by Rene Kelly

Created on: April 20, 2008

Have I ever fallen in front of someone? Not only did I fall, but I took 600 pounds of metal with me and to top it all off, I did it in front of a couple of hundred bikers!

It was Bike Week this year early March in Daytona Beach for those of you who don't know anything about motorcycle culture. Some years, the weather for Bike Week is really miserable; it may be so cold you wonder why you came, so rainy you can't go outdoors, or so hot that it's miserable. But this year it was beautiful. It was Sunday morning, and we decided to get out early. We thought we'd beat the crowds to where the vendors all set up. We wanted to get a couple of t-shirts and to see what other goodies there were.

When we arrived, it was busier than we expected, but not too bad yet. We found a couple of parking places on the street and decided to take them. This is not a big deal for my husband, who has bee riding for most of his 50-odd years; but I've only been riding for about a year. It was important for me to be able to park on the street instead of going to the parking lot.

Well, parking went off without a hitch. I pulled up just past the bikes we were parking next to and backed my bike in with no problems. For anyone who doesn't know, the only "reverse" that most bikes have is your legs. I've heard that some luxury bikes have reverse; but my Yamaha V-Star is a luxury only to me. So I held in the clutch, let off the throttle, and started pedaling backwards. I could have been a little closer to the next bike, but that's OK; I did it.

As I said, it was a nice day, so we spent quite a bit of time there. We walked, shopped, looked at the other bikes and bikers, and enjoyed being in a place where you could get by with only a light jacket during the first week of March. When we had seen all that we wanted to, we headed back to the bikes. We put our t-shirts in one saddlebag, started up the bikes, and got ready to take off.

As you might have expected, both the crowd and the traffic had increased considerably by the time that we were ready to leave. That's where my problems began.

My husband always takes the lead. As the more experienced rider, he's better able to judge conditions and decide what we need to do. There was a break in traffic, so he pulled out. I expected to be right behind him. Was I in for a surprise!

I don't know what happened. Maybe I turned the fork too much trying to stay in the right lane; maybe I gave it too much gas trying to get out into traffic; I just don't know. But the next thing I knew, I was picking myself up off the ground.

No matter what you may have heard, bikers are great guys. By the time I was on my feet, there were half a dozen of them picking up my bike. And not a one of them was laughing. Those guys have no idea how much my ego and I appreciate that. I thanked them and took off, soon catching up to my husband who stopped as soon as he realized that I wasn't behind him.

Thanks to good crash bars, both the bike and I were unharmed except for that bruised ego of mine. As we stopped at the next light, my husband told me that it was OK and that every one who rides has done the same thing at some point. I realize that and I'm sure my rescuers would have said the same thing to another guy; however, I just can imagine them thinking about me, "What do you expect if you let women ride?" Just wait until next year. I'll be a year more experienced and I'll show them all that I can do it.

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