well, it's been a while since i last posted something. that in itself should be a hint of how things have been going motorcycle-wise. in short, they haven't.
it has been continually colder, as i predicted, with nights in the 30s and they are saying we might get snow as early as friday (still november, as predicted. maybe i should be a weatherman). i'm still seeing bikes on the road, many a rider wrapped to the gills in their aerostitch suits and heated grips, but i'm just still not feeling that motivation. i haven't been riding much and, for the most part, i haven't been regretting my decision.
i did ride to work one day last week (or the week before). it wasn't quite so cold, only raining a little and i was in a bit of a funk. i thought the ride might cheer me up a bit. which it did, at first. i bundled up and went to work with the cold wind just creeping into my helmet, just enough to be refreshing on a morning commute. i had a quite shift between jobs that day and the bike certainly helped with that, but once i got there i just became absolutely loathed to deal with all my cold weather gear. storing it at work and especially putting it back on for the trip home. i have to hike up three floors to the parking garage on the way out (which is always stuffy) and, even though i didn't fully suit up until i got to the bike, i was sweating like a pig when i finally hit the street. even the crisp wind on the freeway didn't do much to help. i had an absolutely miserable ride home and had to throw all my clothes in the wash and take a shower. it's happened before, but this is the first time it made me wonder how much of all this was worth it. well, i didn't answer that question directly, but i haven't ridden to work since.
there is, however, good news on the horizon. thanks to some good turns at work (two part times turning to one full time), i will soon be moving away from the dreaded eastside and, within a couple of months, should be living and working exclusively in seattle. what does this mean for the motorcyclist in me? well, practically, there is no way i will be taking a car with me to capital hill (my destination). that's just stupid. so vixen will soon be my one and only mode of transportation. and two, more importantly, is that living and working in seattle means there are two major factors i don't have to worry about on a day-to-day basis. they would be bridges and freeways.
you wouldn't think that would make such a big deal, but they really do. first off, bridges leave you far more exposed to the elements than normal roads, so everything you deal with temp/weather-wise is multiplied. and, simply put, going 60 mph is a much bigger deal than going 30 mph. especially, again, in terms of temperature and weather. and gear. my mentality about what i wear riding changes completely if there's a bridge or freeway involved. and, as a result of that, i'm less likely to ride (given an option) if i have to take one. being completely based in seattle, i can almost completely avoid bridges and freeways, meaning commuting/living exclusively by bike is a far more viable (and appealing) proposition. stay tuned for more details about when i get to go totally car-less.
that's about it for now. as i said, not a lot going on other than external forces that apply themselves to my riding. as for the "good", "bad" and "resigned" parts, i'll let you figure that out for yourself.
until next time,
rftc,
scott
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
reflections on the past month
well, i've been home a little over a month now. hard to believe it's actually been that long. part of me feels like i just got back, and part of me feels like the trip was a year ago. that's the way things go, i guess.
i've had plenty of time to reflect on things about the trip and, more to the point, about life here now that i've been back. i'm a little disappointed in how quickly i somehow managed to get back into the swing of things. i feel like i've already lost a lot of the stress-free attitude i carried throughout my trip. real life has a way of crashing back in on you in an awful damn hurry. kind of sad, in a way.
i haven't been riding that much either. this is a mixed bag of a statement, because i've partially not been riding because i haven't felt like it. when i first got back, i was still psyched about the bike and riding and the whole experience, but things have a way of wearing on you. yes, the weather has been playing a factor and there have been a few times i haven't ridden specifically because of the temperature or the road conditions, but there have been far more morning where i just didn't feel like getting on the bike, and i couldn't think of a reason not to take the car.
part of this is my current living situation. i have determined (or rather, admitted to myself) that as long as i live on the eastside, i will probably need a car. the public transportation sucks, and the bridges make things feel much further away than they really are. more to the point, you cannot get anywhere without jumping on the freeway, and freeway travel adds new factors when riding (temps, weather, clothing, etc).
part of this is also just my motivation. all the little things about riding i loved during my trip: the gear, the checkpoints, the rituals of getting ready have suddenly become nuisances when i apply them to my everyday life. it's a real hassle to put on full riding gear when you are taking it off again 30 minutes later at work. when you have multiple locations to get to, that just multiplies the time it takes to get going, and those few minutes to get that extra layer on, or take on and off your helmet take it's toll. plus, and i know this may seem shallow, i feel a little ridiculous sometimes wearing my raingear everywhere. if i stop at the coffee shop at the way home, it means i take up half a bench with my coat, pants, helmet, gloves, sweatshirt and bag. and my boots aren't always the most comfortable for just hanging out. it can be very limiting.
