Without realizing it, I eased the bike to the opposite side of the lane, instinctively avoiding the pothole I knew was around the next bend. I know every crack in this backroad. It’s one of my favorite local loops when I feel like riding but don’t feel like really going anywhere.
The warmth of spring has yet to arrive. I ride out the last of winter daydreaming about more motorcycle adventures as the year starts to unfold. Meanwhile, I stick to some of my favorite loops here in Western North Carolina. We all have them. We all need them.
I love hitting the road for a weeklong trip, but those short, neighborhood jaunts often serve as “mental health rides” to escape the day-to-day worries.
If weather or other circumstances keep me from riding for more than a few days, I notice the impact on my mood. I’ll force myself to don waterproof gear or some extra layers and fire up my always-willing Yamaha Tracer 9.
There are certain roadside pull-offs, or merely a wide spot near a stream or scenic rock outcropping, that always entice me to linger for a moment. Traveling by car, I never stop to admire the scenery just a few miles from home. On a bike, I know I only need a few feet of shoulder where I can stop to appreciate the landscape so often ignored from inside a moving cage.
Often my unplanned excursions begin with the excuse to head to the corner store for gas or a tire-pressure check. I’ll buy some snacks and a soda, then ride along the nearest creek or river. Soon I’ll find myself at that peaceful spot where I can dismount to spend a few minutes nibbling on cheese crackers while I watch a few small fish floating motionless in a sheltered pool by the stream bank.
I intentionally refuse the urge to pull out the cell phone, which I purposely placed in the inconvenient depths of the bike’s tail bag. Instead, I try to focus my senses on the earthy smell of damp soil, the babble of water over river rocks and the brilliant red plumage of the cardinal hopping from branch to branch on the opposite shore.
With snack time over, I ease back onto the two-lane backroad and leisurely click up through the gears. Mountain pastures and old barns roll past, standing in stark contrast to the tightly packed new housing subdivisions multiplying quickly. My favorite section of S-curves approaches. I silently compliment myself when I carve the perfect line through them.
Soon, home appears on the horizon, closing the loop I began on a whim.
I kick off my boots. The world feels like a much happier place thanks to some throttle therapy. Other riders often tell me they don’t have the time for long motorcycle trips. Their bikes sit with drained batteries awaiting free time that may never arrive. My response is to just go for a ride, be it 5 miles or 500.
Take the bike to work one day. Take it down the street just to grab a gallon of milk or loaf of bread. Take it out for a quick spin when you feel that digital monkey on your back tempting you to waste time online. Somewhere, not far from where you are now, is a pleasant loop of roads back to the spot where you began.
Some of my happiest motorcycle journeys have been to nowhere at all.
— Michael E. Gouge
Editor-in-Chief
