The All-Day, Full-Body Massage

I said this to Molly somewhere between the on-ramp to 44 and St. Clair...it was just after we got on the road:  "I have been dreaming about this for 20 years."

I have been wanting to saddle-up, tie down and bike to an overnight destination since I began riding motorcycles, really, so yeah, maybe it's been a lot longer than 20 years.  It wasn't until I began making any money that I really felt it was possible to a) own a road-worthy bike, and b) be able to take it somewhere cool on my own time.  Molly and I have been working up to this fairly short trip since early last fall, and we've been talking about the ride from home to Table Rock Lake since we got the first bike (same time last year). 

The weather, by the time we got to Rolla, seemed to be cooperating, but we had rain gear, balaclavas, rubber gloves and rubber boots to wear over the bike gear just in case.  We got southwest out of Rolla, Waynesville I think, and the sky came down a few thousand feet.  The wind howled from the time we hit the highway up toward home, but it got stronger still.  When it gets that strong, the wind hits you like a left-cross, gives you three seconds of vaccuous relief, then caves in the right side of your helmet...no way to anticipate it.  Somewhere between Rolla and Marshfield, I told her that biking in such wind was like a full-body massage.  She laughs and says, "That's a good way to look at it." 

Just before we got to Strafford (Kev, Cristina and Shayla live there, and we actually pulled into their driveway--nobody home), Molly is riding in front, and I watched the wind literally wiggle her bike.  We speak to one another with helmet-to-helmet radio gear, and I heard her go, "Whoa.  Wow.  Hey, that's not good," and then the same gusts hit me, and we exit for Strafford.  Rode the outer road for as far as possible till we had to get on 65 toward Branson.

65 offered no relief--only rain to add to the wind.  We ate at the "Home of the Throwed Rolls," caught a couple of those, talked to four other bike-folk who lamented the weather along with us, and carried on.  The rain pounded, the wind kept us saying, "Wow.  Wow.  Whew!  Oh, wow."  If you've never ridden in weather like that, it's just tough to describe.  You know how you feel after a deep back rub, a great aerobic workout or a day of yardwork?  It's like that, along with getting socked in the gut over and over, once you dismount the bikes and breathe a little while.

Anyway, we made it down to Table Rock safely, and somewhere just as we got onto 65 headed toward Arkansas, Molly says to me, "Remember--you dreamed about this for 20 years..."  We had a laugh about it--I think in my dream, the elements actually cooperated.  We are very blessed, though--for one another, for the great gear and good roads and a chance to "get there," wherever "there" happens to be.

Ready for a cool weekend, even if it is spent socked-in at this resort, lounging in this home away from home, spending time with this very special girl...