Monday, July 15, 2013

They're Everywhere

Hipsters.  Well, I don't see many of 'em here in P-Ville, but there ARE a few at ENMU.  Apparently  there are hipster-bikers, too... according to this editorial I read in the August issue of Motorcyclist magazine.



"Squids."  Yup, that's what we called 'em, back in the day... and I saw PLENTY of 'em.  Guys riding around in SoCal clad only in bathing suits and flip-flops... no leather, no helmet, no boots.  I used to shudder at the thought of having to clean up an accident scene involving one of those guys, or worse: being the trauma MD in an emergency room somewhere.  I was pretty fortunate in my early biker days, mainly because my friends... the guys I rode with... impressed upon me the importance of "dressing for the slide, not the ride."  I did just that... wrapping myself in leather, heavy boots, and a Bell Star on my head.  The upshot was I never lost much blood during my 45 years o' riding.  

As the editorial above implies... you gotta be young and dumb before ya get old and wise.  I see plenty o' people on bikes here in P-Ville that fit the first part o' that sayin', and I hope they live long enough to get wise.

And... just for the record... RDs weren't just a mount for squids.  Some really cool guys rode those thingsparty smileys


8 comments:

  1. All the hipster douchewads around here ride scooters.

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  2. I got a ticket in 1978 for splitting lanes in Alameda. But I wore a flight jacket and blue jeans, (sometimes a Bell Helmet!).

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    1. I was never much of a lane-splitter. You just never know what dumb-ass car drivers are gonna do.

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  3. Today, (regretfully) I drink PBR and drive a convertible instead of being cool on a bike.

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  4. The only time I've ever been on a bike (in motion) was riding on the back of my bud's Yamaha. He had just gotten out of the Army, as a matter of fact, back from Korea, and he asked me if I wanted to accompany him on a ride to get some pay he was owed. Since that meant he would probably treat for lunch, I said sure.

    It was a pretty neat feeling with the wind in my face and all. I was a bit uncomfortable circling my arms around my bud's midsection, but I would have been more uncomfortable flying off onto the pavement, so...

    Biggest rush was when we hit the highway. The Southeast Expressway in Boston has elevated sections. The entrance onto it in Dorchester, where we both lived, was up a ramp. I had driven this thousands of times, but I'd never flown up it out in the open and then merged into traffic at 40 or 45 mph with no metal on all sides. If any feeling made me want to own a bike of my own, that was the one.

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    1. There are a lot of activities described as "the most fun you can have with yer clothes on" (flying is one) but riding a bike did it for me.

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