If you ride a motorcycle, wear long pants and boots.
If you work out at a gym and/or play sports, wear shorts and sneakers.
If you sail a boat, then you can wear shorts and boat shoes (if you must, but honestly, they’re awfully dorky-looking).
And flip-flops?
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Somehow, everything came together and I had a chance to go riding my Harley with my friends yesterday. Nowhere in particular, just across four Maryland counties, enjoying the beauty of late Spring on a uncharacteristically warm day (92°F, 33°C).
Wore jeans, t-shirt, helmet (of course!), and my favorite Chippewa Firefighter boots. Photos taken from my own bike, with the camera mounted on the left saddlebag, pointing backwards. I was riding wing (second position.)
Life is short: ride!
Mt. Airy, Maryland
Happy Saturday! Unofficial beginning of summer here in the good ol’ U.S.-of-A! Memorial Day weekend, and all that. And summer it is, with temperatures forecast to hit 90°F (32°C) or higher today and tomorrow!
Lots going on here in Greater Suburbia of Worshinun*.
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Cops at staging area
I gathered and rode with a large group of bikers who are cops, retired cops, or are in some way related to a law enforcement professional or work in the profession. We rode to join an event that is held around the same time as “Police Week” in Washington, DC. Motor officers from only seven (7) jurisdictions joined that ride this year, which was disappointing.
Anyway, I digress… what two worlds?
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Okay, I have lived near the capital of the United States, Washington, DC, for my whole life. I rarely go into the city any more, preferring a quieter life in the suburbs.
Nonetheless, this view….
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I mentioned in a recent blog post that I attended a biker’s conference. That event was different from something like a club run, where motorcyclists ride somewhere and party. No, this was an actual conference, with speakers, breakout sessions, and a rather demanding two-day schedule. Yeah, there was one social function on one evening — but anyone who attends any major conference knows that a social event is usually included as a part of an overall conference experience.
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I attended a biker’s leadership conference over the past few days.
I regret that the organization that sponsors the conference thinks that anything mentioning same-sex relationships or “things gay” is contrary to its “family friendly” position, so I cannot say exactly who sponsored it or where it was. Let’s just say it was near the same town where my mother-in-law lives. I stayed at her home (saving the cost of a hotel room.) I did not ride my motorcycle to the location where the conference was held because my partner went with me so he could visit his Mom. He cannot ride as a passenger on my bike due to an ongoing disability that has prevented him from riding with me for the past seven years. Man, I miss him (on the back of my bike)! Anyway, the conference was interesting, and I learned a thing or two that will help me as I work with my motorcycle club. All good. I will blog more about various issues that were brought to my mind about being a biker who happens to be gay in future blog posts. Life is short: be open to learning!
The weather forecast for yesterday was spot-on. It was 55ºF (13ºC) at oh-dark-30 when I leave my home to drive to the downtown of my hometown where I work. Time to get the Harley out and ride!
But preparation for a safe ride is the key to a pleasurable commute.
Anticipating the good weather, I got my Harley ready for the trip the night before. I spent an hour going making sure that every nut, bolt, and cable was secure. I checked the brakes, lights, horn, sidestand, chassis, and tire pressure. Man, those tires lose air quickly, but fortunately I have a small air compressor, so I put in air to bring the tires back to recommended pressure. All set.
In the morning, I pulled my truck and my partner’s car out of the garage, and then my Harley which is parked behind them. I donned my heavy leather retro chaps, gray biker jacket, gloves, helmet, and took off.
Oh, what boots was I wearing? I decided to wear my Wesco Motor Patrol boots. So comfy, tall, and protective. Vibram 430 lug soles provides good traction. The foot of the boot looks dressy with nice clothes, so no one ever noticed that I had tall boots on all day at the office. Truly, NBD.
I was a bit surprised that condensation was visible on some of the less-traveled roads which had cooler surfaces. But the main road — the road on which I travel the longest distance of five miles (8km) — was perfectly dry.
I still don’t like to ride in the dark, but at least my new rear light bar lit me up brightly to be more visible to vehicles behind me. I even had a county bike cop pull up next to me at a stoplight and wave. “Nice morning to ride!” he said. “Yessir, have a safe day!” I said back. He smiled, then the light changed and I watched him pull out in front of me, observing the glint of a shine on his patrol boots reflected from a street light.
It’s still something to get used to again, this riding-to-work routine. I need about 15 minutes more in the morning to get ready. I felt a little sore last night, but I’m sure that is transient. I have not ridden that much during the past few months of winter.
The best part? Free parking for motorcycles in the public garage near my office. I worked long and hard to support the legislation that our county council passed which provides that benefit to us bikers, so I truly appreciate taking advantage of it.
Life is short: ride!
I am not complaining… we have had such an unusually warm winter, it’s been “riding season” all year long. Yesterday, it reached 57°F (14°C)… again, quite unusual for mid-February in the DC area. Just imagine, two years ago we were under mountains of snow!
After catching up on some much-needed rest yesterday, I put on my retro biker chaps, an old leather jacket, Chippewa ostrich motorcycle boots, and motored over to Mary’s home.
Mary is a fun-loving septuagenarian who wanted to go for a ride on my Harley, and make a “big splash” as she called it by arriving at the grocery store on the back of my bike at about the same time that she knew some other friends were going to be shopping there.
So I picked her up and got to the store at 2:30pm, arriving at the same time as her friends, as well as her minister from church.
There I am just being a regular ol’ biker with the most fun-loving “biker chick” on the back of my bike. It was a lot of fun. Kinda broke up my day from worries at home, while my partner was resting and being looked after by another senior pal, Anna.
Sorry, no photos of me with Mary… while she is adventuresome, I’m not sure how she would feel about showing up on a gay biker’s blog. The photo above was indeed taken yesterday, though… which proves my point that it was warm enough to ride in “mid-level” leathers.
Names were changed to protect the innocent LOL!
Life is short: show those you love how you love them, and fulfill dreams.
Seldom does the weather cooperate on 1 January, but this year it did. The temperatures did not get as warm as predicted, but warm enough — 50F (10C). It brought out a lot of bikers for my club’s annual “polar bear ride.”
My partner is still not well, and I felt torn thinking about leaving him. But thankfully, one of my senior pals came to our home to stay with him while I got on my Harley and joined my club for its annual ride.
It was supposed to be a “short” ride, but it turned out to be about twice as long as we were told it would be. I have to be honest, when the ride finally reached its destination — a biker bar/restaurant — I was “done.” Tired. Exhausted. It is hard to ride when it is cold, even with warm leathers and tall boots to keep you warm. Sapped all of the energy right out of me! So I kept on going and came home. (I don’t really like that restaurant anyway, and with as many hungry bikers as were on this ride, I anticipated that service would be awfully slow.)
I am glad that I made the decision to leave early, because I had been home not 15 minutes before we had an unexpected rain shower.
Anyway, it was a treat to be able to ride on 1 January.
What did I wear? My LAPD leather breeches with Wesco Patrol Boots, a leather shirt, and my Motocross leather jacket. (And I also had on long underwear — layers really helped!)
Life is short: ride when you can, and remember to wear boots and leather!