I’d like to introduce you to the other loves in my husband’s life: Maggie and Valerie. Well, I should clarify and say that Valerie is no longer around, but she certainly made an impact so I feel I have to mention her here. Maggie, on the other hand, was with my husband long before he met me.
She’s black with a little bit of orange, long, powerful and fast.
Here she is: Maggie.
I knew that Maggie and my husband were a package deal before I ever signed on. That is why I figured that I had better make peace with her and play nice. So I started going for the obligatory rides around the neighborhood. At first they weren’t bad. During the summer months when the weather was nice, riding her was quite pleasant.
Then the winter came. The CPA was living on Capitol Hill and I was at Dupont Circle. Neither one of us had a car and it was either take the Metro or take the bike. I can’t tell you how many cold nights we spent in the dead of winter going back and forth on Maggie, bundled up so that only our eyes showed under our helmets.
She also came in handy in other ways. You should have seen her on our grocery store runs where we would tie red duffel bags to the “bumper” and above the exhaust pipes. One time we actually had someone pull up beside us and tell us that they couldn’t see our brake lights because of all of the bags. Hey – when you’re desparate, you’ll resort to anything. Even going grocery shopping on a motorcyle.
After a while of this, I got used to Maggie. I even started liking her a bit. She still made me nervous and I was always anxious when the CPA went on his long rides, but it became doable.
Then came Valerie. Oh Valerie, you were nothing but trouble.
I’ll give her this: she was pretty. She had it going on in the looks department.
She, like Maggie, was a big girl. You’d think this would be a good thing given the height of the people riding her. But for some reason, she just wasn’t comfortable. We tried and tried to like her. The CPA fiddled and adjusted and changed various settings. But no matter what he did, he wasn’t able to make it so that she rode smoothly. Every time we hit a bump, I could feel the impact from my feet to the top of my head. I finally couldn’t ride her anymore. So I put my foot down: it was either her or me.
Thankfully (I’m sure it’s just because I was there first) the CPA agreed and said that I could stay. So we bid Valerie a fond farewell.
And came back to Maggie. Our old standby. My husband’s first (motorcyle) love.
I’m happy to say that we don’t use her for grocery runs anymore now that we have a car and we never ride her during the winter (thank goodness). I still don’t like the CPA going on his long rides because I tend to worry. But I admit that I enjoy our Sunday afternoon drive around the neighborhood with the old girl. My hair blowing in the wind, my arms wrapped around my husband’s waist, my head covered in a huge black helmet.
I think I finally understand why the CPA loves her so. There is something liberating about taking a ride and being so free and open. He finds it relaxing, almost therapeutic. It’s a way for him to escape the pressures of everyday life for a while. For that reason alone, I’m glad she’s around. I think I’ll let her stay a while.
Vroom… vroom…
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