Not too long ago I almost crashed on my motorcycle. The keyword here is of course, ‘almost,’ and I will get back to that in a bit, but first a few thoughts on the joys of riding a motorcycle. For me, it started as a kind of happy accident; in my youth, I had never considered riding a bike, but one day in the mid-90s, out in Billund, the bus to Vejle drove off without me. So, a colleague offered a ride home on the back of his motorcycle, and I was sold on the spot; the acceleration, the speed, the open-air feeling, it just felt great. So, without telling anyone, I got the driver’s license and bought my own bike. That has been one of my best decisions in terms of the amount of fun and pleasure it has brought for almost 30 years now. I don’t go that fast (as opposed to when I’m cycling) and almost always avoiding highways and very often taking new, unplanned detours on small roads in the countryside.
Had I not missed the bus by accident 30 years ago, I may not have found out about the joy of riding, and of course, there is a little lesson about trying out unfamiliar and unexpected things. You get the picture. Motorcycles are statistically a bit more dangerous than cars, but I have always tried not to take any chances. Someone early on told me it is so important to ride defensively, as you are the more vulnerable part compared to cars. Many will know that motorcyclists always greet each other on the road (except for police officers and Hells Angels types!) This is such a nice tradition, feels a bit like I salute you for also being an adult on two wheels instead of four.. In fact, as I was headed home from Kolding a while back, I was thinking about this very thing as two motorcycles approached me.. I turned my head for a split second to greet them – the road ahead has a slight bend where the driveway leads into the local inn. And I had not noticed that the car ahead of me had abruptly slowed way down to take a sudden left turn. I was going close to 80 km/h, and without even thinking, I locked my brakes hard and barely managed to steer around the car and then come to a sudden stop. So close.. All my muscles were extremely tense and frozen up, especially in my legs, and I was a bit rattled by the incident. But I quickly got back up to speed and rode homewards like nothing had happened. It felt like the right thing to do, just get back on the road straight away. The incident kept playing in my head for a while, but now I’m just thankful nothing bad happened. Would love to ride for another 30 years if the machinery is up for it.
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