My other means of transportation

I ride a motorcycle. (A Suzuki SV 650) Now that it's finally starting to "cool off" in Texas (90s instead of 100s), I'm riding more often to work. Plus, with gas prices going through the roof, it makes more sense to ride than drive. I get MUCH better gas mileage on my bike.

It's interesting the reaction I get from friends and strangers when they learn I ride. Once, when I stopped at the grocery store on my way in to work, a couple of guys saw me from across the parking lot. One said to the other, "Dude! It's a chick on a bike!" I don't usually like being referred to as a baby chicken, but I still thought that was pretty cool.

At work, we've added several new people over the last few months (the hotter than hell months when I don't ride much), so coworkers are still learning this fact about me. Girls say, "you go, girl!" and guys say, "you ride a bike? wow..."

Contrary to my brother-in-law Anthony's belief, I didn't start riding because guys think it's cool when a girl rides. I actually didn't even realize that.

My dad had a Honda motorcycle when I was 10-12 years old, and I remember a couple of times he would pick me up from school on it. I loved waving goodbye to my friends, saying, "that's my dad!" and climbing on the back. He would take me riding through back country roads and sometimes let me sit in front of him and pretend to steer. I would wear the motorcycle helmet while I rode my bicycle around the neighborhood, pretending it was a motorcycle. (You can imagine the absurdity of this: this was before bicycle helmets were used.)

Later on, I dated a couple guys with bikes, too. One a Harley guy and one a sports biker. The latter knew how much I enjoyed riding with him and encouraged me to take the safety course and learn how to do it myself. I didn't think I would like it, but he kept badgering me until I agreed to try it.

I didn't like it...I LOVED it. That was the year I turned 30, so I joked that getting my first motorcycle was like my "midlife crisis" purchase.

I know my mom worries. She even asked me, "You don't go on highways, do you?" (This is pretty impossible to avoid since my company's building is on a service road of a highway.) My grandmother can't even stand me talking about it. She just starts going "Ohhhh....I don't like that you ride that thiiiiiing..." until I change the subject.

It makes you a much more defensive driver. You have to constantly watch the cars around you, because more often than not, they don't see you. I pretend I'm invisible to them, taking the responsibility of staying out of their way on myself. I do a lot of pulse-driving, similar to how my grandmother drives her car. But I do it to stay out of car's blindspots.

I'm not one of those riders that fly by you, engines screaming. I don't do wheelies (front wheel up) or stoppies (back wheel up). I stick to what I learned in the safety course: know your limits and know the limits of your bike, and don't go beyond them. And I wear protective gear: helmet, motorcycle boots, gloves and jacket that have kevlar. (One of my coworkers teases me that the boots look like "retard shoes." They're definitely not for fashion.)

It's exhilirating when you get a stretch of open road. Then there's nothing but you and the bike. I can tune out all the other thoughts in my head and just concentrate on riding. Even a few minutes of not multitasking is so refreshing.