zen & the heart of motorcycle maintenance

I’ve just come back from 2 wonderful weeks in France. We travelled on my husband’s motorbike “une ‘arley Davidson” – he rode, concentrated, navigated while I looked around, dreamed, smelled the air , felt the changes in temperature as we cruised about. The French love motorbikes (well you would if you had their climate) and are fantastically bike-friendly. Motorists in any queue generously make way for bikes to sail through the gaps onward bound. They understand and it is heart-warming and I loved them all for it. Then there’s the conversation, forget your cute puppies and babies, a motorbike will get you noticed and everyone wants to ask you about it and tell you what they ride.

I have always loved the solidarity amongst bikers: they will nod, wave or (as in France) kick a leg out as acknowledgement that you are all in the same club. There’s an unwritten code that you stop and help a biker that’s stuck at the side of the road. As someone who has spent more than my fair share of being stuck at the side of the road (due to husband’s love of vintage bikes) I can testify that bikers on bikes or bikers who happen to be driving a car that day are the ones that stop because chances are they’ve been that person in need or will be one day.

It’s good to stop and help someone - even if they can sort themselves out, it’s showing you care. And that’s a lesson to us all.

#drinkbetterwine