As most readers know, I love to ride motorcycles. My parents rode Harleys in the 1940s and my mother continued to ride into the 50s after my dad died in an industrial accident in 1948. I was nine months old at the time.

Balance issues and a set of not-always-functioning legs have kept me off bikes for more than a year now while I struggle to correct the heath issues that seem to be multiplying and winning. I’m hoping to be riding before fall of this year.

The video above is one that shows some of what riding means around here. And, yes, the young lady riding on the back of one of the Harleys is Melissa Gaona of WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, who was doing a story on Roanoke Harley Owners Group (HOG) riders and a charity event when I shot some of this video 12 years ago.