My new riding technique

[eddiekay]

The small crew i ride with can best be described as American TT riders...the T's being about 100 miles apart so, yeah, we go fast and far and rarely stop.
I suppose a lot of us GO for similar reasons.
The ride, the roads, the scenery in that order have kept me on the bike since '66, maybe'67,,,who remembers ( like george carlin used to say...if you can remember the 60's...you werent there).
Miles and smiles later, I've come to a riding technique that promises to be the most enjoyable ever, allowing me to more fully utilize and appreciate the capabilities of the bike.
I stop, a lot.
Until this year, I passed 99.99% of the thousands of people walking, sitting or even lying by the road. Sometimes, I stop now and I'm taking home more than I could fit under a bungee.
Have you ever spoken to the Indian guy ,12,000 miles from his home and pumping gas ? I mean actually engaged him in conversation. What about the dude sitting on the rusted tractor smoking a cigarette or the woman training her horse. The bicyclists in their spandex and helmets pumping up a hill or even the ancient lady...(some of whom have stories that are not fit for posting !).....no, she's not asleep in her chair and she'd love to talk with you.
I make a respectful suggestion...try this new riding technique once.
You'll find out more about yourself and, just maybe how much more you can enjoy the bike.

[sombo]

I like your 'technique', it makes for great rides and great stories afterwords. I also know what you mean about the stories from the ancient ones lol. You think you have heard it all and that you can talk about anything. Then an old lady tells you a story that makes you blush lol.

[eddiekay]

Yeah...the new technique is not for everybody though. I'm an old guy...not threatening but the things people say to me are consistently funny, seemingly very honest and infrequently sad. I'm lucky...ran into a lot of happy people.

[gfloyd2002]

There is a Chinese phrase "Ma Shang Kan Hua" which means "Looking at the flowers from horseback." It is used to draw attention to the need to slow down and really take in the world, and to highlight that rushing by something only gives one a cursory knowledge of it. it applies even more so to riding the iron horse. Getting somewhere more slowly is the best way to really enjoy the trip and learn something. After all, as said by Emerson, "Life is a journey, not a destination."

[akima]

I like your technique!

How do you break the ice when you're first start chatting?

[coondog]

thee old lady calls me Mayor sometimes, especially due to the fact they are all strangers.

[eddiekay]

yes...it is true that the chinese have much wisdom and beautiful proverbs. My fave is Eat My Wang : ).

Breaking the ice is easy...to the guy on the tractor I asked what kinda cigs he was smoking, to the elderly woman." Mam, you look beautiful even from the road, I just had to stop", to the obviously foreign born, I always ask where they 're from, welcome them to the USA and ask how they like it. The easiest approach is just to ask for directions....one time i asked this elderly guy how to get somewhere and he didnt know and called his daughter out of the house...gulp...the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. The only time i ran into bad people was when these 2 redneck meth freaks thought they'd be wise assed and directed me back to the main highway by sending me up a twisty, semi paved mountain road that led to nowhere....hmmm, imagine that...sending a ninjette up a twisty mountain road to nowhere. Yeah...had to drive that twisty mountain road twice...once up, once down...tough day.

[akima]

Originally Posted by eddiekay

The only time i ran into bad people was when these 2 redneck meth freaks thought they'd be wise assed and directed me back to the main highway by sending me up a twisty, semi paved mountain road that led to nowhere....hmmm, imagine that...sending a ninjette up a twisty mountain road to nowhere. Yeah...had to drive that twisty mountain road twice...once up, once down...tough day.

Damn! They really had you!

All of your ice-breakers sound great, but it seems kinda odd in my mind the thought of just pulling up next to someone on your bike and then saying one of those things. Or do you normally pull up at a nearby landmark (eg petrol-station) then wonder over to them on foot?

[OddlyOrdinary]

hmmm, imagine that...sending a ninjette up a twisty mountain road to nowhere. Yeah...had to drive that twisty mountain road twice...once up, once down...tough day.

Please don't throw me in that there briar patch!

[alex.s]

sometimes it is hard to believe that those other humans you see are people too

[sombo]

Originally Posted by OddlyOrdinary

Please don't throw me in that there briar patch!

I wonder how many people even know what you're referring to with that.

