Welcome to the Family!

I got my first motorcycle for my 14th birthday. About a month later, Mark and Todd, the twins that lived across the street got their motorcycles. From that moment, the adventure was on.

Almost every day, we would mount up on our steel horses and off we would ride. We would head, to what we called “the woods”, a large undeveloped area of our subdivision. We would twist through the trees, fly up and down the hills, explore new areas, but most of all...we would ride.

Over time, memories have a way of turning into stories, and sometimes these stories develop into legends. To me, these stories are legendary. For the better part of a year, most all of our free time was spent on the backs of our motorcycles. Then, as I was approaching 15, my motorcycle suffered a catastrophic engine failure. The ride was over.

The next year slowly evolved into a learner's permit, followed by a driver's license. In short time, the legendary era of the motorcycle gave way to driving, cars, and girls.

Time went by, but there are three distinct memories that I kept from my motorcycle days. The first is the feeling of turning that ignition key and seeing that bright green indicator light, signaling the bike was in neutral. For the longest time, that green was my favorite color, and to this day triggers those memories. The next is pulling in the clutch in and pressing that gear lever down into first. As the gear would engage, you could feel the bike tighten up beneath you. And the last is that feeling, at the start of every ride, when you pull your feet off the ground and up to the foot pegs for the first time. It's the moment you know that “it's on”!

Over 30 years have passed since then, but Ive often looked back, longingly on those memories and wondered if they could be re-captured. Would the experience still stir my soul the same way. You know, it's like that perfect vacation you try to re-create, but yet seldom lives up to the memory. Try driving through your old childhood neighborhood. The memories come flooding back, but looking around, you know it's not the same. Just memories...

About six years ago, a friend of mine at work asked if a few of us would be interested in a weekend motorcycle riding class. Of course I said yes! Early on the first day, performing a very slow speed turn, I made the mistake of looking down to see if I had cleared the cone...and dropped the bike. They said don't look down, because where you look is where you will go, and sure enough, that's exactly what happened.

I went on to pass the course and get my motorcycle license, but that fall left a gash in my confidence. Shortly after, we moved to New York for a couple of years and then back home to Texas.

Nothing further happened with motorcycles, partly due to that small gash in my confidence, allowing doubt to slowly drip in. This year I decided the time had come, and signed up for another class at our local Harley dealership. The class was this last weekend, and was incredible. The class chemistry and instruction was amazing, and the damage to my confidence has been repaired.




One of my favorite quotes by Benjamin Franklin:

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

While I hold to this truth, I think the same can be said about motorcycles. I know our role here is that of Ambassador, as we are to be representatives of eternity; but I truly believe that we are also created for pleasure and God wants us to be happy while we are here.

I love to picture in my mind, Jesus and His close friends, sitting around a campfire laughing, cutting up, talking over the events of the day, and just relishing the moment. I know these times were cherished by all, but especially Jesus, knowing His mission and what lied ahead. Just one of the many wonders of His creation and I love that.

So, was I able to re-capture the magic? Well, if my ride today was any indication...YES, and I'm well on my way to creating new stories of legend.

For those of you stirred by this story, and you know who you are, I highly recommend taking the new rider's course. Here's a quote that was in my log book that pretty much sums it up...

“Four wheels move the body.
Two wheels move the soul.”

Well, that's another view from life's sidecar...this time taken from the back of my Harley!