I’ve been bike-less for the past two weeks. The ST developed a mysterious stalling issue, necessitating an extended stay at a dealership.
Being without my motorcycle allowed me to focus on this other activity that I love – driving. Since becoming a rider the way I drive changed. I have become more aware of my surroundings; focused on the task at hand; and mindful of other road users, especially vulnerable ones, such as bicycles and motorcycles.
More importantly, my whole paradigm of driving changed. Out of necessity for finding roads more suitable for my beginner riding skills, every commute on four wheels became a sort of scouting trip in search for roads with less traffic, better scenery and more twisties. I discovered whole neighborhoods I hardly knew existed; observed first-hand the evolution of this City that I love and drove through deserted scenic streets which were often within feet of the gridlocked rush-hour expressway, packed with grim-faced commuters.
In fact, the need to scout, or for that matter, any purpose, soon dropped. I began to drive not to get somewhere but to experience the drive. I would even turn off the radio as just like on two wheels the sights around me and the quietude of my mind provided all the entertainment I could or would need. A once boring fourteen-mile journey to work became an adventure, a quest to explore and to connect with this City of Brotherly Love. Increasingly, I began arriving just a bit later at work. As I would emerge from a side street and make a turn on main thoroughfare, approaching my office, I’d catch a glimpse of other commuters. Their facial expressions conveyed misery of having just survived the commute. As I saw them, my lips relaxed into a light smile and began to whisper the famous words of my favorite poem:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Even on four wheels taking the motorcycle road less traveled has indeed made all the difference.
About the author: Henry Yampolsky is a new rider and writer who finds motorcycling to be an extension of his meditation. When not riding, writing, meditating or contemplating doing one of the three, Henry spends time with his wife, Juliya, and works as a lawyer in Philadelphia.