A Rat's Sunday morning, rocking out..

It's sort of a good thing when you roll out the door and have to pick your ride..it was early and the Tangerine needed a little clutch tuning and a test drive..Well Starbucks and the road I wanted to ride were in different directions..So wrench the clutch roll the orange beast out, think about the neighbor, belly laugh and hit the start button..leave the choke on and go for a smoke..Still got sometime before the Bucks unlocks the door..Leave now I might have to ride slow..

Clutch is fine, 5:30am with the wind kicking it's way around you is my time..I would watch the sunrise in the mirrors if I had any..Pull in, lean the wrong way and reach under the case to find the jiffy...Ya its low..See a bunch of the local gathered early..WTF must a been a party last night..No shit Madera swamp meet and bike show..looking at 106 or so today..No thanks boys Rat's riding solo today..

Head on back to the shack and roll the shovel out..Now I can feel it would like to hit the swamp meet..poor shovel been looking for some new bling for awhile..not today..Rat needs some road cure..Up Sand Creek we roll..Good two lane road to nowhere and a rock that's been on my mind for years..just never have the time to check on it..Many years ago this was my ride..I would sit on the road and you could see one side of the central valley to the other..thanks to our wonderful smog you can't do it anymore..I have no idea if the rock is still there, parking area maybe someones home but I am on a mission to find the thinking rock..

Been riding the Tangerine mostly lately, sorta been the mood I have been in I guess..Riding hard, riding fast and there is nothing wrong with it..but today me the shovel are playing with our past in way like riding the tangerine..riding hard and riding fast had been a thing of the past..I think we reach an age we have to see if we can still do what we did..well I can but I'm paying for it..elbows wiped out and did in the good knee a few days back..it ain't getting better and after eleven surgeries on the right one I can tell you where it's going..Oh well I had fun making it happen..

So we head up the first stretch of hill, same as before nice road, small but smooth..I'm down a gear,,hot morning wind defeats fast..I want to feel the ride, I want to see the changes, compare today and yesterday and see the future..I don't want to be in control I want the ride, the road to dictate the speed and the angles..I'm just driving today..No pushing or pulling I'm just gliding, riding and soaking it in..

Takes a few try's to find the dead end the rock lives on..Still got an empty pad where the locals party...can tell by the damage, beer drinking and hell raising hasn't changed much over the years..Find a spot of shade for the horse to cool off under and take a gander around the old place..see the fence is still standing..sorta like me I guess a little blurry eyed and worse for wear and tear..but still standing on it's own..Crawl over and head back a few hundred feet behind the hill..There it stands..still tall, upright and righteous in it's own right..Now in the younger days get up to the top was a hop, skip and a jump..well I had to put a little more effort into today..I made it..

Been many years old friend, mind if I sit a spell and look around..progress has happened around you my friend..after years of standing on this hill by yourself you now have kids playing with a puppy in the backyard, mom putting out the laundry and dads mowing the lawns..I'm sure it doesn't bother you..the worlds moved around you forever..Ya I have experienced the same thing in different places..Some good, some bad but all a small part of life..Don't say much but you never did..See ya Rock I got to go one more time..

Rat