Vicarious Living

No riding this weekend.  18" of snow in central VA ensured that and made simply getting from point A to B obscenely difficult and without the benefit of 4-wheel drive, nearly impossible.

It's not pretty what lack of riding can do to a person.  A stagnant, caged and restless monotony enshrouds the man who cannot do what he loves.  He will climb the walls by his fingernails.  My mind and body have come to count on the 6-10 hours of ride time per weekend.  Absent of this I am more tense, unable to slough off the detritus of the previous week's 47 hour grind.  I shudder to think about how tightly wound the working stiffs who don't have such a wonderful outlet as motorcycles must be.  What they do to deal with it?  Drink?

I have been here before, in an earlier chapter of a checkered past, as a skateboarder in the frozen bowels of Northern New York.  Long before indoor skateparks, our activities came to an abrupt halt during the long winters, aside from the occasional basement session banging our skulls on the water pipes when somebody's parents were at work.  These don't last long, you dent one Maytag and everybody's pissed!

Without the ability to engage our passions, we become unwilling spectators to them.  How many times did we rewind and rewatch that copy of H-Street's Shackle Me Not or Hokus Pokus videos trying to memorize Matt Hensley's movements?  Hundreds if not thousands.  It was all that could be done to dull the urge until it warmed enough for us to shovel out a 20" x 20" section of road and hope the ice melted before new snow fell.

If you skated in the early 90s, this image is seared into your brain.

Ironic how life has a way of repeating itself, isn't it?  I find myself turning to the digital medium once again for a fix, having just spent my lunch break watching YouTube videos of enduro riding, occasionally glancing out the window to ensure the snow is melting.  A poor substitute for the real thing, and while patience may be a virtue, it certainly isn't one of mine.

(These guys put out some decent videos for a bunch of contemplative old farts, I've even picked up a tip or two for my off-road riding, check them out if you feel so inclined:  Enduro and Cross Training Videos )