The Threadless Nut

Well, the F650 is officially gone, picked up this evening. While I’m certainly glad to have the space back and I love the new bike, there was a bit of a twinge of sorrow as we loaded it onto the truck. It was my first bike and it served well, I hope it will do so for the new owner.

Cue photo montage with sappy music….. not really.

This morning on the way to work, a black Jeep eases past me as I’m turning off to the bridge. There’s a kid in the back and he points, smiles and is yelling to his Dad, “Daddy, Daddy, a motorcycle!” I wave back to him and he laughs and starts telling his Dad about it more. How cool is that?

Anything you can do to brighten a kid’s day is great in my book. Sure, there are a lot of things I could have been on that would elicit a similar reaction, like a fire truck or a Ferrari, but I can’t afford either of those or they get much worse mileage than the bike. Actually, it’s both, but I don’t think any kid has ever shouted “Mommy! Look, an Accord, a grey one!”

I was recently riding through Rosendale on a pretty hot day. If you’re not familiar with Rosendale, they have these large caves there and they open up right near the road. They spill out large amounts of very cool air, even on the hottest of days. When you go through in the car, you get a little blast of cold on your arm if you happen to have the windows open. On a really hot day, you don’t even get that since you’ve got the AC on and the car buttoned up tight.

Riding through here on the bike, where buttoning up isn’t really an option, you get the full effect. It was literally like riding through a waterfall. A quick second of the icy blast and then it’s back into the heat. Immensely refreshing.

Just something about being IN the environment and getting (nearly) the full affect of whatever’s out there. If it’s hot, you’re hot and you have to deal with it. Maybe it’s a bit of a return to simpler times when we weren’t so insulated from everything. I’m sure when it gets to be 20 degrees out, I won’t be so appreciative.

Did you ever arrive somewhere in your car, and not really remember driving there? I’m sure you have, I know I have. It’s not that you were unsafe or distracted or anything, it’s just not that memorable.

That’s another reasons why I ride, riding demands your attention. There is so much more to do than when driving a car. There’s something for each limb to worry about on a regular basis. Left hand has the clutch, lights, signals, horn, and steering; right hand has the throttle, front brake, ignition, and also steering; left foot manages the shifter; right foot has the rear brake; and the body as a whole has to deal with balance and leaning, cause these things tend to fall over if you don’t do that.

You have to pay attention and think about what your doing at all times. It’s not this furious rush, but just a continuous level of awareness that is higher than when driving. You never get somewhere and think “hmm, how did I get here”. Instead you think things like “hmm, I could have done that turn 2 miles back a little smoother.”

This is the first in a series of short posts about why I ride. Just the little things that make it enjoyable and worthwhile.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that smells are immediate and powerful. When you’re in a car, you might pass a guy grilling steaks and 30 seconds later a little bit of the aroma sneaks through the vents. On the bike, it all happens much faster. I’ll smell the freshly cut grass from the person mowing before I pass them. I’ll get a hint of those burgers on the grill with enough warning to slow down and pull in the driveway and pretend that I know them.

Of course, this is a double edged sword, I’ll also smell that skunk and the garbage truck in front of me, but you take the good with the bad.