nature. But being the responsible parent and adult role
model, Mom always keeps that side of herself just slightly bottled. Even still,
you can tell she enjoys hearing about the latest ride or trip on the motorcycle.
Since I also teach MSF classes on weekends, there is also an interest in that,
and a bit more acceptance of the fact that we ride.
I recently picked up my new Concours and naturally wanted
to show it off. After a round of golf, I took the folks out to the garage, and
received the expected praise about the bike. There was interest, so the next
day, I had my wife ask Mom if she would like a ride after we got home from golf.
She responded that she would love a ride.
Off to the garage we went! Vicky provided the passenger
briefing about where to hold on to me and keeping your feet on the pegs. I added
a bit about looking over the correct shoulder in a turn (if you’ve never had a
passenger counter balance a turn, you don’t know about pucker factor). Vicky
then produced her full face helmet, armored jacket and gloves. She helped Mom
get suited up while I did the same and warmed up the motor. You could see that
the excitement was starting to mount. Mom had a certain slightly nervous
anticipation that you get before doing what you think is a dangerous activity
(like jumping off a cliff) for the first time.
I backed the bike out of the garage and got settled,
slipping the passenger pegs down. Vicky helped Mom climb aboard and get
situated. Vicky snapped a few photos of Mom on a motorcycle and off we went. It
was going to be a short ride back to their hotel, but I took a back way to go
through a couple of nice sweeping turns and an S-turn nearby. I wanted to give
Mom the thrill of a ride but wasn’t sure how she would handle it and didn’t want
to scare her off. I thought ten or twelve miles would be plenty for a first
ride.
Mom firmly held my waist, and slid as close as she could
get. It felt like she was holding on for her life. Rolling down the first hill,
we accelerated up to third gear. I tried to keep it as smooth as I possibly
could, but even then Mom’s head bounced forward with almost every shift. We
rolled to the bottom of the hill, and another right, then rolled back on. Shift,
shift, and bounce bounce. We stopped again, then rolled onto a quick left, and
shifted on up to fourth. Mom’s head was bouncing on my back the whole way! Into
the left half of the S-curve, rolling on smoothly, then straightening up, and
downshifting back to third for the right side. Lean over, then some more and
roll on all the way through. It is a fun turn, even with a novice on back, but I
did keep it a bit slower than normal, focusing on proper technique. I could
almost feel the grin on Mom’s face through my helmet at the end of the turns.
We left the residential areas and rolled on to the surface
streets. Accelerating up to sixth, Mom’s hands had slid down, and she was
starting to relax. I guess she realized I wasn’t trying to kill her or scare her
to death. I concentrated on being nice and smooth and using good technique to
change lanes or pass slower vehicles.
It wasn’t long before we were to the turn for their hotel.
Mom had relaxed, and was enjoying the ride. Then she realized where we were, and
exclaimed "we’re here already?" She was having fun and lost track of the time. I
am often guilty of that on a bike too. On a motorcycle, time seems to go by
faster.
We rolled into the parking lot where Vicky and Dad were
waiting for us. Leaning well into the ninety-degree right turn from the street,
I rolled on through. Then we had just the U-turn around the median into the lot
and we were done.
In the parking lot, Mom was so excited she couldn’t
remember how to get on and off the bike. Truly, I think she wanted to keep
going! After a bit of help, Mom finally came off the back, and began to remove
the gear. She was so excited, she was bouncing! Nervous energy and adrenaline
had her so high, she could hardly see straight! She kept thanking me and
finally gave me a big hug. Even Dad could see that she was giddy as a schoolgirl!
He even commented that she was now going to want a leather jacket and a helmet!
Next time they come down, I will have to make time to take a longer ride with
Mom.
I know I earned a few points with both Mom and my wife
that day. Some day, when a new piece of riding gear or some other trinket
appears in my garage or follows me home, I will need those points. In the
meantime, I have earned a few extra credit points by framing the photo of us on
the bike, and printing extra copies from the computer, so Mom will have
something to show when she brags about this to her friends back home. I know on
the next visit, I will have to make time for a longer ride with her, and I look
forward to it.
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