tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post1301422496730829371..comments2023-12-11T03:32:58.722-05:00Comments on Twisted Roads By Jack Riepe: The Saddest Ride Of My LifeJack Riepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-6182759722179607672011-05-02T12:43:16.901-04:002011-05-02T12:43:16.901-04:00But what is one to do? My Mom met Denis on the Mon...But what is one to do? My Mom met Denis on the Montgomery bus on her way to or from work at Schaeffer Belts, just north of the Holland Tunnel. She saw his notebook and said "My son goes to Prep!" He asked the name and two unlikely friends met. It was a common thing that the bus was crowded and Denis would offer Mom his seat, making the bus more crowded as Mom is only 4' 11". It was like a teacup poodle pal-ing with an Irish wolfhound. She would occasionally give him homebaked goods, whose excellent quality you are aware. <br />Didn't we help Carmel move once?I hate murky, Ihornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-23193584543530763642011-05-02T11:43:44.122-04:002011-05-02T11:43:44.122-04:00Dear Chris:
There aren't many morals that app...Dear Chris:<br /><br />There aren't many morals that apply to the stuff I write, but if there was one for this piece, it would be: make the most of today as tomorrow has no guarantee. <br /><br />Thanks for reading my tripe and for writing in. <br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-76893545887033462822011-05-02T11:40:56.370-04:002011-05-02T11:40:56.370-04:00Dear Doc Rogers:
Like I said, it happened a long ...Dear Doc Rogers:<br /><br />Like I said, it happened a long time ago, and I wrote the story because I was thinking about it. All of the principal characters have grown old and fat, and even a few others have passed on. But it was the only time I ever had a cleric on the back of my bike, and it was strange that he would be in an official capacity. <br /><br />Denis was too bright a light to go out that way, but those wre the circumstances. <br /><br />Thanks for reading and for writing in.<br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-74623076348247861742011-05-01T12:58:57.490-04:002011-05-01T12:58:57.490-04:00Great story Jack.
I read this quote earlier in t...Great story Jack. <br /><br />I read this quote earlier in the week and it seems to fit here:<br />"Friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth"Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606446271603142230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-19284453635088853752011-05-01T08:49:10.335-04:002011-05-01T08:49:10.335-04:00Dear Jack,
A difficult subject well written from t...Dear Jack,<br />A difficult subject well written from the heart! It makes one think of the day we first realized that we were no longer ten feet tall and bulletproof. Many of us have had close calls where we may have stood back and realized that a) we were incredibly lucky, b) we had just used one of our 9 lives, and perhaps even c) where we said to self ... self, that was incredibly stupid ... why did I just do that ... and how in the devil did I survive? Time is our most precious commodity. Thank you for the introspective moment. <br />Take care, Doc RogersDoc Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06699217846084018814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-62779439539876182552011-04-29T16:29:22.176-04:002011-04-29T16:29:22.176-04:00Dear Brady:
It was a long time ago and a shame ne...Dear Brady:<br /><br />It was a long time ago and a shame nevertheless. But it is impossible for men to go through life without knowing a Dennis L., a Cretin, or a Raptor, and not feel their loss. But after a while, you begin to realize how grateful you are that they lived at all.<br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-9707795994462334492011-04-29T16:20:02.324-04:002011-04-29T16:20:02.324-04:00What shit luck. I've been waxing on about my f...What shit luck. I've been waxing on about my friend, "Raptor" for some time now and understand the feeling you had, and undoubtedly still have, about the loss of your friend. I took a ride after my friend's death, not before the funeral, but the day he died. My feelings were murky and cold, but it felt like the only way to honor such a wild character. Sorry about your friend. Really.<br /><br />Brady<br />Behind Bars - Motorcycles and LifeAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03424120592303852860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-20243932597570193232011-04-29T10:16:11.852-04:002011-04-29T10:16:11.852-04:00Dear Bruce (Fenske):
I have been thinking about t...Dear Bruce (Fenske):<br /><br />I have been thinking about this piece for a bit now. <br /><br />I do not know that it was a New York State trooper involved and I am inclined to think it wasn't. Like I said, the circumstances were murky. Dennis was a good guy and had his foibles and no one but him and one other person will ever really know what happened that night. <br /><br />I especially remembered that wild ride (in daylight) down from Fordham that afternoon. Oddly enough, John Reilly rode on the back of my Kawsaki once too. So did my brother Robert. Other than that, my pillion seat was reserved for hot-looking women. <br /><br />Thanks for reading Twiated Roads, and for commenting. <br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-28777143986946565402011-04-29T08:00:15.498-04:002011-04-29T08:00:15.498-04:00Jack
