Just You and Your Motorcycle

I was alone so thought to ride and I hopped on my motorcycle, rode to the end of the driveway and turned right. At the first intersection, I turned left. Then right, left, and so on. My only goal for the ride was to keep to that pattern and see where it led me. This was with no cell phones and GPS, but I wasn’t too worried about getting lost. My home is in Dehradun Uttarakhand, pretty much surrounded by the great scenic views and forests. So i got away that day.

Sure enough, after a couple of hours I ended up at a tiny village along a river. A couple of my turns along the way had been dead-ends, and at one point I wound up circling the same roads in a subdivision, but for the most part I had stuck to my right/left/right pattern. I had no idea where I was, but — just as I figured — a short ride along the river put me at a fairly major town with familiar road signs. So I figured out where I was and soon bolted back home on a more direct route. Turns out I was late for dinner and I think my mother was pretty worried about me. Anyways nothing that was very spectacular about the ride; the roads in the area are mostly straight and flat, I had kept a mellow pace, and didn’t encounter any excitement along the way. Still, even after many years of riding on great roads all around with friends to several places, it remains one of my most memorable rides.

I was always a bit adventurous in exploring new roads on a motorcycle. I am definitely not comparing myself to some of the real adventure riders that are more deserving of the moniker, but my curiosity always seems to get the better of me. When my commute is normally around the daily Sahastradhara Road, I can’t go by a strange road more than a few times before having to turn down it and see where it leads.

I often strayed from the scheduled route and went exploring on my own. When you’re that far from home, literally every intersection is a new road just begging to be ridden. Luckily, I have a fairly good sense of direction and could usually find my way home without too much trouble, if a bit later than planned. Over the months I have found some fantastic roads and great places that I otherwise would have never found, just by wandering off the beaten path and doing something different. And, to be honest, I have met some nice people when stopping to ask for help — my sense of direction is not that good.

My point in all this is that we, as sportbike riders, can easily lose track of why we ride. For some riders it becomes all about style and looking the part. For others, it’s the camaraderie of hanging out with fellow sportbikers. Maybe it’s about having the latest bike with all the right go-fast accessories, or working hard at riding techniques, or following the races — or even being a racer. There are so many distractions in our niche sport that it’s easy for the actual riding to become a small part of the total experience, and then it becomes MORE WORK THAN FUN. The bike gets shuffled off to a corner of the garage and left to collect dust for months at a time, maybe even permanently.

I love doing  an afternoon on the rusted bike, a morning breakfast ride or even just a detour on the way home from the office. Sometimes, all it takes to rekindle the enjoyment of riding is just that — hopping on your bike and going for a ride. No pressure to look good, to work on your riding skills or to impress your buddies; JUST YOU AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE.

I say begin your Sunday ride by simply going in the opposite direction than you usually go. Or turn down that road you’ve always gone past on your way to the office and never checked out. I’d say don’t forget to take a map or your GPS, but…where’s the fun in that?