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A little background:
A friend from Essex turned 30 in 1997. His wife gave him a 1998 Ducati 748. I was at his house and my jaw hit the floor. Sure, we'd all had bikes in the past, but that Tamburini design was just sex on wheels. I had to have one. My goal: a ducati when I turned 30.
Thankfully, I bought my first Ducati 748s when I was still 29. I rode the crap out of that thing. I was living in Utah at the time and the canyons out there are just incredible. Then Miller oppened up a track 35 minutes west of my home....
Fast forward to 2006, and I applied to medical school. The cost of the applications required me to sell her, but I always vowed to get another. I did during my third year of med school in Burlington. I found a pristine, low mileage 998. I had read about Bike Night on line and it wasn't until one of my first spring ride in 2010, that I ran out of gas (thanks to a Ducati's finicky style and a crapped out fuel level sensor). It was that afternoon that I met Billy, aka: freak, crash on the side of the road in Monkton.
We had some adventures. I met everyone at Bike Night and enjoyed the safety conscious attitude, the lack of squids and the break from my life at the hospital (and the creemee runs). I got introduced to that awesome stretch of highway somewhere across the lake with Freak and JBell (it always was fun going nuts on a bike with an officer of the law leading the way on an 848). I got a pit bike and tried to get onto the goKart track in Barre (you guys have an INCREDIBLE resource there). Brett and I got down there once in the cold rain of October a few years ago. Doc and many others taught me much on the technical track in Loudon. I spent hours in my garage playing with my 998.
Then some big life changes happened. I didn't match Ortho, so I had to take what was offered. A year in Danbury CT and 4 years in South Florida. Well, the riding in CT was fun, but I never had time to meet folks so I often just cruised alone. Florida, there are no ride. Literally. If there is a turn in the road its an on or off ramp to a highway.
I was riding into work the other morning. Changed the oil and was getting her up to temp. First intersection, 7am, and a Lexus SUV runs the light as I'm in the middle of the intersection. He locked em up and threw it sideways, just missing me by no more than 6 inches. I felt the wind of his speed thru my helmet and leather jacket.
It just wasn't my time. But it wasn't going to be my time either. I won't lie guys. I'd have not felt a thing if he was 12 inches to his right. I turned around and took the cage to work, my face numb with fear. I listed her on Craigslist that night. I didn't want the temptation of going out on roads here in SoFlo again. They have been way to insane for 15 months.
She just drove away, in the trailer of a very nice 36yo guy who plans on bringing her back to Georgia. She deserves to be ridden, throttled hard now and again. I couldn't giver her that anymore down here. I still have almost three years left. I'll get another bike. Maybe a Tricolore or something new in 2016...but for now, I can't help but feel like I lost a piece of myself.
Be well guys. Ride safe. I gotta go pick up the fiance at the airport.
Cheers,
Sandros (aka: sandyV)