A Fun Ride Home

Last night was Scooter Tuesday with a ride to Mr. Taco for dinner.  It is one of our favorite places because the food is good and cheap.

I rode Vanessa, a quick GT that is gaining speed every time I take her out.  My friend Mike has three bikes, a Yamaha Zuma 125, Yamaha Morphous 250 and a Yamaha R1, among the fastest bikes in the world.  This night he rode the fast one.

Mike's R1

Vanessa and the R1

After dining, he left first and was at the exit to the parking lot when I pulled up alongside.  Because we live just blocks apart, I asked him, tongue in cheek of course, if he wanted to race home.  He laughed.

We got onto Bowden Road with him leading.  We came to a red light.  We had to turn right at the light and he was being a good rider and stayed behind an SUV that was going straight.  I saw an opening and took the space to the right and gained the lead.

From there we turned onto University Boulevard for a very short stretch to I-95.  We were behind a big truck and I was stuck trying to get around but he used his horsepower to pass me and the truck.  But Mike, a very skilled rider was being careful and settled into a speed where I could catch him if I tried.  I did and stayed behind him through the construction on I-95 leading to the Fuller Warren Bridge.  We were going around 60 mph here, riding with traffic.  I had to run up to 80 to catch him and Vanessa was enjoying the ride.

The fastest way home from the bridge is to turn onto I-10, then off on Roosevelt Boulevard to Dancy Street.  At the end of the bridge, Mike was behind cars on the exit lane and I saw an opening to get around.  I passed him on the right and sped away, running 70+ on the stretch leading to Roosevelt, where we both had to move over four lanes to get to the turn.

Once on Roosevelt, when the traffic cleared again, he raced by me again.  Damn Horsepower!  200 to 20 simply isn't fair.

I followed to Dancy and to his house where I let him know that I had enjoyed the ride.

Safe, fast riding is what makes me happy these days.  I am making it sound like this could have been considered a dangerous ride, but we both stayed well within our limits.  It was simply a lot of fun.