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Ren's Biking Blog
Why I Like Being A Pillion
Blog Date - 19 March 2013
Another guest blog today, this time from the gf, Sharon Parker. This time she's esposuing the merits of being on the back of a bike. Over to you me dear...
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I am a pillion. I do not ride my own bike, as yet I have not learnt how. I often wonder if I can be considered a REAL biker because I do not ride myself. Do I have any right to call myself a biker chick if I just sit on the bike and let someone else do all the work. Hmmmm.
One thing that is very clear to me is that I adore bikes. I absolutely love, love, love being on a bike. It is one of my favourite activities. Until recently the desire to ride my own bike has not been great, although the spark was lit recently and has been steadily growing the last few months. But this post is not about me maybe learning to ride myself it is about why I am such a happy pillion and whether that means I can call myself a real biker or not?
So whats so good about being a pillion?
Well I get to sit back and relax. It is my escape time from stress and responsibility. I have been a single mum for many years now. I have plenty of decision making and stress in my day to day life. To just climb aboard the bike and feel completely stress free is an amazing experience for me. I do not have to concern myself with watching the road ahead. I can look about me at will. I am free completely free to look around me and savour all that passes me by. To drink in with my eyes the lakes and rivers we pass by. To tilt my head backwards and soar with the birds into the skies. I have no concern about what gear I should select for the upcoming bend I just have to experience the thrill of the curve.
Often there's not much room for Sharon. Luckily she's only small. (Ren - The Ed)
I am travelling and the gypsy in my soul sings...(scrub that nothing about me is remotely tuneful) no the gypsy in my soul dances and whirls for the sheer joy of movement that travel brings. Be it whizzing along fast, feeling the buzz of speed and the thrill of low corners. Be it bobbling along slowly on rugged dirt tracks. It is not just about speed to me, how fast or slow but about the movement, the travel, this is what excites me.
But why a bike and not a car?
Because for me in a car you are enclosed in. Shut up from what is around you. You pass the scenery by, you pass in a controlled temperature and possibly listening to your radio. You do not get to smell the earth. To breathe in the rich smells of hedgerows and fields freshly cut. Yeah OK you get a nose full of manure and factory fumes on occasion but if you don't get to smell something bad how could you know how sweet a rose is? In a car you don't get to feel the temperature. You don't feel that sudden drop when you enter a shady stretch of road or feel the welcome return of heat once you re-emerge from the shadows.
Sure there are times when my fingers are freezing cold, my butt aches and knees burn. Sometimes it rains on your journey for 6 hours non stop and you got soggy feet. But they are little minuses in a whole huge volume of pluses for me. Because the thing is I am out there, I am FEELING all of this. I am not observing it from a TV screen or from the protection of my sealed in car. I feel it all. It brings all my senses to life. Yes there it is the answer to the question as to why do I love being on a bike.....BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL TRULY ALIVE!!
Sometimes it's just larking around too that's fun. (Ren - The Ed)
All bikers can feel these joys too but I suspect as a pillion you get the luxury of having nothing else to distract your attention. So you get to feel them all just that little bit more. If I was riding myself I could not keep my eyes on the hawk as it sweeps across the fields. Well I could but it would probably end up rather messy. But you get my drift I am just free to revel in all the awe inspiring scenery. To close my eyes to enhance my sense of smell. I am being taken on a journey, an adventure and I love the ride.
Another bonus for me as a pillion is that I get to share some moments up close and personal with my companion. Again not all these moments are fluffy. Like when you both nearly end up splattered across the front of an oncoming car because they are on the wrong side of the road. Not a great moment that but one that was shared and can be remembered together. We do not talk while riding but subtle hand movements can easily convey that what we need to know. A squeeze on my leg from him, a hug from behind from me. Little gestures to say hey I am happy. A bumpy roads that gets up both airborne and leaves us in fits of giggles. A beautiful vista that one or the other may point out and helmeted heads nodding in union to say yeah I saw that ..wow. I can appreciate life's wonders by myself but as a romantic at heart I find special moments become even more amazing when shared. So as a pillion not only do I get to experience all that I have already described but I get to share that experience as well.
So many of our days can slip by unnoticed. Leaving not a mark upon our memories. They simply disappear. But those special times, the shared times, those times when we felt the most alive, these are what stay with us. Most of my own special memories seem to revolve around times on the bike. So the more time I get to spend on the bike the richer and more abundant will be my collection of special memories.
Does all this make me a real biker??? I will go out in all weather, be it persistent rain or freezing. I will sit on a numb bum for hours on end without complaint. I know how to move with the bike and never terrify my riding buddy with sudden unexpected movements. In fact you might be surprised if you ever took me out on your bike to find you will probably not even know I am there. I have a huge passion for being on the bike, so do I qualify even as a non rider as a real biker chick. Damn right I do. You the reader may have your own opinion on that but what counts is how I feel about myself. And I am one happy pillion.
To make me feel alive I need to travel. To be on the move. While travelling I have to feel it. Be in the atmosphere. In other words to feel truly content and free....I HAVE TO RIDE.
From chilly but cheeky biker chick to rock chick, Sharon's got it covered... (Ren - The Ed)
Reader's Comments
carrie said :-
I agree with you all the way Sharon. I used to be a pillion person in my youth and loved every minute of it.Pity I can't do it today!
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