Difference between revisions of "Motorcycling"

[[Robert M. Pirsig]]'s book ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]'' (1974) was a paean celebrating motorcycling. Pirsig contrasted the sense of connection experienced by motorcyclists with the isolation of drivers who are "always in a compartment", passively observing the passing landscape. In contrast, Pirsig argues that a motorcyclist is "completely in contact with it all... in the scene." <ref name="Pirsig">[[Robert M. Pirsig]], ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]'', 1974, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York</ref> The process and experience of motorcycling forces the rider into the present.  The environment of the road engulfs the senses, and the need for constant awareness fills the mind.  The total involvement in motorcycling leaves little room for worrying about tomorrow, or second-guessing yesterday.

[[Robert M. Pirsig]]'s book ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]'' (1974) was a paean celebrating motorcycling. Pirsig contrasted the sense of connection experienced by motorcyclists with the isolation of drivers who are "always in a compartment", passively observing the passing landscape. In contrast, Pirsig argues that a motorcyclist is "completely in contact with it all... in the scene." <ref name="Pirsig">[[Robert M. Pirsig]], ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]'', 1974, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York</ref> The process and experience of motorcycling forces the rider into the present.  The environment of the road engulfs the senses, and the need for constant awareness fills the mind.  The total involvement in motorcycling leaves little room for worrying about tomorrow, or second-guessing yesterday.

[[Hunter S. Thompson]]'s book ''Hell's Angels'' includes an ode to the joys of pushing a motorcycle to its limits on the open road: he states that "with the throttle screwed on there is only the barest margin, and no room at all for mistakes... that's when the strange music starts, [and]... fear becomes exhilaration [and the]... only sounds are the wind and a dull roar floating back from the mufflers. <ref>[[Hunter S. Thompson]], ''Hell's Angels'', 1967, Random House, New York</ref> Similarly, [[T. E. Lawrence]] wrote of the "lustfulness of moving swiftly" and the "pleasure of speeding on the road" on a motorcycle, which he compared to the sensation of "feel[ing] the earth moulding herself under me", coming alive, and "heaving and tossing on each side like a sea."  

[[Hunter S. Thompson]]'s book ''Hell's Angels'' includes an ode to the joys of pushing a motorcycle to its limits on the open road: he states that "with the throttle screwed on there is only the barest margin, and no room at all for mistakes... that's when the strange music starts, [and]... fear becomes exhilaration [and the]... only sounds are the wind and a dull roar floating back from the mufflers. <ref>[[Hunter S. Thompson]], ''Hell's Angels'', 1967, Random House, New York</ref> Similarly, [[T. E. Lawrence]] wrote of the "lustfulness of moving swiftly" and the "pleasure of speeding on the road" on a motorcycle, which he compared to the sensation of "feel[ing] the earth moulding herself under me", coming alive, and "heaving and tossing on each side like a sea."