Here in Lilongwe, buying a motorcycle is not always as easy as going to the local dealership. That can happen, but you are pretty much stuck buying new with a couple of Chinese brands that I wasn't all that familiar with, and for that matter had pretty consistently terrible reviews from people. My perfect world was finding a used bike, as it would be easier on the budget, and probably a Yamaha or Honda or Suzuki. Once I arrived here I started to keep my eyes open, but used bikes seem to be at a premium here. I finally saw a local notice for a used Suzuki TF 125 for sale, and sent a text. Over the next five weeks and dozens and dozens of texts, phone calls, and emails, I finally saw her....
"Lucille"
Now, for those of you that don't know, BB King named his guitar Lucille years ago. And since we have Lucy the dog, it seemed like a nice pseudo-homage on a couple of levels (also, apparently both Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers have songs about Lucilles, but...no). But naming her didn't come until later. My buddy Dan drove me over to meet Asher, the guy who was selling the bike. He lived in Area 18, and neither of us were that familar with the area. Part of me was convinced somebody was trying to pull a fast one, so when we met him and followed him through a maze of streets, winding farther and farther from our familiar, I feared my suspicions were going to be confirmed. But lo and behold, he opens the gate up and there she is.
Now unbeknownst to Dan (and something he asked me about later) was that I don't really have a ton of "experience" when it comes to motorcycles. I rode a minibike around my grandfather's farm when I was a kid (with my cousins Adam, Jason, and Cory), and had been on plenty of scooters and mopeds, but most of my motorcycle experience was when I accidentally bought a motorcycle when I was in law school and living in Minneapolis. It needed work, which I knew when I bought it, but getting that work done never seeemed to happen and two years after I bought it I sold it and pretty much broke even. I had ridden it around the neighborhood, but due to some faulty exhaust I never really went all out. So, not all that much experience at all.
Before we went, I did a little internet research on what to look for when buying a used bike, so I tried to apply that as best I could. When we showed up, I gave the bike a once over, but in all honesty was so excited I didn't really even look for half the things my research had told me to. Either way, I took it for a test drive, and crossed my fingers that I wouldn't crash the thing into the side of Asher's house. After taking maybe a couple of seconds longer to get it into neutral than it should have taken, I started it, put it into gear and turned out on the road. It was about 5pm, so lots of people on the road heading home for the day. I didn't get any strange looks at all...... Avoiding disaster, I headed back to the house and pulled in. Pretty sure the smile I couldn't wipe off my face destroyed any bargaining power I would have had. It still took another week or so to transfer the money, get her looked at by a mechanic, and get some of the paperwork in order. But once that was done, I was off.
My first destination was Kumuzu Dam. It was south of Lilongwe about 30 km. I took my time getting out, soaking in the villages I passed through, the beautiful countryside, the dirt road seemingly headed to the horizon. So many friendly waves and smiles from people, and plenty of those stares again with hardly any reaction at all. I had spent that first week of getting paperwork in order riding around the neighborhood, so I was somewhat familiar with the bike by then, but this certainly took it to a whole new level. Riding was awesome, and I couldn't have asked for a better place to do it. And life was good, and the African red dirt found a temporary resting place on my teeth, as once again I couldn't keep my mouth shut with the smile on my face that wouldn't quit.
Once at the dam, I spent an hour or so hiking around and exploring. There is apparently some sort of Lilongwe Sailing Club here, I didn't see any sign of it. There was a class of local school kids that were on a field trip there. Covered in dust, I'm sure I looked like a strange sight.There are a lot of things about life that are tough when you live this far away from family and friends. My younger sister Abby just had her seond child, a boy this time! I'd love to see Brooks, and how his older sister Amelia interacts with him. I think one of the things I'd like to be there for most is seeing Jay and Abby and all the love that is in their life. It stinks not being there.
Mother's day was yesterday, and I put in a call to my Mom. I didn't get a chance to talk to Abby, or Kara, my older sister with three kids of her own. It would have been nice to give all the favorite moms in my life a kiss and a hug and tell them how much I appreciate them, I try not to spend a lot of time focused on missing all of those things, because if you do you'll miss the experiences and opportunities that are right in front of you. But I do think about them, and miss all of those guys every day.
With all that said, it's nice to have destractions. It's great to have things that take your focus away from anything that is bothering you. I've always had buddies that had motorcycles, and I was always jealous, although I don't know that I could have told you why exactly. They all seemed to love it, however, and some seemed almost obsessed. It has only been a short time for me, but I think I'm now officially in the club. Riding on a Malawi country rode at 60 kmh, grass huts wizzing by, the sun lasered on my forearms as my palms sweat from holding on so tight....I think I may be spending a little time on Lucille while I live here in Malawi.
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