Thunder Roads Magazine of Oklahoma/Arkansas May 2016 | Page 8

FEATURES

BY DOUG HENDERSON

This past week I had that singular pleasure of
introducing someone to something new. A friend
of mine, Molly Pezold, who has been around...
gosh, pretty much forever, had NEVER ridden
on a motorcycle. Not even once. This was not an
opportunity I could let go by.
Now to really appreciate this story, you have
to know Molly, but since most of you reading this,
don’t know Molly...let me introduce you. Molly... is
a real class act. I personally have heard her cuss, I
mean really cuss only once, and it was completely
justified (her seat belt wouldn’t work). When I tell
people who know Molly that I have heard her cuss,
they don’t believe me. But Margaret Rogers and
Barry Selke will back me up on this.
Like I said; Molly’s a real class act. So her on
a motorcycle, seemed.... let’s say... incongruous.
But, trooper that she is, on the appointed day, she
showed up at my house, ready to ride. I carefully
explained to her the ends and outs of being a
passenger on a motorcycle. I told her she didn’t
need to lean when we went around a curve or put
her feet down when we stop. I pointed out what parts
would burn her, where she should put her feet, and
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Thunder Roads Magazine of OK/AR

that it was a good idea to keep her shoe laces out of
the open sprockets. She listened very intently. It was
obvious that, we were at the very boundary of her
comfort zone. I loaned her a helmet. Insisting on eyeprotection, I put on my favorite “terminator” shades.
She responded by putting on her “ophthalmologist”
full-cover sunglasses.
When my 30-year-old Harley’s straight pipes
lit off, Molly physically flinched. But she stood her
ground. We were now WAY outside of her comfort
zone. With a fair amount of grace for a newbie, Molly
managed to get one leg over the sissy bar and her
body on to the saddle behind me. Now Ms.Pezold
is very much a lady and sat as far as possible from
me while still being on the same motorcycle as I
was.. Had it not been for the sissy bar, she would
have been sitting on the tail light. The only part of
her body that touched my body was her finger tips
on the very tops of my shoulders.
I clunked the tranny in gear, eased out the
clutch.... and off we went. The first mile or so was
all stop signs and country intersections, so we were
just stopping and starting. We finally got to a road
where we could pick up a little speed. I could see