I still didn’ t see the big deal. Buy a bike … check. Paint it the desired color … check. Add a couple of modifications … check. A couple of days in paint …. a couple more for tweaks …. check. Buy some leather gear, a helmet and some cool shades … check. Close your eyes and point to a destination on the map then go riding … check. I‘ m not sure, but I would bet there was a little less engineering and thought utilized in the construction of the space shuttle.
After in depth researching of makes, models and manufactures of trikes, trike kits, exhausts, wheels, tires, tire sizes, tank design, rake and triple tree calculations, paint schemes, fender design, floor boards vs no floor boards, lights, accent lighting, contrast cut replacement parts, air suspensions and a plethora of additional choices and decisions( oh, and the cup holder … can’ t forget the cup holder)…. I was overwhelmed. I should have known what was to come when we fashioned the design for the fenders out of cardboard on a card table in our driveway and it took us two days. I seriously didn’ t think we’ d ever get to the riding part.
Bill stayed very involved in the build and kept me abreast of progress and involved in decisions. You couldn’ t imagine my surprise and absolute elation when in early September, 2014, Tyler Goodbout( then with Gunslinger, now Goodies Cycles) rolled out of the garage this gorgeous citrus beauty we now call“ Cactus Medicine”. It had been 8 long months. I couldn’ t believe what they had done with our original design. Simply stunning! I asked them to do some additional graphics on the sides of the tank and they did a spectacular job. The best part though was when Tyler and painter, Jeff Showalter, gifted us with matching painted helmets. I couldn’ t stop crying …. over a motorcycle … who would’ ve thought.
The very next day we rode the Veterans Memorial ride to Cripple Creek, Co. I was in utter awe the entire ride. It wasn’ t just the number of bikes ….. or all the exotic types of bikes …… or the diversity of riders …… but the visual canvas of bikes laid out before us, two by two ….. for miles ……. I had no idea! I couldn’ t stop waving at all the people who had lined the route to wave flags and throw peace signs. Cars would pull up next to us and the people, especially kids, would just smile or give us a thumbs up. Sometimes they would roll down the windows and start a conversation with us while sitting at a light. Being a passenger is awesome because I get to see ALL of that. I can shoot photos and see all the things I couldn’ t see( or slept through) if I were in a vehicle. As we approached town, I was overcome with the sadness of the event and a pride that I can’ t explain. The crowd was surreal. I don’ t think I could have felt what it was I was feeling anywhere but on the back of that bike.
Since then we have gone on some truly awesome rides. My favorite part of being a passenger is that I can see everything around me, I can actually smell the journey, both the sweet and the not-so-sweet, and feel the rapid fluctuations in temperature as we ride. One minute I’ m sweating in my leathers, the next
minute we’ ve gone into a canyon, the sun is going down and it’ s so cold I could cut glass with my nipples--you girls know what I’ m talking about!
All in all I think the best part of having the trike is the people it attracts to us and the conversations it encourages. I think there is a preconceived notion out there that trikes are owned mainly by women, the elderly and persons with disabilities …. not so. We are seeing more and more trikes on the road all the time and those trikes are ridden by a pretty wide variety of people.
Bill and I have entered the Trike in several shows and I think it is just so cool to hear some of the comments— especially when we can hear those comments and they come from people you would least expect them to come from. Many people have said things like,“ Well, I’ m not a fan of trikes but, I didn’ t know they could look like this. It’ s pretty amazing!”
During one show, I was sitting behind the bike reading when I noticed a young man standing back and looking at the bike with a melancholy look on his face. So I got up and started to talk with him. Turns out he was in the military and in Colorado on leave. He said that his Dad had had a trike and that he had passed away some years before. I asked what happened to the trike? He said he thought his uncle back east may have gotten it but he wasn’ t sure. He told me what fond memories he had of his Dad and that trike and how much he liked ours. I was dead serious when I told him that he should get on his phone, call his uncle, and find out what happened to his Dad’ s trike. I said,“ Right now, call him continued on down the aisle. and find out.” He just smiled and said he did not know really where the trike was and he
About an hour later he stopped by again, this time with a huge smile on his face. He said,“ I called my uncle. He still has the trike! He said I can have it!” He gave me a huge hug and had tears in his eyes. He thanked me and said he had not thought of those memories of his father and the trike quite some time. He said he was going to refurbish the bike in memory of his Dad.
I now think that having the opportunity to experience motorcycles, whether as a rider or a passenger, is one of the most awesome freedoms we can enjoy. Bikes can and do bring total strangers together and give us the ability to experience our surroundings in a very unique way. Thank you to Thunder Roads Colorado for featuring our bike in the magazine this month. This has been so much fun!
I also want to send a special thank you to our photographer; Wayne Madison and his wife Sue, for making this very nervous and aging lady feel at ease and beautiful ….
P. S. I am also hoping to appear on the Thunder Roads Colorado magazine tattoo page once I get my first tattoo. I want my first tattoo to be a camel on my big toe …… I wonder if I’ ll be charged extra for two humps:) www. thunderroadscolorado. com February 2016 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado 23