Home
Ren's Biking Blog
Travelling Slowly
Blog Date - 18 October 2013
I love to ride my motorbike. After 23 years I dare say the novelty factor has worn off somewhat but I still find being on the bike is generally a good place to be. I spent a long time trying to be fast but over the last 5 or 6 years I've finally matured enough to accept I'm never going to be a racer. Since then my enjoyment of riding has increased. I'm no longer trying to attack every bend and I've stopped cursing myself, thinking I could have done better. I'm enjoying the ride at a pace I feel comfortable with.
Sometimes on a solo ride or if the gf is with me I'll slow right down. If there's nothing behind us on a pretty country lane it is a pleasure to ride so slowly that we can take time to see the fields, the flowers, the quaint farmhouses and the babbling brook. All too often the thrill of throwing a bike through a set of bends caused me to miss the beauty of the land we are so privileged to live in. It is a fine balance to make, and one I've all too often overlooked in my enthusiastic youth.
Distance is another thing I'm learning to reign in. I have a lot of admiration and respect for those "Iron Butt" members who can cover 1,000 miles in 24 hours but I know for sure now this is definitely not the way I like to travel. I enjoy my motorcycling and the act of riding a motorcycle yet I also know I suffer, perhaps more than most, from stiff joints and a sore backside after any length of time in the saddle. On long trips I start to fidget and gripe. I wish it wasn't so, I wish I could sit in comfort for endless miles. I can't sit still on a settee, it's not the bike's fault.
Finally it's about how I travel. This year a friend went to Benidorm on his bike. 10 days to get there and back through France, and with 3 days in Benidorm. It sounded like a very hard itinerary to me with very little time to sit in a French cafe while soaking up the atmosphere. There'd be no time to chill in a Pyrenean layby while admiring the views. Upon his return he did admit that perhaps, possibly, it may have been better to cover fewer miles every day.
Time is precious, and when you have a job, house, mortgage and bills then holidays or days out are never going to be long enough. I understand the desire to squeeze as much as possible into these brief fleeting moments of escape from everyday life. However you can do too much and not leave any space for chilling out, or indeed unforeseen events. After my trip to France this year I'm finding about 150 miles per day is a happy middle distance figure that leaves enough time to soak up the surroundings and still make progress.
Time is the key. Time is the most precious thing that any of us has. Money provides the things we need for survival but time is the price we pay. I day dream a lot about having enough money to allow me the time to travel at my pace. Imagine not having to be home before next Monday to return to work. Imagine having not to worry about the bike breaking down because there's time to get it fixed. Imagine having the time to spend as long as we like in the places we find, and the time to travel slowly to the next place of interest.
Time is the most precious thing we have. I enjoy taking my time at my pace when I'm on the bike. If you ride as fast as you can, then you arrive at your destination sooner. That means less time on the bike, less time doing what you love. Madness.
A drag racer once said "I spend a fortune trying to spend less time doing what I love doing"
Reader's Comments
Tom McQ said :-
I agree wholeheartedly Ren. Although I love the thrill of speed (well, accelleration more than outright speed), it's that actual journey that counts to me. That's why I do so much solo riding - because it means I can ride at a pace that suits me and I can stop wherever and whenever I like. I like to have a main destination in mind and a route which includes some hopefully enjoyable stop-offs.
And stop-offs have got to be just that. Park the bike, have a walk around the town/village you're in, meet locals, have a brew and look for some nice photos to remember the place by. The photos are SO important - not only do they reinforce your memories, but they help you to share those memories and experiences so much more easily.
A couple of hundred miles is probably my middle ground but I also like to plan the occasional bigger ride with a nice early start in the summer months when the sun rises at 4:30 and the roads belong to me alone :-)
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Name
Comment
Add a RELEVANT link (not required)
Upload an image (not required) -
Uploading...
Home
Ren's Biking Blog