One Of The Simplest Pleasures of Riding a Motorcycle Is When You Stop

Sometimes the simplest pleasure in the world is doin’ nothin’. There can be so much to see when you’re just standing around being. Life becomes uncomplicated and yet expands far beyond the reaches of your mind.

Not far from Ocotillo, I stood watching some wind turbines and snapping a few pics. I heard a familiar sound in the distance. Two KTMs approached, stopped in the middle of the road and said ‘hello.’

It was obvious I wasn’t in distress so they were just friendly; asking where I was heading. They never asked what I was doing. I’m sure it was obvious and familiar. I wasn’t really doing anything.

Standing around taking photos or just taking in the view seems to be an integral part of motorcycling. You have to stop doing the thing you love, to capture an image of the thing you love. In the stopping, the standing around looking – that’s often where the simple pleasure dwells.

When else do you find yourself standing on the side of the road for no reason at all? On some random Wednesday do you ever pull over in your car, get out and just gawk for a few minutes? I don’t. Perhaps I’m missing out. My brain isn’t wired to relax or see the world from my car. My car seems to be for purpose or task-oriented travel. Not for pleasure like my motorcycle.


This post is part of a month-long writing prompt challenge: Brave, Bold, Blogger Challenge (BBBC) 2017 hosted by Kathy at ToadMama.com.

Prompt: Simple Pleasure

 

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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4 Responses

  1. MIke says:

    Motorcycles and photography are fantastic ways to stop and smell whatever there is to smell. The first thing I thought of after reading the title is the feeling when I get back on after a stop, and its new all over again for a while, and its awesome!

  2. Ry Austin says:

    “You have to stop doing the thing you love, to capture an image of the thing you love.”

    &

    “My brain isn’t wired to relax or see the world from my car.”

    Yep…

  3. Yes. You have it–the nature of simple pleasures.

  4. highwaylass says:

    I love the photo of the bike and the turbine – two exceptional pieces of engineering 🙂

    I have a theory that bikers smoke roll-ups because it gives them a reason to stop every 45 minutes. See also: small fuel tanks, ageing bladders 😉

    But I thought from the title the post was going to be about the joy of stopping when it’s been a really tough day in the rain. Then stopping is brilliant. But I still start again the next day!

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