May 2 @ 8:03 pm
Silent One asked an interesting question, “Taking such a long trip … do you do it just cuz you want to ride? Just to see the scenery? Was there a goal in mind… besides the road and loop you went on? I have seen through your photos you stop often… I guess I don’t see the point in driving so long and far…”
For me, there’s really two kinds of riding. Sometimes I’m riding in a relaxed fashion, taking in the scenery and enjoy life. It’s on these kinds of rides, normally solo rides, that I’ll stop often for photos or take time to explore. The other kind of ride, like this past weekend, the ride itself is really the main goal. We may pick a destination like Grand Coulee Dam but it’s really the excuse to ride, not the ultimate reason to ride. These are the motorcycle trips a rider really lives for.
When you’re really in the groove, riding a motorcycle becomes a full sensory experience. Most of the time, I find driving a car a passive experience. A motorcycle is *completely* different. You experience the minute temperature changes as you carve through a forested road, passing in and out of sunshine and shadow. You smell fresh cut grass, smoke from a wood fire, even the cows out in a field.
You’re practically connected to the machine you’re astride. Feeling every bump and ridge in the road, what your tires are doing as you push them towards their limit of adhesion as you bank right and left through the corners. Your vision is focused on the road ahead, scanning for hazards, picking your line, always looking and thinking where the bike is going to be next, not where it is now.
I’ve said it myself, and most motorcyclists I know eventually use the term also, but it’s a zen-like experience. For me, it’s a time when I stop worrying about paying bills, or problems at work, or tragedies in the news, or anything else. I’m fully in the moment and gloriously alive without a care in the world beyond the next corner. This is the feeling I get when I ride and why I start looking forward to the next trip as soon as I finish the previous one!
May 3 @ 1:42 am
It is hard to explain isn’t it? I used to ride behind my husband and got my own bike 2 years ago. I thought I had a view before - whew, it is sure nice now.
Have you been down the Wind River Canyon in Wyoming? If not, I recommend it. You will want your camera on for this one. How do you fasten it anyway?
May 3 @ 3:15 am
When I was a little girl, my Mom’s fiance had a Harley. I loved, more than anything, being on the back of his bike, going thru the Shenandoah Forrest in VA. It was magical seeing the fall leaves around me, feeling the wind on my skin….
M~
May 3 @ 4:36 am
Wow. Now I really need a bike!
Stacie
May 3 @ 4:50 am
My ex-boyfriend had a motorcycle and I LOVED to ride! You feel so free!
May 3 @ 6:11 am
I can get the same thing in a sports car, where everything seems to FLOW together, and you are a part of it.
Except when I stop I don’t have to worry about it falling over.
May 3 @ 9:21 am
This sounds really nice. I know it’s not the same, but I’m thinking about getting a bike when in Seattle.
I’m not brave enough for the motorcycle, but just riding and exploring sounds great
May 3 @ 9:47 am
Thank you Michael! You know I meant this question in the best possible way…. When I read it over again later in the day… I was fearful that you or someone else would take it in the wrong context.
Your description is very enlightening. I really get what you are saying… I have never riden a bike. But have always wanted to. I love seeing all the bikes coming out in the spring. Thanks again!
May 3 @ 11:40 am
@Tutu - Haven’t ridden in Wyoming, sounds like I need to play a trip later this summer! I use a Twenty20 Cameras motorcycle cam on the bike, and it’s mounted using a RAM mount RAM makes all kinds of components for their mounts, so you can fasten just about anything on some part of your motorcycle or other. I just ordered some new parts today as a matter of fact, so I can switch some things around!
@Marianna, if you ever make it to Seattle, we could probably arrange a motorcycle ride
@Stacie, of course you do!
@Stacy, just start dropping hints to the PK!
@Al, I’d imagine that a sports car is very similar… especially a convertible, that would be a lot of fun! As to falling over, well… most of the time I remember to put my feet down
@Leesa, Seattle is a huge bicycling town, that’s for sure… though you still need safety gear and to be on alert for oblivious car drivers!
@Silent One, I appreciated your question and it was a great incentive for a post on the subject! Thanks for asking!
May 5 @ 10:42 am
“You experience the minute temperature changes as you carve through a forested road, passing in and out of sunshine and shadow. You smell fresh cut grass, smoke from a wood fire, even the cows out in a field.”
This sounds so very glorious! I love the way that you described what you feel or experience while riding, in reading the above…well…it took me right there!
Great Post !
May 6 @ 3:46 pm
Ever read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?”
Hee hee. Very Zen. I get it. I can imagine it’s like riding a train, only a more centered and powerful experience. Even meditative.
~S