Ocean Beach is approximately 10 miles from my house.
A little history about Ocean Beach. http://www.ocean-beach-park.com/Ocean Beach is in New London, Connecticut. It situated right on Long Island Sound, at the mouth of the Thames River. Ocean Beach Park has a long history of use starting from the early 1900's. Ocean Beach Park has an Olympic size pool, miniature golf, playground, snack bars, arcade and a nice long boardwalk and the beach.
I was debating whether I wanted to attend this event. Then I learned that my most favorite Meteorologist, Weather Guy, friend, fellow veteran, and fellow biker - Gil Simmons was going to be there. That clinched it. I was going. I was debating because I don't believe in the whole blessing thing. But I figured I would get to see a lot of bikes. At the end of this blog, I have included two links so you can see the pictures I took.
There were loads of bikes. Historically bikers have been men and women have ridden as a passengers. This has been called, "Backrests" or "Fender Fluff." (Another topic for a different blog is the biker lingo). Numbers of women riders are growing exponencially. My husband does not ride a motorcycle. He did not attend this event with me. We often do our own stuff, sure there are things we do together, but he just isn't interested in biker stuff.
I was taking pictures like crazy. I was excited, I got to see Rick, the instructor in the first motorcycle basic riding class. I haven't disclosed it yet, but the first time around, in basic riding class, I crashed. It wasn't a big crash, but it made me appreciate a helmet. I felt badly that it was Rick's class that I crashed in, I didn't want it to reflect negatively on him. He was as happy to see me as I was to see him. But what happened in that class is yet another topic for a future blog.
As I was walking round looking at the bikes, I happened to overhear a young woman. She was making comments about the bikes she was taking pictures. To paraphrase what she said: "I am going to have to get a bike." I asked her if she had ever rode a motorcycle. She said "No." I asked her if I could offer a suggestion. She replied, "Oh I don't want to ride a motorcycle, I only want it because they are so pretty." I was floored. I looked at her and I literally had to close my mouth. I bit my tongue and politely walked away. As I went over to talk with some of my friends, I was explaining what had just happened. It occurred to me that essentially this young woman was just looking for a shiny, chromed, two wheeled lawn ornament.
The weather was absolutely beautiful. It was a spectular day. I got to see a lot of beautiful bikes. I got to take a wonderful bike ride. I got to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen for awhile. I got to see various types of bikes I hadn't seen before. And I attended my first Blessing of the Bikes events.
Below are the two albums of pictures I have posted on Facebook of today's pictures. Everyone should be able to see them. Enjoy...
Album 1
Album 2
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