Errands and Adventures

errands-180x180The article “Errands and Adventures” by Bud Miller was originally published on the “RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel” magazine website on 12/30/2012.

The other day I was out riding in the rain on a cold dark day, just some errands around town. I’ve always liked the feeling of being warm and dry while all around me everything is wet and cold. You can only get a sense of the weather on the parts of you that aren’t protected, your face and neck mostly. I used to be tougher but in the last few years I’ve resorted to heated jacket liners and gloves.

As I rounded a corner I saw a small boy on a tricycle with his father walking next to him. The father looked cold, wet and predictably miserable but the boys face was alight, probably a mixture of being allowed out in the rain and being with his dad. As I rode past I was tickled by how happy the boy looked, and in the next instant I realized I was that happy just riding the cycle down to the store for supplies.

I love trips but my “fix” doesn’t always have to be an adventure. Sometimes the shortest ride can put the biggest grin on your face. A run to do errands, grocery shop or to pick up a case of Dogfish Head and strap it to my seat (a favorite of mine—I love the looks on peoples faces and the occasional comment) is enough to put the grin on my face and satiate me for a time.

Sometimes it’s like the line from The Shawshank Redemption when Red says of Andy Dufresne “he had a walk and a talk that just wasn’t normal around here, he strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place.” I love the internal places motorcycles take me to and it always feels the same, whether it’s an errand or an adventure.

 

 

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