Last Friday

Sooooo, as promised, here's a little recap of bike night last Friday. 

Foodie buddy and I met up at the usual spot before we all rolled out that night. Usually, he rides upfront with the leader of the pack. Every one of the bike nights I've gone to, he's at the head of the pack. 

But, not this time. While everyone suits up, revs their engines, he waits for me to board his ride, and I do ... not taking too long. So, I expect him to ride up to the front, but he lets everyone else go in front of him. Ok, suspicious-balls.

Right from the start, his ride is rough. I mean, it usually is, but tonight, it felt even more so .... like he had an edge, a side of him I've never seen before ...Saturday ride-man. Guy LOVES to ride, that much is clear, and he's a very experienced rider, and one of the only guys I really trust to ride with. Hell, he's even going to teach me to ride when I get my bike! 

So, right from the start, we're charging down the highway to the first freeway exit. I'm holding on a little more than usual, and thinking that maybe I just haven't gone on a ride with him for so long that I'm not used to his intensity. That, and I totally forgot about the hand-taps!! DUH! As we're entering the freeway, he takes advantage of the full turn and speed ... and, here, I thought I was going to die. I was locked in tight, but my legs were gonna give since my ass was slipping off the seat! Not very comfortable AT ALL! 

We level out, and catch up with the pack on the freeway. It's barely 9 at night on a Friday, so traffic is pretty heavy around us. No room to blast off. I thank the Lord, and relax just a little. 

Getting to the next exit, there were no crazy turns, but at the stop light, the visors go up and he turns to me. I say "Everything ok???" And, he goes "Yeah, you alright back there?" So, I tell him that I nearly flew off at the first freeway exit, and he cracks up! "I tapped your hand, and you were locked in tight," he says with a smile. Damn that smile. He's wearing a helmet, but dude still looks good in it! Anyway, he asks why I asked if everything was ok, and I reiterated my almost dying on that turn. He laughed again. Always joking, this guy.

So, the light turns green and we start heading for Pali and the windward side. It was a pretty mellow ride right until we reached the bottom of the Pali and started the climb. Other bikers around us start doing wheelies and other stunts, and I just know what's going through his head. He wants to stunt too ... dammit! And, a few seconds later, the hand-tap comes, this time harder so he knows I feel it, and in no time, we're taking off on the back wheel of his ride. This, wasn't so bad since we've done wheelies before. I know how to hold him for that. But, on the downside of the Pali, there's a huge left hook turn, and when he started to let the group get away, and gap some space between us and everyone else, I knew it was coming. Hand-tap, and then he took off in a hard, left tilting turn! 

Let me just say that I have done turns with him and other bikers, but NEVER as intense as this. My ass actually had to leave the seat to get the bike down. We've talked about it before so I knew what to do. I followed his lead, rather, his ass and both of our butts left the seat. It. Was. CRAZYBALLS! Never, have I done such an intense turn. OHHHH, but that wasn't ALL. First meeting point was at the bottom of the Pali, or the top of 13 turns. Again, we trailed the pack, and he slowed up while the other bikes pulled in. At this point, you can either go up and park, Or, you can take a ride down the 13 turns. Guess which one we did ....?!?!?! 

I've been down 13 turns on a bike before, in a car, many times. But, this ride was a hell of a lot different than all those times put together. Holy crazy shitballs. I really thought I was going to fly off the bike, head first and die. Those turns taken at a high speed are damn intense. I held on for dear life as gravity tried desperately to pull me to the ground. I don't think my ass was properly on the back seat that whole ride down. He lifted off to the right, so did I, then immediately to the left, then back again. It seemed to last forever, but finally ended when he stopped at a stop sign in the neighborhood. I pushed my visor up and padded his back. He asked how I liked it. HAHA! I had to confess and tell him that I was not up for such an intense ride. But, to him, it was hardly anything fast. And, then he goes "I thought you loved that stuff," so I answered that YES, I do, I just wasn't feeling like a speedy demon that night. 

And, so after I asked him nicely, we cruised the rest of the ride. Oh, that was so nice and exactly what I wanted. I could relax, put my hands somewhere other than locked around him, and just breath. 

That night, after I got home, I crawled into my bed where my little B was asleep, and just held her. I thanked God that I got home to her safely, and in one piece that night <3<3