Must have been hard to write that one. Thanks...Jack<br />Must have been hard to write that one. Thanks I knew it happened but didn't know the how. Knowing of Denis and that era I'm not surprised. I had a few dustups with NYS troopers myself. I'n a different place and time, I might have gotten to know him better He was defiant and I can see him getting his diploma and releasing his ponytail. He had the balls you seem to have misplaced. <br />Also, John Reilly is a better writer than I , not me!<br />BruceBrucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-4850506585131578002011-04-28T23:48:52.106-04:002011-04-28T23:48:52.106-04:00Dear Keith:
The last time I came face to face wit...Dear Keith:<br /><br />The last time I came face to face with my own mortality was when my bike was a smoking pile and I was getting strapped down to a board... But my own sense of incalcuable loss was when my pal Bill Matz died, and when my friend Cretin passed. There was no explanation for the loss of Bill, who should have lived to be 100. But Cretin arranged to die in secret... Within a stone's throw of his pals, who would have no idea of his plight. <br /><br />One was the victim of a super-weak heart, buried in a tower of muscle. The other was a man who overcame his fear of death, and spit in its eye, prior to meeting it on his terms. He was the toughest man I ever met. <br /><br />Don't you think that foolishness and bravado are the same thing — only one is decafinated?<br /><br />I've been meaning to write this piece up for sometime. I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reading and for writing in. <br /><br />Fondest regards.<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-64387660574681607152011-04-28T23:35:39.413-04:002011-04-28T23:35:39.413-04:00Dear Nikos:
It's easy in this episode... Just...Dear Nikos:<br /><br />It's easy in this episode... Just look at the grid and follow the blue lines east to west, and north to south. Had this run been surgery, I'd have been cutting with a hatchet. What I find amazing now, is that I would no more attempt this ride today, unless it was at gun point.<br /><br />I don't have any idea what happened to my balls. <br /><br />Regarding the royal wedding, the bride is genuinely beautiful. The groom seems likeable. He'll be sleeping on the sofa within a month and she'll be wondering why the hell she can't go out and share a snort with her friends. It's the circle of royal life.<br /><br />Thanks for writing in and smudging the towels.<br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-63772889148763818812011-04-28T23:25:29.452-04:002011-04-28T23:25:29.452-04:00Dear Scooter In The Sticks (Steve):
Thank you for...Dear Scooter In The Sticks (Steve):<br /><br />Thank you for your kind note of encouragement and the compliment. I used to notice how people move through life oblivious to the best parts of it... That every circumstance has a color and a taste... And that a smile is what elevates man above every animal, except the dog. <br /><br />The saddest folks are those who rush through life, incapable of understanding that each second may hold the seed for a paragraph or a novel, and that it takes the expenditure of another second to interpret the first. <br /><br />You do the same thing I do when you stop every 40 feet to take a picture. And whether you photogragh the same thing every day, it will never be the same way twice. You might discard half the pictures you take... Aaaaaaaah, but the other half. <br /><br />I have an old friend — John Rielly — who is a great writer (much better than me), who once said, "The secret to appearing to be a good writer is to make sure they never get to see your crap." <br /><br />There is always someone willing to show how the magician gets the rabbit out of the hat.<br /><br />Thank you for the best compliment I got all month.<br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-13148611398414058132011-04-28T23:11:23.563-04:002011-04-28T23:11:23.563-04:00Dear Mr. Madding:
The "priest" has been...Dear Mr. Madding:<br /><br />The "priest" has been a inspiration to me over the years, though I would never tell him that as his head would shortly be larger than his ass.<br /><br />During the few times when I have troubled him with my questions, his response has always been grounded in the most basic of common sense. Though there have been times when he seems to depart from it. I discussed this episode with him once (probably two years ago), when he said, "I trusted you to know what you were doing. I still do. I get on the back of the bike you own now, if I could."<br /><br />He has never once preached to me.<br /><br />I once went drinking with a pal (Cretin) who could tear up the tracks like no other mortal man. On a summer night in a New Jersey shore town, he finished the whiskey and beer within minutes of each other, and stood on the jetty to piss into the ocean.<br /><br />He then let out a roar.<br /><br />"Was that to challenge the dawn?" I yelled over to him.<br /><br />"No," he raged. "I couldn't get that zipper down fast enough." He resolved the problem by stealing a pair of shorts off a clothesline. <br /><br />Thanks for reading and for writing in.<br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-52149247858791434122011-04-28T20:24:50.534-04:002011-04-28T20:24:50.534-04:00"He was the first of my close friends to die,..."He was the first of my close friends to die," you had me right there. I suspect we all remember that first close friend's passing. What a shock and an affront! It would take the passing of years and other friends passing to press my mortality upon me. Heaven knows I don't miss the foolishness of those days, but I do on occasion miss the bravado; miss the doing things without "a second thought", but not very often.<br /><br />A good read. <br /><br />And, I love your comment to Conchscooter: "It has been my experience that friends are the only real insurance and pleasure in this life." That has indeed been my experience as well.<br />~kKeith - Circle Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11992667666539622569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-29306511441363361542011-04-28T17:19:30.597-04:002011-04-28T17:19:30.597-04:00Jack
