On a stretch of back road yesterday, I came upon a long line of people on motorcycles enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. They weren't exactly the local chapter of Hells Angels out looking for trouble, though.
This was a bunch of middle-aged, overweight motorcycle riders -- some couples straining the shock absorbers on the same bike -- old enough that their enthusiasm for the two-wheel lifestyle was probably kick-started (bah-ding!) by the movie "Easy Rider." For some, their dream was once "Born To Be Wild," aimlessly roaming the country doing drugs and following The Grateful Dead. Now their reality is paying the mortgage and remembering to take Lipitor every morning.
But aside from their paunches and gray ponytails, they had one more thing that set them apart from the anti-establishment attitude and screw-the-man mindset of Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson in that movie.
These bikers were all wearing reflective orange safety vests.