five thousand

kilometers that is. after returning from a long day run to Fredericton, capital of New Brunswick, Selene rolled over 5000 km. that's a lot of km's since picking her up on March 29, 2006. on that day she had a lowly one kilometer on her. in four months we have clocked a fair amount of asphalt under us and it has been wonderful.

i never really thought that i missed riding that much. i guess it's the old "out of sight, out of mind" adage. my Kawasaki had been laid up for two years and i never really got around to thinking about how much i missed being on two wheels.

i honestly can't thank joey enough for pushing me to get a new bike. i guess in many ways she knew that i missed it even if i didn't.

when i sit here and think about it, i've had a bike for 20+ years. i started off on the little Yamaha y-zinger 80 and soon after that was gone, i had my Kawasaki 440LTD. it's always been a part of my life and has always been a way for me to escape. things getting on my nerves and stressing me too much? no problem...hop on the bike and disappear for a few hours. stress just melts away and gets left behind with the pavement.

i remember when i finally got up the nerve to leave Labrador and finally get out to a real city. i knew i wasn't leaving without my bike (the Kaw at the time). me and my grandfather packed her up in the back of his small Ford Ranger with all my other stuff. i took my car and my grandparents drove the truck. my little Toyota Tercel (The Beast) didn't make it and i almost lost one of my front wheels (read: not a blow out, but the entire front wheel). no problems, just tossed me in the cramped quarters behind the seats in the mini cab of that truck and off we went. as soon as i got to New Brunswick, i got my license switched over and i was on the road again. it barely bothered me to lose the car. as long as i had my bike, i was golden.

once i tire of Selene, i'll move on to something bigger. maybe a Goldwing...maybe a Harley, but it will be something. i never want to forget that feeling again.