Ring-ding, ring-ding... tis the season.

Below is an email from a fellow Harley Owners Group Chapter member.

It's true we (bikers) do a lot of charity events and it's true that a lot of the population think we're just "bikers", "ruffians" etc.

This truly warms my heart.

I went to Michael's today to get some flowers to do some last minute crafts. You know the people who stand outside the stores and hold the bells and gather donations for the Salvation Army, well there was this sweet little old lady out there. She looked so cold. I walked passed her when I went in and she smiled at me and I saw that she noticed my jacket, yes I was wearing my Harley gear. When I came out from shopping I walked over to her and told her that they needed to give them credit card machines, I didn't carry cash and I was really sorry because I felt horrible walking into the store buying myself things and not giving any money to help benefit her cause. She looked at me and smiled, she grabbed my hand gently and said, "Oh my dear dear child, don't you think twice about that, I read in the newspaper about all that you guys do for the children and charities in the area. You all do your part all year round. God Bless your Chapter and may God be with you all always."

So if you can pass this on and let others know that in the middle of Spotsy on a rainy and nasty day, a little old lady took the time to make sure to acknowledge...........RICHMOND ROCKS!!!

M.

Richmond does, indeed, Rock!!!

Meeting day

Sitting in an all day meeting for motorcycle safety... My bestest
roommate won the Gecko!! Woohoo!

The Worlds Fastest Indian...

another chapter from Movies I've Never Heard Of... but are damned good:

The World's Fastest Indian

VROOOM...

Spent the weekend teaching Motorcycle Safety!

p

sent from my iphone

Another Urban Dictionary word...

Another of "my" words has been approved:

Quike

I say "my" because someone else actually coined the term... my good friend "The Scholar". Ah hell, he's quite accustomed to people stealing from him. "The Saint" steals jokes from him all the time.

VROD

I LOVE my new bike. I'm having so much fun.

HOT 'ROD

WoooHooo.... I went and did it! I finally broke down and bought the bike I have been drooling over for years. (bet all my buds are glad... I'm sure they were tired of hearing about it).
Picture is from my phone.... thus the teeny tiny view.

This bike is SWEET!

Thank you for NOT honking...

On my motorcycle and on my way home. It was vibrating madly between my legs as I waited at the stoplight...
I was vibrating from my experiences the night before. Thinking of the hours, the joy... I closed my eyes and left the here and now.
Reality rudely returns as I realize the light has changed...

Thank you for my gift!

L.Y.

Joy Machine... Yes, YES..... THAT'S IT!!!

Why We Ride....
A motorcycle is not just a two-wheeled car; the difference between driving a car and climbing onto a motorcycle is the difference between watching TV and actually living your life. We spend all our time sealed in boxes and cars are just the rolling boxes that shuffle us from home-box to work-box to store-box and back, the whole time, entombed in stale air, temperature regulated, sound insulated, and smelling of carpets.

On a motorcycle I know I'm alive. When I ride, even the familiar seems strange and glorious. The air has weight and substance as I push through it and its touch is as intimate as water to a swimmer. I feel the cool wells of air that pool under trees and the warm spokes of that fall through them. I can see everything in a sweeping 360 degrees, up, down and around, wider than Pana-Vision and than IMAX and unrestricted by ceiling or dashboard. Sometimes I even hear music. It's like hearing phantom telephones in the shower or false doorbells when vacuuming; the pattern-loving brain, seeking signals in the noise, raises acoustic ghosts out of the wind's roar.
But on a motorcycle I hear whole songs: rock 'n roll, dark orchestras, women's voices, all hidden in the air and released by speed.
At 30 miles per hour and up, smells become uncannily vivid. All the individual tree- smells and flower- smells and grass-smells flit by like chemical notes in a great plant symphony.
Sometimes the smells evoke memories so strongly that it's as though the past hangs invisible in the air around me, wanting only the most casual of rumbling time machines to unlock it. A ride on a summer afternoon can border on the rapturous. The sheer volume and variety of stimuli is like a bath for my nervous system, an electrical massage for my brain, a systems check for my soul. It tears smiles out of me: a minute ago I was dour, depressed, apathetic, numb, but now, on two wheels, big, ragged, windy smiles flap against the side of my face, billowing out of me like air from a decompressing plane.

Transportation is only a secondary function. A motorcycle is a joy machine. It's a machine of wonders, a metal bird, a motorized prosthetic. It's light and dark and shiny and dirty and warm and cold lapping over each other; it's a conduit of grace, it's a catalyst for bonding the gritty and the holy.

