I was so thankful for the sunshine and warmth. It felt good. I watched as the bikers gathered into small groups and talked with one another. I smelled the sweet fragrance of a cigar and searched for the man it belonged to. It smelled good. Something about it made me think about sitting next to a warm fire all cozy and warm. Then, I heard my husband talking and looked up to see him walking toward me with a chocolate ice cream cone. We shared the ice cream. It tasted good. Cold, but good. As we took turns eating the ice cream we met Cindy Williams. She told us it was her first ride by herself. WooHoo! I wasn't the only virgin on the ride!

When we finished eating, we decided to join the riders gathered by the bikes, so we got up from the bench. We had the time now to more closely look at some of the bikes and enjoyed it. The riders were friendly and nice. Before long it was time to leave. Paul said something about the plan being for him to ride with the sun on his back with the group following him. I asked him what the plan was when the sun set, and he laughed mumbling something about a swim meet for his daughter. Been there and done that I thought. Riders started pulling helmets back on and shouting "Saddle up" and once again the bike engines roared.

One by one the bikes pulled into formation leaving. There was no waiting this time and somehow our position changed. We were near the start of the group now. Shoppers in town watched us as we passed by, and I wondered if they were having as much fun on their Saturday as we were. Surely not. Leaving town a red light broke up the pack. We had passed through the light, but it held up the rest of the group behind us. The only thing I could see in the rear view mirror was cars. Lots of cars. And I was uncomfortable. Our route going home was different. We were on a divided highway. Somehow being in the middle of the group earlier, on the two lane roads I felt a sense of security. With the busy road and the group being separated, I missed the other bikes.

I guess Paul missed them too, because we pulled over on the highway. We waited only a few minutes, and they joined us. We were together again. One big group. With a different position on the ride home, I realized I had a new bike to study ahead. Although I couldn't possibly determine the exact model, it was pretty. It had tons of chrome on it, and it was super shiny. I liked it. The cover on the bottom was a skull face. I wondered who the bike belonged to. What the owner was like. That's the thing about helmets. You can't see the rider's face. We turned off the divided highway onto a two lane country road, and I relaxed focusing on the beautiful country setting again. We rode and came to a red light having to stop. Things looked familiar. We turned left, and I could tell we were back on the route we had taken earlier.

As we continued, I saw a couple bikes turn off from the group and remembered hearing some riders say they weren't going all the way back to the dealership. It was sad seeing the ride coming to an end. We rode on, and the cold wind slapped my face. The temperature started dropping as the day was ending, and I tucked my head down trying to use my husband to block the cold wind. Then afraid I was missing out on something, I randomly looked up and spotted a small plane overhead. I hurried to point it out to my husband, and he shouted back saying we weren't far from home. Before long, we passed under the freeway, and the group veered to the right heading back to the dealership. We waved as we continued straight, away from them. It was our time to break off.

We rode on, only by ourselves. I could faintly see the light from a headlamp far behind us in the rear view mirror, but we weren't in the group anymore. I wrapped my arms around my husband hugging him tightly and he released one hand reaching back to lightly touch my leg. I could tell he was thanking me. I'm thinking I'm over that guilt stuff now. I was sad to see the day and the ride end, but it was time. I was really cold! Geez! My first ride was awesome. I loved it, and I can't wait to ride again. Here in the south, on a Saturday afternoon, even in the cold, there's just nothing Sexier to do than to go on a ride!