Riding and singing. 9/23/12
When I ride I like to listen to music. My GPS system has an
mp3 player built in and I have about 9 hours of music downloaded. It is a pretty
elaborate system to get the music into your helmet, this should be topic for
another time.. Anyway while riding and listening to the music, I listen to
mostly 70’s 80’s and 90’s rock some country, some newer stuff I even have Ray
Charles and Frank Sinatra. As everybody knows music is inspiring, sometime
while riding and jamming I look down to find myself traveling at the speed of
light, well the speed of the Electric Light Orchestra. (ELO) Thus the reason I also run a radar detector,
also wired into helmet,, but that’s for another time too.
At times you can be riding along and a song comes on and the
scenery it just right and the traffic is light and you can be inspired to sing
along. Don’t laugh at me you know you do
it in the car too. But it is especially moving when you do it while wearing a
helmet, traveling at the speed of light in the wide open on the back of a fine machine
cutting through the wind like one of those fighter jets in the movie Top Gun.
Riding in a group, a new experience. I recently started
riding with group of guys. This is a little new to me as I usually ride on my
own at my own speed and go wherever I want to go. In a group you have to all
ride the same speed, follow the guy out front (even if you know he is lost) and
have a predetermined destination and an agreement of when and where any and everything
is going to happen. Everybody also has to be aware of each other’s riding
skills, experience and most of all how far they can go on tank of gas. Ok since
I’m new to the group and they have not figured out my skill level and I have
not figured them out either I usually get to be very near the rear of the pack.
I’m ok with this, seems to be sort of a pecking order kind of thing and I am
the newbie. Communication among the pack
is important for a safe ride. The leader usually has some hand signals that
relay a message and it is passed on by each rider. The leader will signal
turning left or right, hazard in road, slowdown etc.. And since I’m riding near the back of the pack
I get the message many times by watching the pack ahead of me. This is ok too because
sometimes I have to be told more than once.. so I am told.
I got to be leader. One time, while riding with the group it
was determined that we were lost. I had my trusty music playing GPS so I got to
lead the pack back. Man I was going to show my stuff, and by stuff I mean my
skills in the turns, my leadership ability all that! I would be the new leader
from now on!! Yea right!! Well we all headed out and I couldn’t remember any of
the hand signals the regular leader used but it seem everybody was keeping up
ok and all was good under my leadership. Tunes were cranked, radar detector was
set, beautiful day not much traffic so, let it rip. Man this was cool I was out
front eating up miles and my crew was hanging in. We looked like a roller
coaster going around every curve and thrills with every mile we made. Man this
was fun being the leader. Then we got to
the first stop sign where we actually had to stop and turn.. I looked in the
rearview mirror and the crew was way back there.. Hmm I thought “what’s up with
those guys they were keeping up pretty good?” Then I realized I hadn’t really looked
back at them for a while, possibly the last 10 miles. As they approached I
lifted my face shield and asked the first couple riders “I am going too fast?” “Nope”
they all replied. So off we go again.
Not long I notice they are all a pretty good ways back but they are
going the same speed as I cause I’m not leaving them behind but they are not
gaining on me.. Oh well.. We get to the actual
stop and some needed gas so I found a gas station that looked like they could
handle a volume of guys buying $10.00 of gas each. Pay at the pump was invented
for guys riding in a pack. So once again I asked a few guys “am I riding too
fast?” “Nope” they all replied again. “Then
why can’t yall keep up? “I asked. “Oh we can keep up; we just don’t like your
singing.”
