Shelby Nichols Consulting

Not long ago, I tried to drive Ramos’s Harley. It was in a parking lot, but I had a crazy person behind me at the time, and I almost crashed into the back of a building. Luckily I was able to turn the bike, but I ended up underneath it because it was too heavy for me to hold up. The only good thing about it was that I just got a few bruises on my ankle. The bike didn’t fair so well, and Ramos had to take it into the shop and get it fixed.

After that, he suggested I learn how to drive a motorcycle in case that ever happened again, and he would teach me. How could I pass that up?

To be honest, I like riding behind Ramos better than almost anything, so driving a motorcycle myself kind of defeats that purpose. Still, I told him that was a good idea, even though I doubted it would ever happen.

Then just this morning after we’d finished up a meeting at Thrasher Development, Ramos and I left the office at the same time. In the parking garage, I glanced toward Ramos’s normal parking place and found a different bike parked there.

“Where’s the Harley?” I asked.

“At home,” he answered. “I just got this one restored and wanted to ride it today.” He wandered over to it, and ran his hand over the polished chrome with a soft caress. “This bike is a vintage classic. It’s a 1959 Bonneville Triumph. I found it when I was in Mexico, and managed to bring it home.”

“Wow. That’s great. It looks like an awesome bike,” I said, even though I had no idea what a vintage classic meant, except that it was probably worth a lot of money.

“Hey, this would be the perfect bike for you to learn on. It’s not as big as the Harley, so you’d probably be able to handle it. Want to try it out?”

“You mean…all by myself?”

“Sure. Now that school’s out, we could go to an empty school parking lot, and you could try her out.”

“Uh…are you sure? I mean, it’s a vintage classic, right?”

“You’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” Just the thought of trying to drive that bike sent shards of ice down my spine, but how could I say no to Ramos?

“Good.” He popped the trunk to his car and produced both our helmets and handed the smaller one to me.

As I strapped it on, I wished I would have been more prepared and worn different clothes. Since it was summer, I’d worn a pink tank top under a white linen shirt and my denim capri pants with sparkles on the back pockets. On my feet, I’d slipped on my denim sandals that totally matched. At least they were flat, and the top of my foot was covered, so that would help with the shifting part.

I climbed on behind Ramos, and slipped my arms around him, willing to try anything for a ride with him, and hoped for the best.

This bike was smaller, but I fit behind Ramos just fine. He took us to the nearest high school parking lot and pulled inside. We both got off, and he began to explain how to shift the gears to me, most of which I already knew from riding with him.

He took me through the brake lever and the shift lever, along with how to pull the handle to give it some gas. By the time he was done, I had a pretty good idea how to drive it, but that didn’t stop my stomach from fluttering with trepidation.

“Ready to try it out?” he asked.

“Uh…I guess.”

He took in my widened eyes and pale face, and his lips tilted up in a smile. “Want me to ride behind you until you get the hang of it?”

I let out a relieved breath. “You can do that?” At his nod, I continued. “I would feel lots better if you did.”

“Okay, get on.”

I straddled the bike and scooted forward so there was plenty of room for Ramos behind me. He helped me get it started, and told me how to shift into first, and let out the clutch while giving it some gas.

I did everything like he said, and we inched forward before it sputtered out and died. He told me I needed to give it a little more gas and try again. This time, I managed to do it right, and we started off across the parking lot at a slow pace.

He continued to tell me when to shift, and I got all the way up to third gear before we began to run out of space and had to turn around. I turned slowly, grateful that Ramos could keep the bike from tipping over, and then began to head back.

After a couple of times, I was getting the hang of it, and Ramos settled back into the seat, leaving me to use the handle bars by myself. We turned around to head back to the other side of the parking lot, and all that open space beckoned me, so I gave it a little extra gas and went a little faster than before.

Ramos grabbed me around the waist, and I laughed as we picked up speed. I even managed to get all the way to fourth gear. Since we were nearing the end of the parking lot, I let go of the gas to pull on the brake lever, causing us to slow more abruptly than I wanted.

The momentum caused Ramos to plow into my back, pushing me forward. That’s when I panicked and pulled on the brake, causing us both to fly forward even more. Ramos expertly reached around me, and took control of the bike. With relief, I pulled my fingers away and leaned back against him until we came to a complete stop.

He put his feet on the ground so the bike didn’t tip over, and swung his leg off the bike, leaving me on it alone. “What did you think?” he asked.

“It was great…until the end. I guess I lost it a little.”

He smiled. “You did great. Want to try it on your own?”

My eyes widened. “Uh…nope…not really. But I think I got the basics, so this was a good start. Besides, I don’t want to risk wrecking this classic bike, you know?”

He chuckled, knowing I was scared out of my mind, but he also thought it had been worth it to have his arms around me for a change. “Yeah. I appreciate that. Ready to head back?”

Now that it was over, I wasn’t sure I wanted it to end, but changing places with Ramos made it a lot easier. “Yes.”

Soon, I was back where I felt most comfortable. Still, there was a moment with Ramos’s arms around me that I’d felt a real thrill. It was great fun, and I wouldn’t mind feeling that again sometime. But, for now, riding behind him was even better.

So that was my first bike driving lesson. I thought it went pretty well, and if I ever get the chance again, I’ll take it…as long as Ramos is sitting behind me.