Sounds like someone needs some private time on the bike...
Now, I don't know if Ted rides. If he does, he gets it. If he doesn't, he's got an uncanny insight into the mindset of why we (or at least I) ride.
Plainly put, it's escapism. On the bike, it's just you, the bike, and the road. There's no faxes from the main office. There's no Scout Meeting. There's no PTA obligations. There's no "he hit me/she hit me first" squabbling. It's a roaring engine, blue asphalt, and little green mile markers rushing past as you put on the miles. And that's all.
You are, for the moment, in control. In control of the bike, in control of your destination, in control of everything that matters for as long as you stay in the saddle. While you may have a two hour meeting the next morning, you might just call in sick, point the front tire west, and ride until the tank's empty...
Even if all you do is take a quick twenty minute spin around the block to keep the battery charged...
Someday I'm going to the Sturgis Rally. And I'm going to ride out and back. It's about 2,000 miles, give or take a couple hundred for side-stops (I've promised Og I'm swinging in and picking him up. I hope he takes his bike, 'cuz I do NOT want him riding bitch...). If I want to train for the Iron Butt Rally, I could aim for making it in two days; however I would rather break it up into ~ 500 mile increments so I can really enjoy the ride out and back.
That's something to look forward to right there... Even on a Friday before a long weekend...
That is all.
6 comments:
Have you read Neil Peart's Ghost Rider?
I will gallantly refrain from pointing out that a Harley was conspicuously missing from the NES Assault on Mt Washington...
Shall I make it an annual pilgrimage, Jay? Can I get you with a YEAR'S notice?
I *am* in your head, and it's dang crowded here ... ;-)
Going on the roadtrip with #2 son has been a total blast, even if I'm the latest person in the world to get my Palinblogging in.
We have 4 wheels, but I can't wait to do this again with one or both kids, but on bikes. That'll have to be in 10 years, but there's nothing like the asphalt rolling under your tires, blasting "More than Feeling", and singing off-key.
Going back to the office on Monday will be extra-stinky.
Bruce,
I have not. Yet.
I'll add that to Ewan McGregor's Long Way Round. Thanks for the recommendation.
Ross,
I will try to make next year's run, promise. The bike's going in for some maintenance this winter (think it's time for a new battery & brakes), so it should be in tip-top shape next summer.
ted,
Are you implying there are lots of voices in my head?
[how does he know?]
[[shut up, you'll scare the slopes]]
:)
Glad to hear you're having a good trip with your son; sorry to hear you have to work on Labor Day!
Stay in touch, bro: on your way out, swing up into Michigan, and take the Luddington Ferry across to Manitowoc. Then, even if I can't go with, you can stop off and say "hi"... ;)
Best way to go from where you are, across the border at Niagara, through a little corner of Canada to Port Huron, MI. From there you're on your own. Oh, and beware of the mooses.
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