Halftime Adjustment

So I left off last post explaining that there I was with no motorcycle and a newborn son.  A very typical situation for guys when they "settle down".  The classifieds are full of ads with men advertising their motorized toys for sale because they "don't have time to ride" or "having a baby" or "the wife will divorce me if I get one more toy".   She never really wanted me to give up the 'Zuki, in fact she almost cried and couldn't watch the guy trailer her away when we sold it.  Erin and I agreed that someday we would both get motorcycles and I would teach her to ride.  And then the concept lay dormant for awhile until after our second son was born.

The Easter Bunny Suit is not protective gear

The halftime adjustment is this..I had the bright idea to get a dirt bike after my former motorcycling pal and BFF Scott (if you care to learn more about Scott, google "Yeti" and hit "I feel lucky") bought a dirt bike to satisfy his need to ride with less risk of the open road.  So I thought, cool, I'll get a small mini-bike that Erin can learn on and I can fart around on in the yard until we can get something bigger to ride.  This turned out to be a great idea and soon Erin was blasting around the yard on the CRF50F.  I bought her a helmet and gloves for off road riding.

As buzzing around the yard got quite boring after awhile and I was seriously looking at buying a street bike of the cruising nature.  I had my eye on a Harley or a Honda with the Honda Shadow Phantom in first place.  Because finances were ultimately tight the wife and I decided that dirt bike riding with Scott would be a safer and cheaper alternative and eventually Erin could get a larger dirt bike herself and learn to off the streets.  Around May I cruised up to Fairfield Honda and bought a 2008 Honda CRF150F on a closeout deal and drove it home in the back of my truck.  Shortly thereafter I found a 2004 Honda CRF100 for sale on Craigslist that I bought for Erin.  In no time we were driving out to ride in Indiana together with our friends.  It's been a very fun hobby to share with Erin and she's taken to riding like a pro.  She loves the supercross tracks more so than the trails but the trails tend to be more forgiving of mistakes.  One concussion, black eye and bruised legs later, Erin learned this truth as well.  Sometimes when I watch her go, I have to remember that I have balls too..I just can't remember where I left them.

Boxman and Boxgirl at Haspin

The inner restlessness though was temporarily quenched but would stir deep in my soul again as riding wasn't going to be enough.  And so the endless browsing on Craigslist began.  And an idea was born.