YESSSS!!!!!!

Sunday. Sunny. 37 degrees (F). You know what that means!


First Ride of the Year - photo by Reena

Oh man, was this ride a long time coming. Madison has had snow and ice since late November. The roads have literally been ice packed until just recently. Yesterday temperatures soared to 35 and real melting happened. When I poked my nose outside this morning it was too, er, warm to pass up.

Our bestest riding buddy ever has long since moved away and now lives in Birmingham, AL. Several times recently he has called and said it was warm and he was going for a ride and he was thinking of me. Today is my turn. As I pulled the bike out of the garage - caught off guard by the sudden arrival of winter, this bike was still ready to ride - I looked at the ice at the end of the driveway, the mountains of snow along the road and in my yard and thought of a New Years Day ride Devon and I took many years ago (15?, 18?). He rode behind me because his bike was sensibly stored for winter. We rode 3 miles or so to the capitol building where an annual NYD ride begins. It was COLD that day but the main roads were snow free. We had a cuppa coffee, I paid for the ride and got the souvenir coffee cup (which I used this morning!) and we rode back home. It is a frequent memory of a good time with a good friend.

We are going to meet him in Chicago to hit the motorcycle expo and spend a couple of days laughing, wallowing in all things motorcycle related, and enjoying each other's company. Today's ride is just the opening line of a new story for us to share.