As I was leaving work today a customer was checking out my shoes, the ones with flames on them.
"Cool shoes, man."
"Thanks,"
"Yeah, with shoes like that, you should be riding on a Harley."
I didn't point out that it was just barely above freezing out. "I haven't ridden in years, unfortunately..."I replied
On my drive home(in my my 74 beetle) I was thinking about the summer that I was 15, I looked old for my age so I got away with a lot of stuff I probably shouldn't have. So, one fine Saturday morning, I was out early in an unfamiliar neighborhood casing this house, the owner had just put an ad in the local classified section advertizing an AR15 for sale, and I was thinking about breaking in that night and stealing it(most people go out saturday night and its a great time to B&E. Unfortunately they had a couple of dogs in thier yard, so I just kept walking.
I needed to take a leak so I walked into the alley down the street looking for an out-of-the-way place, and I almost got run down by this guy on a real nice motorcycle. He stopped and apologized for almpst running me down and we got to talking about his bike, he asked me if I rode and I told him that I hadn't in a couple of years, that my uncle and I used to ride dirtbikes (this was totally a lie to make me look better, my uncle rode a dirt bike competatively and he would sometimes give me a ride, I had only been on a motorcycle by myself once, and I had dumped it hard) and he asked if I wanted to ride his bike. I said no, that it was much bigger than anything I had ever ridden(this was true), but he insisted that he was sure I could handle it, and he encouraged me to get on and give it a try.
I made it to the end of the alley, and I layed it on it's side trying my first turn, "Well, what are you waiting for? Pick it up!" I thought he was going to kill me, but he just looked at the side, brushed off some dirt and said, "Yep, That's just what I did the first time I rode a bike this big. "Well, better give it anouther try." So, I did, and I got the next couple of turns, down and back in the alley just fine. I loved it.
Over the next couple of weeks I visited him whenever I could, we would hang out and drink his beer while sitting in the yard or the garage, looking at his bike and talking about road trips and hot girls and other such dreams. One day, as I was getting up to go home, he said "I won't be around this next weekend, I have to go away for a couple of weeks on a trip, and I hate to leave my bike here alone. Do you think you would like to look after it for me, you can ride it all you want, just be careful and don't get it stollen." "Sure, I'd love to, that would be great.'I said. "O.K. then, come over Friday and pick it up. I'll see you then."
So, for the next two weeks I rode that bike all over, I rode to the coast and back a couple of times, I rode 25 miles up to Salem from Albany just for a pack of smokes one day. I got my Clove cigs and I rode past a local coffee hangout that I liked to go to sometimes, a place called the Beanery or some such silly name, and I saw a couple of cute girls just a year or two older than I, so I flipped a U and roared back down the street and came to a screeching halt right in front.
I walked in like I owned the world and they giggled a little as I walked by, I knew I had them hooked, I didn't even look thier way. I ordered my coffee from the counter and walked back like I was going past them, I could feel thier eyes on my every move. Just as I was about to pass them I slowed and pulled out on of the empty chairs at thier table and sat down like I was an old friend. They were astonished. I pulled out my fresh pack of cloves and made a big production of packing them and opening the pack, pulling one out and then snapping open my Zippo and lighting it in a quick fancy move on my pantleg. I looked at them for the first time over the flame as I lit my clove.
"Hi," I said. They giggled back a Hi, as I pulled a small flask out of my pocket and dumped about half of the contents into my coffee cup. "Do you want a taste?" I asked. One girl(Miss Goody-Two-Shoes) said "no", as if she were way to good for that sort of thing. The other girl(Miss Future Stripper) quickly said "yes" in a tone that let me know she definately wasn't too good for that sort of thing, or any other sort of thing for that matter. I poured her a little into her coffee, just a couple of drops, I didn't want her to get herself into any real trouble. I introduced my self and we all got to know one anouther and we chatted for about an hour before I got up and said "Well girls, it was nice meeting you, I've got to go now. Got a long ride back home." And I walked out the door.
I started up the bike and was about to put my helmet on when the door came flying open, Miss Future Stripper came running out and grabbed me, gave me a big wet sloppy kiss(while her friend scowled at her from inside the coffee shop) and then quickly ran back inside. I rode away as if I were the biggest shit that ever got layed.
A few days later my friend came back and that was the end of my career as a motor-cycle riding bad-ass. I never saw either of those girls again, and I've never been back on a bike since then either.
