Motorcycle Therapy

Went riding today with a friend of mine, first stopping at a cafe for lunch, and then taking a short ride around the area.

Just before leaving the cafe, we ran into a mutual friend of ours who we often ride with. He was talking about having to go to marriage counseling, or actually "communication therapy", whatever that is. He said he told his doctor that he already rides his motorcycle for therapy.

I think pretty much all motorcycle riders get therapy from riding. It's why many of them have stuck with riding for so long.

It pretty much makes sense. When you're riding, you're by yourself, even when riding with others. You can run away from all the crap that gets on your nerves, and get out into the "great wide open".

You could still drive your car instead, but being in a car gives you a sense of protection and enclosure from the outside. It's being outside and moving through the air that provides the therapy. And it doesn't hurt to lay on the throttle and feel some torque.

In warmer temperatures I like to peel off layers down to a t-shirt and jeans. The more I am able to jump on my bike with no preparation, the more I feel as if I'm running from my troubles. Conversely, putting on the leathers, packing some supplies, and performing a check of the bike, kinda ruins the spontaniety of motorcycle therapy.

Full face helmets is almost like driving a car for me. I used to wear a full face helmet in my college days, and I much prefer the half-helmet. I remember during those college days learning how to sneeze inside a full face helmet without splattering the face-shield.

A couple of years ago I embarked on a 12-day motorcycle trip up and down the Pacific Coast with a friend of mine, riding north up the coast highway, over to Idaho, and coming back down the 395 along the Sierras. During the trip you get a sense that your world has been reduced to just the road and your buddy, eating at whatever place looks good, and finding a place to camp, or maybe splurging on a hotel. Either way, all the options were on the table, we could do anything we wanted.

What sucked was trying to adjust back into my daily routine once the trip was over. I fell into a brief sense of depression. After 12-days of life on the road with no plans or committments, it was tough to be productive again.

The thing about "motorcycle therapy" is that it doesn't really refocus or replenish your being. Rather, it just makes you feel good. As soon as it is over, you don't feel any better, you're just bummed that you have to slip back into your routine.

I wonder if someday I'll be able to sell my house, and live a life on the road; and truly live the biker lifestyle. I'll pack my laptop and carry it with me everywhere I go, and earn my living publishing websites like my Biker News blog.