Ridin to a Cure

The sun is shinning. It’s a beautiful fall morning, unlike yesterday, the day of my last big motorcycle ride of the season.

Yesterday was the Ridin to a Cure motorcycle ride for Breast Cancer. The ride is the Rock County H.O.G. Chapter’s major fund raiser. I hadn’t done this particular ride before, but I’d heard it was great fun with over 1,000 riders participating and a big party after the ride. While it IS a good cause (I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know somebody that’s had to fight the battle), the weather in late September in Wisconsin can be horrible, to say the least, and not at all conducive to riding a bike.

The temperature yesterday morning was somewhere in the mid to high 40’s, and it was cloudy. That’s damn cold on a bike. The weather forecast called for a slight possibility of rain in the late afternoon. At 9:00AM, in my full leather regalia, I headed out the door to meet the girls. My partner (the saner one, or perhaps less adventurous?) decided it was too cold to ride, and she was staying home. There were six of us that decided to brave the weather and we headed out to Oconomowoc (about 40 miles away) where the ride was to begin. We were about three quarters of the way there when the clouds opened up and it began to pour. 40 degrees and rain …..nice…. My rain gear was in my bike bags, of course, because it wasn’t going to rain until late in the afternoon, remember? Drenched, we arrived at the staging area. The organizers sent out groups of about one hundred riders at a time and we were in the ninth group. While the weather can be wet and cold at this time of year, the scenery can be breathtaking. We rode north through some beautiful countryside with the leaves on the trees one big mosaic of green, orange, red, and brown. It rained a little, but the sun managed to pop through the clouds now and then. It was about a 75 mile ride and by the end the sun was shining and the temperature had risen to the mid to upper 50s. There was food and music, with lots of raffles and such to raise money for the cause. And, as I usually am at these rides, I was awed by the diversity of the riders. But then, I guess I don’t fit the stereotypical rider mold either. When most people that I know, or meet, find out I ride, they get this weird look of amazement. Oh well….

So, another season comes to a close. I may get out for a short ride here and there, but the big rides are over. What comes next? Ah, snow shoveling…… fun…….. yea, right…..