MAW AND PAW
Our story:
Paw and I met in May of 1980 while both working for the Dallas Police Department. A mutual friend introduced us. Paw was working deep nights and I was working days. He was also working an extra job at the Republic Bank, so we met there for coffee. We decided we would like to get to know each other better, but nothing serious. Friends only.
We both had two young children, so our "dates" consisted of going to his place at the lake or them coming to my house in Dallas. Since he worked two jobs, we had only one common evening off together. But it didn't take us long. Six months later, we decided we couldn't live without each other. (And it took fifteen years to get the same shift, same days off. )When we met he owned a 1976 Gold Wing, and introduced me to co-riding. The first time I laid eyes on Colorado I was his co-rider and brand new wife. Our destination was Bryce Canyon. Utah. To see such beauty and combine it with the intimacy and freedom that co-riding provides was so incredibly spiritual. I loved it.
Maw's story:
My experience as a rider came as a courtesy of the Dallas Police Department in 1978. Back then there were very few females in uniform on the street. Even more of a novelty was a girl in a uniform on a BIKE. My Sergeant took a lot of heat for it, but he assigned me to ride a three wheel Harley in Oak Cliff. It was by far the highlight of my career. I could not believe they PAID me to have so much FUN! Unfortunately, it only lasted a year and a half. They could not find parts for the bikes, so they replaced them with jeeps. Otherwise, I'd STILL be there! (You talk about heat! Try taking the riding test for your first motorcycle license with the DPS trooper AND your supervisor in the car behind you !!)Life is sometimes bittersweet with tough decisions. In 1983 our son needed a car. So we sold the bike to get him a car. Family obligations and working two jobs to meet long term goals took priority over biking for the next 11 years.
In 1998 my niece and her husband pulled up in our driveway on separate bikes. I thought "I can do that." For my fiftieth birthday Tommie bought me a 1994 Pacific Coast 800. I thought since I knew how to ride a trike that I would just get on this 800 and ride. Boy was I wrong. Learning was a huge struggle. Tommie took me to a parking lot my first time out. I dropped it the first time I tried to corner. He said ok, concrete is going to hurt. Try it on the dirt. It won't hurt as much. I dropped it twice on the dirt, one time doing several hundred dollars in damage. Our driveway is gravel. I dropped it in the driveway more than once. All of this was in a few days time. In tears and totally frustrated, I told him I was going to have to give it up before I hurt myself, and believe me, I don't give up a challenge when it's something I REALLY want to do. We were talking to a friend, telling him my woes, and he said well, no wonder! It's a street bike, not a dirt bike! Get that girl on a straightaway STREET. Of course, by then I was terrified of ANY corner or anything that even remotely resembled a turn, AND of gravel. So we got on Central service road out by Anna where there was little traffic. I was still taking turns and corners way wide, terrified if there was any obstacle or pothole to avoid in the turn. Eventually, I took the Basic Motorcycle Safety Course, and they kept preaching " you go where you look, you go where you look." When that FINALLY sank in, it was like turning on a light switch. Gravel was still a problem, but when Tommie discovered I was using the front brake exclusively on it and some counseling took place, it got lots better. I really don't know which one of us was more stressed out over this learning experience. He backed me and encouraged, but it was frustrating, scary and expensive from his perspective. I was bound and determined that I was not going to let it conquer me, and that some day I was going to ride like the big boys.
In December, 2000 a co-worker had a 1984 Gold Wing 1200 for sale. It had 50,000 miles on it. I wasn't sure I could handle a Gold Wing. It was so BIG! Tommie test rode it and approved it mechanically, so we bought it. I was AMAZED at how much EASIER this huge bike was to ride than the smaller 800. I fell head over heels in love with it on that first ride and it's an ongoing love story today. I'll hang on to it till it goes no more.The scariest thing I've ever done was to pull out of our steep, gravel driveway hauling a trailer loaded for bear. Because of trees and a blind curve, you can't see if a car is coming from either direction until you are at the top of the driveway. There is a four inch buildup of asphalt at the top, complements of the state, so you have to be going fast enough to get past that, yet you have to be able to brake suddenly if a car is coming. If you have to stop, you slide backwards on the gravel. It's a challenge.
The most fun thing I've ever done on my bike was our retirement trip: 9100 miles, 17 states and Canada. Tommie hauled the Kwik Kamp, and we camped 5 out of 6 weeks. We set our destination based on the KOA Campground location of how far we wanted to travel that particular day. Some days we rode less than 50 miles, some days 400. We enjoyed complete flexibility, and the variation of terrain and weather made some riding easy, some a real adventure.Paw's Story:
Paw's first bike experience was on a Yamaha 125 that he bought in 1969. He had no clue how to shift gears. The guy he bought it from explained it to him, but he was so excited he didn't take in a word of it. He was riding it home and came to a stop sign. It died. He was in the wrong gear, so every time he gave it gas, it would "lug" and die. He pushed it, built up speed and got it going again.. Once he got it going, he figured out how to shift by trial and error. He kept it about 4 months.His second bike was a Suzuki 350, and he kept it about 6 months. He didn't ride for awhile, then in 1971 he bought two 350's. He kept them about 3 months, then traded them in for his first Gold Wing, a '76 1000. He kept it for about a year, then traded it off for a '78 Gold Wing 1100 which is what he started really touring on. He got out of motorcycling in 1983, because our son was of car age, so he traded it for a car. In 1994 he got an '85 1200 that gave him nothing but trouble. He took it to three dealers and a private individual, and no one could find the problem. In 1998, Plano Honda had a sale going in December, so he got a brand spanking new '98 1500 for Christmas. He rode it 124,000 miles. It was still running great with no problems, but in 2006 he saw a gray '98 1500 that really caught his eye. It only had 9000 miles on it and came with a warranty, so he bought it. He's put 7,000 miles on it so far, and has lots more rides to come.
Paw says the scariest thing he's ever done on the bike was the time he was on a trip in unfamiliar territory on the freeway, got distracted and turned his head just as the freeway curved. He ran up the bar ditch going 60 mph. He was able to control it, but it definitely shook him up.
He shares my sentiment about our retirement trip being the most fun thing he's ever done on the bike.
Twenty six years later, we're still good friends and best riding buddies. We've lived in the same house since the day we married. Our son passed away in 1996. Two of our daughters live in Salt Lake, the other in Wichita Falls. We have nine grandchildren.
Tommie did 24 years of service, I did 27. Since retiring we've put 130,000 miles on our bikes.We joined G-2 in December of 2001, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives. We've made some great friends and learned a lot. What one member doesn't know, the other does. We've been on countless FUN rides to places we never knew existed, and on some roads we'd never been on before. We've been to a lot of eating establishments for sumptuous dining experiences, explored some interesting, historic places together and shared many laughs over dominoes, ice cream and on the CB. This chapter, as individuals and as a group has had riding experiences that we could ALL write volumes about. The camaraderie and all it entails is one of the biggest draws to this chapter. Thanks fellow G-2ers for sharing your riding and life experiences, your knowledge, your love of life, your friendship and your good hearts with us.
See y'all Saturday!
Maw and Paw