Bikeguy Joe
Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Yesterday, I was on a rare November/Ohio ride, and was stopped at my favorite place to take a break, when an Amish buggy came rumbling up. This break place is a bridge, on a game reserve in western Pa, on a road called Shadeland Rd." It has one house on the end, then a mile or so up is the bridge, with no more house for another mile or so I guess. Nice and quiet.
The Amish buggy was not unusual, since several of my riding 'loops' are in the heart of western Pa./eastern Ohio Amish country. What was unusual was instead of the wave and "How's it goin' friend?" I normally get, they stopped.
Out of the buggy came four big teen Amish kids. Was I about to be mugged by the Amish gangbangers of Erie county?
No. "Hey Mr., we seen ya ridin' that thing a lot." "Yes, I do ride it around here and stop here often." I said. Then, I knew what was next..."Can I ride it?" the one kid said. Uhmmmm aren't you guys not really supposed to run an engines, no elctricity, and all that?" I asked. "Well,....yes and no." The one kid said. Then they all just stood there, sullen, like I just took away there best pitchfork.
I thought about it for awhile, then weighed the risks, and said "What the heck. I guess." I figured they aren't real "sue happy" and if one of 'em busted their lip or skinned a knee, they could take it better than one of today's societies white bread kids with the X Box callouses. Plus, most of these kids have worked in a sawmill, operated farm machinery ect, and the use of a simple clutch and throttle would not be beyond them, plus most know how to ride a bike, since apperently, that is allowed.
After some basic instructions and making sure they all did indeed know how to ride a bike, I fired it up. Then I turned the gas off just in case and sent the first one on his way with instructions to "just go down there a piece, turn around and come back." I figured this way, if the "throttle panic" or other set in, he couldn't get too far before it ran out of gas.
I shouldn't have worried, as he made it far enough to get down the road, make a turn without pulling the clutch and halfway back before it started to stutter, and quit.
WHOOOOOWHOOOO!!!! all four started to whoop and holler and jump up and down like they wion the lotto or something and ran to their buddy. I thought for a minute they were gonna lift him up and carry him off like they do in the movies, but they just slapped him up a bit and then looked am me.
"Alrighty, who's next?" I asked and then the next kid rode it, then the next, then the last, then the first wanted to ride again, and since I cut off the gas and he only rode a bit I said "O.K."
That kid rode that bike so far down the road I couldn't see him any more and the other got quiet. We all stood there for a few minutes and no one wanted to say anything....so I did.
"Let's take your buggy and see what happened." So we did.
Here I am, riding in an Amish buggy, looking for an AWOL Amish kid on my bike, strange even for me....well, maybe not.
We finally saw him coming back toward us, and it looked like everything was O.K. It was, He said he just couldn't stop, or turn around yet and kept on riding.
Nice. I told them all to keep it quiet and maybe next spring or summer I may see them out there again.....now, I just hope they kept it quiet, and I am not on so Amish hit list for corruption of youth.
The Amish buggy was not unusual, since several of my riding 'loops' are in the heart of western Pa./eastern Ohio Amish country. What was unusual was instead of the wave and "How's it goin' friend?" I normally get, they stopped.
Out of the buggy came four big teen Amish kids. Was I about to be mugged by the Amish gangbangers of Erie county?
No. "Hey Mr., we seen ya ridin' that thing a lot." "Yes, I do ride it around here and stop here often." I said. Then, I knew what was next..."Can I ride it?" the one kid said. Uhmmmm aren't you guys not really supposed to run an engines, no elctricity, and all that?" I asked. "Well,....yes and no." The one kid said. Then they all just stood there, sullen, like I just took away there best pitchfork.
I thought about it for awhile, then weighed the risks, and said "What the heck. I guess." I figured they aren't real "sue happy" and if one of 'em busted their lip or skinned a knee, they could take it better than one of today's societies white bread kids with the X Box callouses. Plus, most of these kids have worked in a sawmill, operated farm machinery ect, and the use of a simple clutch and throttle would not be beyond them, plus most know how to ride a bike, since apperently, that is allowed.
After some basic instructions and making sure they all did indeed know how to ride a bike, I fired it up. Then I turned the gas off just in case and sent the first one on his way with instructions to "just go down there a piece, turn around and come back." I figured this way, if the "throttle panic" or other set in, he couldn't get too far before it ran out of gas.
I shouldn't have worried, as he made it far enough to get down the road, make a turn without pulling the clutch and halfway back before it started to stutter, and quit.
WHOOOOOWHOOOO!!!! all four started to whoop and holler and jump up and down like they wion the lotto or something and ran to their buddy. I thought for a minute they were gonna lift him up and carry him off like they do in the movies, but they just slapped him up a bit and then looked am me.
"Alrighty, who's next?" I asked and then the next kid rode it, then the next, then the last, then the first wanted to ride again, and since I cut off the gas and he only rode a bit I said "O.K."
That kid rode that bike so far down the road I couldn't see him any more and the other got quiet. We all stood there for a few minutes and no one wanted to say anything....so I did.
"Let's take your buggy and see what happened." So we did.
Here I am, riding in an Amish buggy, looking for an AWOL Amish kid on my bike, strange even for me....well, maybe not.
We finally saw him coming back toward us, and it looked like everything was O.K. It was, He said he just couldn't stop, or turn around yet and kept on riding.
Nice. I told them all to keep it quiet and maybe next spring or summer I may see them out there again.....now, I just hope they kept it quiet, and I am not on so Amish hit list for corruption of youth.
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