Speed of Consciousness

This April, I will begin my journey by traveling through Spain, Portugal and Morocco on a motorcycle.

As a prelude to this experience, my friend Julie lent me a book to read: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Written in 1974,the book describes a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by the author and his son across the USA.

Here is an excerpt from page 4:

"You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more T.V. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.
On a cycle, the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all.

You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness."

(Bantam Books, April 1975, New York)

If the visual impact and sensation created from this passage is any indication of what I will feel riding on the bike, then the cold, wind and rain won't matter, and I will forever be grateful for this opportunity and experience.