It’s raining outside…….

I am a fair weather biker in most respects. I don’t mind if it starts raining on me when I am on my way home from anywhere. If I am going to work or elsewhere, I am really not equipped with rain-gear so usually my pants will be soaked by the time I arrive – wet crotch is no fun. I also don’t like to get my motorcycle splattered with road grime in the rain, at least not on a regular basis.

Here are a few suggestions of things to do when you can’t get out and ride:

• Watch some old classic biker movies such as “Easy Rider” with Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda, “The Wild Ones” with Marlon Brando, “Hells’ Angels on Wheels” with Jack Nicholson, and “The Wild Angels” with Peter Fonda. “The Big Book of Biker Flicks: 40 of the best Motorcycle movies of all time” by Jack Wooley has these movies and more for your amusement and pleasure. These are fun to watch, very stereotypical, and you’ll recognize other actors who went on to do greater things.

• Read a good book on motorcycling. One that I read which encouraged me to ride was “The Perfect Vehicle: What it is about Motorcycles” by Melissa Holbrook Pierson. She describes the riding experience wonderfully. Other fun books are “Biker Billy Cooks with Fire: Robust recipes from Americas’ most outrageous television chef”, “Biker Billy’s Freeway-A-Fire Cookbook: Life’s too short to Eat Dull Food”, and “Biker Billy’s Hog Wild on a Harley Cookbook: 200 fiercely flavorful recipes to kick-start your cooking from Harley riders across the USA” all by Bill Hufnagle. Lastly, “Harley and Davidson Family Recipes: Celebrating 100 years of Home Cooking” by Margo Manning.

• I also enjoy the Motorcycle magazine, “Rider”. Each month there is an article about a ride somewhere in the US. There are lots of pictures, and good articles, and it is mostly just about riding any motorcycle.

• Surf the web for other biker websites and blogs. There are many out there such as: Rippin-kitten.com, BikerBetty.blogspot.com, and uncagedlibrarian.blogspot.com to name a few. A website called Ready2ride.com has a female rider tab with lots of other female biker websites and blogs. Just do a search and you will spend many hours checking out what other bikers are doing.

• Research your next dream bike. If you are like me you will always be thinking of the motorcycle you want but can’t yet afford. Read up on the one you think you want. Go down to the motorcycle dealer and check it out. Sit on it, and ask questions about it. If it’s raining you probably won’t take it for a test ride, but you can go back when it is sunny!

So these are just a few suggestions to kill time when you can’t get on your bike and ride. In those situations you can still enjoy the riding spirit, keep riding foremost in your mind, and have a few laughs – while watching those old biker movies.