Cars lie to us and tell us we're safe, powerful, and in control. The air-conditioning fans murmur empty assurances and whisper, "Sleep, sleep." Motorcycles tell us a more useful truth: we are small and exposed, and probably moving too fast for our own good, but that's no reason not to enjoy every minute of the ride.

-Author Unknown

Thanks to "Mr. Gadget", who found this on XLForum.net

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

still thinking of it

can't help but be excited

rev up that motor!

~

"no good deed...

...goes unpunished" - Clare Booth Luce

That's what "the Scholar" said about this past weekend. He and I and Robbie ("the Saint") volunteered to teach a special Basic Rider Course for our employer (MSCV). It seems some of our friends were interested in becoming RiderCoaches (like us) and they needed to take the BRC first. We volunteered to teach them. Turns out most of them had prior commitments and had to back out. The company sold the other seats to "flesh" out the class. And of course Fwed wanted to pay us (nice thought actually). So we ended up teaching a whole class so we had to be there all day and the weather wasn't ideal. Well, hell... it IS February in Virginia.

Saturday was WET. I mean it POURED on us, but it was reasonably warm so, all in all, not too bad. But yesterday was cold! Not just cold... Fuckin' Cold!

We finished after sundown in the cold, feet hurtin', exhausted...
You know, I'm glad it's over... but I'm glad we did it! The students had a good time, we've gotten one class under our belts for the season and I got to spend the weekend with 3 of my favorite people in the whole world: "Scholar", "the Saint" and "Fwed".
I'd say that was time well spent!

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

by Franklin P. Adams

There was a man in our town who had King Midas’ touch;

He gave away his millions to the colleges and such;

And people cried: “The hypocrite! He ought to understand

The ones who really need him are the children of this land!”

When Andrew Croesus built a home for children who were sick,

The people said they rather thought he did it as a trick,

And writers said: “He thinks about the drooping girls and boys,

But what about conditions with the men whom he employs?”

There was a man in our town who said that he would share

His profits with his laborers, for that was only fair,

And people said: “Oh, isn’t he the shrewd and foxy gent?

It cost him next to nothing for that free advértisement!”

There was a man in our town who had the perfect plan

To do away with poverty and other ills of man,

But he feared the public jeering, and the folks who would defame him,

So he never told the plan he had, and I can hardly blame him.

earth, wind & fire... oh, and water

I found a great local bar. Well... I had some help.
My favorite K.J. (Karaoke Jockey) Amanda just got a new gig at Element Lounge in Richmond.


What a fabulous place! Great decor, great bartenders (Doug and Frankie... You guys rock!), and a STOCKED bar. And I mean stocked, people.

It was Amanda's first nite there so it was a pretty small crowd... but it was a blast. By the end of the evening, everyone in the place was singing with each other, lots of duet combinations!

(James, Chris, Christopher, Katy and the rest of the GANG... you guys were so much fun! Hope we see you there again.)

I'm hoping our Harley Owners Group Chapter can have some functions at Element.
The biker philosophy is basically "Ride and Eat".
Oh and they don't seem to mind "adult beverages" either.

If you're ever in Richmond, Virginia check out Element Lounge...

119 N. 18th STREET in Shockoe Bottom

Turkey Day...

Thanksgiving was great, thanks! It was kinda nice wakin' up in the same place I was having my Thanksgiving dinner... no traveling! And I made the green bean casserole! Our family's Thanksgiving meal is pretty typical. Well, I guess I'm saying the "typical", "conventional" T-day meal includes: turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie... etcetera etcetera...

Here's a question for the masses!

Is there a dish that is a part of your family's traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas meal that's ... let's say... unconventional? Hmmmm? Let's hear it!

Aside from turkey day, what have I been doing?? Not much, that's for sure.

The local "Ladies of Harley" (as well as a few of the fellas) have been volunteering their time at the local Harley-Davidson store providing free gift wrapping. I've been helping out, wrapping, hanging out with friends, etc. We started on "Black Friday" and will continue on the weekends until Christmas.

Ride to Work Day? ... well, I meant to...

Today is National Ride to Work Day:

And I meant to... I really did. I mean, it's something I really believe in... it's just... well ...

It's TOO DAMNED HOT! That's right, folks - Peg is a woosie... would rather ride in the comfort of AC! You're damned right! And besides... I taught all weekend in the "Hotter than Hell temperatures" It has been in the mid to upper 90's for days now, and in Good ole Virginny... that means MEGA-HUMIDITY! UGH!

Oh, hey... today is also:

Ugly Truck Day,

Moon Day(Armstrong and Aldrin land on moon in 1969)

and Nat. Lollipop Day!

Lick a sucker and Enjoy!

