Getting Ready for a Motorcycle Ride

~ Amusives

The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome.
– Author Unknown –

Rough and ready motorcycle riders get up at the crack of dawn to make sure everything is ready to roll.

The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.
– Henry David Thoreau –

And that is the challenge. When a group rides together, no one goes anywhere until the last person is ready! That means every boot is done up, every chap is buckled, every jacket is zipped, every helmet is cinched and every glove is slipped on. If the weather is cold, it takes extra time to add another layer or two. If the weather is hot, it means no one wants to be ready first because they don’t want to overheat while they wait.

Multiply this by the number of stops per day, which can sometimes be five or six, and it is actually quite amazing how far we get in a day!

36 thoughts on “Getting Ready for a Motorcycle Ride”

  1. I realize this doesn’t necessarily go with the theme, but the first thing that popped into my head after reading the Thoreau quote was “what if the other person happens to reside within you”?

    As in, you’re waiting on two parts of yourself to be ready at the same time?

    Nice photo, BTW. My son, (back in the day when he still had a bike), would have loved that quote …. “sunshine on chrome” … you betcha.

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    1. Hi ntexas – I understand what you mean! There might be circumstances where the body is ready but the mind isn’t! Or, as we get older, our mind is ready, but the body won’t respond.

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    1. Hi Robin – There were a few bikes out on the road this week-end – temperatures finally got above freezing for a few days. Unfortunately, we still have months of winter before it is riding time again.

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  4. It’s odd to be thinking about biking of any kind in February, but it has been that kind of winter so far! Wonderful photo as usual. 🙂

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    1. Hi Lorna – yes, it is certainly too early to bike in our part of the world. Makes me wonder why the annual motorcycle show is in early January!

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  6. Hi,
    Very nice photo, it makes a lot of sense to make sure everyone is ready to go at the same time, sounds like everyone also has a real good time as well. 🙂

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    1. Hi Mags – you wouldn’t believe what a challenge it could be to get ten or twelve people going in the same direction at the same time! Fortunately, ‘bike time’ is pretty laid back!

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  11. Pretty quiet out in ye olde parking lot. Looks like all the Hell’s Cherubs are having a third cuppa coffee… : )

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    1. Hi Mark – You are exactly right, it was still pretty quiet – just a few creatures out and about with a camera!

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  15. Wait a minute. I know nothing about riding, but if there weren’t so many coffee stops, then there’d be fewer restroom stops, right? Or is it more about what the backside can endure? Either way…it looks like a wonderful time.

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    1. Hi Barb – you are exactly right – the coffee stops lead to restroom stops which lead to more coffee. It is a never ending loop. But as you rightly observe, the backside can only endure the seat of a bike for so long. Then there is the limited range of a motorcycle due to the size of their fuel tank – well, there are so many reasons to stop frequently!

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  17. Waiting for everyone else to get ready sounds a lot like life as a parent or grandparent. 🙂

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