The bike is running well. Really, really well.
I want to just take a moment of my time (and yours if you can be bothered to wade though this) and talk about it.
The time on the bike has become, rather surprisingly I might add, a very important and special time to me.
Even (especially?) the daily commute, those 15 to 20 odd minutes is something I look forward to, and try and savor when they are happening.
I sure miss the radio, but this quite time has given me more time to contemplate things, even bike things, like how quite the motor is.
Its an old bike, you would think that the wizzing bits are not exactly state of the art, and yet, at 90kph they all do their bit with surprisingly little noise. I dont have the quietest helmet, and yet I often find myself marveling at the fact that I honestly cant hear said wizzing bits. I have to duck down under the windsheild and have a close listen. Even the wind noise is not the loudest most obvious sound. It all is about the same level and I feel like I am on some sort of ‘silent’ flying carpet.
I am still surprised at the fact that this bike has cured my ‘fear’ of corners. One of the main reasons I enjoy touring so much is that it generally does not include too many corners, I dont know why I dident like them, I never really had anything bad happen on one. It was my brother in law that rode off the side of a mountain trying to go around one, not me. Anyway, point is, I now dont notice the difference in a road full of twists or the Nullarbor, they are the ‘same’, the bike foats over either with the same ease.
Of course, I know the bike is old, it can not run like it currently is for much longer, so hence this entry, its a reminder, when it all goes pear shaped, of better days. A reminder why I should spend the time and money to repair it. A reminder to myself that it is good for the heart and soul to be on the bike, that it brings inner peace and calm in a world full of stress and pressure to do things you would rather not. Yes, its an escape, but I know its not also not reality, so I just enjoy it for what it is.
I guess I am trying (badly) to make the point that the time on the bike frees the mind and soul from the shackles of another life, one that you can leave behind for a short time.
On Wednesday, I have to ride to Melbourne to do a job for a friend, I think I will take the back way……