My Midlife Celebration

My husband and I fulfilled a crazy dream we've always had in the back of our minds. We bought a Harley!



It's a "Red Hot Sunglo" Street Glide Trike. THE motorcycle for daring middle-aged people. Imagine a motorized walker souped up a thousand times! Harley Davidson is onto something here, I have to say. It's a perfect entry into the motorcycle world without alot of the hassle. No special license needed, at least in California. And, for a couple of middle aged people with no motorcycle experience, it was just the right machine for us. Harley really needs to market this to the baby boomers who are ready to do something different with their leisure time.


As we both have some degree of wanderlust, we've always thought about getting a bike, but I was always too terrified to get on something with only 2 wheels that went really fast. I have a hard enough time driving a moped! Sunday afternoons early in our marriage were often spent on "mystery tours" when we drove to a general destination with no idea of what we might find, and would always be delighted by what transpired. We had a power boat for many years and enjoyed it fully, making many life-long friends, and plenty of memories.



Since we moved to the west coast, where we can potentially play nearly every day, we have had no real diversion. Hubby saw a huge group of bikes on a ride this past New Year's day on his daily walk with Charlie, and when he got home, went onto Harley's website to check out this trike he'd heard about, having seen a couple of them in this group. I toyed with the idea, letting it occupy a portion of my brain for a few days, trying it on to see if it fit. We went to a local dealer last week, and there she was, parked right in front. There was practically a billboard perched over the bike with our name on it, or at least that's how it felt. We spent about an hour there, meeting some of the people who were about to become new friends (but we didn't know that at the time!).



During the week, we kept asking each other if this was the right thing to do. We talked to a good friend who's an expert on Harleys who said to go for it, it would change our lives for the better. The idea grew on us, Harris did more research, and we started bragging to everyone we knew that we'd bought a bike. The momentum built up until by Saturday, he was telling me the countdown to Harley time! I was getting excited, too. And a little nervous.



Father, son, and I were ready at the appointed time on what would normally be a relaxing Sunday. Each had made previous trips to get a helmet fitted, so we were equipped. Insurance card was procured. Methods of payment were at the ready, all systems were go. We spent over 3 hours at the dealership, singing papers, buying t-shirts, shmoozing with some customers and the people who worked there, and of course learning how to operate this half-ton piece of machinery. Its Red Hot Sunglo body, with black leather and shiny chrome, sparkled in the late afternoon sunlight. Lots of people were drawn to it, and at one point, I went to sit on it and claim ownership! We took pictures, even a short video, as Harris learned how to drive it. He even went on the freeway for a taste of the experience, then I got on. With a slightly nervous but very excited wave, we began to drive away, when I suddenly threw my arms in the air and let out a loud whoop!



As we drove around the block a few times, and onto that small stretch of freeway, with the warm engine rumbling beneath me, I felt really free. The wind wasn't whipping my hair, since I had on the aforementioned helmet protecting my brains, but still experienced the feel of the wind and the sun and speed on my new steed. I wanted to go so fast (luckily I wasn't driving!). We drove up into the mountains nearby, but as it started towards sunset, we headed towards home, so excited with the scenery speeding past us. The stereo was blasting out some great music, and I kid you not: Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" played on the station we were listening to. That is THE ultimate riding song, and we took it as affirmation that we'd made a very good decision!

Live to Ride, Ride to Live. I get it now!