After a 30 year hiatus, I am back on two wheels. Road wheels, too. I rode a dirty bike (as I called it back then since it was always covered with mud) on Maine logging roads when I was a young'un and rode pillion on the backroads with a male friend. We often rolled nuts, water, and dried fruit in blanket and tied it to the back rest on the fender, disappearing from the Universe for the day into the Maine woods and lakes. The motocycle was small, but it navigated asphalt and packed logging roads equally well. Those adventures are fond memories.

Now I have my own two wheels again, road worthy but humble. My new horse is a '99 Honda Shadow VLX D; red and black. Lots of chrome and she shines, but she needs some acne coverup in place. Although some of that blemish was there from the previous owner, I enhanced it. Not deliberately. Her name is Red Sonja, and I call her Red. Everyone calls her Red. It stuck; I added the surname in honor of Conan's female companion.

Red was a 'garage queen'. A husband who rides bought it for his wife and she rode it a few times, with reluctance. The story goes that as she was taking it into the garage one day, the bike went over. Scared, she never rode it again. Husband took care of it, taking it out for a spin every other moon or so and there she sat. All alone. Why he waited five years to sell it? That escapes me. Perhaps he was hoping his wife would reconsider, but she must not have had heart in it to begin with. It happens when you fall off a horse and don't get back on. You never overcome the fear.

When I sat on her; it was love at first feel. It fit just right. Started her up and she hummed. Sold. So now we are a pair on a long journey. We will part again, moving on to new paths. But for now, we are a Pair.