The Double "GG" Motorcycle Ride......

Hubby and I did a motorcycle ride today, a fundraiser for the marching band at one of our local high schools. Although Sweet Girl graduated from the OTHER school, she spent her first two years at this one, and her best band memories (I suspect) came from her freshman and sophomore years.

It's called the Double "GG" Ride because the mascot of this school is the Bulldoggs. That is not a typo; they actually spell it with two G's. I think the motto is, "The extra 'G' is for extra effort," or some such crap, but personally I find it embarrassing. I get it that their colors are red and black, their fight song is the same as UGA, so they wanted to distinguish their mascot in some way, but still... Perhaps it's the grammar snob in me. Or maybe (just possibly) it's just dumb.

Anyway, their marching band has been invited to play in the Chick-Fil-A bowl game (formerly known as the Peach Bowl, and I'm not very happy about THAT either) on New Year's Eve and the parade before the game. It will cost each band member approximately $250 to attend, even though it is only in Atlanta, so they are having fundraisers to try to offset the costs.

I really like organized motorcycle rides. They are police-escorted, so we ride in a double staggered line and don't have to stop at red lights or stop signs. I sometimes feel guilty because I suspect the folks pulled off on the side of the road probably think it's a military tribute or a motorcade escort of some kind, but it's just ordinary folks like us, using a fundraiser as an excuse to get on our bikes.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect. High around 70 degrees, brilliant blue skies, low humidity. It was such that we needed leather jackets to ride, but they were a little much when we were off the bikes.

Most organized rides travel about 40-50 miles, stop somewhere for a restroom and/or fuel break, then return for music, food, door prizes, etc. Today's ride was non-stop, approximately 90 miles, but it was fine. By the end I was ready to get off the bike, but I wasn't miserable. I was actually pretty GLAD that we didn't have a turn-around point, because I didn't want it to turn into an all-day affair. Anytime you allow a group of people to mill around, it takes forever to herd them together again.

An organized ride is a little different from just getting on the bike and tooling around or using the bike for transportation. I don't really get the opportunity to look around and take in the scenery (but today's ride was so scenic that I intend to go back and cover some of it again on my bicycle), because I have to concentrate on keeping the proper distance from the rider in front of me. I tend to take the line next to the white line, especially since the motorcycle cops "leap-frog" at each intersection, and they come roaring up to pass and get back to the front of the line. I KNOW they're coming, and still about 50% of the time they scare the daylights out of me, screaming past with sirens blaring and blue lights flashing.

This is another time I wish I had photos to document the occasion. I've learned at the knee of Rozmo how to take photos when I'm on my bicycle, but there's no safe way to do it on a motorcycle. I'd love to show you how cool it looks with motorcycle stretching out as far as the eye can see both in front and behind. I'm sure it sounds pretty awesome, too, but all I can hear is my own bike.

I was a little concerned when we first left home. It's been MONTHS since I've been on my bike, and I didn't know how confident I would feel on the bike. It all came back to me, however, and it was a very pleasant ride. I'm glad Hubby and I got to do it together.

Now tomorrow I really need to get back on my OTHER bike before I forget how to ride that one.