Lessons Learned

So I finally got to ride with my Dad.

We left the SF Bay area at noon, after I rode out there about 300 miles that morning to meet him for the beginning of "our" run up to the MT Shasta area (Dunsmuir, to be precise).

As it was his first long run in about 40+ years, I let him set the pace and took up on his six, mainly to keep the tailgaters off him as they didn't like my loud-azz V-H Pro-pipe - gotta love 'em! He (72 years old on a real quiet BMW 850R) was below speed limit for the first 100 miles or so. Saw his shoulders hunched and tense and was worried. Made a gas stop, then later a food stop, and with the thinning traffic I saw him relax more. Another gas stop in Redding and he was back in youth form - as we hit the twisties in the mountains I could see the joy was overriding the exhaustion. It was great and we made it all the way with no problems.

A day in the mountains at our family cabin retreat, then we headed home. He was already there in a way, loving his ride and reliving his days on his '47 Harley. At the 150 mile mark he suggested I just cut out and head home, to save me a couple hours extra road time and get me back to my honey and kids a day sooner. I took the offer, and he made it home safe by himself....extremely satisfied - and that goes for both of us!

But on my way back I was following a cement truck on HWY 20 through California, and nearly ate gravel. I was tired and so when I saw the truck in front of me I figured I'd just follow him through the twisties and be fine. Then - Lesson 1 - I learned that was a mistake. Seems he was rolling along at good speed because he was gonna veer off on to a dirt road that began at a SHARP corner, and I wasn't going there. So when I hit that corner I had to use ALL my skill and my wife and kids' prayers for me to make it through. The Lesson was - when you ride, YOU ride, don't rely on the vehicle in front to be your guide...they may not be going where you think!

Lesson 2 was the joy I found in cruising along at the speed limit, which I'd not done in, well, forever. Riding with my Dad made me appreciate the ride more than I'd been doing. So when I had to make a Reno run (about 150 miles round trip) yesterday, I did the speed limit (mostly) and learned how much fun just riding was - again. After all, a longer trip on a bike is all joy - in a car it is worse than work.

Thought I'd share......ride safe! And try it slower - ya might like it more!

I'm glad your Dad finally eased into it. Sounds like a nice ride.

Somewhere on my trip I was following a big truck. The traffic lights must have been low, because this has never happened to me before. The truck would go through the light and I was just following along and before I knew it, I'd run a red light. I did it twice. After that I backed way off.

Good job, Red Rider! Sounds like an experience that neither of you will forget for the remainder of your days.

Nice Red.....sounds like the beginning of something that will be remembered for a long time to come.