After quite a while where either the presence or threat of rain has kept me cage-bound I finally got a chance to ride my motorcycle to work today. It was a beautiful, relatively cool, clear, and not-too-humid morning and as always, my ride to work left me walking into the office in a great mood. I had a decent day at work and on the way home I was again enjoying a comparatively nice afternoon for Eastern North Carolina in the latter stages of June. By that I mean it wasn't raining, it wasn't brutally hot, and it wasn't so humid you feel like you need gills to breathe. All in all, it was a fantastic afternoon for a ride.
While enjoying my ride home I started pondering the mystery of this whole motorcycle "thing." I came to the conclusion that it actually seems pretty strange. Why does it have the effect it does on so many of us? On the surface it doesn't really seem like it should. After all, it's just a means of transportation, right? Why do we get more excited about riding motorcycles than we do about driving a car, riding on a bus, or taking a taxi? If anything it seems as though any of the more "normal" options would actually leave us in better spirits than a motorcycle ride if for no other reason that it's safer and, one would think, less stressful.
Anyone who has caught the motorcycle fever knows that this isn't the case. There are some motorcyclists that are car nuts as well but most of the ones I know aren't. Motorcycles are a passion, cars are something to drive when you have to take the kids somewhere or go to the airport. Strictly a means to an end.
There aren't many motorcyclists that work at the same company I do. There are seven motorcycle owners that I can think of among my coworkers and three of those rarely ride to work. Even in that small sample of riders I've noticed a clear pattern: driving to work has either no effect on their mood or actively degrades it due to frustration with traffic, etc. Riding a bike to work almost invariably exposes a grin when the helmet comes off and they talk about how great the ride in was. Even when some idiot in a cage cuts them off or crowds them out of their lane it doesn't have much effect on the mood. You generally hear something like "some jerk on a cell phone changed lanes right in front of me and caused me to take evasive action. Other than that it was a nice ride."
So what's the story there? It seems like anybody riding a motorcycle, especially anyone riding a motorcycle to work through typical urban congestion, would arrive stressed out, frazzled, and shaky, not grinning, relaxed, and ready for a day of work. My experience has been that that's exactly the case though. What's the cause? Does it hearken back to man's age-old desire to fly? Is it a reaction to successfully cheating death? Is it simply a side effect of surrendering to the fates, taking your chances based on your own skill and luck, and just rolling the dice? The only answer I can give is that I have no idea.
Whatever the reason, I've been enjoying the effect for quite a few years now and I sincerely hope it doesn't fade anytime soon. Riding definitely has a strange effect on me, relaxing me and energizing me simultaneously. I can't really think of anything else that has the same sort of effect on me, with the possible exception of surfing. Even that I don't think is quite the same but it's probably the single thing in my life that comes closest.
It's a strange and addictive phenomenon and it has me fully in it's grip. I'm already looking forward to riding in tomorrow as well and hoping the weather holds out the rest of the week. If I could leave the truck parked in the driveway the rest of the summer it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all.
While enjoying my ride home I started pondering the mystery of this whole motorcycle "thing." I came to the conclusion that it actually seems pretty strange. Why does it have the effect it does on so many of us? On the surface it doesn't really seem like it should. After all, it's just a means of transportation, right? Why do we get more excited about riding motorcycles than we do about driving a car, riding on a bus, or taking a taxi? If anything it seems as though any of the more "normal" options would actually leave us in better spirits than a motorcycle ride if for no other reason that it's safer and, one would think, less stressful.
Anyone who has caught the motorcycle fever knows that this isn't the case. There are some motorcyclists that are car nuts as well but most of the ones I know aren't. Motorcycles are a passion, cars are something to drive when you have to take the kids somewhere or go to the airport. Strictly a means to an end.
There aren't many motorcyclists that work at the same company I do. There are seven motorcycle owners that I can think of among my coworkers and three of those rarely ride to work. Even in that small sample of riders I've noticed a clear pattern: driving to work has either no effect on their mood or actively degrades it due to frustration with traffic, etc. Riding a bike to work almost invariably exposes a grin when the helmet comes off and they talk about how great the ride in was. Even when some idiot in a cage cuts them off or crowds them out of their lane it doesn't have much effect on the mood. You generally hear something like "some jerk on a cell phone changed lanes right in front of me and caused me to take evasive action. Other than that it was a nice ride."
So what's the story there? It seems like anybody riding a motorcycle, especially anyone riding a motorcycle to work through typical urban congestion, would arrive stressed out, frazzled, and shaky, not grinning, relaxed, and ready for a day of work. My experience has been that that's exactly the case though. What's the cause? Does it hearken back to man's age-old desire to fly? Is it a reaction to successfully cheating death? Is it simply a side effect of surrendering to the fates, taking your chances based on your own skill and luck, and just rolling the dice? The only answer I can give is that I have no idea.
Whatever the reason, I've been enjoying the effect for quite a few years now and I sincerely hope it doesn't fade anytime soon. Riding definitely has a strange effect on me, relaxing me and energizing me simultaneously. I can't really think of anything else that has the same sort of effect on me, with the possible exception of surfing. Even that I don't think is quite the same but it's probably the single thing in my life that comes closest.
It's a strange and addictive phenomenon and it has me fully in it's grip. I'm already looking forward to riding in tomorrow as well and hoping the weather holds out the rest of the week. If I could leave the truck parked in the driveway the rest of the summer it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all.
1 comments:
Intersting ideas. I can clearly see why riding appeals over taxi, bus or train, as these are passive modes of transport vs active transport such as a car, motorbike or cycle - i.e. you have to do stuff to get to where you want to be rather than being a passenger.
Why are bikes much more fun than cars? Well, I think there are a lot more things going on for the rider compared to the driver. Throttle position, gear, lean angle, surface conditions, weather all need to be factored into the mix, and this is before we add the better (higher) view and smells (no, really) that you get when riding. Getting all of these factors right is where the pleasure in riding lies. In a car the driver is cut off from the experience and does not have to think about whether that line of pavement banding will affect his line through the corner. The rider needs to account for factors such as this, to be engaged on a different level. It is this degree of engagement that I think provides the satisfaction in riding. At least, it does for me.
Finally, I don't think this is exclusive to motorbikes. Put me in a Caterham 7 and I think I'll have the same degree of focus and engagement that riding my ageing Honda VTR gives me.
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