01-11-2022, 11:35 PM
A while ago I told the story of an adventure with lucky outcome which many of you liked: The story of the frog in cooking water, and where a CB should never go ... (link [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=17137&pid=301418#pid301418/]The Frog ).
Inspired by days and days of freezing rain, grayness in the sky, and new Covid restrictions, I had been waiting for the sun, like one of the holy baboons waiting for Ra (God of the ancient Egyptians), back 3300 years bathing in the morning sun after a freezing night (link [url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mysteries-of-ancient-egypts-sacred-baboons-revealed/]Holy Baboons. And today Ra showed his face to me - with all might. Not a drop of water, haze or cloud in the air or in the sky. Subfreezing temperatures, icy wind, a perfectly polished motorcycle in the garage, gas in the tank, and ... nothing but a leather jacket, a helmet, and some winter-gloves which (I know now) are not worth the designation. Guess I never bothered buying solid winter riding equipment.
We roll out of the garage into the sun and I feel already ... a little better and a little colder. Off we go. Familiar streets, familiar fields and scenery. Man this is cold. But the frog's heart feels good. There is no traffic today. Has the cold made everybody stay at home ? The windy road is mine. And admittedly, it's immediately hard to pull the clutch and control the release. My fingers itch, my eyes tear, and the frog starts to feel toes and butt. SO WHAT ! We keep going. 10 miles, 20 miles, ... I don't know. What a joy. At some point I stop, and feel engine temps, tires, even the temperature of the chain. Is the sound of hers even nicer today ? This marvel of Japanese M/C is not only working like a charm. She is really happy in these temps. But the frog on top is getting to his limits. For all the joy I must have lost all sense for the frog's overall condition. And I still have to go home - ups ... against the wind, and the sun no longer in my face.
The feeling of joy is amplified in every bend, the sensation of "being" out in the wild, being alive which no sofa, no S.U.V. and no TV can deliver. When we finally make it, the garage door closes behind me, the cooling engine starts making the clicking sounds of an air-cooled 4, and shoes and gloves off - the smile on my face is hard to describe. The conditions of my butt and toes, I'd rather not describe at all.
A frog can die in too hot or too cold water, but the worst of all outcomes is ... he is lying in a lukewarm puddle for too long, with nowhere to go, staying at a homely temperature, slowly loosing his mind. In an over-regulated, pampered and often frighten world, where (as Nietzsche said) "the world gets safer and safer for little Chinese men, it only costs ever more electricity", the CB doesn't turn a frog into a Voyageur (link: [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs/]Voyageurs, or my home town not into the Wild West. But it helps me stay sane in the hottest and coldest of waters, and brings about a smile at the turn of a key. What else, who else, is able to do this ?
Inspired by days and days of freezing rain, grayness in the sky, and new Covid restrictions, I had been waiting for the sun, like one of the holy baboons waiting for Ra (God of the ancient Egyptians), back 3300 years bathing in the morning sun after a freezing night (link [url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mysteries-of-ancient-egypts-sacred-baboons-revealed/]Holy Baboons. And today Ra showed his face to me - with all might. Not a drop of water, haze or cloud in the air or in the sky. Subfreezing temperatures, icy wind, a perfectly polished motorcycle in the garage, gas in the tank, and ... nothing but a leather jacket, a helmet, and some winter-gloves which (I know now) are not worth the designation. Guess I never bothered buying solid winter riding equipment.
We roll out of the garage into the sun and I feel already ... a little better and a little colder. Off we go. Familiar streets, familiar fields and scenery. Man this is cold. But the frog's heart feels good. There is no traffic today. Has the cold made everybody stay at home ? The windy road is mine. And admittedly, it's immediately hard to pull the clutch and control the release. My fingers itch, my eyes tear, and the frog starts to feel toes and butt. SO WHAT ! We keep going. 10 miles, 20 miles, ... I don't know. What a joy. At some point I stop, and feel engine temps, tires, even the temperature of the chain. Is the sound of hers even nicer today ? This marvel of Japanese M/C is not only working like a charm. She is really happy in these temps. But the frog on top is getting to his limits. For all the joy I must have lost all sense for the frog's overall condition. And I still have to go home - ups ... against the wind, and the sun no longer in my face.
The feeling of joy is amplified in every bend, the sensation of "being" out in the wild, being alive which no sofa, no S.U.V. and no TV can deliver. When we finally make it, the garage door closes behind me, the cooling engine starts making the clicking sounds of an air-cooled 4, and shoes and gloves off - the smile on my face is hard to describe. The conditions of my butt and toes, I'd rather not describe at all.
A frog can die in too hot or too cold water, but the worst of all outcomes is ... he is lying in a lukewarm puddle for too long, with nowhere to go, staying at a homely temperature, slowly loosing his mind. In an over-regulated, pampered and often frighten world, where (as Nietzsche said) "the world gets safer and safer for little Chinese men, it only costs ever more electricity", the CB doesn't turn a frog into a Voyageur (link: [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs/]Voyageurs, or my home town not into the Wild West. But it helps me stay sane in the hottest and coldest of waters, and brings about a smile at the turn of a key. What else, who else, is able to do this ?