i know this all sounds like a bunch of complaining, and really i'm not trying to. i know all this stuff is voluntary; no one is forcing me to ride a motorcycle at all, much less in seattle in the winter. it's more analysis of what my thought process has been over the past few weeks. what does it all mean? i'm not sure yet. maybe it just means i won't be commuting in winter as much (even more so, since we'll be freezing early this year, it was already in the 30s last night). on a larger scale, i've been wondering where i place motorcycling in my life's priorities. of all the aspects of my life i've been reevaluating, this one was the last piece to come into play, mostly because it was a motorcycling trip that caused this mini-revelation/reevaluation i've been going through. but if i'm being honest with myself, i need to examine that part as well, and it may not be as high as i thought.
it wouldn't be the end of the world, if i wasn't a "biker", but just someone who rode a motorcycle every now and then. in some ways i might feel like i was letting myself down a bit, after my trip. it was such a positive experience, and now here i am cutting back on the source of that optimism. it's a tough one, that's for sure. but i've done something most people will never do and i came out the better for it. it's taking me a little time to figure out exactly how, but i'm getting there. and there will always be sacrificed to be made. it's just a matter of being brutally honest with myself and following through. whenever i'm editing my writing, i'm always reminding myself that nothing is sacred, nothing is so important as to sacrifice the whole for one single part. if only i can apply that to my life, i'll be getting somewhere. we'll just have to wait and see.
until next time,
rftc,
scott
i've had plenty of time to reflect on things about the trip and, more to the point, about life here now that i've been back. i'm a little disappointed in how quickly i somehow managed to get back into the swing of things. i feel like i've already lost a lot of the stress-free attitude i carried throughout my trip. real life has a way of crashing back in on you in an awful damn hurry. kind of sad, in a way.
i haven't been riding that much either. this is a mixed bag of a statement, because i've partially not been riding because i haven't felt like it. when i first got back, i was still psyched about the bike and riding and the whole experience, but things have a way of wearing on you. yes, the weather has been playing a factor and there have been a few times i haven't ridden specifically because of the temperature or the road conditions, but there have been far more morning where i just didn't feel like getting on the bike, and i couldn't think of a reason not to take the car.
part of this is my current living situation. i have determined (or rather, admitted to myself) that as long as i live on the eastside, i will probably need a car. the public transportation sucks, and the bridges make things feel much further away than they really are. more to the point, you cannot get anywhere without jumping on the freeway, and freeway travel adds new factors when riding (temps, weather, clothing, etc).
part of this is also just my motivation. all the little things about riding i loved during my trip: the gear, the checkpoints, the rituals of getting ready have suddenly become nuisances when i apply them to my everyday life. it's a real hassle to put on full riding gear when you are taking it off again 30 minutes later at work. when you have multiple locations to get to, that just multiplies the time it takes to get going, and those few minutes to get that extra layer on, or take on and off your helmet take it's toll. plus, and i know this may seem shallow, i feel a little ridiculous sometimes wearing my raingear everywhere. if i stop at the coffee shop at the way home, it means i take up half a bench with my coat, pants, helmet, gloves, sweatshirt and bag. and my boots aren't always the most comfortable for just hanging out. it can be very limiting.
i know this all sounds like a bunch of complaining, and really i'm not trying to. i know all this stuff is voluntary; no one is forcing me to ride a motorcycle at all, much less in seattle in the winter. it's more analysis of what my thought process has been over the past few weeks. what does it all mean? i'm not sure yet. maybe it just means i won't be commuting in winter as much (even more so, since we'll be freezing early this year, it was already in the 30s last night). on a larger scale, i've been wondering where i place motorcycling in my life's priorities. of all the aspects of my life i've been reevaluating, this one was the last piece to come into play, mostly because it was a motorcycling trip that caused this mini-revelation/reevaluation i've been going through. but if i'm being honest with myself, i need to examine that part as well, and it may not be as high as i thought.
it wouldn't be the end of the world, if i wasn't a "biker", but just someone who rode a motorcycle every now and then. in some ways i might feel like i was letting myself down a bit, after my trip. it was such a positive experience, and now here i am cutting back on the source of that optimism. it's a tough one, that's for sure. but i've done something most people will never do and i came out the better for it. it's taking me a little time to figure out exactly how, but i'm getting there. and there will always be sacrificed to be made. it's just a matter of being brutally honest with myself and following through. whenever i'm editing my writing, i'm always reminding myself that nothing is sacred, nothing is so important as to sacrifice the whole for one single part. if only i can apply that to my life, i'll be getting somewhere. we'll just have to wait and see.
until next time,
rftc,
scott
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