This past weekend I finally got my motorcycle back on the road after two years of collecting dust in the garage. I went out for a short ride, and it was great. If you own a motorcycle, you already know, and if you don't, you probably can't understand, but when you're riding, everything is right with the world. If you've ever seen motorcyclists pass each other on the road, you may have noticed that they wave. My ex once asked my why this was and I didn't have an answer. It occurred to me this weekend that it's because when you're riding, you're inherently cooler than all the poor slobs driving their cars. We wave to acknowledge this coolness in each other.<p>I rode down to the beach and stopped to admire the afternoon sun on the ocean. I pulled out my
phone and called the friend who helped me get my motorcycle running to tell him how great it was. After I talked to him, I didn't have anyone else to call. No one with whom to share the fun I was having.<p>There have been a few other things that I wish I could share with someone. I'm not so depressed by it that I'm going to run out and find a girlfriend, but it would be nice to have someone.<p>Does anyone else have this experience?<p>[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: idiotguy ]<p>[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: idiotguy ]</p>

Hello idiotguy:<p>You can read my thread on Plan B/Advice<p>Yes I have similar experience, though I am not a biker, but when you achieve or feel happy you need to share that experience with your loved one and in my case that always used to be my wife, i am crying as I write this but who is going to notice.......<p>I dont have anyone left to share my achievements in life with... Thats what I regret about the plan B.... Hoping for a miracle! Keep praying!<p>Well you will get past thru this just like everyone else on MB....<p>Good Luck and keep riding the motor cycle, it will be good for your mind and will give you personal happiness which you know no one can take it away from you...<p>TheLion - The Betrayed One!
<strong>This past weekend I finally got my motorcycle back on the road after two years of collecting dust in the garage. I went out for a short ride, and it was great. If you own a motorcycle, you already know, and if you don't, you probably can't understand, but when you're riding, everything is right with the world. If you've ever seen motorcyclists pass each other on the road, you may have noticed that they wave. My ex once asked my why this was and I didn't have an answer. It occurred to me this weekend that it's because when you're riding, you're inherently cooler than all the poor slobs driving their cars. We wave to acknowledge this coolness in each other.<p>I rode down to the beach and stopped to admire the afternoon sun on the ocean. I pulled out my
phone and called the friend who helped me get my motorcycle running to tell him how great it was. After I talked to him, I didn't have anyone else to call. No one with whom to share the fun I was having.<p>There have been a few other things that I wish I could share with someone. I'm not so depressed by it that I'm going to run out and find a girlfriend, but it would be nice to have someone.<p>Does anyone else have this experience?<p>[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: idiotguy ]<p>[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: idiotguy ]</strong>[/QUOTE]<p>[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: TheLion ]</p>

Lion,<p>Thanks for the reply. It's definately tough when you lose your built-in friend.<p>Hang in there, guy.

I used to feel that way until 5 months after we separated. Now I am just happy being myself.

I bought a motorcycle (my first) at the end of last summer, and it has become for me a symbol of my new reality. When I am riding, I am alone in a world where the slightest mistake or carelessness on either my part or on the part of those around me could result in disaster, and in which I have very few defenses against any malevolent intentions that might be turned in my direction. (Remember the end of Easy Rider?) I cannot afford illusions of security while on my motorcycle, just as I have learned that I cannot afford illusions of security in my life.<p>And yet, this acute awareness of my vulnerability is juxtaposed with an acute awareness of my freedom. It is just me out there on the road, traveling in the direction of my choice and feeling the wind of my passage. Similarly, my wife's departure has left me free to pursue my own dreams as I choose (within the constraints of time and money), and I feel a very real exhiliration.<p>So, no, I don't feel "cooler" than the "poor slobs driving their cars", but I do feel more real somehow than people who are living their lives trapped inside their cages. (In the biker culture, that's what cars are called: "cages".) I think perhaps that's what the camaraderie among bikers is about: the "wave" is a shared acknowledgement that we who ride have accepted the fact that to open oneself up to life involves taking risks.<p>My wife would never have approved of me getting a motorcycle. To her, it wasn't worth the risk. As it turned out, she wasn't willing to take the risk of being loved either.<p>Her loss. And what a terrible loss it is.<p>When I decided I wanted to marry my wife so many years ago, I consciously weighed the prospect of the uncompromising pursuit of my own personal dreams against the prospect of supporting my wife in the pursuit of her dreams and building a relationship with her. I had no trouble at all making my choice: there is nothing more rewarding than sharing life with someone you love.<p>I like the bachelor life.<p>But I would trade it away without hesitation if it could mean once again sharing my life with the woman I love.<p>The reward is worth the risk.

Doodle,<p>I don't often feel this way anymore. I'm happy being single. The difference is that before I was married I didn't know what I was missing, now I know. My ex was never real enthusiastic about going for a ride with me. It was always too uncomfortable. (She liked riding with loverboy though.) Having shared these things, it's sometimes hard not sharing them.<p>Gnome,<p>I agree with you about feeling more "real". I still feel more cool though. I have friends who ride, it's just a matter of everyone having time on the same saturday to go riding together.<p>I like the analogy of the risk vs. reward. I agree totally. It's much more satisfying sharing an experience with another person and learning and growing together. Whether it's motorcycles or sports or relationships, it's more fulfilling and rewarding sharing it with someone else.