I stole this picture from a different blog

And I don't generally like to take other people's pictures that are already posted and repost them , but this one made me stop and think for a second . I've been riding scooters & motorcycles almost all my life , in one form or another . I've gone on " long rides " and been far away from home and had to put my trust in my machine to start and run and get me back alive . . . but this is some other kind of shit .

Being from the west coast and riding out to the east coast on a stripped down , purposely minimized motorcycle with everything you need ( hopefully ) strapped to your back in case you brake down or have to stop for a quick repair , man that's fucking cool . I've never done anything like that .

Personally I can only imagine the feeling of waking up in the morning that far from home and feeling those first few moments when you're still mostly asleep when everything's still calm & perfect . You have no problems and the world is right , then slowly you start coming too and realize , oh shit today I have to ride back home . . . to the other side of the country ! You get geared up and have some breakfast , load up the bike and then one more time you throw your leg over the machine and jump down on the kicker , only to feel the motor roar to life just like it should .

The sun is out , but air is cold as fuck that early in the morning . You can see you breath , and your face is starting to get numb , you wish you had a few more pairs of gloves , or some extra pants to wear under the ones you have on already but you also know that soon enough the day will warm up and the scenery will change and the coast will start getting closer , but now it's time to get going .

Fucking - a , that's some neat shit . To be that far from home and the one thing that can get you back safely , that you built with your own hands , that if it decided to could ruin the whole rest of the trip on a whim by not working suddenly for some mysterious reason . . . to put your trust in a machine that requires so much care and maintenance and love and urgency and to get on and stomp that motor to life at the beginning of the homeward half of a ride like that . . . that's awesome .

This picture made me feel all that stuff .




Taken from Kemosabe and the Lodge , the link is over there in the links part of the blog .