Motorbikes

I was twelve when I first rode on a small motorbike, illegally and on an industrial estate with my brothers and my dad. I took a corner too sharply at one point and came off. The bike was on top of me and they ran to pull it off me. I didnt cry because I was infront of my brothers, I dont remember the fear or even if it hurt, but I remember the thrill, the excitement, the rush.

I turned thirteen when dad took me on the back of a real size motorbike, it was summer at a car show. I didnt have to wear a helmet on the camp site and I felt like my dad was the best person in the world. Nothing would beat the feeling of being on a bike. Getting off my inner leg touched the hot exhaust pipe and it stung like hell. Mum freaked. I was scarred for life, it was all his fault, I shouldnt have gone on it...but seriously you cant really see it now and it was worth it.

When dad took me on the Harley I know I'd fallen in love with the whole biker image...I tilted when he tilted, I felt the wind humming past, the thrumming of the engine under my legs. On open country roads the ride was so easy in the sun, I changed my mind a little when my ass hurt after three hours and up in the welsh mountains in chucked it down with icy water..but hey! there are up's and downs to everything. If you havent ever ridden on the back of a motorbike I can honestly say I dont think you've felt real freedom. My dad said something poetic once "listen carefully, the wind catches up to you and it whispers race with me, we've gotta beat the wind" I never once thought about coming off the bike, or getting hurt. I never think of that sort of thing and people sometimes think I'm fearless but I dont know if I'm fearless, crazy or just trust my dad completely. Childish really but nothing can happen to me if I'm with my dad or my brothers...and the thrill is always stronger than any fear.

I like being a passenger in a car, and as a typical everyday mode of transport especially for long road trips I would pick a car...but theres something special about a motorbike, it's like having a treat after a period of starvation..it is to me anyway. If I hear a song about a steal horse, or a cowboy riding through the dust, all these poetic pictures, I crave the feeling. I crave the rush of being on a bike.