When I got my motorcycle, my co-workers were surprised. I'd talked about it before, but they thought I was just talking because I don't seem like the type to ride motorcycles. And they're right, I'm not the type to ride motorcycles.
I am very much an internet nerd. I could wax on for hours about how fanfiction is legitimate literature, and lament the fact that the U.S. doesn't get any animated shows aimed at an adult audience because Disney has fostered the image that it's a kids-only thing. I'm passive, slow to speak, and always stumble over my words. I have not an ounce of mechanical talent, needing the manual just to make sure I'm checking my oil correctly and detailed, step by step instructions to change my brake fluid. I don't think I'd ever be comfortable riding in a group, because I'd feel completely out of place.
I didn't like motorcycles as a kid, never even thought about them really. It didn't come to me until I was twenty. I was in Spotsylvania County, Virginia at the time, and in love with the area. Coming from Utah, I'm used to open space. The wide open spaces in and around the city are ugly. The wide open spaces in the desert are pretty but you've got to be dedicated and willing to put up with some very uncomfortable weather to appreciate it. We have our forests in the mountains, but they're nothing like what I saw in Virginia. It more green there in the middle of winter than I ever saw in the spring or summer here. I wanted to be out in it.
I swear there were more sport bikes than flies, and every time I stopped next to one at an intersection, I felt like I was still inside. I looked over at them and could already feel what it was like to be on a bike. I could feel what it was like to take off ahead of the cars, what it was like to lean into a deep corner and open up the throttle, and what it was like to cruise through a tunnel of trees in the middle of nowhere. I wanted that feeling.
That's actually most of the reason I've only ever considered sport bikes. I don't have a burning need to go super fast, but I love the way they look and feel. I feel more exposed on one of them, more active and part of my surroundings, and that's worth putting up with a less comfortable riding position and no storage space.
Someday, when I can buy a new bike that I trust to make the journey, and when I've built up my riding endurance, I'm going to take it to Virginia and ride the back roads. I just hope the construction hasn't advanced far enough to overtake everything by the time I make it.
I am very much an internet nerd. I could wax on for hours about how fanfiction is legitimate literature, and lament the fact that the U.S. doesn't get any animated shows aimed at an adult audience because Disney has fostered the image that it's a kids-only thing. I'm passive, slow to speak, and always stumble over my words. I have not an ounce of mechanical talent, needing the manual just to make sure I'm checking my oil correctly and detailed, step by step instructions to change my brake fluid. I don't think I'd ever be comfortable riding in a group, because I'd feel completely out of place.
I didn't like motorcycles as a kid, never even thought about them really. It didn't come to me until I was twenty. I was in Spotsylvania County, Virginia at the time, and in love with the area. Coming from Utah, I'm used to open space. The wide open spaces in and around the city are ugly. The wide open spaces in the desert are pretty but you've got to be dedicated and willing to put up with some very uncomfortable weather to appreciate it. We have our forests in the mountains, but they're nothing like what I saw in Virginia. It more green there in the middle of winter than I ever saw in the spring or summer here. I wanted to be out in it.
I swear there were more sport bikes than flies, and every time I stopped next to one at an intersection, I felt like I was still inside. I looked over at them and could already feel what it was like to be on a bike. I could feel what it was like to take off ahead of the cars, what it was like to lean into a deep corner and open up the throttle, and what it was like to cruise through a tunnel of trees in the middle of nowhere. I wanted that feeling.
That's actually most of the reason I've only ever considered sport bikes. I don't have a burning need to go super fast, but I love the way they look and feel. I feel more exposed on one of them, more active and part of my surroundings, and that's worth putting up with a less comfortable riding position and no storage space.
Someday, when I can buy a new bike that I trust to make the journey, and when I've built up my riding endurance, I'm going to take it to Virginia and ride the back roads. I just hope the construction hasn't advanced far enough to overtake everything by the time I make it.