Easy Rider

My four-day weekend is over and it's back to the grindstone. 

Today's Gail Grabowski special is called "Let's Ride." You guessed it, it's about various 

Vintage Honda trail bikes

20A: Rough-terrain ride (TRAIL BIKE). A trail bike is a type of motorcycle that can be used either for on- or off-road recreation. However, a trail bike is more is not used for competition. Honda was responsible dirt-bike craze beginning in the late '60s. Up until that time, bikers were seen as outlaws and thugs. Honda's campaign slogan "You meet the nicest people on Honda." put dirt bikes into the mainstream.

60A: Yard ride (LAWN MOWER). We didn't own a riding lawn mower since our backyard wasn't big enough. I couldn't find the video from "I Love Lucy" when Lucy rides the lawn mower over her tulips. It was one of the few truly funny scenes from the Connecticut episodes.

10D: Track ride (RACEHORSE). My dad was (and still is) fond of betting on the ponies. Every day, he would buy Sports Eye and The Racing Form and go over the odds diligently. When he wasn't home, he used to make me go to OTB and place his bet. OTB was #1 on his speed dial (even over his own mother!). We teased him for it, until we discovered it was an addiction. One of my favorite songs about a horse is called "Stewball" by Peter, Paul and Mary. I didn't know the Hollies and Joan Baez covered this song too.

Vintage Corvette

36D: High-powered ride (SPORTS CAR). I owned a car for only five years. It was an Oldsmobile from 1988, what you could hardly call a "cool" car. Sports cars are lovely to look at, but I don't think I could bring myself to drive one. Insurance is too high, and with two seats only, there would be risk of an accident. However, I dream occasionally about owning a vintage, cherry red Corvette. To me, that's the ultimate sports car.

Today's crytopquote is really touching:

"Few things are more satisfying than seeing your children have teenagers of their own."--Doug Larson

Yup, they'll have to deal with the raging hormones, back talk, and requests for using the car.

Doug Larson (1926) also wrote many quotes that are widely circulated today, including "The pun is the lowest form of humor, unless you think of it yourself." He wrote a column for the Green Bay Press-Gazette called "Senator Soaper Says." 

As with all Monday, the day is dragging. Can't wait to go home!

Till tomorrow. . . .

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick