The Daily Commute

Now that stricter CAFE standards have been introduced my motorcycle is more important to me than ever. I've long bragged about the muscle car performance with two-thirds the price tag I get with my two bikes. Mine aren't even two of the hottest performers although the Vmax had his day in the sun. Now with the hope of buying myself a 2009 Dodge Challenger quickly fading in the rearview mirror I'm really learning to love my bikes.

Since I got the tire repaired last month, I've ridden to work every day but two, which had nothing to do with weather (I'm a rain or shine kinda guy). My only regret is that the commute isn't a little longer, I'm just starting to get my groove by the time I'm pulling in to the parking lot. My fellow commuters can present quite a challenge sometimes. I know people say this to the point of cliché but I think people really are becoming worse drivers. I don't notice a lot of people on the cell phone these days, maybe that message is finally sinking in. But despite that one blessing, I see more and more drivers running red lights making left hand turns across traffic, tailgating, not yielding and just more road raging in general. I may have mentioned it before but I've always enjoyed that element of motorcycle riding to a certain sick degree. I liken it to a video game. I enjoy looking in the minivan two cars ahead of me to read what the diver is going to do. I watch the rearview to keep an eye on the twenty something girl weaving from one lane and back to speed past everyone else. I always try to remember where she is and calculate where she'll be.

I really believe as I get lazier and lazier in my other pursuits, this is the one thing that keeps my mind active. It's also the thing that clears my mind for the coming day on the way to work, and brings me down from a stressful day on the way home. Really if I were to think about it (which obviously I am) I would say that riding is the most important thing I do for my mental health and the reason I have 120/80 blood pressure. I used to have a t-shirt that said "You never see a motorcycle parked outside a psychiatrist's office". Truer worlds were never silk-screened.