An Ode to a Disillusioned Rider
Look at you with the brand new armored jacket and shiny riding boots.
Yes you - sitting pretty on that brand new bike - stopping every few
miles to take that ‘cool’ selfie that you’ll proudly post on all your
social networking sites. A few more rides to rake up a few thousand
miles and then an invitation to join a few biker clubs - where each
member tries to outdo each other in the never-ending quest for that
James Dean-esque manliness, where each ‘biker’ lines up their ‘mean
machines’ each competing for that exclusive status, after all you do
have all the requirements of a ‘true biker’ down to a tee, don’t you?
That rebellious, never say die attitude or how the rain, snow or rough terrain is just shrugged off as one of those elements that your courage & motorbike can easily handle.
But a couple of years ago, remember that uncle of yours? He had a host of motorbikes - always red ones - and even that Zundapp, didn’t he? Or your dad who rode his Java almost a hundred miles every weekend… even your aunt who rode her bike to work - managing to look ever so elegant always. They really are all that you aspire to be in your ‘biker quest’ today…
Because let’s face it, they did this at a time when bikes were used strictly as transport, not a status symbol.
They rode on barely-there roads, skimming corners, giving their wives and husbands tiny heart attacks with their unconventional motorbike antics.
So, yeah no matter how loud and long you harp about how you bravely rode through rivers, tackled unforgiving terrain and conquered the mountains of Leh - all in your shiny new armored protective gear…. you’ll never, and I mean never fucking come close to the epic greatness of what those humble generations achieved before us.
Yes, it is the 'old school' band of bikers who will get this, because the reality of this is that no one gets to decide what 'biker spirit' actually translates into.
Not the motorbike manufacturers who try to outdo each other with what being a 'true' rebel should be.
Not the self serving biker clubs that measure what or who a 'real rider' is.
It's just you. Not advertisers, not clubs, not celebrities. You.
So fuck the naysayers I'm riding alone, as fast (or slow!) as I want to go, wherever I feel like - maybe with a sharp knife and pepper spray just in case, on my almost broken down but dependable 100cc motorbike.
That rebellious, never say die attitude or how the rain, snow or rough terrain is just shrugged off as one of those elements that your courage & motorbike can easily handle.
But a couple of years ago, remember that uncle of yours? He had a host of motorbikes - always red ones - and even that Zundapp, didn’t he? Or your dad who rode his Java almost a hundred miles every weekend… even your aunt who rode her bike to work - managing to look ever so elegant always. They really are all that you aspire to be in your ‘biker quest’ today…
Because let’s face it, they did this at a time when bikes were used strictly as transport, not a status symbol.
They rode on barely-there roads, skimming corners, giving their wives and husbands tiny heart attacks with their unconventional motorbike antics.
So, yeah no matter how loud and long you harp about how you bravely rode through rivers, tackled unforgiving terrain and conquered the mountains of Leh - all in your shiny new armored protective gear…. you’ll never, and I mean never fucking come close to the epic greatness of what those humble generations achieved before us.
Yes, it is the 'old school' band of bikers who will get this, because the reality of this is that no one gets to decide what 'biker spirit' actually translates into.
Not the motorbike manufacturers who try to outdo each other with what being a 'true' rebel should be.
Not the self serving biker clubs that measure what or who a 'real rider' is.
It's just you. Not advertisers, not clubs, not celebrities. You.
So fuck the naysayers I'm riding alone, as fast (or slow!) as I want to go, wherever I feel like - maybe with a sharp knife and pepper spray just in case, on my almost broken down but dependable 100cc motorbike.
Comments