*here's a sneaky lil note... to no one in particular... I was just wondering who'd be clever enough to find it! Let me know...

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack...

Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone?

Well, it seems Bopkatz noticed. Dude... I'm glad you missed me, but chill okay?
Yes, well... it's back to the old grind.

I've been at our Virginia State H.O.G. Rally and I had a blast! Three days and nights of bikes, buds, fun and general revelry. I don't think I slept 4 hours total the whole time. All my favorite buds were there... including Skinny Bitch, Baby Gurl and The Saint. Also some you haven't met yet, I'll be introducing them in the days to come.

I got to sing a little the first nite as there was a Karaoke Contest of sorts. It's a damned good thing it was on Thursday 'cause I lost my voice shortly after that from all the laughing and yelling.

Okay, gotta go back to work tomorrow. And I'm at a real Sleep Deficit, so I'm off to bed. I'll post more about the rally soon.

OH BTW (that's pc speak for "By The Way")... if you're ever in Lynchburg, VA, be sure to check out the Jazz Street Grill... FABULOUS FOOD!

So, Bopkatz... am I off the hook with the Blogging Cops??

Accolades...

WOW! I received this email today (names have been changed to protect... yada yada):

Morning Peg,
I wanted to let you and "Jim" know I successfully took the written motorcycle test at the DMV yesterday morning ( Monday). I am now a licensed motorcyclist in the great state of Virginia. As soon as I got home from there I completed a pre-inspection of my bike to make sure it has been staying worthy since I purchased it 3 months ago, back on April 8th. For the first time I went out for a short pleasant ride to celebrate and I don't think there could have been anything in this world that could take the smile off of my face from waiting soooooo long! I about tripled my mileage on the odometer. I am up to 18 miles now.WOW... the early break-in is 50 for my Sportster and then next step is 500. Guess the town where I live is going to see a lot more of me now.
I want to thank both you and Jim for the outstanding work you both did helping not only myself but all who were in your class. You both are "TOP GUN" in my book. My exact thoughts are even if I had not passed the course, the hands on training and instructions were priceless and well taught by the best people around!
Again, I wish to thank you both and want you all to know you have helped set in
stone the basic tools I need to be a good and safe motorcyclist.


"Vinny"

P.S.

Please forward this message on to "Jim".

Gee, I guess the class went better than I thought! I feel GREAT!

Updates... motorcycles and massage

Whew.... busy weekend. I taught a motorcycle class and it was pretty good. But most of the students had a real fear of MOVING, more than 2 mph that is. Geez. Did you know that motorcycles don't like going slooooow? Nope, they sure don't... they tend to fall over when they go slow. Gravity... it's the LAW! Ah well, all but two students passed and the two that didn't were greatly improved by the end of the weekend. I hope they come back and take the class again.

A while ago I was whining (yes... WHINING) and then I forgot to update you. My Spa Night on Thursday was wonderful. I think he removed every hair on my body... well, not the ones on my head. And then the massage! Ah, it was fabulous!

I had gotten some bad news earlier in the day and I was feelin' pretty damned bad. But the massage made me feel much better. He virtually massaged my cares away.
... the man is a virtuoso, a true savant.

Tara's Interview Questions...

Well... it seems that the bloggin' thing to do lately is interview and BE interviewed.

So, Tara (www.taratainton.com) has interviewed me. Thanks for the questions, Tara. Now who the heck am I gonna interview? Anyone out there just dying to bare their souls to the blogosphere?:

Tara: You're a biker babe and a motorcycle safety instructor. So, tell us about your ride! And please show us a picture. Now, what would your ideal bike be?

Peg: Okay, I ride a 1994 Harley 1200 Sportster. It's black, almost ALL black... after my accident, I powder-coated most of the chrome black. I've got lots of miles on my Lil Sporty and they're all mine. We've been to Dallas, TX and back twice (oh my butt!).

I don't seem to have any good pics of my bike. Guess I'll have to take a few.

An IDEAL ride? Well, I DO have one in mind. I just don't have the bucks for it right now and I'd hate to part with the sporty. At the risk of offending the hardcore, "REAL Harley riders" out there... the one bike I'd love to have right now is the V-Rod. I've demo'd several of them and it's a SWEET RIDE! And FAST!

Tara: Now, you used to have very long hair until recently. Did you ever do anything naughty with that long hair? If not, make up an idea for the rest of us to try.

Peg: The only thing that was ever done with my hair would have to be my braids used as handles… heh heh

Tara: You describe yourself as having an obsessive personality. What was the last project, idea, or agenda you became consumed with?

