On The Road

This is one of those seemingly innocuous on the road photographs, we're beneath the castle in Chepstow, where a gang of pubs conveniently huddle, even one with a beer garden overlooking the car park, which is handy for us, because the trike gets a good deal of attention. And we didn't know any of those things were there, other than the castle, we just guessed, took our luck. 'We'll find something somewhere around here' we say, pointing at the map, and we generally do. There we sip our mineral water and enjoy a cheese and onion sandwich as if it were ambrosia. Notice the difference? Of course, on the road there's no beer during working hours, and you feel grateful for everything. I joke with Julie that we should treat riding like mountaineering, and the discipline, and effort, for somebody more used to just thinking aloud, is unbelievably gratifying. For instance, in the situation above, you have to know where the bulldog clip is that you use to attach your parking ticket to the windshield, you have to have discovered that bulldog clip as the best solution to Pay and Display on the trike, and have probably solved that 'problem' several ways that were less simple. Tessenow's maxim, 'The simple is not always good, but the good is always simple' comes to mind.

Technology beyond a certain level, such as Sat-Nav, would just take the enjoyment out of it. But we plan and pay a great deal of attention to the technics, the equipment, the packing and the strapping, the state of the battery, the petrol gauge, tire pressures, the speed limit; we look after our gear, we do not 'script' the 'experience' beyond one thing, when you arrive at your final destination there is always that same, brilliant, feeling. Part of that must be that riding means concentrating, anything can happen, but sometimes, as yesterday on the A48 between Chepstow and Newport, where we saw hardly another vehicle on a perfect road, and could spin along at a constant 50mph, it felt fantastic.

Most people realise that living out of hotel rooms is an art, or do they? With so little stuff (not even a book to read) there are little tricks; do your washing while your taking a shower, like treading grapes!

All a bit Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? Well yes, but it's better than living in a paranoid technological bubble.