OLD BLASTARD: Been a long time since I rock and rolled

Hi, my name is Rainman and I'm a motorcyclist. It's been a long time since I last took a ride.

Weeks.

Excuses include cold, cars blocking the driveway, got up late, salt on the roads, need new brakes (OK, that's true, but they still stop), gotta carry some packages, gotta pick up some packages, what the hell did I do with the key?

No reasons, though. Just vague excuses.

I guess it happens some times. You get busy, work is busy, life is busy, you're confused and riding just isn't, well, convenient.

And sometimes you just don't know the excuse.

I think I discovered mine this morning after taking a ride of self-discovery last night. When you listen to others, turn down the music in your head and allow yourself to think and feel, sometimes the truth you hide from yourself hits you over the head like a bag full of screwdrivers, ugly, dirty, slimey, greasy screwdrivers at that.

The lobes of your brain lift and separate and you can, like Jimmy Cliff, see clearly now.

Sometimes it ain't a pretty picture but the best way to deal with it is to start a new painting and the best way to set up your easel is to get out and ride, let the old roll away with the miles and the new begin at the destination, even if you don't have one in mind.

It's a long strange trip and the answer is in always going foward.

Open the throttle. Let's roll.

See you out there. There's a single cylinder full of fun waiting to start thumping and I got a ride to take, even if it is only to work.

This has been the least I've ridden since 2005 when chipmunks attacked my Old Wing and the bike wouldn't start for a year. Long story. Crazy Brian got it going again a few years later and he's got the chance to ride it now. Meanwhile, there's a perfectly good Buell Blast sitting on my carport enduring the same cold and malaise as me. It starts right up everytime I turn the key.

Sometimes