[Havok]

Originally Posted by eddiekay

The small crew i ride with can best be described as American TT riders...the T's being about 100 miles apart so, yeah, we go fast and far and rarely stop.
I suppose a lot of us GO for similar reasons.
The ride, the roads, the scenery in that order have kept me on the bike since '66, maybe'67,,,who remembers ( like george carlin used to say...if you can remember the 60's...you werent there).
Miles and smiles later, I've come to a riding technique that promises to be the most enjoyable ever, allowing me to more fully utilize and appreciate the capabilities of the bike.
I stop, a lot.
Until this year, I passed 99.99% of the thousands of people walking, sitting or even lying by the road. Sometimes, I stop now and I'm taking home more than I could fit under a bungee.
Have you ever spoken to the Indian guy ,12,000 miles from his home and pumping gas ? I mean actually engaged him in conversation. What about the dude sitting on the rusted tractor smoking a cigarette or the woman training her horse. The bicyclists in their spandex and helmets pumping up a hill or even the ancient lady...(some of whom have stories that are not fit for posting !).....no, she's not asleep in her chair and she'd love to talk with you.
I make a respectful suggestion...try this new riding technique once.
You'll find out more about yourself and, just maybe how much more you can enjoy the bike.

This is not a new technique to me. I do this every saturday on my rides. I have met so many interesting people. This old Harley guy who it turns out is from back east. Who took a liking to my bike. Talked about new york and riding, How he rode out here when he was young and decided to not ride home, telling me about early riding and pointing me to some epic roads.

The clerk working at a small grocery store telling me how he is saving to get a bike soon, He is going to school to be a welder and couldn't be happier about it.

This guy in a sweet Aston Martin who moved here from Colorado and his little hottie seat cover that loved the 250. Argued over Cali roads vs Colorado roads and talked bikes.


i have met soooooooo many people riding, heard so many stories i honestly feel i am a better person for it. It puts things in perspective. Its one of the things i love about riding. Every Saturday i go on a long ride to where ever looks good on the map. I strike up as many conversations as i can, Talking to various people the stories they tell.

[Guoseph]

Originally Posted by gfloyd2002

There is a Chinese phrase "Ma Shang Kan Hua" which means "Looking at the flowers from horseback." It is used to draw attention to the need to slow down and really take in the world, and to highlight that rushing by something only gives one a cursory knowledge of it. it applies even more so to riding the iron horse. Getting somewhere more slowly is the best way to really enjoy the trip and learn something. After all, as said by Emerson, "Life is a journey, not a destination."

"Zou Ma Guan Hua" is the proverb

[Lil_Green_Demon]

Originally Posted by akima

Damn! They really had you!

All of your ice-breakers sound great, but it seems kinda odd in my mind the thought of just pulling up next to someone on your bike and then saying one of those things. Or do you normally pull up at a nearby landmark (eg petrol-station) then wonder over to them on foot?

Akima, learn some damn English, girl! WTF is a "petrol station?" It's called a gas station!!!












As for stopping & speaking to strangers, I prefer to keep to myself. Those days when everyone seems to leave me completely alone, as in no testosterone induced teens asking me to pop a wheelie, no douche bag drivers trying to race me, no elderly people nearly running me off the road, no idiots cutting me off, no cop following me because he got a call that some other idiot rider was speeding on public streets, etc., are the good days for me.

[sombo]

Originally Posted by Lil_Green_Demon

Akima, learn some damn English, girl! WTF is a "petrol station?" It's called a gas station!!!

Petrol station is English..... you want her to learn American where we say gas station.

[gfloyd2002]

Originally Posted by Guoseph

"Zou Ma Guan Hua" is the proverb

My Chinese teacher taught it the other way, and it does show up in online chengyu dictionaries, but a quick search shows that you are totally right. I found the original reference to it in the Meng Jia poem. My version was a lazy bastardization of the original poem! Thanks for setting me straight!

[Guoseph]

Originally Posted by gfloyd2002

My Chinese teacher taught it the other way, and it does show up in online chengyu dictionaries, but a quick search shows that you are totally right. I found the original reference to it in the Meng Jia poem. My version was a lazy bastardization of the original poem! Thanks for setting me straight!

Sorry, didn't mean to come off sounding like a proverb nazi. I'm actually pretty horrible myself, my wife knows when a proverb she just used goes over my head cuz I stare at her like

Back on topic, I have always been a point A to point B type of person, but my new New Years resolution is to make more stops along the way.