Were taking a U-turn up here! Mitch calls from over the rumble of his Ducati engine. Were surrounded by traffic near the Ferry building, and Im pulled up beside him on my own bad little cruiser, clutching first gear, my heart pounding, my body tingling. Its my first time riding my own motorcycle. Hes taking me through the twists of San Francisco. Im terrified. I cant do a U-turn! I yell back. Thats the one thing I failed in motorcycle class! Im scared! I cant do it! He looks from me, to the U-turn, and back to me, then laughs and says, Well, youre doing one now! The light turns green, and theres no time left for discussion, not with impatient cars surrounding us. He glances at me, and I give him a here-goes-nothing smile. Then, we rev our engines, and were off. -- The good news is, I didnt die. The bad news is, there is no bad news. Riding motorcycles is the most thrilling, most terrifying, and most amazing thing Ive ever done. Every moment feels like youre defying death, and the one pervasive thought that pounds in your chest as you scream down the road is this: I am such a *badass*! When I finally leapt from my bike and touched ground, all I wanted to do was yell excitedly like a crazy person. So I yelled. Loudly. THAT WAS F*CKING AWESOME!!! Laughing, I reached up and gave Mitch a high-five. He laughed too. LETS DO THAT AGAIN!!!” I screamed, bouncing and jumping with every step. When Id finally calmed down a little, I asked him, When you ride now, is it the same for you? What do you mean? Like, is your heart just pounding in your chest, and are you freaking out a little?” My eyes are wide and I’m speaking quickly, clutching my hands to my heart. He laughs. Well, right now, I imagine you feel like youre on cocaine. “COCAINE! I yell, pumping my fists, still invigorated, still reeling from the experience. But no. The terror of riding and feeling like youre going to die goes away pretty quickly. You start to relax. And when you relax, *thats* when the real fun begins. What the hell is real fun?! ... Oh man. I cant wait.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 00:58:28 +0000
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