Hello and Happy Thursday!
I cleaned my bookshelves the other day to get an idea what is piling up in there, what I haven’t read yet or which books I can send traveling through BookCrossing. Just this morning I received a notification that someone found the book Maestra by L.S. Hilton that I left at the entrance of a store. I hope you like it more than I did. So while I cleaned, I found a book that I have read several times already. Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. What a great, inspirational book that is moving, breathtaking and works also as a great meditation to figure out how to live a better life. You will learn about a father and his son who plan a motorcycle trip across America. It is interesting to read how both grow, discover new things and more importantly themselves, how they learn acceptance and to ask life’s most fundamental questions. I am working on a book review as well so stay tuned for that.
Sidetone: This morning, my father and a friend left on a motorcycle trip to Austria together on a Trike. How awesome is that? Is your dad as cool as mine? 🙂
Nice little taste of adventure and freedom, right? While I took the picture, Born to Be Wild played in the background. There was a time in my life when nothing was better than hopping on my motorcycle and sort of leaving the world behind. My parents died one thousand deaths when I came home for the first time on a rented bike, took my helmet off and left them speechless. They knew that I took driving lessons to get my motorcycle license but they secretly hoped that I changed my mind and would not buy a motorcycle, come to my senses, because dangerous and whatnot. A friend of mine [Hey, Putzl, I know you read my blog, hah!] sold me his bike way back when and I loved it. Did I see a tiny tear in the corner of his eye when he gave me the keys? No, it must have been the light.
I loved riding alone. Usually, after night shift at work was over, I came home, slept a bit to be a bit refreshed when I headed for pizza to Italy. Just like that. Because I can. I remember the time when I stopped at a gas station to refill, get a coffee and smoke two Marlboro lights how people looked at me when I took the helmet off. Long hair, woman, leather combo and their jaws dropped. Sounds like a fantasy? As a matter of fact, I know many women [Hi Nadine Glitzer] who loved to ride a bike. It is just not a men-thing full of testosterone and machismo anymore.
I was crazy about my bike – so crazy that I did not even have a seasonal license plate. I rode all year round. Winter and snow? Pfff! There is no wrong weather, just wrong clothing. A friend of mine works all winter long on his bike, turns it on, fixes things and waits for the sun and dry roads. Well, to each his own.
We are a family of bikers. Le husband rode his bikes for a long time; he was even a motorcycle shadowing officer for French customs. Say whaaaaat? Pretty awesome, no? Both of us sold our bikes and haven’t really taken a motorcycle ride together. But every time we see a cool bike, we get goosebumps and want to ride again. Will this ever stop? I doubt it. Riding has in a way helped me to define me, brought me closer to nature [all those amazing rides and side roads I took!] and I felt free of anything and everything that was holding me down. Sometimes one needs to escape the daily bull**** I think.
I also realized that it is a constant learning experience and the more I rode my motorcycle, the better I became. Practice is definitely key. Speeding was never a goal of mine and I think it is so much cooler and fun to drive curves. As many as possible, hah! Once in a while it is fantastic however to go faster than the speed of light. It was not fear, but I never lost respect of riding this bike. We were a good team for a long time. With only one minor accident. I wish my little cousin Patrick good luck with his new bike. Respect each other. Be safe!
All this made me think about the amazing movie The Motorcycle Diaries that I watched a long time ago, but is so worth watching. Highly recommended. It is about a motorcycle road trip that Che Guevara did together with his friend. And how Che became the legendary person he is.
Do you have a motorcycle? Do you love to ride? I would love to hear from you.
