Just a Taco Ride

Each Monday I go for a ride with a group to have lunch at a small restaurant/bar. The special each Monday is Tacos for $1. Good enough reason, or excuse actually, to ride 90 miles round trip don’t you think?

The ride is more about socializing and meeting friends than it is about riding since it is always somewhat the same route since we are going to the same place with a few twists and turns thrown in for good measure. In the past few years our group has added and lost people for various reasons and has begun to expand to include the dreaded 4-wheel crowd, lol. Polaris RZR is the couch of choice and as the group ages with each passing year the RZR becomes more attractive to riders looking at the septuagenarian and even octogenarian decade of life.

A few years back I wrote an observation on how I noticed the Rekluse clutch and the Electric starter keeping riders on their bike for a few extra years. Well, a couple of our guys have reached the point that they are limited on their bike on how far they can travel. They still can and want to ride but father time is telling them it is time to stop. So a couple of them have moved over to the dark side and bought RZRs. But we still all go to have tacos together almost every Monday.

Unfortunately, even the RZR with safety belts and roll bars can still be dangerous. Last Monday one of our guys, George, rolled his RZR on a hill and must have gotten his arm outside the vehicle. Of course he ended up with a broken arm and had to be taken to the hospital and is going to have surgery. Hopefully it goes very well and heals quickly.

It was a few hours to regroup and do the shuttle thing to recover George’s RZR. I was on my KTM as was my riding buddy, Big E (Ed). Big E limped the RZR out on a flat tire while I followed. The RZR had a spare but not tools that fit to change it out. Whaaaaaaat!  Apparently I carry more tools in my backpack than some of the chair drivers do in their vehicles.

Big E got the RZR to the fire station in town about 7 miles away and we left it there to be picked up on a trailer.  We recovered Big E’s KTM and were about to head home. Or so I thought!  Big E looks at me and says he is hungry now. So I guess we are still going to have tacos, even though it is now about 3 PM. Big E and I had our tacos, which seemed extra good for some reason and headed home. It was quite a day and was very good to get home safely, something I sometimes take for granted. I will try to be more grateful at the end of each ride from now on.

Hopefully George has a speedy and full recovery.

Thanks to everyone that helped, the firefighter/paramedics and Sheriff deputy that all responded. Unfortunately, we will never know their names but will always be grateful for their presence.

Ride Safe!

#33

‘Life is short, Live it to the fullest, it has an expiration date!’