Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011

Saying thanks for Chili Dawg and safe rides

Eric "Big E" Rutherford

 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

This is a time to share with family and to give thanks for all of the blessings each of us has received. Fortunately for me, my dad, who I affectionately refer to as “Big D” when we’re talking motorcycles, recently celebrated his 80th birthday and his birthday party was a family reunion of sorts.

As I have mentioned before, my love of motorcycles is genetic. My dad has owned just about every make of motorcycle and has always said he never rode one he didn’t like. My siblings and I all started riding dirt bikes as soon as our feet could reach the ground from the seat.

What better place to start saying “thanks” than acknowledging how lucky I am to have the parents that I do? Both are still alive and well, thank God, and while I don’t know if I have ever seen my mom on a moving motorcycle, she has always tolerated our obsession. I’m sure there have been many sleepless nights worrying about one or more of us riding, and I know she has spent more than a few weeks tending to those of us who have had the misfortune of getting banged up in a spill.

What a perfect segue in this Thanksgiving stream of consciousness. I am really thankful that despite the fact that there have been a number of significant motorcycle wrecks, we are all alive and well. My dad has broken his elbow and knee. My oldest brother Mark had both arms in casts at the same time, my next oldest brother Ron has a number of motocross-related scars and pins, and his son Wes freaked us all out last year when he went down on I-95 coming to visit Myrtle Beach. (He walked away with just some road rash.) Even my wife Sissy ended up sitting in the middle of Glenns Bay Road narrowly escaping serious injury after bailing off her Sportster. My sister Carol and younger brother Kirk have dodged the bullet by staying mostly on four wheels and I have been lucky enough to get away with some off-road bumps and bruises; and, a handful of close calls on the pavement. I wouldn’t dare challenge fate or want to jinx any of us, but considering the amount of riding my family has done, I have to give thanks that we are all still upright and enjoying riding.

Included in all that riding are a number of motorcycle trips with family members and friends. I know that there are people who dream of saddling up and heading across country to Sturgis, S.D. for the Black Hills Rally. We’ve been able to make the trip twice. We’ve also been to rallies in Laconia, N.H. once and Daytona Beach, Fla. more times than I can count, Washington, D.C. a couple of times, both Deals Gap and Maggie Valley, N.C., Charleston, and this year, the Delmarva Bike Week in Ocean City, Md. I never start or finish a trip like those without really appreciating, or giving thanks, for how awesome it is to be able to take them.

It was Thanksgiving week eight years ago that Sissy and I brought home Chili Dawg, our 2001 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic. I couldn’t believe that after decades of longing I finally had a Harley. The only more exciting day came two years ago when we mailed in the final payment, making it solely ours. I am genuinely thankful for the fact that we were able to make the dream come true, and more importantly that we have been able to pay off the motorcycle and hang on to it through the lean years of late. In this down economy a lot of people, many of whom we know personally, have had to part with their toys. I have always urged Sissy that no matter what happens, do not let me ever sell our Harley. I honestly don’t know if we’d ever be able to get another one; I seriously doubt we’d ever be able to pay another one off; and, I have always thought if things ever really sucked, she and I could just mount up and ride away from it all on our trusty steed Chili.

While I know how hard it would be to replace my motorcycle, I can’t imagine this life without my “old lady.” I use that term affectionately. I still remember Sissy and I taking our first ride together almost 20 years ago on my dad’s Ultra Classic and hearing her say, “This would be a cool way to travel when we retire.” I knew then I found a keeper.

This Thanksgiving, my prayer is that all of you will be blessed with healthy, loving families; good friends; fond memories; paid –off motorcycles; and, a soul mate to share it all with.