Saturday, April 3, 2010

Joe5 - 4/3/2010 - A Blustery Day

Joe5 is another PlentyOfFish guy. Again, no high expectations on my side, and again, a nice surprise. I had to take care of some business at Thunder Mountain, and it seemed like a good neutral place to meet, so that was the plan.

Thinking back to Joe3, I remembered I needed to wash my bike before heading out. My ride on Trail Ridge on Tuesday, through all the water from melting snow banks, had made a nice film of dirt over my entire bike. Although it was a calm morning, by the time I got my bike out and started washing it, the wind was blowing. Pair the blowing wind with the dump trucks that chose this morning (starting before 6:00) to haul cow manure down the dirt road about 10 feet behind my house, and I was replacing Rocky Mountain dirt with Eastern Plains dirt (and probably a little dried up cow-doo). Resistance was futile. I gave up and hit the road.

When I was crossing 85, I passed a car with a large tumbleweed plastered across the entire front end. I shook my head and smiled. Is there no end to these things? Where do they all come from?

I got to Thunder Mountain and recognized Joe5 immediately. I wasn't expecting the earrings for some reason, he was thinner than guys I'm typically attracted to, and he has these great glasses. At first glance, he seemed to have an interesting character. We made a little small talk and checked out each other's motorcycles.

I had to wait a few minutes to talk to the person I was there to speak with about some work. Joe5 and I walked around the store a bit, discussing the different motorcycles. I went back up front while Joe5 tried on some leather jackets. I have to admit, he looked pretty good. I don't think I've ever dated anyone who wears a medium. We're covering new ground here.

I was finally ready to go, and we headed up to Full Throttle. Joe5 had battled the wind all the way from Denver on I-25, so I made an attempt to find the back way to the coffee shop. After one wrong turn (I warned Joe5 that I wasn't 100% confident that I'd find the route on the first try), we made our way to Fort Collins on some scenic county roads. We had some green chili and coffee and water and then hit the road. We decided to ride east on Harmony and then down 85, which was perfect for both of us.

Despite the fact that we'd both used the bathroom before we left, I desperately had to go again by the time we reached Severance. How embarrassing. I made some lame excuse about needing gas in Eaton and stopped, then I quickly mentioned the coffee and water and ran into the rest room. Apparently he was right there with me on that. Whew! I didn't feel quite so... geriatric. Because I was turning off shortly, we said our goodbyes and agreed to ride again sometime. I arrived home to find a wayward tumbleweed waiting for me at the front door.

Lessons Learned:

1. Don't drink a lot of water and coffee in a short period of time when you're on a date and won't have easy access to a bathroom. Awkward!

2. Joe5 scored a lot of points by complimenting my motorcycle. He noticed a lot of the smaller things I've changed. I don't know if he realized what he was doing, but it worked for me.

3. If you're riding in front of someone who has a radar detector, consider slowing down if they drop way behind you.

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