BACKROADS • NOVEMBER 2020
WHATCHATHINKIN’ ShIRA KAMIL
Melting Point Getting a bit anxious with an upcoming trip? Starting out the riding season after a few months’ hiatus? Had an incident that gave you the yips? Have just had a super stressful experience that needs purging from your body? At what point, after leaving your driveway, does the tension release and your riding take control of your emotions. Of course, there are always those underlying thoughts: Have I unplugged the coffee maker? Did I shut all the faucets? Did I leave enough dry food for Spenser? But more than that, it’s the feeling of leaving your home for the unknown, for even though it may be a short day’s ride, one never knows what we’ll encounter after throwing that leg over the saddle. For many years after first starting to ride, if I hadn’t ridden for a month or so I’d have that squirming feeling in my stomach letting me know to take it easy, start out slowly and let my knowledge shake off the cobwebs. Now, after 30 years of riding, I still give myself that shakedown period in the beginning of the riding season (yes, I know there is ‘technically’ not a season, but some of us are loathe to ride below that 40 degree mark). Those first couple of rides in March or April are taken at a much more sedate pace, easing into my comfort zone, reacquainting myself with my bike and letting the bike have its own emergence into riding again. I admit I am not the mechanic in the household but I will stand by with a helping hand, hat at the ready or band-aid while Brian checks over my bikes and keeps them up to snuff. Rolling up to the end of the gravel driveway and popping onto the main road, I listen to the warming parts of the motorcycle, slowly squeeze the clutch and feel the throttle twist smoothly in my gloved hand as I make my way down the quarter-mile to the bottom of our hill. It
Page 5 may take 2, 5, 10 miles until the tightness in my shoulders eases and I know that all is right with my bike and in the world, at least in my bubble. This year, of course, has brought about more inner thoughts while riding than needed or necessary. The time until that tension releases and the mind is fully embraced in the freedom that our riding brings may be longer but it will still come. I like to reflect on the words I hear every year from Reg Pridmore during my time at VIR. He is always telling us that the mind has to be totally focused on the task at hand, riding the motorcycle and taking in the immediate surroundings, in order to be as safe as possible, at least with what we can control. Don’t think about that bill that has to be paid, that running toilet that has to be fixed or the upcoming crucial meeting at work. All those things will happen in their own time, and having them take up space in your brain while operating a high-speed motorcycle on some beautifully twisty roads is not their time. Motorcycles, in addition to being vehicles to bring us from one place to another, serve a number of other functions: therapist, counselor and friend. When we’ve had a hard day at work, an argument with a loved one, received some bad news or are just feeling down in the dumps, we turn to our motorcycles to help us move on, forget and lighten our inner spirits. Once a few miles have passed under our wheels, there is a melting point that releases those tensions and allows us to fully focus on the ebb and flow of the ride. Should that not happen within a certain short period of your ride, perhaps you should consider stopping the bike and taking a deep breath, as those thoughts and emotions will surely interfere with your performance and focus while riding. I know that I have been on rides where my mind is so scattered or focused on some other aspect of my life that I’ll realize I have been riding by rote – not a good thing at all. Before heading off on a ride, spend a moment to make sure that you have taken care of everything that might wiggle into your head, packed what you wanted, left what you didn’t need and turned off the water to the pond. This will help to have that melting point appear more quickly and your travels will be stress free and rejuvenating.
