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Why We Ride

April 30, 2018 By Jeff Long

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Why We Ride

Freedom’s Just Another Word for Why We Ride

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I believe that the best distance between two points is never a straight line. There’s a peace to be found in the twists and turns; the scenery and the surprises; the here and now. 

This is why we ride.

The road beneath you slips by. You lean to the right, feeling the rubber of the tires grab hold and pull you through the curve. The bike straightens out as the road does; and then you are leaning left – a rock face to one side of the bend, a river far below through the trees on the other. You ride on.

The blue sky peeks through the canopy. You feel a moment of the sun’s warmth on your face and arms. And just like that, the shadows take over, bringing with them a comfortable coolness. A quick whiff of cedar rises from the forest and greets you.

The rumble of the engine speaks up, but fails to completely drown out the whisper of the wind. And you ride on.

The edges of your periphery blur… the leaves, the asphalt and the yellow lines, all part of this tunnel through nature, forged and defined by man’s desire to go places. 

It is here that we find freedom.

So, we travel. From point A to point B. 

When you are somewhere between points A and B, you are no place. And no place is a good place to be. So, you ride on.

Heads or Tails

Why We Ride

Louise and I will sometimes pick a general direction and head out on the bike. When we are faced with a decision to turn left or right or continue straight ahead, we will flip a coin. Heads left, tails right. No schedule, no plan, no worries, no specific destination.

Sometimes, Louise will give me the choice: left, right or straight ahead. With no guidance other than my gut, I’ll choose, and we’ll head in that direction. And we are always amazed by the things we discover that we may have missed had we simply followed the recommendations from the mapping app or GPS. Often I wonder: what would we have found if I had made another choice? We may never know… or we may have to go back one day and find out.

And that’s why we ride.

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Filed Under: Logbook, Thoughts From the Road

« The Trails from the Tail of the Dragon, Part II
The Trails from the Tail of the Dragon, Part I »

Take a Ride with Us

Hi there & welcome to Avoiding Highways! We are the Long’s and we are so happy you’ve stopped by. Come join us on our travels by motorcycle, by airplane, by helicopter, and even by car! You don’t have to have fancy toys to live life in the scenic lane… you just have to leave the beaten path and follow the roads less-traveled! Read More…

Tail of the Dragon

https://youtu.be/qz5YRGJq7J8

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Thank you so much!
Jeff & Louise

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