Motorcycling has often been described as relief from the stresses of everyday life. As a matter of fact, a UCLA study on motorcycling has shown it can reduce stress hormones by up to 28% during a ride. An actual change in brain chemistry takes place. That something that those of us that sling a leg over an iron horse can often attest to, and why so many of us are willing to take the risk to enjoy the freedom found on two wheels.
But I think there’s a key component in all of this that I simply cannot ignore, and that is one of the reasons our stress is so much less on a bike: because it has to be. You simply cannot let your mind drift. You must be hyper-aware of your surroundings. Vigilance is our tool for staying alive when your body is going 55mph on a hunk of metal, plastic, and gasoline. As a matter of fact, this level of awareness and attention to detail is brought up time and time again in motorcycle safety classes.
Take for instance, cornering. In a car, you see a turn, you go around a turn. That’s it. Go a reasonable speed, you’re going to make it through with no incident whatsoever. Easy peasy. On a bike however, we suddenly have a lot to think about. As a matter of fact, we have to downright become physics majors!
Ok, not really, but many diagrams have been created to describe the following aspects of turning on a motorcycle:
- Countersteering
- Entry point/speed
- Turn apex
- Trail braking
- Exit point/speed
Here’s just one such diagram on how to get the proper apex:
How we make it through the turn depends on a lot of factors, skills practice, and being attentive to details, no matter how small. I have ridden 48,000 miles in the last 10 years on local roads, and made hundreds, if not thousands of turns. You can go through the same turn again and again and do it differently almost every time. How fast I enter the turn, what position in the lane I start the turn, when I start to lean (turn-in), when I slow down and release the throttle, and when I get back on the gas exiting the turn: all of these play into how well I execute that turn. And that’s if the turn doesn’t have any obstacles, oil, or other hazards. Quite honestly, it is a rare thing that I get through a turn and have the ability to say “I nailed that one.” Sure I make it through every turn (Thanks be to God), but as already mentioned, doing it with confidence and excellent execution is a moment to cherish. At that point, you exit that turn and once again the engine roars in acceleration, almost as a audible reward for doing it right.
This is not unlike how we face the twists and turns in our lives. We are introduced to a new curve, and sometimes we know what to expect, and handle it with grace. We get through that situation or challenge and look back knowing that we did well. We may even give God a shoutout for helping us through that tough situation, and for the gift of discernment on how to handle it. Truly it is a gift that you can feel when you absolutely do your very best in a given situation. You can feel how the Holy Spirit roars in approval when you have a big “win”.
Still, more often than not, we’re going to take the “wrong apex”. We will send ourselves on a much harder path through that turning point than was absolutely necessary. We may feel uneasy and nervous about how its going, and deep down know we could have handled it a better way. Maybe we could have shown more grace, or been less angry. Maybe we could have forgiven sooner, or offered to help without delay. We might have brought more joy to an otherwise unfortunate situation that could have turned the tide for everyone involved. Perhaps we may even forget to invite our Lord and Savior into the battle. That same mental prep time for executing important motorcycling maneuvers can really be applied to anything. But like motorcycling, no matter how clumsily we do it, we are most likely going to be fortunate enough to live to see the next challenge, and again, that is thanks alone be to God. He works for us always, even when we might not readily see His Holy hand in things.
So I would offer to you, that we as God’s people are truly in control of how we handle that next series of “twisties”, as we call them. We can go into it with a different mindset, especially if that next bend holds an unforeseen peril. Maybe the next time we will try to be cognizant of all of our personal growth challenges, knowing that we may still fall short, but we are most certainly doing our best. We can forgive ourselves when we don’t ride a perfect line. We can be thankful for the Lord being by our side, and for the angels “keeping us upright” as we lean into yet another test of our spiritual agility.
So I offer that the best way to survive the unknown path ahead, is to have Jesus along for the ride. Every time I go out on an actual ride, I thank Him for the opportunity and ask Him to constantly help me to remember and improve upon my skills to handle the road before me. Isn’t that what we too, can ask of Him for the superhighway of life we find ourselves on?
May God bless all of you on your current path.
