Middleburg Christmas Parade 2008
Last night, Scarlet made her parade debut. Beatiful as she is, no, she was not the parade queen. Not even a princess. However, we did ride with a local ABATE chapter in the 2008 Middleburg Christmas Parade. The group rode in the parade in order to encourage awareness of motorcycles on the road, and since ABATE has traditionally been a very cruiser-oriented group, they’re trying to encourage more sportbike riders to join as well (hence our appearance — with some friends — in the parade).
For me, this whole parade was just a blast. I’ve never lived in a small town like Middleburg that actually reroutes traffic to have a little hometown celebration of this nature. There were several local schools with cheerleaders and drill teams, Shriners, Church organizations, horses, dogs, classic cars and more. Most of the “floats” were actually car/motorcycle trailers decorated almost like life-size dioramas, with lights, tinsel, trees and music. There were Nativity scenes, Snoopy’s doghouse, Santa and elves, outhouses… and lots of blinky lights!
The parade route was only a mile long, but the families (particularly children!) came out in droves. The kids were by far the most fun part of the whole experience. It seems most kids, regardless of age or gender, love motorcycles. And they love them even more when you rev it up for them on command. They’d squeal and clap when we revved it up for them (and then inevitably, a few would ask us to pop a wheelie for them, which we just couldn’t do under the circumstances).
While there were a few other women riding passenger in the group, Brenda and I were the only female riders, which many of the kids seemed to notice. At one point, two women standing with a group of little girls noticed, shouting “It’s a girl! LOOK! They’re GIRLS!” and then proceeded to scream and cheer, like we were some sort of celebrity or something!! Admittedly, that was kind of cool, because you hope that the underlying message they were trying to send to their little girls was “See, you can do that too!”
Following the parade, we reconvened with the rest of the group, then headed out to grab some dinner. It was exceptionally cold and windy, and no amount of layers seemed to keep the cold out, but it was still a great experience, one we hope to participate in again next year.
Miles Ridden: 102
Night Swimming….
(…because Night Riding just sounded too corny).
As I’ve mentioned before, since getting the R1, I’ve rediscovered the joy of night riding. Last night we did another short little jaunt, once again down US1 and 210 into Nocatee and Ponte Vedra, stopping in Jacksonville Beach for dinner. It was just four of us, which makes for a nice relaxed and stress-free ride.
I’m finding that I’m getting more comfortable with the bike. I’m starting to second-guess myself a bit less in the turns, and trying to improve my lean angle and speed through them. It’s 50-50, really…. half the time, I kinda get nervous and slow way down, and the other half of the time I just GO for it, and come out grinning, squealing “OH, that was fun! Can we do it again?” As long as I can increase the squeal to chickening-out ratio, I’ll be alright. I still feel like a completely newbie rider though… *sigh*
Miles Ridden: 62
Peaceful, (br)easy feelin…..
Back when I was new to riding, we used to venture out in the evening pretty regularly. Once traffic had died down, and the roads were empty, it was the perfect time to get in some seat time with my bike, and really ‘learn’ her.
But over the years, the nighttime rides became more and more infrequent. So I was thrilled when some friends suggested we head out for a little impromptu evening ride last night. Just my husband and I, three friends, some newly paved roads, and dinner. What more could I ask for?
Since we haven’t ridden at night in so long, I’d forgotten how calming and peaceful it is. It was cold (almost bitter cold), but even so, it was just a very relaxing ride. No MP3 player, no talking, just the hum of the engine between my legs and my own thoughts.
Pausing to defrost
Miles Ridden: 65
