Red Stable
Today I traded in pedal power for horse power.
After my productive morning, I headed out of town for a bit of helmet time. The stable was full, with a CRF230, CRF250, CRF450 and XR650. Ooooooo
First things first, I donned the sweat suit (ATGATT), and took the 450 for a quick blast. Not before asking “Will it kill me?”
To which I was assured “No, as long as you don’t wind the throttle.” Right.
Well, I am still here! Though I must admit that I only went up tp 3rd on my “blast”... but what fun!
Beast parked, I hopped on the 250, and with A on the XR, we set off for Alicedale, then went over the mountain to Riebeek East, into the little valley thing, through some mud, back to Alicedale, and back to the farm.
It was pretty much the loop I cycled last year, and found myself thinking “Wow, I would love to do this on a motorbike!”
Well, that’s checked off now
The road going to Riebeek East is badly eroded from the rain, and would have been very tough on a bicycle (worse than El Shaddai yesterday, I reckon). But the back handled it well, and I felt quite comfortable and relaxed. Now this was a proper blast.
On the gravel highway sections (i.e. pretty much the entire 100km trip), I found myself thinking about what a friend of a friend said about headspace... “Don’t hijack my headspace”... don’t talk to me. And it got me thinking about all of my little adventures, and how we all have different ways of having “me time”.
I love being outdoors. Obviously. I do a lot of thinking, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes optimistic, sometimes dark, sometimes I have grand realizations. It is often nice to just go out by oneself. But, it’s also nice to have company. Though in group settings, talk often turns to politics and I tend to zone out then. Hullo, I am trying to escape here! Cycling provides a little more headspace time. And then I thought about the ride I was on.
And I realized that motorbikes could be the perfect balance... you can be alone with your thoughts in your helmet, but have the comfort of knowing there is another human nearby. Win-win.
Anyway, even if my headspace does get hijacked, I consider myself very fortunate to be able to go exploring the way I do!
Topic: My African Dream (Read 211170 times)
