Although in my youth I had a little red Honda Trail 50 before I had a real bicycle, there have been more times that I was “off” the bike, than “on.”  Growing up around the race track, my Dad actively raced stock cars and we were in the road quite a bit.  As you can imagine, free time was at a premium.  I enjoyed it all though, being around race cars, the 2-, 3- and 4-wheelers, playing with the Odyssey on the sandbar of Louisiana on the Mississippi River, etc.  However, in time, things such as marriage, pregnancy, being overseas, active duty military, going to college, getting established in the workplace, etc. took precedence for a while. 

Fortunately, in 1995, I got my first brand new bike, a Yamaha Virago 250. It was red and looked sleek.  I rode it as much as I could, but again, soon other duties took command of my time.  A few years later, I began gravitating back into biking through the local chapter of the Christian Motorcycle Association (CMA).  Making meetings, Biker Sundays and rallies with some friends, I eventually got back in the biking scene.  Still years later,  after my son was born, I finally took the test for my endorsement on my license, thus becoming “street legal.”  What a proud moment!  One less worry should I be pulled over.

Just a couple years ago, a motorcycle enthusiast friend told me about a great deal on a bike.  So, we went to look at it and OH MY GOSH!  It was just PERFECT!  It was a 2-tone blue 2004 Yamaha V-Star 650.  It was a wonderful day!  I rode it and rode it and rode it.  Now, you have to understand that I am vertically-challenged, so I would actually “teeter-totter” on my tip-toes when at a complete stop, and please don’t let me get stuck on a hill!  In no time, I had dropped it.  Actually, twice in one day!  Talk about embarrassed!  Well, fortunately for me, some adjustments were made on it, lowering not only the rear suspension, but also the handlebars, which resulted in a much better fit.  Then I decided to add a few goodies to “make it mine.”  I had an engine guard put on (an afterthought! LOL!), highway pegs, Vance and Hines pipes, light bar, etc. just in time to take it to Sturgis South 2006!  A friend rode my ’95 Virago (with embarrassingly low mileage – practically brand new) to Sturgis, MS with a for sale sign on it for me, which resulted in it being sold (to someone who lived close by to me!)  Isn’t that funny…small world!