NEW RIDERS, GO!

    I just have a few minutes before I have to go to work but I thought I 
would share this with you.

    Do you remember the excitement and thrills you felt when you first 
became a motorcycle rider? It was a great fealing. Granted that 
excitement never left most of us, but that begining was such a fantastic 
combination of emotions. 

    Last week Joyce and I took Nancy, a new rider, out for her first real 
motorcycle ride. Nancy is a single mother in her 30s, she has taken and 
passed the MSF beginers course. Nancy bought herself a 700cc SHADOW and 
had not taken it any further than her neighborhood.

    A very excited Nancy was waiting for us when we arrived at our 
meeting place. She told us that she was excited and also a bit nervous. 
She said she was still a bit slow on her starts and took some turns a 
little wider than normal. We quickly explained that all of that was 
normal for a new rider. We assured her that we would ride at her pace and 
for her just to relax and enjoy the ride.

    So off we went, Joyce led with Nancy in the middle and I took up the 
last position. We instructed Nancy just to follow Joyce and told her that 
I would be watching her and cover for her if she needed it. Her first 
take off was a bit slow but otherwise fine. As we headed down the road 
she graduly picked up her pace and was doing fine.

     Our ride took us over almost every kind of riding from a busy 
highway to the back roads of a State Park. At our first stop, Nancy got 
off her Shadow beaming with joy. She kept thanking us for taking her on 
this ride. Her joy and excitement was infectious. Both Joyce and I were 
very happy for and with her.

     We continued the ride with Nancys riding skills improving every 
mile. By the end of the ride we had covered about eighty miles. Not a 
long ride for us but for Nancy it was great.

     If you get the chance, help a new rider. Just seeing the joy in 
their eyes can remind all of us why we ride.

    
(Ed: Mmmmmm... Memories!)