the phagos blog

For those of you who haven’t heard, I got my motorcycle fixed recently. Yay!  I’m very happy about it.  For those of you who haven’t experienced it, riding a motorcycle can be one of the greatest feelings in the world.  In a car, you watch the outside world go by like so much scenery.  On a motorcycle, it’s not scenery - you’re part of it, it’s part of you.  There’s no tv like window to watch it all go by.  It’s been so long, though, it’s almost like doing it for the first time again.  With that in mind, I wanted to share my impression of what it’s like.

The first thing that struck me was how freeing the experience is.  The sensation I get when riding is almost that I’m flying over the road.  I wonder sometimes if riding requires a certain amount of courage, to leave behind the portable compartment that’s designed to keep you as safe as possible in exchange for the enjoyment.  With freedom comes responsibility, and this applies to riding too.  Part of that responsibility is to be more aware of your environment, to avoid accidents if nothing else.  But that awareness has benefits too - besides making me a better rider, I see things on a motorcycle I wouldn’t see driving a car.  Beauty must be seen to be appreciated, and I see more from the seat of my bike than the seat of my car.

The other big thing I appreciate about riding is the sense of camaraderie. I remember riding my motorcycle home from the dealership, and someone else on a motorcycle waving at me as they passed.  I thought it was strange, and it happened another two or three times before I finally understood.  Just by virtue of riding a motorcycle, I had joined an invisible club - a brotherhood, if you will.  I had taken the step that said I am different - that I was willing to accept responsibility for myself in exchange for a freedom you can’t express in words.  It’s not that we’re better than anyone else on the road - but we are different.  And while there are a lot of us, there are a lot more that will never take that step.  So having my motorcycle running again has been a huge deal for me - my membership is active again.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 6:12 am and is filed under life, motorcycles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.