They remembered the pink helmet.

It was among my favorite parts of my first motorcycle ride with the Columbus chapter of Southern Cruisers Riding Club.

A year later, I once again asked a club member to help me with the helmet I borrowed.

You might say I was more prepared this time. My T-shirt matched the helmet.

I agreed to come on the rides not only to test the limits of helmet hair, but also to get an inside look at the folks who organize Bikes on Broadway.

Now in its 10th year, the event comes to downtown Columbus this weekend and includes live music, vendors, a dice run, raffles and more.

It’s a fundraiser for Our House Carpenter’s Way Ranch for Boys and Arabella Home for Girls.

See, you can have a kind heart and a passion for leather.

For the second year in a row, I rode on a motorcycle with Benny Downs, first officer for the Southern Cruisers.

My goal: appear more relaxed than last year’s ride. I’ll never forget the first gas station stop last year, when many of my fellow riders urged me to loosen up.

In all fairness, I was slightly paralyzed by a fear that my credit card would fall out of my pocket mid-ride.

I got on the motorcycle much more confidently this time around, due only in part to a revised credit card handling system. More importantly, I made a vow this year to not obsess too much with my article’s intricacies and instead just take in my surroundings.

Those surroundings were pretty awesome.

We went to the Pine Mountain area. Riding on a motorcycle gives you an open-air perspective of sights -- and smells -- that you don’t get in a car.

And while most people don’t equate biker boots with Zen principles, a motorcycle ride offers a unique oneness with the outside world. Unlike a car ride, there’s no pressure to make mindless conversation with your companions or use technology to sustain your attention.

In the end, I think I achieved my goal -- at least based on our post-ride lunch conversation. Group members said my confidence noticeably increased.

Meanwhile, I remained impressed by the group’s willingness to take me in for an afternoon.

The ride reminded me there are multiple dimensions to the people we pass on highways.

If you look beyond the impersonality of turn signals and traffic jams, you might find you’re sharing a lane with someone who wants to change the world.

Beginning, of course, with a pink helmet.

Sonya Sorich, reporter, can be reached at ssorich@ledger-enquirer.com or 706-571-8516.