View Full Version : Strange emotions..
Well. This may turn out strange, but I need to get it out somewhere and if anyone else will understand it'll be the KB family.
Went for a big ride today, a touch under 200k's in total - left my place (East Tamaki) and went thru Clevedon, Maraetai, over to Ramarama, back to Whitford, back again the other way to Takaninni..... basically just making it up as I went along and hitting some of the same roads like 5 times! (especially those ones that have the yellow signs with the "squiggly arrow next 5km" :msn-wink:
As I was riding I was feeling quite reflective re all the recent sadness (Sam/Flyin and the far too many others) but weirdly at the same time still pushing it within my limits and ....well....dunno if "having fun" is the right was to say it. Also I REALLY really don't mean to offend anyone close to those who've been lost but in my own way I was kinda paying tribute....
Anyway. I'm not even really sure what I mean.....does anyone else know? :mellow:
P.S. Hi to the approx 50 bikers I waved to - c'mon, at least one of ya must be a KB'er!
Nothing strange about that. Riding bikes is how lots of us keep in touch with our spiritual side. :D
justsomeguy
7th May 2005, 15:49
Yes allun
I understand what you're sayin matey.
Riding is my only vice.
Well. This may turn out strange, but I need to get it out somewhere and if anyone else will understand it'll be the KB family.
Went for a big ride today, a touch under 200k's in total - left my place (East Tamaki) and went thru Clevedon, Maraetai, over to Ramarama, back to Whitford, back again the other way to Takaninni..... basically just making it up as I went along and hitting some of the same roads like 5 times! (especially those ones that have the yellow signs with the "squiggly arrow next 5km" :msn-wink:
As I was riding I was feeling quite reflective re all the recent sadness (Sam/Flyin and the far too many others) but weirdly at the same time still pushing it within my limits and ....well....dunno if "having fun" is the right was to say it. Also I REALLY really don't mean to offend anyone close to those who've been lost but in my own way I was kinda paying tribute....
Anyway. I'm not even really sure what I mean.....does anyone else know? :mellow:
P.S. Hi to the approx 50 bikers I waved to - c'mon, at least one of ya must be a KB'er!
Yes. I know what you mean. Motorcycling is an activity that brings one very intimately into connection with some of the elemental forces of life. At such times I have often felt God to be very near. (Your defination of God may vary - but the sense of connectedness and grace is the same). Such moments are precious, and can be very serene and grace-full. Treasure the memory of them.
"The precise line, the gentle curve, the well balanced motion" - these sound like they could be referring to motorcycling. But they were in fact written by a priest.
justsomeguy
7th May 2005, 15:57
Yes. I know what you mean. Motorcycling is an activity that brings one very intimately into connection with some of the elemental forces of life. At such times I have often felt God to be very near. (Your defination of God may vary - but the sense of connectedness and grace is the same). Such moments are precious, and can be very serene and grace-full. Treasure the memory of them.
"The precise line, the gentle curve, the well balanced motion" - these sound like they could be referring to motorcycling. But they were in fact written by a priest.
That;s it....... i;m off for a ride.
Waylander
7th May 2005, 16:09
Well. This may turn out strange, but I need to get it out somewhere and if anyone else will understand it'll be the KB family.
Went for a big ride today, a touch under 200k's in total - left my place (East Tamaki) and went thru Clevedon, Maraetai, over to Ramarama, back to Whitford, back again the other way to Takaninni..... basically just making it up as I went along and hitting some of the same roads like 5 times! (especially those ones that have the yellow signs with the "squiggly arrow next 5km" :msn-wink:
As I was riding I was feeling quite reflective re all the recent sadness (Sam/Flyin and the far too many others) but weirdly at the same time still pushing it within my limits and ....well....dunno if "having fun" is the right was to say it. Also I REALLY really don't mean to offend anyone close to those who've been lost but in my own way I was kinda paying tribute....
Anyway. I'm not even really sure what I mean.....does anyone else know? :mellow:
P.S. Hi to the approx 50 bikers I waved to - c'mon, at least one of ya must be a KB'er!
Yea I know what you mean mate. It's like your way of paying tribute cause as you're riding and thinking about them you're kinda dedicating that ride to them. That's the way I view it anyway, hopefully be getting one of my bikes fixed soon so I can go out and do this.
James Deuce
7th May 2005, 16:22
..... At such times I have often felt God to be very near. (Your defination of God may vary - but the sense of connectedness and grace is the same)......
