Well, my bags are packed and I'm ready to go (an old Peter, Paul & Mary, song line). The Hog is gassed up and tire pressure checked, windows cleaned, RainX applied and a Garmin GPS, route programed, attached to the handlebars . The weather appears to be good, except for a 30% chance of rain on Monday. I'll be in Charleston at the archives then and off the country roads.
Riding a motorcycle truly is a Zen-like experience. For me it is a form of meditation. Your focus is so concentrated on the moment, of what's in front of you and around you, always in the zone. It is relaxing and alertness at the same time.
In the encapsulated world of the auto you can diverge and listen to the radio, talk on the cell phone, fiddle with cd's. Not on a bike, it's me and "Mary Belle" together as one, man balanced astride a 750 pound iron horse. Ask any biker it is the feel of freedom and exhilaration, of being on the edge of the moment. Of going down the valleys and smelling the moisture of a creek, climbing the hill and seeing the horse run along the fence beside the road that you are on, catching the scent of mowed hay, and manure. Carving the switchbacks of an unknown road an finding breath taking natural beauty as a butterfly drifts across your windscreen.
I am looking forward to leaving in the morning of leaving familiar roads and towns behind and taking a new road. Lord knows I need one after the events of the past year. I will leave those behind as well, new roads, new days, new experiences are waiting somewhere out there on the road to find Ora Riddle.
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