Freedom of the Ride
It perhaps seems redundant to keep writing about my interest in riding motorcycles. But in the context of an autobiography, it's really does shed light into who I am.
Just about any biker will tell you that riding a motorcycle is perhaps the closest thing to freedom they can experience. I agree with that as well.
When I was a kid, during my step-child years, I wanted to run away. I actually attemped it when I was 16. But I had enough common-sense to pull me back. My mother actually ran away from home when she was 16, and never went back. When I showed up home again, she knew what happened and tried her best understand me.
In those years, I would frequently spend a lot of time walking for miles and miles on my own, venturing out into areas my family had only driven through. I had done this on bicycle too, roaming as far 40 miles out and spending almost the entire day, returning late at night.
Being alone in such unfamiliar territory caused me to reflect deeply into myself. When all you have is yourself, all you think about is yourself, from survival, to eating, and just relying entirely on your own faculties.
Jumping on a motorcycle and riding for miles out into countryside is perhaps an extension of that. I get away from everything else familiar to me, and rely upon myself. It helps me understand the person I am.
I suppose you could do this in a car too, but a car tends to provide you with a certain amount of protection. A motorcycle leaves you out in the open, just you against the elements. It also gives you that old familiar sense of freedom.
Freedom is a very important part of my ideological thinking. In my childhood, I had always wanted to run away and find a someplace to belong to. That's really what riding a motorcycle means to me.
Now days I belong to a riding club, but still get on my own sometimes. I do like riding with other riders though. Perhaps many of the folks I ride with have at least something in common with me. I may not wear the tattoos, or the jewelry piercings, but I do feel like I belong.
Labels: Childhood, Motorcycles, Philosophy
Posted: Friday, November 17, 2006
