karla
12th November 2008, 07:06
I've been around a number of people lately, who keep thinking about, and then changing their bikes. Either they are modifying them, thinking about modifying them, or looking at the next bike and planning how to get there. Some of these friends have only had their bikes for the blink of an eye.
It makes me wonder if I should be doing the same, or at least considering riding different styles of bike. The Bonnie is a cruiser, and a lot of NZ roads are made for sportsbikes, with their twists and turns.
But then I sit still for a while, and it comes to mind how much I can learn by staying with the same bike, getting to know it's every vibration. In just a year of riding, I know without thinking how much I need to twist the throttle to speed up, or to brake to slow down. I have become used to the weight shifting to the side as I corner, the tyre locking up when I overuse the back brake, pushing it along to grease the chain, seeing the scratches I put there when I dropped it on the first day I rode her.
I will never be a master at riding, it is a miracle really that I have even started at my age, but the longer I ride my bike the more we seem to fit together. I am learning to not only be still, but also to be satisfied.
Is this trading off, and settling for less, in order not to change? Am I falling into a bike rut? Am I justifying my unwillingness to change, or I am denying myself something possibly better than what I have now? Will she, like me, fall to pieces more and more quickly the older she gets, and cause more grief than happiness. Or, is there a chance that the longer I stay with what I know, the more comfortable and trusting and enjoyable each ride will be.
It is one of those questions that only time will tell ... and patience is a hard-earned virtue for me, not something that comes naturally. To be patient and wait for good things to keep coming, I need to make a decision and become committed to that, and I need to ignore the nagging doubts and insecurities about where I am and focus on being happy with how far I have come.
I wonder if I will ever be in a place where I can sit with others while they tell tales of where they want to be, and be satisfied knowing that just for today, I am already there.
Just musing ~
It makes me wonder if I should be doing the same, or at least considering riding different styles of bike. The Bonnie is a cruiser, and a lot of NZ roads are made for sportsbikes, with their twists and turns.
But then I sit still for a while, and it comes to mind how much I can learn by staying with the same bike, getting to know it's every vibration. In just a year of riding, I know without thinking how much I need to twist the throttle to speed up, or to brake to slow down. I have become used to the weight shifting to the side as I corner, the tyre locking up when I overuse the back brake, pushing it along to grease the chain, seeing the scratches I put there when I dropped it on the first day I rode her.
I will never be a master at riding, it is a miracle really that I have even started at my age, but the longer I ride my bike the more we seem to fit together. I am learning to not only be still, but also to be satisfied.
Is this trading off, and settling for less, in order not to change? Am I falling into a bike rut? Am I justifying my unwillingness to change, or I am denying myself something possibly better than what I have now? Will she, like me, fall to pieces more and more quickly the older she gets, and cause more grief than happiness. Or, is there a chance that the longer I stay with what I know, the more comfortable and trusting and enjoyable each ride will be.
It is one of those questions that only time will tell ... and patience is a hard-earned virtue for me, not something that comes naturally. To be patient and wait for good things to keep coming, I need to make a decision and become committed to that, and I need to ignore the nagging doubts and insecurities about where I am and focus on being happy with how far I have come.
I wonder if I will ever be in a place where I can sit with others while they tell tales of where they want to be, and be satisfied knowing that just for today, I am already there.
Just musing ~