I am NOT a Biker Babe!

He wore business suits and ties during the week, but really thought of himself as a Biker… on the weekends.

Naturally, a couple of dates in, I found myself invited on an excursion to ride his Honda Gold Wing. I was to wear jeans and tennis shoes and he would pick me up in the morning. We would take the ferry across the water and enjoy a nice motorcycle ride to a small town to explore and have some lunch. Then back home. It sounded like fun. What could go wrong?

Saturday rolled around and I had on my jeans and my tennis shoes. Normally, I am wearing dresses, skirts, and heels. So, this was my best Biker Babe outfit. He picked me up and gave me a brief tutorial on motorcycle safety and handed me a helmet.

I was surprised to see that his motorcycle’s back passenger seat had arm rests. At first, I thought great, comfy for me. However, I soon realized this presented a challenge getting on and off the motorcycle. There was also a tall antenna. This too presented a challenge as you could not swing your leg over the back of the motorcycle to get on. You had to step over the middle of the seat area, like a hurdle. He also needed to be on the motorcycle to steady it. So, for a newbie like me, there was about 10-inch window to get your leg up and over, without kicking your date in his back or kicking his treasured motorcycle. I took a deep breath and went for it. Success! He told me to wrap my arms around him and hold tight. Away we went!

On the way to the ferry, he hit a dip in the road and there was an odd noise. He shared he forgot to put air in the tires, but don’t worry. Hmmm… Mom always said motorcycles were a death trap and now I am flying at mach speeds on one. I hung on a little tighter.

We arrived at the ferry and motorcycles load up first. I noticed the other motorcycles and the people riding them. There was Mercedes motorcycle and a sexy man riding it! There were two couples on their Harleys. The ladies each had their own Harley. They totally looked like Biker Babes! Dew rags, leather coats and chaps, boots, and suntanned wrinkles from squinting your eyes while riding. I smiled and waved at them. No response. However, the one with a pink dew rag, looked me up and down while I was sitting on his motorcycle. Honestly, she scared me a little.

My date suggested we go up on the deck for the ferry ride over. I stepped down with my left foot and my tippy toes touched the floor of the ferry. I started to slide my right leg off and my leather tennis shoe got stuck between the seat and the arm rest. I gave it a couple of tugs and nothing. My date asked what was going on, as he was facing forward and had his helmet on. I quickly told him, and he said to just to give it a big pull. I did and bam! My foot came out of my shoe, and I landed on my back on the floor of the ferry. So grateful to be wearing a helmet because my head hit hard. I opened my eyes, and the pink dew rag Biker Babe was looking down at me and asked if I was ok. I felt embarrassed and a sense of relief at the same time – she was checking on me! She followed up with, “Your first ride?” I laughed and asked, “How can you tell? What gave it away?” We laughed. Then I heard my date say, “Why are you laying down on the floor?” The Sexy Mercedes Biker, replied to him while walking towards me and extending a hand to help me up. “She fell getting off your bike. You didn’t notice?” And at that moment in time, I had my first and only crush on a biker, Mr. Sexy Mercedes Biker! He saved me from the dirty ferry floor and called out my date, who had nothing to say.

The rest of the ferry ride went well and getting back on the motorcycle was much easier the second time around. However, as we left the ferry his bike had a mechanical issue when shifting. Something about a known leak in an air line. He asked if I had a piece of gum. I gave it to him. He chewed it up and then wrapped it around some tubing. His MacGyver tricked worked and away we went.

Once on the open roads in the country, the riding was much smoother. I even learned that when you pass another biker you slightly raise your left hand from your side and do a peace sign pointed down or keep your pointer and middle finger side by side. It is simply to acknowledge the other biker and means “keeping it on two wheels”. With not much to do as the passenger on a bike, I took it upon myself to “peace” every biker we passed. We arrived at our destination and enjoyed the small town. We window shopped, had lunch, and went to the beach. Eventually made our way back to his bike and the first thing we both noticed was the pink bubble gum had fallen off the tubing and was lying on the sidewalk. I just reached in my purse and handed him another piece of gum. It was time to ride this death trap home.