After my 2008 epic pan/trans-European journey has ended, following a rather unexpected path, the emotional, intellectual and cultural sedimentation of that extraordinary experience went along simultaneous with a bit of a separation between me and my so trustworthy 2 wheeled travel companion: the joyful yellow beemer. It so happened that throughout 2009 my travels were quite modest and they mostly didn’t involved riding my motorbike except for the three days in May when I rode it to bring it from Bucharest to the UK where I now live. And just to appease the guilt for not giving much thought to that ride, functional in scope as it may have been but very pleasant none the less, here are a couple pictures taken along the way, one on the shore of a lake somewhere in Austria, the other in northern France.
I genuinely don’t know what it was that kept me last year from riding more. A friend to whom I mentioned this thought it might have been a reaction to the fact that two years ago while I was traveling I HAD to keep on riding while last year it was only “optional”, and knowing how resistant I am to everything that’s imposed or compulsory (even this a consequence of my own choices), I might have subconsciously withdrawn from doing it because of that… Although the argument appears to make sense I’m not entirely convinced this is why I rode so little last year. Maybe I just needed a brake, but yet again, why would anyone need a break from something they enjoy doing? Well, it might be very possible that no matter how enjoyable an endeavor is, one still needs to, once in a while, put a bit of distance between themselves and that thing, just to remind them how good it is when taking it up again.
And this is exactly what happens to me now: I am reveling in the delight of riding again. Last year even the idea of riding in the rain, after it had happened so often on my 2008 journey, was enough to give me the chills. Now? Bring it on, quirky English weather! And it sure does… I only did three, rather short, rides this year and on every one of them, although it was dry when I left, it pissed down for good measure on the way. But you know what? I was hardly bothered by it, even though on two of them I was poorly equipped for that and I got cold and wet. But it begins to grow on me that this is part of being a motorcycle rider in England…
So from now on, expect new and more frequent posts on this year’s rides and don’t feel shy to leave your comments as I hope this blog will also become a link to other fellow riders.
Happy riding in 2010 to all!