He must be the bloke/blokette that sits on the back and hits the kill switch/jumps up and down on the pillion footpegs/hurls a bucket of invisible diesel in front of us in the middle of a very fast, very technical corner then?
He must be the bloke/blokette that sits on the back and hits the kill switch/jumps up and down on the pillion footpegs/hurls a bucket of invisible diesel in front of us in the middle of a very fast, very technical corner then?
Yep, that's him. The guy that climbs up on your shoulders just as you're lining up the corner and hangs down over your eyes. The bastige. And then roars with laughter after you've stopped, shaking, to recover yourself. He also specialise sin making bumps pop up right on your cornering line that definately were NOT there when you committed to it.
Ramius
7th May 2005, 16:53
Well. This may turn out strange, but I need to get it out somewhere and if anyone else will understand it'll be the KB family.
Anyway. I'm not even really sure what I mean.....does anyone else know? :mellow:
P.S. Hi to the approx 50 bikers I waved to - c'mon, at least one of ya must be a KB'er!
Howdy. Yeah, I know what you mean, as everyone else on this site probably does. It is the one thing I miss and the closest way to flying. Feeling the wind against you, to the side of you, everywhere around you was just beyond words. Now I make up for not riding by lurking around this website. Nowhere near the same, but alas. :whistle:
pritch
7th May 2005, 17:08
At such times I have often felt God to be very near.
This sounds a bit like the feeling you get when sitting on a hill or mountain top.
When I think about my most lurid near miss, and the contortions the bike had to go through for it to be a miss, it occurs to me that I wouldn't bet I could have done that on my own. Just maybe I had help...
Yep, I think I know what you mean :niceone:
We know. The concentration required to ride safely and well closer than usual to the limit paradoxically frees us to best appreciate the moment... which can last - as it did for you - for 200 kms or more.
James Deuce
7th May 2005, 20:43
Yep, that's him. The guy that climbs up on your shoulders just as you're lining up the corner and hangs down over your eyes. The bastige. And then roars with laughter after you've stopped, shaking, to recover yourself. He also specialise sin making bumps pop up right on your cornering line that definately were NOT there when you committed to it.
That's him - owes me a beer :)
Howdy. Yeah, I know what you mean, as everyone else on this site probably does.
Good....at least I'm not going (further) mad.
It is the one thing I miss and the closest way to flying. Feeling the wind against you, to the side of you, everywhere around you was just beyond words.....
Hmmm....I wonder if pilots look at a series of those fluffy whites things you get up there and think "I'm gonna carve thru those 10km/h faster than last time!" :ride:
I'm still feeling a bit weird about it all (especially having a seim-serious thought in my head!), but tomorrow is another day huh? A day to jump on the Kwaka and go for i ride, i reckon. :niceone:
Ramius - here's one for ya (slightly misquoted):
"motorcycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds. The airplane simply carries a man on its back like an obedient Pegasus; it gives him no wings of his own."
~Louis J. Helle, Jr., Spring in Washington
SuperDave
7th May 2005, 22:14
Just went for a ride with a mate earlier this evening. Funny enough we spoke about biking, and he metioned how he sees it as the utimate break and release. I have to agree, there's not much better than a good ride :yes:
Gixxer 4 ever
8th May 2005, 10:07
I agree with all this. My bike is my exorcism. It chases out the demons. I have to admit I have felt for Sam and many times in the last week have thought about my riding. I went out with a fast group of Non KBer's yesterday. We rode passed an accident site from Friday and when we got to the pub we had all exceeded 200 kmh and done some well planned cornering that had left little balls of rubber on the tyres. So what was that all about in light of the grief from last weekend? I asked the others if they new who was riding the bike that went down on Friday on the road to Fernhill........... No one new of the accident. It was posted here on Friday night. We rode through the marks on the road for god sake.......................... We live in a mixed up, up side down world that seems to have no order but the one we place on it at any one time in our lives...............Feck it was a good ride.........Feckiamadumass.
Keeper
8th May 2005, 13:33
Me and Foz went for a small ride on Friday after Flyin' funeral, Porirua->The Inlet->Piecocke Hill->Motorway->Grays Road->Haywoods->Motorway to town and back,
Best I have felt in ages,
Got the best buzz on the 25kph decreasing radius on the piecocke, I'm in love again
I know exactly what you are on about. Good onya for trying to explain it, I'd have struggled with it for sure :niceone:
justsomeguy
8th May 2005, 15:34
My bike is my exorcism.
