Biker chic(k)

I am apparently now a biker chick, married to a biker dude.  The title of this post is a play on that and the chic-ness of the jacket and helmet I now own in order to ride on Bruce's motorcycle.

Bruce is the proud owner of a Honda VTX1300T.  I'd post a photo of his but shockingly, he's been too busy riding the thing to have taken any photos of it yet.  So here's a link that will take you to a photo of one, if you want to see what it looks like: http://powersports.honda.com/2009/vtx1300t.aspx

He got a black one, which he likes.  I'd have preferred the red shown on that site (I voted for pink or purple, but happily for him, they have neither), but there was only one bike left at the dealership - the black one.

He is very, very happy.  He's been wanting a bike for years, and the wait is finally over.  He rode several in his 20s, but his ex made him give up his last bike when their kids were little, so he's been dreaming of owning another one since then.  And now, it's no longer just a dream.  He got the bike last Friday and has ridden it every single day since then, sometimes several times a day, despite the heat.  He even loves the commute to work now, just because he gets to do it on his motorcycle.  He's thrilled, and I love seeing him this excited.

I also love the cool jacket I now own because of the bike.  It's for protection, with elbow and back pads, but I had to make sure it looked good as well, of course - I am a girl, after all.  It's got pretty flowers down the sleeves, and the very nice girl at the store managed to find a (somewhat) matching helmet that also has flowers on it.  I'll try to get a photo of me in the chic biker chick outfit soon - so far, it's been so hot that I take the jacket and helmet off as soon as I'm not on the bike, so getting me to pose for a photo would be expecting too much.

Bruce and I rode on his bike to the Jacksons house on Saturday to show it to them.  I've only been on a bike once before, and that was 10 years ago (when I first came to visit Bruce in 2000, a friend of ours gave me a ride on his).  Getting on Bruce's new motorcycle on Saturday was a little scary at first, and I was somewhat nervous as we rode away from the house, but after a while, I began to enjoy it.  It's a lot of fun, except when we stop moving and the blanket of heat begins pushing down on us - I think Autumn is a much better time of year to buy a bike, rather than the beginning of Summer.  But when we're moving, it feels much cooler.  I'll never be crazy about bikes the way Bruce is, but I can understand why he is such a fan.  Once you get past the fact that there are no doors creating a safe cocoon for you, you begin to enjoy the air and scenery rushing past you.  There is a lovely sense of freedom that comes from being on a motorbike - I think the closest I got to that in the past was zooming down Jalan Ara on a bicycle when I was a kid.  I used to love that feeling, and would keep riding up that steep hill just for the pleasure of racing down it with the wind tearing at my hair and blowing away all the heat of the day. Perhaps this is why dogs love riding in cars with their heads sticking out of the windows.

Bruce, Amy and John used to go riding a lot when they were in college.  Bruce is now trying to convice John he needs to get a bike so that we can all ride around in the mountains on weekends.  I'm trying to convince Bruce I don't want to spend every single weekend on the bike.

Perhaps I'll change my mind when we can afford a trailer for the dogs that can be hitched to the bike, so that they can ride with us ...