"Cool shoes, man."
"Thanks,"
"Yeah, with shoes like that, you should be riding on a Harley."
I didn't point out that it was just barely above freezing out. "I haven't ridden in years, unfortunately..."I replied
On my drive home(in my my 74 beetle) I was thinking about the summer that I was 15, I looked old for my age so I got away with a lot of stuff I probably shouldn't have. So, one fine Saturday morning, I was out early in an unfamiliar neighborhood casing this house, the owner had just put an ad in the local classified section advertizing an AR15 for sale, and I was thinking about breaking in that night and stealing it(most people go out saturday night and its a great time to B&E. Unfortunately they had a couple of dogs in thier yard, so I just kept walking.
I needed to take a leak so I walked into the alley down the street looking for an out-of-the-way place, and I almost got run down by this guy on a real nice motorcycle. He stopped and apologized for almpst running me down and we got to talking about his bike, he asked me if I rode and I told him that I hadn't in a couple of years, that my uncle and I used to ride dirtbikes (this was totally a lie to make me look better, my uncle rode a dirt bike competatively and he would sometimes give me a ride, I had only been on a motorcycle by myself once, and I had dumped it hard) and he asked if I wanted to ride his bike. I said no, that it was much bigger than anything I had ever ridden(this was true), but he insisted that he was sure I could handle it, and he encouraged me to get on and give it a try.
I made it to the end of the alley, and I layed it on it's side trying my first turn, "Well, what are you waiting for? Pick it up!" I thought he was going to kill me, but he just looked at the side, brushed off some dirt and said, "Yep, That's just what I did the first time I rode a bike this big. "Well, better give it anouther try." So, I did, and I got the next couple of turns, down and back in the alley just fine. I loved it.
Over the next couple of weeks I visited him whenever I could, we would hang out and drink his beer while sitting in the yard or the garage, looking at his bike and talking about road trips and hot girls and other such dreams. One day, as I was getting up to go home, he said "I won't be around this next weekend, I have to go away for a couple of weeks on a trip, and I hate to leave my bike here alone. Do you think you would like to look after it for me, you can ride it all you want, just be careful and don't get it stollen." "Sure, I'd love to, that would be great.'I said. "O.K. then, come over Friday and pick it up. I'll see you then."
So, for the next two weeks I rode that bike all over, I rode to the coast and back a couple of times, I rode 25 miles up to Salem from Albany just for a pack of smokes one day. I got my Clove cigs and I rode past a local coffee hangout that I liked to go to sometimes, a place called the Beanery or some such silly name, and I saw a couple of cute girls just a year or two older than I, so I flipped a U and roared back down the street and came to a screeching halt right in front.
I walked in like I owned the world and they giggled a little as I walked by, I knew I had them hooked, I didn't even look thier way. I ordered my coffee from the counter and walked back like I was going past them, I could feel thier eyes on my every move. Just as I was about to pass them I slowed and pulled out on of the empty chairs at thier table and sat down like I was an old friend. They were astonished. I pulled out my fresh pack of cloves and made a big production of packing them and opening the pack, pulling one out and then snapping open my Zippo and lighting it in a quick fancy move on my pantleg. I looked at them for the first time over the flame as I lit my clove.
"Hi," I said. They giggled back a Hi, as I pulled a small flask out of my pocket and dumped about half of the contents into my coffee cup. "Do you want a taste?" I asked. One girl(Miss Goody-Two-Shoes) said "no", as if she were way to good for that sort of thing. The other girl(Miss Future Stripper) quickly said "yes" in a tone that let me know she definately wasn't too good for that sort of thing, or any other sort of thing for that matter. I poured her a little into her coffee, just a couple of drops, I didn't want her to get herself into any real trouble. I introduced my self and we all got to know one anouther and we chatted for about an hour before I got up and said "Well girls, it was nice meeting you, I've got to go now. Got a long ride back home." And I walked out the door.
I started up the bike and was about to put my helmet on when the door came flying open, Miss Future Stripper came running out and grabbed me, gave me a big wet sloppy kiss(while her friend scowled at her from inside the coffee shop) and then quickly ran back inside. I rode away as if I were the biggest shit that ever got layed.
A few days later my friend came back and that was the end of my career as a motor-cycle riding bad-ass. I never saw either of those girls again, and I've never been back on a bike since then either.
michelle:
Great story! Maybe you need to get on a bike again?