Amen .............
Went for a big ride today, a touch under 200k's in total - left my place (East Tamaki) and went thru Clevedon, Maraetai, over to Ramarama, back to Whitford, back again the other way to Takaninni..... basically just making it up as I went along and hitting some of the same roads like 5 times! (especially those ones that have the yellow signs with the "squiggly arrow next 5km" :msn-wink:
Sounds like you were taking a ride "somewhere nowhere" as a friend of mine calls it - you just take random or "interesting-looking" turns and see where the road takes you.
Great way to disconnect from the mundane - you're not going anywhere in particular so there's no expectations.
We (this friend of mine and I) wound up (after a long drive through strange parts of the Waikato countryside) at Mercury Bay (I think) sitting on rocks out in the water of the bay watching the lightening sky and pointing at "suspicious bumps" in the terrain (as in: "Looks suspiciously like a fucking volcano to me").
Did a semi random route on the way home but it lacked the mystery of the drive out - we knew we were heading home and our routes were chosen with a view to move us in the "right direction."
We had some really neat spiritual conversations on the way out and stopped in some out of the way areas that were so tranquil and felt really close to our own interpretations of deity.
Can well understand why the ride was so special for you, Allun.
this has to be the heaviest forum i have read yet. how true to you all.
completely blown away but what everyone has had to say.
riding is a release that no drug can give me.
to be onto it with everything around me.
winding country roads.
and the memories of those that have passed, riding with me.
taking a journey with ones that have gone.
i can't explain it but there is always something with me when i ride. it has saved me from so many potentional accidents. and fines.
that little voice in your head that says careful now, and just as well too.
i hope they have bikes over the other side, as i want to keep riding. :ride:
Thanks.
Thanks for knowing where I'm coming from everybody!
I snapped the photo below a few mins ago - I call it "Therapy" :ride:
It's a beaut morning, I might go for a ride.
ManDownUnder
9th May 2005, 11:02
YUP!!!!
I know EXACTLY what you mean.
Last week was a mental bitch. So much to do and read and digest in my head I got to the end of it with fluff between my ears, and crap coming out my mouth...
... not a good place to be ...
a fun ride to Wellsford and back with a couple of guys from the Auckland crowd and I went home completely Zen...
It's a way to pay tribute, to get centred, to appreciate the joy of motorcycling and appreciate that strange paradox of knowing others enjoy it every bit as much, and the sadness that comes of knowing others have died doing it...
Strange but very very zen.
I love it - just wish it was something easily put into words really...
MDU
Thanks.
Thanks for knowing where I'm coming from everybody!
I snapped the photo below a few mins ago - I call it "Therapy" :ride:
It's a beaut morning, I might go for a ride.
Hmmm, nice lookin' bit o' "therapy".
I think the reason bike riding is so great is: "grounding".
When you are grounded, you are living in the now - not preoccupied with the future or the past. Riding a bike tends to force you to be grounded - totally aware of what you are doing, what you are sensing, what you are feeling, right now. Being grounded, being in touch with who you are and what you sense and feel right now is inherently very powerful. It is "spiritual" in that you are totally within yourself.
Many cagers are not grounded - they feel protected in their cages, isolated from the world around them, shut off... so they then allow their minds to wander - their past, their future - anything but what they are doing (piloting a large chunk of metal though a changing environment). That's why so many drive as if their heads are up their arses.
Grounding can be more powerful than relaxation (and takes less time to achieve and can be done any time - ideally, at all times) in touch with self and surroundings in the here and now. Life does not get any more "real" than that.
I'm with you all the way Allun. I'm riding more like a nanna at the moment than I ever have.
Nice bike by the way. This isn't a picture of your lady friend on it per chance:
http://img139.echo.cx/img139/531/av126wl.gif
notme
11th May 2005, 14:38
I'm with you all the way Allun. I'm riding more like a nanna at the moment than I ever have.
Nice bike by the way. This isn't a picture of your lady friend on it per chance:
http://img139.echo.cx/img139/531/av126wl.gif
I wish! :D
Thanks for the compliment - now that it's many months behind me I can recognise that "THE DUCK INCIDENT" as it is known was a good thing overall cos the bike looks and goes great now!
Although I'm still not allowed at the local duckpond because I can't look at one of the little bastards without charging at it screaming blue murder..... :mad:
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.