Sometimes Being In A Hurry Actually Slows You Down

When I woke up on Wednesday morning the ferocious rain from the night before was little more than a memory. The deluge ran its course and left a gray mist in its wake.

After re-packing my bag, gearing up and preparing to leave my hotel room I looked in the usual spot for my keys only to find that they weren’t there. Hmm. Strange. Maybe I put them in my totebag last night when I emptied my sidebag? With that I began to tear everything apart looking for my keys. And still, they were nowhere to be found.

Could I have left them in the lock of my topbox? (Again.) With that thought I took my jacket off and marched down to the front of the hotel where my bike was parked. There were no keys in the ignition, topbox lock or sidebag lock.

Could they have fallen out of my pocket when I went to my room last night? Ugh. Before heading back up the elevator, I stopped at the front desk to see if anyone had turned them in. While the clerk was on a call, I spotted my keys laying on the far counter. That red-capped Givi key is unmistakable. Once she finished up her call, the woman gave me my keys. Crisis averted.

I do carry my spare set on a lanyard around my neck for just such a circumstance. But there was no way I would leave without exhausting all avenues for finding the lost set. In that moment I made a deal with myself to slow down, think carefully about what I’m doing and try to be routine about where I put my things. It seems this “rush” that I’m always in is a habit that I’ve picked up from living where I do. I say this because when I leave, the need to hurry up subsides with time.

After repacking my bag and putting my jacket back on I was all set to roll for the day. When I got down to my bike, I tried to slow down, put what needed to be in my tankbag… in my tankbag, put my wallet in it’s spot, turned on the SPOT tracker, etc. As I was going through my mental checklist, two men walked out of the lobby doors. One smiled at me and said, “you found your keys. They were just dangling in that box last night. We gave ’em to the desk.”

I thanked them and tried to not show my shame for being such a dope. They wished me safe travels and I set off for my first stop of the day, visiting a Whispering Giant that was right up the block.

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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7 Responses

  1. Liz says:

    This could SO have been written by me. Thank you!

  2. Shybiker says:

    Human brains have limits and when we push them too hard, stuff falls through the cracks. I’ve learned that lesson both at work and in leisure. We accomplish more with a steady, calm pace than when we speed up and act hastily. Your anecdote illustrates this.

    BTW, I just noticed you have 3,500 followers on Twitter and you’ve tweeted 22,000 times. Wow!

  3. Don’t those keys get cold? I’ve seen Iron Butt types write reminder messages on the inside of their windscreens, such as “sidestand down” or my favorite: “Don’t crash!”

    • Fuzzygalore says:

      No, my keys stay on the outside of my shirt so I don’t know if they get cold 😀

      When I did the Void the first time, I wrote myself a reminder like that in my tankbag window.

  4. Ralph C says:

    It’s a killer walk back to the 1050 Tiger from the stands at Daytona and Municipal Stadium to get my keys out of the saddlebag, I liked the old bags on my Trophy that could be left unlocked. I’m glad the front desk had your keys but I would have left a note on your bike if I moved anyone’s stuff.

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