I really must buy a decent guide book for Man...Jack<br />I really must buy a decent guide book for Manhattan as I cannot keep up with you and the priest.<br /><br />Vielen dank und auf wiedersehen from Wiesbaden (escape the Royal Wedding trip to eat curry wurst), NNikoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03119901226987582553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-14944238165885441762011-04-28T16:24:09.134-04:002011-04-28T16:24:09.134-04:00Mr. Riepe: After reading this I said to myself, &...Mr. Riepe: After reading this I said to myself, "Jack's a passionate man". In all your stories and experiences you share here it's pretty obvious you squeeze every drop of living out of them -- good or bad.<br /><br />Maybe that's why your writing is so good and the pictures so vivid. You were wide awake when they happened. Thanks for the reminder and sorry about your friend from long ago...Steve Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04540977884513559091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-5140295579914265072011-04-28T13:13:44.213-04:002011-04-28T13:13:44.213-04:00reep,
The priest obviously believes firmly in the...reep,<br /><br />The priest obviously believes firmly in the life hereafter or he would have never crawled on the back of a two wheeled rocket piloted by a kamakazi biker. <br /><br />Friends are the jewels of life that show up at the worst of times and somehow make things a bit better with just their presence.<br /><br />Key West does seem like a grand location to wet ones trousers while facing the sunset.<br /><br />-PeaceAllen Maddinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03975320122826127770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-66459285964697720422011-04-28T12:17:42.593-04:002011-04-28T12:17:42.593-04:00Dear Conch:
It has been my experience that friend...Dear Conch:<br /><br />It has been my experience that friends are the only real insurance and peasure in this life. <br /><br />I believe in the hereafter because it is true. I believe they will let you in because I am an optimist. In heaven, everyone gets a BMW, with a factory-installed tach. <br /><br />Pant pissing gets more common among those who cary on at all hours in Key West, without regard for the outcome.<br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-15660505117233706492011-04-28T12:12:16.017-04:002011-04-28T12:12:16.017-04:00Dear Woody:
You bet your ass I did I worked hard ...Dear Woody:<br /><br />You bet your ass I did I worked hard for each smile. Her name was Carmel and she was as sweet as unsalted butter. <br /><br />Thanks for reading and for leaving a comment.<br /><br />Fondest regards,<br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-62779071718060841482011-04-28T12:10:07.842-04:002011-04-28T12:10:07.842-04:00Dear Charlie6 (Dom):
We were iron men in those da...Dear Charlie6 (Dom):<br /><br />We were iron men in those days. Utterly invinceable and absolutely fearless. I wouldn't have thought to ask him to take mass transit, and he wouldn't have thought I was challenged by the run. He had no qualms about getting back on for the ride home. He recently told me he'd get on the back of my current bike tomorrow. Off course, our asses are much larger now. <br /><br />Thanks for reading and commenting,<br /><br />Jack • reep • ToadJack Riepehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07531160098262862027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-20444232612203920362011-04-28T11:59:04.377-04:002011-04-28T11:59:04.377-04:00I have always admired how you have kept such a wid...I have always admired how you have kept such a wide range of friends<br />over the years.<br />I attended a funeral myself a while back and I asked the chaplain if he would give me an equally bang up send off when I croak and he smiled and said sure. Now I have to find someone who will deliver Steve to my service on a motorcycle. That could be a challenge.<br />Unlike myself you have the consoloation of imagining an eternity of virgins, riotous living and pant pissing together. I cannot for the life of me figure out how you can believe this stuff but I do hope it is some kind of consolation as life rolls on. Can I pant piss with you at some point?Conchscooterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08016331487463993200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-18898875891999141122011-04-28T11:57:56.200-04:002011-04-28T11:57:56.200-04:00so did you make her laugh?so did you make her laugh?Woodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01602270653912355966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428154721977251894.post-86446426129954473752011-04-28T11:55:13.291-04:002011-04-28T11:55:13.291-04:00Jack, another vividly described ride...though I wo...Jack, another vividly described ride...though I wonder why he didn't take mass transit to someplace outside the hellish maelstrom you described where you could pick him up?<br /><br />Or, was it, to counterbalance the "carrying a floozie" negative balance when last you had a pillion, that the motorcycling gods gave you such a saintly passenger? I hope you wiped the seat first? <br /><br />dom<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://redlegsrides.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Redleg's Rides</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-14097-Colorado-Motorcycle-Travel-Examiner" rel="nofollow">Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner</a>redlegsrideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10927757855921321097noreply@blogger.com