My first group ride

[Roadrunner1970]

I went on my first group ride today with people from my meetup.com riding group. It was a beautiful sunny day here in Albuquerque, and a balmy 52 degrees. I showed up at the starting point a little after 11 am, and it looked like a motorcycle gang had taken over the restaurant parking lot. Ive never seen so many bikes, and folks dressed out in their leathers. There was atleast 50 people there. I tried to go around and introduce myself to everyone, but ran outa time before i could. Kick stands were up at 11:30 sharp, and away we went. Since im the noob of the group, i was told to hang back, and ride just in front of the sweep. Holy cow what a sight to behold! All these bikes going down the road atleast a 1/2 mile long. A symphony of rumbling thunder. Everyone took notice of us. It was like taking part in a parade. I felt like i was really a part of something special. Pedestrians would stop, stare, and wave. A couple old guys even saluted us. Kids faces would light up with amazement, and excitement. Cars would honk their horns, wave, and give us the thumbs up. . It was a great feeling! Even when we were cruising at 60-65mph the wind that used to scare me so bad when i was first starting to ride, didnt bother me at all.

Ive come such a long ways since i got my bike in November. I thought back on that day when i first brought my bike home. I was shaking like a leaf just taking it out of the garage, and riding around the neighborhood for the first time, and here i am holding my own on my first big group ride. Relaxed, and actually enjoying going 65! I thought the day would never come, but here i am! We ended up doing a big 50 mile loop all around town. When we were done and went our seperate ways i was feeling so good, and the day so perfect i went on another long ride by myself. There were lots of bikes out today, and everyone i passed by gave me the biker wave. Even a few of the harley riders waved, much to my suprise! Everyone i encountered today was just as nice as can be! I feel so proud to be apart of this special fraternity on two wheels! What a great start to the new year!

[Brackstone]

Sounds great man, glad you had a good time. You were more focused on the ride then watching the speedometer which sounds to me was just what you needed.