Rides, ramblings and rants on a motorcycle.
- We are scientists, too!
1.14.2007,9:14 AM
The Magic of the Road
In my mind, there are three classes of bikers:
Weekend Warriors. We know who these are. They ride their bike for a trip into town or to the bar on the weekend or ride it every blue moon and put it to rest in the garage collecting cobwebs. We all know the type and they know who they are. This group also includes the Wheelie Squids. It is, after all, all about the ego.
The Fast and Furious. Many of the riders I see and meet fall somewhere into or closely on the edges of this category. The ride means only one thing to them: fast, furious, Point A to Point B. Don't get in their way. They live for the adrenaline rush of the ride on the fast and winding road. It doesn't matter where they are, what they pass......the blinders are on, baby. Just give me the speed and whine of the engine under me.
The Vagabond. A traveler, pilgrim, hobo, seeker......... Someone who loves to move and a bike is his or her vehicle on the path. Some of us also enjoy the fast and furious. But what sets us apart from the others is our attentiveness to what and where we ride through. We may not even have a destination in mind, but our spiritual compass signals us "Go this way." Or we may take a sudden turn as if drawn to a magnet.
We may stop for a moment or days when we see something that is worthy of our reverence, something that invokes awe and wonder in our hearts. When contemplated, they may completely transform us. It's not so much the ride as it is the experience of everything around us as we travel. It is opening ourselves to the deeply real that lurks everywhere beneath centuries of stereotypes and false images that prevent us from truly seeing other places, people and other times.
The journey is returning to the source that replenishes the soul. On a bike, it is a continual process that can not be duplicated except for on foot or on the back of a horse. We are exposed to everything around us. Our bikes are more than just machines; they are our souls on two wheels.
Below is a quote from Ara's blog while he rode through the Chiricahua Mountains in southeast Arizona:
I guess that is one of the aspect I like about my life right now. Almost a daily change in my surrounding, in the weather patterns, and even from State to State I have to confess a different almost Civilization... I can tell... There is not much comfort in our daily life, not physical anyhow. It is not uncomfortable either, we move... never quite standing still. The comfort is in the mind, the comfort throughout the days, now that we have fallen into following the path of this Journey. As someone write to me the other day, which I felt was very profound “I am at Home in my own Soul” I truly am...Lao Tzu wrote, "The longest journey begins with a single step."
For us bikers, the journey begins with a roll of the throttle.
