Why we ride..

[Wisedrum]

Here is an excerpt from a book I'm reading called "The Power of Now." I think it states very well why many of us are attracted to this dangerous yet exciting activity we call motorcycling.

"The reason why some people love to engage in dangerous activities, such as mountain climbing, car racing, and so on, although they may not be aware of it, is that it forces them into the Now —that intensely alive state that is free of time, free of problems, free of thinking, free of the burden of the personality. Slipping away from the present moment even for a second may mean death. Unfortunately, they come to depend on a particular activity to be in that state. But you don’t need to climb the north face of the Eiger. You can enter that state now."

It depends on the way you look at motorcycling. And even more it depends on how you drive. The danger, if it's evolved all the time, which is to question, increases by confusing official roads with a race track. When driving smoothly, with a kind of awareness and a 7th sense of what 's going around you, I don't consider driving a bike to be an extraordinary dangerous activity. I see it more as a calculable risk. Otherwise I won't drive. It`ll take many miles and experience to develop this state of mind, though it's no insurance to not fall apart. But it may help to prevent yourself, to get hang up in a dangerous situation.

The reason to ride for me lies in the pure enjoyment, to sit on a motor combined with 2
wheels and be drawn by it. An enjoyment I'm used to for so many years and decades.
Starting on a little "mofa" , then a "mokick" followed by smaller and bigger motorcycles. I never ride and have ridden, to feel the impact of danger and be stimulated by it. This doesn't mean, that danger never occur, sometimes self-initiated, sometimes it just happens without warning. With a portion of
luck and reaction you 'll likewise overwhelm it. And with the help of a guardian angel, who has often, not too often, played his role in my life as a biker.

Mostly I ride for its meditative character in the "open field" not being surrounded by a metal cage, connected to seasons in the nature and play a bit
with the gyroscopic force.

A good feel, standing on its own, nothing else can offer to those, who get caught by this special kind of fascination.

Wisedrum