Music, Movement and Girls
Music, movement and girls.
Those three go together, don’t they?
How? You may be asking but let me tell you how they do for me.
I have these memories in my head that live there forever, like little movies that I can watch anytime I want. Sometimes they come up when I hear a certain song, see a photo of motorcycle I owned and often if I think of a past love in my life.
Like the time I met a girl at a Wrestling Tournament way back in 1984, she was from a few towns away and when she invited me to come to her house for a party, I thru caution into the wind, hoped on my motorcycle and followed some handwritten directions taped to my tank. After about 1 hour of riding my little Honda 450 I showed up at a High School party in Northboro Mass. I didn’t know a soul there except for her, and I had only talked with her for maybe 15 min after one of my matches.
It was something way out of my comfort zone doing, but as Robin Willams said many years later, in Good Will Hunting
“I had to go see about a girl”
A few things I remember from that day was listening to my Prince tape on the way over. It was one of his earlier albums “Controversy”
I believe it was the first time I took my motorcycle on a major Highway and it was the winter. I hadn’t considered the temperature that I was going to have to ride home in at night. The nervousness I experienced on the way over kept me warm, the thrill of riding so far from home, on roads I’ve never been on and meeting a girl that I smiled at me on a random Saturday afternoon.
The bike was a 1971 Honda CB450 in Green Like the one above, the helmet was a full-face Nava in red. I had to modify it to add my Sony Walkman speakers in it to listen to music while riding. As I pulled up to the house with all the cars parked in front, I remember thinking to myself this is crazy, I can’t believe I’m doing this!
It was a typical house party that happened back then, if you grew up in the 80s you know what I’m talking about. A whole bunch of kids gathered at someone’s house where the parents were gone for the night. Lots of aqua net in the air, Parachute pants and more than one dude with his Levis tuck into his work boots standing around drinking.
I was the only motorcycle there! I got a few ” are you crazy?” when people noticed I was on two wheels. It took me a few minutes to find Terri and get up the nerve to go over and tap her on the shoulder while she stood around chatting with all her girlfriends.
The rest of the night was a little blurry, I remember listening to that Prince tape in her parents’ car in the garage.
A few great kisses.
Taking her on the back of the little Honda twin down the street and back.
Then falling asleep on the couch when I realized it was just a little too cold to ride home. The next morning the ride home was very cold and there were a few flurries in the air. However, I remember it like it happened yesterday, that thrill of meeting a pretty girl, riding my motorcycle on roads that I didn’t know and listening to music that I could identify with.
Having dinner a few weeks ago with some good friends we started talking about what people get out of their motorcycles. One person brought up how it was more of a tool for them and mentioned how they can see how I am romantic about motorcycles. I couldn’t agree more.
As Robin Williams says in Dead Poets Society….
” We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are member of the human race, and the human race is filled with Passion! Poetry, beauty, romance, love these are what we stay alive for”
Well, I’m here to tell you I can add riding motorcycles to that list! ” Poetry, beauty, romance, Love and motorcycles these are what we stay alive for”
I never saw Terri again after that weekend. My guess is she doesn’t remember the boy from Lancaster that road his old Honda on a cold winter day to see about her, I wonder if she ever got a chance to ride on the back of a Ducati?
