What Riding My Motorcycle Is Like

Imagine a morning so cold but sunny

Your jacket big and warm

Tight around you

Making it hard to move

But keeping some warmth on your body

Thick gloves wrap your hands

Making them hard to use

Think and heavy boots protect your feet and keep them warm

The full helmet protects your brain and keeps some sound and cold out

You push the button to start the growling Harley

The machine under you purrs alive with smooth power

And with perfection

Your anticipation for the ride pushes your adrenaline to wake you further

Both feet on the ground, hands firmly planted on the handle bars for balance

Your left foot pushes the kickstand back

And you turn your gas wrist with precision

And slowly let out the clutch with your left hand

The purring monster pulls you forward

The acceleration tightens your core and pulls your arms

As you hold on automatically and without thought

It is an extension of who you are

The wind whooshes faster and faster

And the engine yells louder and louder

The RPMs raise and raise urging the shift to 2nd gear

So you pull the clutch tightly with the big glove on your left hand

And let off with the gas wrist

And your left boot foot lifts up on the shifter

It all happens simultaneously

Without thought

Just a reflex

As you shift to the next gear like the end is near

Your core loosens for a split-second but then

Your clutch hand lets out and your gas hand turns again

And your core tightens again as the purr grows louder again

The strong and torque-ey engine pulls you forward with power and ease

Again and again you do this until

Finally you are past the speed limit and cruising comfortably

Smooth feel the vibration in your body and you feel it a bit in your feet and hands

It touches your soul and your entire body - the frequency heals and calms

There’s no other cars

In front or behind or left or right

The country is living and passing you left and right

The sun on your right peaking over the horizon and pushing the cold air to you

On the left, the mountain range is colorful from the morning hue and

Clouds with more color of the sun and reflections from sky and the earth

Stream alongside you

Your helmet masks the sounds some and protects from the cold

But the cold sneaks its way in and cools your face and chills your ears

Its a welcome cold - so brisk, it helps wake you further

You are in 6th gear and cruising and cruising

This highway is smooth and safe so you put your booted feet

On the highway pegs as the engine purrs it’s healing perfection

Leaning back on the back rest you set cruise control

With your mind and body at ease

And move your gas hand to the warm engine below

To bring back some life into fingers

And then you

Switch your clutch hand to the engine for warmth

To feel those fingers too

It might sound funny unless you have experienced it

But the cold and wind and passing land

It’s spawns a peaceful state of mind

That wanders but focuses and wanders and wonders and focuses

It’s meditation on wheels

You have no wife, no girlfriend, kids, work, friends, brothers, dogs

No drama or problems and no worries and no bothers

You only have the road and the cold and the sounds and the smells

Of the world passing effortlessly by

It all drifts away as you focus and wander and ride

The warm air from the engine warms the insides of your legs

And the cold air cools the outsides

And you drift and focus and wander and ride

Nothing else matters

Your muscles and mind are all in use and one with the machine and passing earth

You are more relaxed then your mind thought possible

Tightly relaxed - now that’s an oxymoron

But it’s true and

That’s what riding is like