Modern Buddy

They say when a person rides they reach another state of consciousnesses. This is what they say. Fill in the "they" however you like.

A recent study by a Japanese researcher in the field of neurology (or another. please correct me if i am wrong) found people who ride motorcycles / scooters enter another state of being while riding. And while we all do not ride the same kind of roads I think it would be fair to say we are all fully alive when on our scooters. 100% alive. Whether traversing rush hour traffic or riding a peaceful country road we are wide awake and aware. It's not often I hear on the news a motorcyclist fell asleep at the handlebars and road into a ditch. For other reasons, perhaps? But not for want or trying, I would say. Thats what we might have done before in a car. But we are restless souls. No sleeping at the wheels for us.

So, we all have our moments riding when the mind lights up and we are in what I see as a perfect moment of clarity. It's pretty much scientific fact. Perhaps we experience it differently rider to rider, but when extreme focus combines with the thrill of the ride, good things happen. I guess this is what it means when people say riding is "addicting." I wouldn't know much about that, but for some it's most likely a good thing. Whatever it is it's good for me.

Bliss? It just came to mind, first thing. I don't know what it's called, and sometimes I don't even realize I was in it until I hop off my bike and feel the change in my brain and body. Before I started to write this I was thinking of my evening ride. And it became visual, vivid, stunning. And as I saw myself riding through the streets, changing lanes, and approaching my intersections....my intersections....everything just exploded. My head lit up, my imagination went wild, I was there. And it's really nothing I can describe. It is alive X10. And that is great. I mean, just recalling it is amazing. Being right in it is most definitely something special to reflect on. Because while actually riding we might miss it. We are busy staying alive. But afterward we realize, quite possibly, we have never been more alive. And for us this occurs every single day, while for most it doesn't. That has got to bring something special to our lives. It just has to. It does mine.

You gotta have your moments, too? Please share them with us. I would like to know yours
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There are a myriad of details that come into beautiful focus for me when riding. The sights, smells (for good or bad) and other sensations are just so vivid.

There is a winding stretch of road that I can take by going "out of my way" on the ride home from work. This particular stretch has farms, fields, trees and a river along the sides. For those of you in Denver, it's McCay/Riverdale up by the Adams County Fairgrounds - check it out.
Sometimes when I take this route, the contrast of road and nature is just so stark and clear and the turns are so frequent and gentle that I definitely feel a difference in myself.

I often try to explain to folks that even though there is a high level of focus and attentiveness necessary to riding on 2 wheels, I still just feel so damn relaxed afterwards; even when riding home in "rush hour" for 50 minutes.

Scooter Nirvana vs. motorcycle madness? I don't know. But rarely do I feel any sort of road-rage when riding my scooter. Sure, I get disgusted and perturbed by the idiots and dweebs who have been granted the right to operate a motor vehicle when I wouldn't trust half of 'em to mow my yard or pick up after my dog. But then I just ride on and shift into transcendental scooter bliss.

Oooooommmmmmmm

+1 (million ba-jillion)

This is why I love my scooter, and the scooter community.

Tocsik wrote:I often try to explain to folks that even though there is a high level of focus and attentiveness necessary to riding on 2 wheels, I still just feel so damn relaxed afterwards; even when riding home in "rush hour" for 50 minutes.

I tried explaining to my parents recently that motorbike riding had been shown to have stress-relieving benefits, and they couldn't grasp it. They saw it as some kind of harrowing fear-for-your-life ordeal.

depends on the traffic you're in!

In general I find it very relaxing, even in chaotic conditions that would make me stabby in my car.

I totally agree, and I miss my scoot.

But... hold on to your seats, I'm about to utter scooterist blasphemy... I also miss driving my car sometimes. Specifically, I miss riding around with the stereo at proper volume for singing along with it, not giving a rats ass who heard or saw me through the window. Sometimes my bestie and I would go on a midnight drive somewhere 'to get a snack' as an excuse to get in his car and SING. Glorious. I love scooting, but there has been a distinct lack of music in my life since the loss of my car.

/dorkiness

eh. I would probably love my car more if it wasn't a POS.

I like driving, it's the other people that tick me off .

This is part of the reason we're going down to 1 car in the near future. Angela's truck may get traded in for a decent smaller car.

Whatever you call it, I reach the same state riding my scooters, bikes, and also when I used to run and climb mountains. Occasionally the same state is reached when I drive a vintage MG or Porsche.

(heh heh...a chance to quote m'sef...over on MV's 'how old are we?' thread...)

"65.

It's always surprising to be reminded how so many of one's fellow members on scoot and moto sites turn out to be, more-or-less, one's contemporaries, and not 30 years younger.

Not to divert, but consider: talking yesterday with another person of (roughly) my age about the seeming acceleration of time as one ages, we conclude that it is a function of experience and exposure.

Thus one lives, and along the way, is gradually exposed to the many possible personal transactions and possible experiences of life. When one encounters a new situation, dynamic, phenomenum, great attention is paid. Time slows while the new experience is captured and considered.

A child, however, for whom most life situations are "new", experiences the passage of time as slow, and full of new things unfolding. Once one has lived, therefore, a "long" time, few situations are "new"; the mind recognizes a pattern seen many, many times before, and sort of rushes right through the perception/experience of it - Nothing to see here; move on, please.

And that's what it is about scooting. Maybe. It doesn't get old, it can't. For one thing, it throws pleasurable physical sensations at you rapid fire. For another, it demands very close concentration and attention-paying simply to be safe.

While scooting, and for some time afterward, time - in a sense - stops in the savoring and relishing of the physical experience and the concentration. As far as I'm concerned, it reverses time: I am no longer a fogey with bad knees, but someone looking forward always to the next time aboard, the rush of wind, the cold and heat, the immediacy and immutable now of it."

Scooter Nirvana vs. motorcycle madness?

Have I ever suffered from insanity?
As a matter of fact, no, I enjoyed it.

I used to go sit with a local sangha and practice mindfulness meditation. More and more as school got busier though, I found that I would get more stressed out trying to get there, or mentally chastising myself for the times I would not make it. I was talking with my friend who leads the class, and he said, "You should just do it on your scooter." Have been ever since. The funny thing is that I've discovered I had done it even before- without thinking about it. I think we probably all do it.

If you can do something like riding, fully and completely in the moment, just kind of pushing other thoughts and worries aside as they pop up: you're meditating!