How I Love the Mountain Shadow Riders

To ride in a deluge to get to the Blood Run….

We lined up for the Blood Run and were off promptly at 11:00 AM. It was a beautiful morning and I was so glad to have great weather to ride around in! Our run was a jaunt in the Black Forest area. I love riding in the area because it is beautiful and is a nice change of pace from the twisties of the Rocky Mountains. We rode for a bit and then stopped for lunch.

Lunch was a great stop. We had a couple of new MSR members ride with us. Michelle, a new member and rider, rode along with us. Our lunch discussion was about group riding because of an incident that occurred.

We were riding along in our little group of about 10 or 12 bikes and this guy on a motorcycle cut into the group. He forced his way in. No worries, we all knew to adjust the pattern and roll on. He happened to cut in front of Michelle and she really didn’t know what to do. Well, she let him in, but it disrupted the serpentine pattern, so she moved over, which made the rider behind her move over…and then me….I knew better….I moved up.

We talked about this very situation, because the crossing of lanes in an entire chain is dangerous. Instead, the rule is to move forward or back to change the serpentine. She apologized to us for the error..but honestly, the error was ours. After all, she didn’t know and we didn’t know she didn’t know. Well, everyone knows now so it’s all good!

Lunch is finished and we head out. The destination is Memorial Hospital’s Administrative Building for the blood drive. One of the riders was smart—she saw the black cloud and put on her rain gear. I figured we’d beat the rain.

Boy, was I wrong.

This time of year, the weather is very unpredictable. We get no more than a few miles down the road when the first spattering of raindrops hit my windshield…..then became a downpour. I don’t mind riding in the rain, but this was pretty brutal. The big fat raindrops were beating down and owie, owie, owie. At one red light, I look at the gal I’m riding behind and say—

“This is the pits, you know I must love the MSR—either that or I’m an idiot”.

We laughed at the ridiculousness of our situation. Yes, we could stop, but hey, we were already wet. We push on.

Finally at our destination, I peel off the bike and run in. The MSR members there took one look at our soaking wet drowned rat appearance and burst out laughing. Yeah, I’d have laughed too…except it was me who was soaking wet! LOL….well, really, I was laughing anyways, getting mad wasn’t going to make me any drier so all that was left was to laugh. Just a page in a chapter of our lives.
The Blood Run was a lot of fun, the best part wasn’t giving blood (getting stuck by a needle is never fun); the fellowship of my friends was what made it a wonderful day. I will give props to my dear HOG member who braved his way to our blood drive and gave blood—for the first time in his life. To do it for us meant a lot to me.

We didn’t have as many blood donations as we wanted; however, we also know that the first time events are usually difficult. The Blood Run Chapter is closed….so now it is time to concentrate on our Breast Cancer Run. It’s our big event and we have quite a few really cool plans for the event.

Stay tuned for details…..

For the record, I did get dry and the ride home was uneventful. Of course, the rest of the day was not, but that is a story for tomorrow.

As always,

Keep The Shiny Side Up!

~The Rainbow Wahine