Peg: You’re looking at it. This blogging thing has over run my existence. I can’t wait each day to see what new blogs are out there, how many hits I’ve gotten overnight, if I’ve gotten any new comments!

Also, singing… I started taking singing lessons last year and I started karaoke-ing this year. I can’t stop singing… I do it every chance I get. I’m wondering if my friends are totally sick of it yet. If they are, then they’re protecting my feelings and coming along with me anyway. What great Buds I have!

Tara: Being a biker chick, I'm guessing your significant other is or would be one heck of a bad boy in all those ways we girls love. Tell us a bit about what attracted you to him or what kind of man would be worthy of your affection.

Peg: We both started biking later in life… so we’re not exactly Bad (not in that way anyway). I’d have to say, his sense of humor is what attracted me to him.

Tara: What do you do in your mind or at the start of your day to remain in such a great and positive mood? What do you look forward to waking each day for?

Peg: I can’t say I’m always in a positive mood. And I imagine my co-workers would say it’s rare (haha)… but that’s only towards them (not the sharpest tools in the drawer sometimes)… you get tired of feeling like you’re the only competent person in the office at times (she blushes with false modesty). Inside my own head… I’m almost always happy. I know it’s trite… but I think everyday is a gift. And as I approach middle age (“approach” catches in her throat a little), I realize how many things I want to experience, all the books I want to read, all the friends to spend time with… etc. I can’t wait to see what’s around the next turn.

Tara: Knowing my personality and open-mindedness, what's one question I could've asked that you would've refused to answer?

Peg: I really don’t know how to answer this one. I honestly cannot imagine what I’d refuse to answer. Ask some more questions… maybe I’ll figure it out.

Tara: What made you deem Tara worthy of reading? Come on, we wanna know!

Peg: Wow… I really can’t remember if I followed a link from another blog, or did I do a search? Oh, bother … hate it when that happens! Well, it doesn’t really matter. Once I found your site, there was no leaving! We think alike in so many ways. I think we were separated at birth.

AMERICAN GRAFITTI

The weekend, continued...
On top of the great class I had, my Harley Owners Group Chapter had a fun event this past Saturday. We had "Drive-In Nite" at the Harley Shop. We were going to show it on the exterior wall of the dealership, but the wind and threatening clouds drove us inside. We projected the movie on the wall in our Hog Room.

It was a fabulous time! We had concessions (the usual Raisenettes, Goobers, Junior Mints, Milk Duds, Whoppers, Hot Tamales, etc.), a trivia contest during Intermission, a really cute usher (w/ flashlight no less). We could sing along with the movie (it WAS American Graffiti after all) without management asking us to leave. The usher was Cute! The theater was filled with close friends. The popcorn was free! What more could you want??

Did I mention the Usher was CUTE?

Safety Weekend

I taught another Motorcycle Safety class this past weekend. Wow, I'd have to say this was the BEST class I've ever taught. Only one student had a motorcycle endorsement on his driver's license. The rest had varying degrees of riding experience from "owns a bike and riding now" (yes, without a license) to "never been on a bike". They all did wonderfully. This is the kind of class you dream about. Everyone (students AND coaches) had a fun time. We even lucked out with the weather. It was calling for rain all weekend and we never got a drop.

We tried out a new range shirt this weekend too (I know you're all just dying to know this). Our company (MSCV inc.) bought us shirts from Sahalie.com. The shirt is great.
It's called the Soltex Shirt (here's the woman's shirt) and it's made with a tightly woven fabric that blocks 95-99% of UVA and UVB rays. It has a large vented back which lets excess heat and humidity escape instantly, a TriFold collar unfolds for added coverage over the back of your neck, then folds down and tucks away when you don't need it. If you have a job (or hobby) that keeps you out in the sun and heat, this is the perfect shirt.

while on my steel steed

alone on the winding road

you're riding my thoughts

~

Battle Trax @ National H.O.G. Rally, Richmond

Have you ever heard of Battle Trax? I tried it out at the National H.O.G. Rally here in Richmond last year. I had so much fun!

Emphasizing personal best, rather than head-to-head competition or speed,
BATTLETRAX allows a rider to explore handling and braking limits in a safe,
challenging environment. Laid out on a large parking lot, the BATTLETRAX course features a series of turns, slaloms, and gates that place a premium on smoothness of operation and precise throttle control. Improvement throughout the day is recorded by each lap being automatically timed to 1/1000 of a second. To add to the fun, riders are broken into classes that allow like motorcycles to compete with each other.

my attempt at Battle Trax

If you ever get the chance to try this out... DO IT!
You really only compete against yourself and it's a great experience.
peg