Rides, ramblings and rants on a motorcycle.
- We are scientists, too!
10.12.2007,9:12 AM
Bike Ballet to Tennessee
'What's that.... Oh shit! It's a giant raccoon right in my way!'
No conscious thought; reflexive swerve to the right, glance at wide-eyed, black-masked eyes staring at my front wheel as the raccoon pulls its tail away from my path. Despite the two-foot margin of error. Swerve back to the left and we're back on track.
One thing I love about my bike, my Whee-strom, is how it is so flickable. When the suspension is optimal, all I have to do is think about leaning or swerving and it flows like it was an extension of my body and mind. A lone road will often find me flicking side to side, even switching lanes on the highway, movement is fluid, side-to-side.
It's like ballet on a bike. It's almost sensual. Okay, it *is* sensual. Smooth fluid movement like a snake undulating along its snake path, my bike and I flick side-to-side, undulating down the road.
I found myself humming, almost skipping along the sidewalk from the train station to work this morning. The city still humbled under the barely lit sky, the noises didn't bother me.
"Why do you walk so fast?"
"I don't. You all move like slugs."
Zoom. I skip on by, smiling.
I'll be on the road again soon. Leave the lab in a few hours, drop the Whee off at the shop for a week, load Sherpie and gear, and I'm off to the mountains of eastern Tennessee. Stars, whispering wind, crisp air, rolling roads, dirt, water and dust. Silence. Big grins.
Y'all have a good weekend and week, ya hear?
And go for a ride.
No conscious thought; reflexive swerve to the right, glance at wide-eyed, black-masked eyes staring at my front wheel as the raccoon pulls its tail away from my path. Despite the two-foot margin of error. Swerve back to the left and we're back on track.
One thing I love about my bike, my Whee-strom, is how it is so flickable. When the suspension is optimal, all I have to do is think about leaning or swerving and it flows like it was an extension of my body and mind. A lone road will often find me flicking side to side, even switching lanes on the highway, movement is fluid, side-to-side.
It's like ballet on a bike. It's almost sensual. Okay, it *is* sensual. Smooth fluid movement like a snake undulating along its snake path, my bike and I flick side-to-side, undulating down the road.
I found myself humming, almost skipping along the sidewalk from the train station to work this morning. The city still humbled under the barely lit sky, the noises didn't bother me.
"Why do you walk so fast?"
"I don't. You all move like slugs."
Zoom. I skip on by, smiling.
I'll be on the road again soon. Leave the lab in a few hours, drop the Whee off at the shop for a week, load Sherpie and gear, and I'm off to the mountains of eastern Tennessee. Stars, whispering wind, crisp air, rolling roads, dirt, water and dust. Silence. Big grins.
Y'all have a good weekend and week, ya hear?
And go for a ride.
Labels: meanderings
