Firefighter's Ride May 31, 2009

I'm learning an important lesson in the motorcycling world. Participation in charitable events is not an option, it's expected. I participated in my first charitable event over the weekend, the 5th Annual Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial ride on Sunday May 31st. http://www.firefightersmemorialride.com/default.htm

To say that I was blown away would be an understatement. The morning started for me bright and early, up at 7 a.m. (on a Sunday?) with the anticipation of a child opening Christmas presents, I couldn't believe how excited I was to get out there and ride for a cause. A brisk morning, I had to make sure that all of my gear was in check and the bike was ready to go for this 40+ mile jaunt through communities on the east side of Cleveland, past 10 firehouses and arriving at Western Reserve H-D http://www.westernreservehd.com/ to celebrate the accomplishment of the ride. Boots, leather jacket, helmet, leather gloves, check, got it all.

I had made plans with Jeff to meet him at W15oth St @ 71 and we'd drive downtown from there. I arrived a few minutes before Jeff and sat at the gas station listening to the highway, listening to the bikes headed north, wondering if they were headed to the same place I was. Jeff arrived and we headed towards Tremont where we were going to hook up with Del Basa and some of his riding buddies that were also doing the ride. After a cup of coffee at Del's, it was off to the unknown of a full day of riding. Interestingly enough we cut through the industrial part of downtown and went over a metal bridge for the the first time. I had a feeling that this might become a day of firsts, why not start right out with a metal bridge! For those "cagers" out there that are saying, "shit dude, it's just a bridge". Keep in mind that metal bridges have the tendency, especially on two wheels, to make the vehicle sway back and forth. It was interesting to say the least. We darted up near Progressive field and headed towards Public Square. Another first, riding through Public Square at 9 in the morning, not that the time makes a difference, but just the fact that I was sitting on a bike in the middle of downtown C-Town, very cool.

Arriving at Cleveland Browns Stadium was overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Here I was headed towards 1200 other people that all had the same interest that I did and were willing to get up early on a Sunday for a charity. How many other groups do you know that would get up early to go do their passion? Not many is probably the answer. The overwhelming part came in when I realized that I was going to ride with all of these people and that my riding game had better be on. that meant there would be no stalls, good turns and keeping the right distance between myself and those around me. Damn, this was supposed to be fun.

Del led the way and showed us the ropes, we needed to park,check in and then proceed to the staging area on Alfred Lerner Way. We all forked over our $20 and proceeded to wait. I was told that a lot of these rides are like this, it's a "hurry up and wait". Hurry up to get to the starting location and then wait for the ceremony to be over before going on the ride. The ceremony started at 10:30 and finished at 11:00, they awarded a couple of scholarships that had come from the $$ that had been raised last year, the bagpipe players played Taps and it was off to start the ride. The roar of 1200 bikes in a small area was....awesome. Not other word could explain it as well. The first groups started out under the raised ladders and American flag that hung over the street. We were positioned about mid-way in the procession, which took about 10 minutes for us to start. The adrenaline of riding down the street with others looking on was exhilarating, you really feel like you're doing something that mattered. We made the turn onto E. 9th St and then turned onto Euclid Ave. and headed east. There really is something to be said about speeding through downtown on a bike, blowing all of the stop signs and stoplights and the police are doing it with you instead of against you. Just amazing!

We weaved our way through some of the eastern suburbs after leaving Cleveland, slowing down as we passed each firehouse, waving at the firefighters who were all standing outside with their trucks, some raising their ladders over the street with American flags attached. There were also people on the street that seemed appreciative of the ride that we were involved in. People of all ages and races, from little kids to older people in wheelchairs were all waving at us as we passed by. It really brought a sense of patriotism, seeing all of these people out waving at the motorcycles that were going on, whether they knew what we were doing or not, they were just happy to wave at the parade of bikes going by and forget about the current condition of our country.

This being my first charity ride, I experienced what I think are some of the pitfalls of such a ride.

• Iron butt- that feeling that your ass is now like iron because you've been sitting in the same place for so long.
• Cold hands- it was cold outside and my hands got numb towards the end. In fact I wasn't sure I was hitting the turn signal, I had to look down to make sure that it had engaged.
• Leg sleep- your legs have a tendency to fall asleep after riding for a long time. I saw everyone trying to shake out their legs when we were going really slow.
• Erratic speed- there were times that we were doing 40 and times that we were almost stopped, it all depends on the road as to the speed that you'll be going.

These are all good learning experiences for our days in Sturgis, I'm sure that we'll be facing some of these same conditions out there. Oops one I almost forgot, emptying one's bladder before such a ride is imperative. I emptied at Cleveland Browns Stadium, but had to go like a 6 week puppy by the time I got to Mentor. It must be the rumble between your legs that shakes it all loose.

After completing the ride, we hung out for a bit, talked about some of our experiences, had a beer and then decided that burnt burgers and water dogs weren't our cup of tea and headed back towards C-Town for some "biker grub"....Burritos and water at Johnny Mangos http://www.jmango.com/....are we really bikers? Maybe we need to work on the food part, but yes, for the day we were all bikers out for a good cause.

Next up in the charitable rides: http://www.copsride.com/ Maybe we'll get the wives involved this time.

Sturgis Update:

Not much going on, except that The Chip is now booking their secondary stages and Glencoe hasn't announced anything yet.

As a group, we probably need to get together in the coming weeks to start talking through the hardcore logistics of the trip. Things like food, beverage, wine, etc....

Here are some pictures that I shot on the morning of the ride.

Looking towards downtown on Alfred Lerner Way

Looking towards the Flats on Alfred Lerner Way

The purpose of the ride, Firefighter's Memorial.