Passion for Riding

05/06/2013 – Wednesday

     What do you do when you want to get something off your mind? You want to free yourself from all your frustration and overthinking. Some of us would scream our lungs out at the top of some random hill, some of us will drink to our heart’s content till we’re so drunk that we forgot our own names and some of us would just sleep through our problems. In my case, I ride to my heart’s content on a powerful two wheeled vehicle known as superbikes.

     I became a rider when I was 16 which is last year. I was supposed to be a normal motorcycle rider but I end up qualifying as a superbike rider. Strangely, the superbike in the driving institute was much simpler to control than the lower grade motorcycles. My dad is also a rider and his hobby is also riding a superbike, well, at least I know where this passion for riding of mine came from. Unlike my personality that I not know of, riding is something I enjoy. I don’t actually race at top speed on the road but I do go a certain amount of speed that is enough to satisfy my adrenaline needs.

     Gearing up, riding on the road, beating the cars and feeling the wind beating on me, riding is so much more thrilling than that. It trains your precision, it raises your awareness and it boost your confidence because as every single second when you’re riding, your life is already on the line. One wrong move, either from you or from others and you are dead or at least seriously injured. In cases of emergencies, you only have seconds to react. Compared to cars, when a car crashes, the car blows up first then you die but when you’re a rider, you die first.

        I am just an inexperienced rider but I do love riding as it is somewhat my hobby. Everyday being on the road is like practicing to me. My superbike is not just another mode of transport to me, he is my friend, my best friend in fact. He brings me from destination to destination, he gives me excitement and he comforts me when I’m on the verge of breaking down. Through riding, I’ve met friends along the way that shares the same passion, although, their passion for riding is even stronger than mine. I’m a casual rider but they are racers, not legal racers though. I tend to play safe and live a safer life but they go extreme, risking their lives at another level. 

     My dad is an international racer. Riding at 200km/h from country to country, I seriously wonder how an old man like him still manages that. He was the one who first introduced me to riding. When I was a kid, he used to ride me around my housing area in his low grade motorcycle when he had time. My parents split the cash to buy my own motorcycle but soon my dad pass his superbike over to me and now, I ride side by side with my dad. Like father like son, how amusing this phrase seem to me right now.

     “Watch out dad, I am taking over your legacy and also going to surpass your achievements.”

He maybe a douche bag and looks down on me all the time but he is still my dad. Despite that, I think he is proud of me because he always introduces me as ‘his son’ to others. He would always go “This is my son.” He rarely uses my name when he introduces me.

     Anyways, do you fear death? Well, I think almost everyone does at some part of their lives. You may not notice this but all the motorcycle and superbike riders you see on the road, we’re risking our lives every single day we get on that 2 wheeled vehicle even when we fear death.