A Surprisingly Good Ride
What a great time of year for motorcycles. Warm enough to ride without the jacket, but not so hot you melt into a puddle of sweaty denim while sitting at a broiling intersection. It's also the time of year for great events. This year, I didn't get a chance to attend either of the Biketoberfest gatherings on my calendar, but it all worked out for the best.
The first event I missed was one I've never attended before; the Biketoberfest over in Sanford. I've heard
good things about it and was thinking a nice putt down SR46, sounded like a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, things just didn't work out for me that weekend and I couldn't make it. I was jiggy with that though, because
the Daytona version was the following weekend and I had already made sure I had a spot carved out on my calendar for it. I was looking forward to heading up to Destination Daytona, hoping to meet up with some of the folks we've featured here
in Coastal Cruizin over the last year. When I called Brian, one of my riding buddies to make sure we were all set, he threw me a curve ball. "I don't want to go to Daytona on Saturday. I'd rather just stay local. If you really want to go
north, I can probably go on Sunday." I thought, "Dang" (or something similar). I was disappointed at first, but figured we'd just make it a two day riding session and we could hit Daytona on the second day. Then, as if that change weren't
enough, he said, "And we should just do a guy thing on Saturday. No wives or girlfriends." Now generally, when we're planning a "guys only" ride, we all know about it well in advance; I tell my wife the name of the game and she's
always fine with that. But this time, I'd already told her we wanted her to ride with us, so I said to Brian, "Okay, but you have to tell Linda she can't go." I handed the phone over to her and heard the good-natured ribbing she was giving him
about the no-girls-allowed thang. When she hung up the phone, I asked her if the change in plans bothered her. She just laughed and said, "No, you guys go by yourselves and that way you can talk about farts, or how hot the bartender is or
whatever guys talk about." I assured her that when guys get together, we talk about things like how our feelings affect those around us, or what it's like to be a man in the twenty-first century. (She didn't buy it, but I didn't want to admit
that she had pretty much pegged it with the farts and hot bartender guess.) The next day, the three of us, Brian, my son Alex and I, got together and headed out for a local ride. We got a late start though; another demand of Brian's. He had
some stuff to do in the morning and couldn't meet up until after 1:00. This was beginning to get irritating, but I knew how many hours he'd been working lately so I just gritted my teeth and chalked it up to a busy schedule. It
was a gorgeous day and we cruised some of our favorite roads and stopped at some of our favorite places. When it came time to make what was probably our last stop of the day, he asked where I wanted to go. The next place down the road was
Norman's, in Cocoa so I suggested that. He considered it for a bit, then said, "No, let's go to Anthony's." Okay. I could do that. Anthony's, in beautiful downtown Rockledge is one of my favorite spots, but I wondered why he'd bothered to ask
me, when he already had something in mind. Again, I gritted my teeth and said, "Fine. Anthony's it is." We pulled into the parking lot, and I was just mumbling something to myself about how weird Brian was being when he pushed me
in the door and everyone in the place jumped out at me and yelled, "SURPRISE!" It took me a second to pick my jaw up from the floor and it was about that time I noticed the birthday decorations all over the walls. My birthday wasn't for
another five days (October 22 if you're marking your calendar for next year) but the early party just made the surprise that much better. Everything fell into place: the guys-only ride allowed my wife to decorate the place while we were out
riding; the late start and the local route were to make sure we were at Anthony's by 4:00. It was all carefully plotted to surprise the crap out of me, and it worked perfectly. Looking back, there were odd bits and pieces that I should have
put together, but I'm not all that bright, so it was probably relatively easy for them to pull it off, while keeping me completely clueless. So, even though I didn't get to Sanford or Daytona this year, I didn't mind. It's funny
how a nice local ride, with good friends and a great surprise party at the end can make you forget all about the big events. The smaller ones can be even better.
