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It was a Lewis Carroll Kind of Day, or was Alice really a Biker

July 4^th, 2007

muse@bikerenews.com

Last Saturday turned out to be an interesting and surprising sort of day. By the end of the day, I knew I had been caught up in new Lewis Carroll story. Yeah, the Lewis Carroll that wrote Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Of course, this story has to do with motorcycles. So without further delay and to quote the Walrus, "The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings."

The morning started off with a planned event. The Red Knights were making a donation to the Virginia Beach Fire and EMS Memorial which is being constructed at the Fire Training Center on Birdneck Road. Of course it started off with the usual Red Knights Breakfast Club, a short ride to the Fire Training Center, a little glad handing, a few kind words, a couple of photos, and a ride around the corner to Boneshakers for lunch.

I won't go on about the ride; since I know my Two-Wheel Advisor (The Hun) is going to be writing up the ride. However, it was during this morning ride that I first realized that Mr. Carroll and I might have something in common. It was during the social settings that I realized that a Carroll quote was appropriate. "But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat. 'We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.' 'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice. 'You must be,' said the Cat. 'Or you wouldn't have come here.'" Like I've said, I like those folks.

After lunch, we all headed our separate ways. I hopped on General Booth and was going to ride west to Holland Road and take it up to the Haygood area off Independence Blvd. It was just before Holland Road that two thoughts simultaneously (yes, I used spell check on that last word) popped into my head. First, it was only 12:00. Second, I had not been on a solo ride for weeks, if not months. Almost instantly, Alice was back in my head. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. 'I don't much care where,' said Alice. 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat."

I decided to stay on General Booth until I was forced to turn left or right. After that, I told myself that I'd head home. Well the short version is that you can ride pretty far along General Booth and Mount Pleasant (relatively speaking). The traffic was light, the air was comfortable, and somehow I stayed out from under those few dark clouds in the sky.

The interesting thing about this road is that despite the fact that I was heading west, when I finally came to a dead end where I had to turn, I was facing east. This is when I knew that Mr. Carroll had a hand in designing the streets in Hampton Roads. To my surprise, I was on Benefit Road and came to a stop on Battlefield Blvd, just south of where Centerville Turnpike splits off to the east (right) of Battlefield. Knowing where I was, I had to stop at the Hardee's for a cool drink. Amazed by the unexpected twist in road, I decided I had to retrace my steps to figure out how I'd gotten there.

I worked my way back to Virginia Beach, and as I was approaching Holland Road (again), I made another decision. I decided that since I hadn't been to Pungo in a while, I would take a quick run out Princess Anne Road. Mr. Carroll spoke to me again, "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to stay in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

Well you know the routine, I told myself I'd turn around at "THE" stoplight, then at Monk's, and finally I just quit lying to myself and rode out to Knots Island Ferry Landing. I turned around and made the trip back. It would be nice if I could tell you that I saw something unusual, like a two head giraffe, or a circus clown riding a monocycle, but the truth is I just rode. I rode in one direction. Then I rode in another. I found a third direction and it was as much fun as the first two. At the end of this 150 mile ride, I had a better appreciation for Mr. Carroll's books for children, "I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then."

Ride Safe and I'll see you at the Rest Area.

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