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I ride this thing everywhere. I ride until it snows and then I ride once the roads are clear. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I filled up my car this summer. I love it, it is what I was meant to do. It's therapeutic. Let me just put out this disclaimer, I don't care what you ride or what you think about mine, I bought what I wanted and I ride the piss out of it. There, I feel better. It's hard to explain to people who don't ride the feeling I get when I'm on my bike. It's a serene intensity that heightens my senses yet relaxes my entire person.
The last couple years that I lived in Reno, I got into backcountry snowboarding. I'd go out with my dog, climb a peak and ride down. I loved it all. Sitting at the top of a mountain and looking down at Lake Tahoe filled me with what others might consider a religious experience. I felt a connection. Blasting down the mountain in that state of mind transformed my world into a single focused purpose. Nothing else mattered, not family shit, work, bills, etc. Nothing mattered except the ride.
I get that same feeling on my bike. There are a lot of back roads in Pennsylvania and at any given time, you can ride out and be alone. The buzz of my bike has that same serene quality that I felt in my years riding the mountains and the ocean. My tires fuse in the black liquid asphalt and I find myself in a trance. It's a hard feeling to describe and I'm not doing it justice. I think there are times in life when you just know that you're doing something that makes you happy and fulfilled. I thought when I left the west coast that I'd never find that connection again and I held a lot of resentment and bitterness. That's all gone now. Would I rather be cruising down the Monterey coastline, you bet. For now, I've found a place to call home and something to keep me sane. See you on the road, I'll be the one wearing the bug splattered grin.
