But...It's...STICKY

This one out of the hysterical archives of not being too bright.

The time frame of this story is during the Rolling Axe Murders Tour.  It is one for the record books simply because it's absolutely stupid!  And my ego is ready to admit that it's all me...me....me.......

And still dumb.

When I have the opportunity to ride long distances, I'll park many items in between the space of my windshield and handlebars.   Usually it's a bottle or two of water crammed in the space so I don't have to stop every 6.2 miles for a drink. 

I had pulled out of the group to ride to Four Corners for a picture for the Mountain Shadow Rider's Scavenger Hunt.  I was bound and determined to get this photo since it was one that I think was absolutely neat.  I remember pulling out at oh-dark-thirty to head out and was enjoying the solitude of a sole jaunt down the highway.  The temps weren't overly warm and there was little traffic on the highway, so it was The Phantom of the Opera, the background of putt-putt-putt of Harley exhaust and beautiful scenery.

Sometime late morning I got hungry and decided to stop for breakfast.  As a former full-time road warrior, my favorite spot to eat is at the grocery store.  It's relatively inexpensive (versus a restaurant) and I can have all the fruits and veggies without paying restaurant prices.  As I wander around, I spot the fruit of the season all stacked up and calling my name.....

Of course they are cherries.

Cherries are my all-time favorite and I've paid a king's ransom for them out of season.  Fortunately, they are in season and and reasonable, so I snag a bag and decide that is breakfast and a riding snack.  I also figure out that I can tie the grocery bag to my handlebars and eat them while out on the road.

This continues throughout the trip.

Cherries.....good......

I get home from the trip...six days of absolute fun...and manage to get all my gear off the bike.  I discover the bag and find way over ripened fruit.  Out in the trash it goes.

Somehow said cherries seem to be forgotten.   I don't really think much about it, until three weeks later.  One of my friends calls and wants to get out for a scoot and I happily oblige.  As I run around like a mad woman getting dressed, my friend pulls in and decided to take a look at Mr. Chubbs. 

She notices a puddle about six inches around beside my bike and wonders what I'm leaking.  I walk into the garage and look and declare that I have no idea.

So a trip to the dealership is in order to fix this problem.  I pull in and I explain that there is an unknown leak of unknown fluid and I need it fixed.  The tech tells me he'll be out to look at it in a moment.

While I'm waiting, I'm going over what could possibly be wrong.....really, there aren't that many fluids on the front of the bike.  The service writer comes out and asks me a few questions then does the thing that anyone should....he touches the fluid.  He looks at me and says "but it's STICKY".

I immediately started laughing because I knew what it was.  You know, when you leave any fruit in warm weather......so the culprit was the cherries I left on my handlebars for too long.  And the owner/operator of one red Harley Davidson Fatboy gets the idiot award of the day.  That would be me.

It still gets a pretty good chuckle and at on a good note, at least it wasn't an expensive repair.  Hey, it was something a bike wash took care of.

I wish they were all like that!!!

Keep the Shiny Side Up

~The Rainbow Wahine

To Helmet or Not To Helmet

Sigh,  this is one of those things that seems to bring a humongo debate and raise a great deal of ire when someone comments.  I am not going into the debate of whether someone should or should not wear a helmet or if it should or shouldn't be a law.  This is just simply an observation on my part and well, my choice.

The past few months it seems that there has been quite a few motorcycle fatalaties here in the Colorado Springs area.  Death is always tragic no matter how it occurs.  One incident that stuck in my mind was a few weeks ago when a woman, riding her Harley, was killed on Interstate 25.  She was not wearing her helmet.  Honestly, had she been wearing a helmet, she would not have survived.  It was my understanding that she was cut off in traffic and tried to avoid a collision.  In doing so, she hit the guardrail and was more or less decapitated. 

I think the saddest thing was the reaction from the readership from the on-line newspaper article.  There were quite a few heartless comments left regarding this woman not wearing her helmet.  Things like "she got what she deserved" and "I don't feel bad since she chose not to wear a helmet".  With no information available to the readers about how she was killed.  Harumph.

Again, death is tragic no matter how it happens, especially when it is unexpected.  My heart goes out to the family for their loss.

As a rider, I am guilty of not wearing my headgear.  Most times that I do decide to put it on, I normally wear my half-helmet--which doesn't really offer a great deal of protection to my face.  Ask my friend Lucy in Florida--she can tell you about her crash that required reconstructive face surgery.  I do have a full-faced helmet and wear it occasionally.

It is my choice--unless the law tells me otherwise.  Of course, I say this from the side of never having a serious accident, and I hope that I or any other motorcyclist never has one.

My point is that when tragedy strikes, we should all be compassionate.  Death is never easy and losing a wife, mother, husband, father, sister, brother or child is traumatic.  My heart goes out to the family for their loss. I know that the rider, on that day, did not intend on this accident--but died doing something she loved--riding. 

That's all I've got to say about that.

Keep the Shiny Side Up!

~The Rainbow Wahine