The Adventures of Susan and T.S.

It may be a mid-life crisis (at age 37, no less), but I bought a motorcycle!!! As a kid, I was constantly terrorizing the neighborhood. It started with my first sweet Big Wheel (I say 'first' because I left several outside and they were stolen - nice neighborhood, huh?). Then I moved up to a beauty - my Huffy Sweet Thunder. You have to remember that this was the 1970s, and that I was the ultimate Tomboy. This was the E.R.A.'s answer to a dirt bike for girls. It had knobby tires, a BXM type plastic sign that said '16' on the front, and, boy, could it take those Plano, Tx curbs. There was no way I was going to ride a Marcia Brady banana seat job. Its only two drawbacks, in my mind, were 1) it was pink (ugh!); and 2) my parents made me put a big tall reflective orange bike flag on it. Over the years, I pimped out my Sweet Thunder. I remeber the Christmas that I got the 'throttle' for it. This was a cool little gadget that replaced the right handle bar grip. It rolled back like a throttle, and it had this box attached to it (about the size of 2 packs of cigarettes) that produced a rumble that was the BOMB! I was all that riding the streets of Ridgewood subdivision - popping wheelies, jumping curbs and revving the engine the whole way. (I found a picture of a 1969 boys' Huffy - so imagine it in pink.) Anyway, I signed up for a Harley Davidson Rider's Edge safety course back in March, but had to wait until the last weekend of June to actually take the course. So, by the time it came around, I was questioning whether I really wanted to do it or not. Since I'd already paid my tuition, I decided to commit the time (3 weeknights and 1 weekend). Can I tell you - IT WAS AWESOME! I felt like all of my childhood idols:

Evel Knievel, The Fonz, and Elvis - rolled into one. So then I had to pester Ray for the next week to convince him to let me get a bike. He took me to the Harley place on our 1 year anniversary, and we made a deposit. One week later, T.S. arrived, and I brought it home (boy was THAT scary!). Of course it's raining everyday here now, so I haven't been able to get back out on it, other than riding around the neighborhood yesterday for about 15 minutes. I've worked up the nerve to ride it to the library and then down River Road to St. Gabriel today, but this huge thunderhead is hovering over the house.

If anyone is even slightly interested in riding, I highly recommend the Harley 'Rider's Edge' course. It's $275, but well worth it. Oh, what does T.S. mean? Trusty Steed, of course!