Weather... maybe it separates riders a bit.
A lot of the riders I know, maybe most... if it's raining, too cold, too windy... their bike is in the garage... only two things keep my motorcycle parked... the road iced up... or... the three miles to the pavement is too muddy to get there...
OK... three... the fuel tank is empty... and so is my wallet...
That bike seems sometimes... the only thing in this world, that I have any control of. When the crap this life throws at me, gets where I can't stand one more, freaking, ounce of it... I can climb on that bike, twist the throttle... find a lonely road... and maybe not hang a grin where the grimace was... but I can relax enough to breathe easy.
It has an almost magical power to "get me through"... till the next time.
When I say such a thing, or they see me, knees in the wind at 10 degrees... a lot of people around me just shake their heads, some ask "How? Why?"... and look puzzled when I try to explain... I know where the old saying comes from... "If I have to explain, You won't understand"... and I'm Ok with that...
Take away my Motorcycle, you might just as well put me in a box and nail the lid shut.
Something that "gets under my skin" though, is the often heard comment; "It's a lifestyle"... as if you can go out, buy a machine... festoon yourself with leather, other bits of "Motorcycle Culture"... and such... and suddenly "BE" that... "something"...
Like the fellas that buy a big hat, a silver buckle, some expensive boots... and call 'emselves... "Cowboy"... and here I wasted all those years, broken bones, and scars... Learning to Cowboy... when all I had to do was buy a few trinkets... If I'd only known... Damn!
Put on the leather... the buckled boots...You might be... a person riding on a Motorcycle... and I expect you'll enjoy it...but... the "Thing" I have difficulty putting into words is that elusive "Understanding" ... that, "If I have to explain it..."
Lots of riders... with that aching, gypsy hunger for the wind in their faces... know what I'm poking around and can't speak... they've not got the answer either... though the unspoken "Understanding" is still there...
Damn... rained all day yesterday... coming home was a first gear slog through the mud of that last stretch... snowed much of the night... have to ride the cage today...
Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian
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... Splitting the wind on a Motorcycle... Feeding my soul with the Healing power of the Open Road... following that twisting, Ribbon of Highway that leads me on...
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