STICK1

I pulled up to Betty’s place for the KSU of 7:30 on a Wednesday morning with a fresh tank of gas in the bike and the Men’s Ministry meeting for the soul. I’d run into Betty at a friend’s 50^th birthday party the Saturday before and she invited me to ride with a group that pulls out of Lancaster on Wednesday mornings. Well, ‘run into’ is a bit misleading since I expected her to be there and had a 40 or so year old photo of her younger son Brian in my pocket. The honoree, Michelle, and Brian had been a part of a youth group that my wife and I acted as youth pastors for and I had searched for a photo of Michelle as an 11-year old with my helmet and gloves on. Betty’s invite came at a good time since I haven’t been able to connect with my riding friends from the southeast and I really wanted to ride with some folks.

Betty had her kick stand up and ready to pull out when I rode up but she needed to gas up her red 1996 Harley Dyna with a black rose detail on the tank and soft bags behind her. I’m not sure what type of Dyna it is; Street Bob, Low Rider, Wide Glide, Fat Bob, or Switchback. Regardless, the bike fit her well. And, I only know those names from the Harley website. We rode out to the Antelope Valley Harley-Davidson dealership to meet up with the main group - a 65 mile freeway ride to just to get started. I was a little apprehensive about riding my Victory Cross Country (VCC) into a Harley ride - after all, we bikers can be a zealous lot when it comes to our rides. I found them to be a likable group of experienced riders out for a little morning run with friends and any friend of Betty’s…

My '71 Honda CB500

Our 65-mile run to the meet point in AV was uneventful with the traffic flowing toward LA and wide open in front of us to the northeast. I’d ridden with Betty on one other occasion over Angeles Crest to Newcomb’s Ranch for a birthday lunch when I was still riding my ’07 Honda Sabre. Betty led the way and set a comfortable pace with a nice line. I had some time to think and found myself going back over the photos that I’d dug up the Saturday before. They included a B&W of my first bike, a ’71 Honda CB500. Those four cylinders took me wherever I wanted to go, including a 6,000 mile western-states tour that should be the subject of a multi-part flashback post. Those earlier rides also included taking Betty’s kids as well as the others from that church group for little rides around the neighborhood and rides up to Bass Lake to meet church groups that my mom worked with and taking those kids on rides around the campgrounds. If I tried to do that today the church leaders would only walk away shaking their heads and mumbling about liabilities. The old photos included one of my license plate: STICK1. I’m tempted to see if I can resurrect that one for my VCC. 

STICK1 - 'nough said

I took a walk through the showroom with Betty to pick up a turn indicator bulb for her Dyna and was very impressed by the bikes on the floor. Harley-Davidson builds some beautiful bikes. To be honest with you, they have a better color selection than Victory, particularly when my selection for 2010 was black or maroon. Victory now has a much better selection of colors and custom looks. To be equally as honest with you, none of those Harleys made we want to beg a salesperson to take my black VCC in trade; I love that bike, it’s taking me anywhere that I want to go.

The group ride was from the dealership out to the Pine Mountain Club where shared a late breakfast. There were 16 riders in total, 11 or 12 Harleys of various models, including a trike that road slack, 2 or 3 Honda Goldwings, and my VCC. We stayed off of the freeways and went out of Lancaster via some two-lane roads passing by Elizabeth Lake to Highway 138 and across the 5 freeway, up a side road to the Pine Mountain Road to our destination. It was a great combination of high desert roads lined with Joshua Trees and low-elevation mountain/canyon roads. These guys were very comfortable together and stayed in a tight formation at an easygoing pace. My relaxed ride held over to a nice breakfast with Betty and the three guys at our end of the long table having pleasant get-to-know-you conversations. I’m looking forward to another ride with them someday, maybe with STICK2.

Y’all keep the iron side up.