Motorcyclists and a Flirting Story with an Unhappy Ending

My parents were in the front seat, and I was in the back seat of their car. We were on the way to a family function or something because I remember I had a skirt on, and high heels, and I was dolled up. We were on the highway going up towards the Holyoke Mall, where Routes 91 and 391 split.

There was this young guy on a motorcycle that I noticed from a distance. We were in the middle of a three-lane highway, and he came up to the car on the right side, in the slow lane. I started flirting with him, and he started flirting back. He rode alongside us for a bit. My mom even made a comment about me not distracting him but I did not pay any attention, until the road forked.

My dad was going left and as I watched in horror the motorcyclist tried to veer right but overshot the curve, and tipped the bike down, slid on it, until he crashed into the metal barriers that protected the shoulder.

"Dad, Stop. Now!" I screamed and because of the urgency in my voice, he pulled over.

"The guy on the bike went down," I yelled over my shoulder, as I got out of the car and ran back to the intersection, and then up the hill where the motorcyclist was all mangled and in shock pressed up against the barrier.

Normally I am a girl that wears pants and work boots. It seemed very wrong for me to be standing on the side of the highway, all decked out, while this guy, who fortunately had a helmet on, was bleeding and messed up.

The kickstand had gone through his foot and he needed to be extricated from the bike. A passerby must have called the cops because they came quickly but we waited for a long time while emergency crews took care of him. I felt absolutely horrible.

They had to remove the kickstand from the bike, and then he and the kickstand were put on the rollaway stretcher and hoisted into the ambulance. A flat bed truck removed his bike.

A split second was all it took. I watched him slide across the road and I could not do anything about it. I was devastated and I felt completely at fault. My parents said he should not have been flirting with me, and it was his fault because he was behind the wheel, but I have never been able to erase that memory from my mind with his cute face all cut up, bloody, and his pants road burned, in some places with his flesh barely hanging on, and the kickstand through his foot.

Life was not fair for this guy for sure. I do not know how he made out but it taught me a very valuable lesson. Never flirt with people who are driving bikes; a smile and a wink should not land the person in the Emergency Room, or worse off, the morgue. Unfortunately, this one ride ended up with an unhappy ending. Spring is coming and the riders will be out there shortly. The 70th Annual Bike Ride in Daytona, FL is set for March 4th-13th, 2011.

My sister is out there riding now, so you guys take heed too!