Stream from a pier on lake Osoyoos



The ride is all about presence. Not the kind of presence you'd find on a cruise ship, or on a vacation--those are places that you go to _see_. Perhaps the cruise ship is about 'being', but surely that's a different kind of being. The ride is being, not for the sake of being, and not because what you wanted to do was just 'be', but being for the sake of surviving the next turn and making it, then anticipating it, then feeling it as it rushes toward you (too late to stop now), then following it all the way through. If you veer over the center line because you weren't dedicated enough, you pray that nobody is coming from the other side of that rock face you're blasting around.

Riding is about being present to the task, the moment, the life, the presence of the asphalt (or gravel, if that's your thing) under your tires; but also to the presence of the 600lbs. beneath your butt, the throttle clenched in your aching palm, and that little lump on your skull that you can feel pressing into the helmet after a few hours.

Riding is presence. There are other places I feel presence like that, but rarely when I'm alone with time to reflect on them. Riding is unpretentious enough to get out of the way and just let you ride.

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