Women, Motorcycles and the Facts of Life, aka The Fledgling Albatross by Autumn Birt (Part 1 of 3)

I have wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle since I was very young. I usually claim the desire started the day my parents let my brother get a dirt bike but not me. Mainly because I was five years younger, but really, deep down, I knew it was because I was a girl. Sun dresses, flowers, and cooking were to be my lot, not muddy screaming bounding off of homemade jumps. I idolized my brother more than my parents ever knew. His best gift to me was his cast off legos and matchbox cars. I was a Tom boy from a very early age.

For such a deep desire though, it took many years to finally reach fulfillment. Most women I have met are very good at self denial, and I am no exception despite my love of mechanics and unladylike pursuits. Women will serve themselves last at a table. My gut feeling is this is because of some deep rooted fear there isn't enough to go around. Most mothers would rather do without then let loved ones starve. Mothers will spend hundreds of dollars for their children's clothes but nickel and dime over new clothes for themselves. It is a societal thing, our culture. Self denial is my forte.

I had several near brushes with learning to ride. An ex-boyfriend promised to pay for the into course as a birthday present when I was living in Virginia. We broke up before the promise was kept. Then I met husband, Adam. He was the spark that really got the fire going. His father gave him what was left of a 1973 Honda CB450. He spent countless hours putting it back together, mostly in the kitchen of our first house during the winter months in Maine. Mechanical components are forbidden from the kitchen of our new house. I'm not entirely unladylike.

Adam got his permit, road around on the Honda and constantly broke down. I got very good at helping him load it into the back of the truck from the side of the road. There was no way I wanted to learn on that thing! And then we moved to our new house. It has a two car garage and a long dirt road that leads to gravel pits and logging roads. He finally managed to enroll in the safety and licensing course in the spring. We had learned our lesson with the Honda and we choose the expense of a new KLR650. There is nothing that dampens enthusiasm more than a tool that doesn't work.

He passed the course top of the class and fell in love with motorcycling in a way that only the obsessed can appreciate. Suddenly, he was gone on afternoon rides and I was amazingly jealous. He and I are very close, and the pressure was on to participate. The goal was for me to take the course the next spring. But we managed to scrape every extra penny together and I put myself on the wait list for an opening in the course that fall. Lucky me, I got in for the two day course September 23^rd and 24^th.