intruder alert!

a week ago, my jerry'd gone into work cuz one of his student workers was unable to make her shift {she was 'snowbound'}. so cuz he had extra eight hours, he took off from work early on wednesday and friday both. friday was so beautiful, perfect weather for riding the bike! i've not been riding yet, and i haven't been on a motorcycle in ten years.

but that didn't stop me from asking jerry if we could ride up to memphis and see a friend. sure, he said, and then perched me on the back of his bike and off we went! i wore one of his helmets and borrowed a jacket that was hanging around, no one is sure who left it. since the jacket was large for me, and since it was leather, it didn't really fit around my chest/throat area well, but i made it work just fine. what happened was that when i'd sit, the jacket front would move up and choke me. if i opened it some, the velcro fastener at the throat would actually rub my cheeks raw. so we need to figure out something else for me in the future, in jacket wearing weather.

on the ride up to memphis (which is about 200 miles), we had taken a route which cut on an angle, northwest/southeast. this meant that he was fighting crosswinds every step of the way. so we took another route home and it was so much better! it was a lil chilly coming home at night, but oh so worth it!

he has a king/queen seat, which means that i sit up higher than he does. this was a lil odd for me, as i was actually used to sitting lower on a bike or on the same level. so at first, i sorta hunched over, cuz i was thinking that i didn't want to sit up straight and be creating extra drag for him. then i realized that the seat is like that for a reason and after checking with him, i did sit up and wow! i could see lots and lots. the king/queen seat is definitely the way to go!!

these are stock pix of a suzuki intruder volusia 800, very similar to my jerry's bike. he does have a ferring (windshield) and saddle bags (different than the ones shown). he does have a backrest bar for the passenger (queen me! winks) tho the pad actually is missing, but with all my extra padding, this is not a problem.

motorcycle.com calls this bike "small but mighty and mean". it is a bit more compact than the other bikes i've ridden, but more comfortable and less bulky. jerry rides his bike year-round, when rain is not likely. he's outfitted for the cold weather and rides even when the temps are decidedly chill (mid-30s). most days, he rides to work and since he's known me, he has probably driven his truck more than the last three years combined! this in part is cuz i live on a dirt road and most anyone who has ridden a bike can tell ya that gravel is not a biker's friend. and ya know, courting can be a bit complicated on a bike when it comes to talking and things.

in today's economy, the bike's mileage is especially welcome. the total 500 miles we'd ridden this weekend came to a total of less than $20. the bike gets between 40 and 45 miles to the gallon. yea!!

i had bikers' butt for a bit, mostly cuz it's been about ten years since i've ridden. and this trip to memphis was about 400 miles, round trip. we then went out on the following day and enjoyed the weather some more. plus we rode it when we went to see 'watchmen' (followed the graphic novel perfectly). so we started the weekend with a bang! and ended it with a nice nap. dude, i was t.a.r.d.