Aged 30 (soon to be 31), and with a growing interest in riding bikes (nurtured well over a year ago!), I decided to commit to a full, unrestricted Motorbike training course. In the UK, it’s best to (& possibly only allowed to) go with a provider that is DSA (Driving Standards Agency) approved. With this, prices are roughly the same with exam fees (around £500 – £800/US$1200). That’s extremely expensive in my eyes. I’ll be doing the first part of the course, this coming Saturday. So why and how is it I feel confident that after I’ve passed my tests and exams that I will actually like biking???
I know I will because I have another sport/community I belong to that I’m extremely proud to have found myself, decide to commit myself to, to partake in regularly, and to have met some of my best friends to date who have stuck with me through think and thin. Proud to have found and be a part of something very different that a lot of society and ‘social norms’ may outcast what we do is not ‘regular nor normal’, not as popular, nor amassed the huge followings that more conventional sports have like Soccer or Rugby have. If I hadn’t have discovered my sport back in 2004, I doubt I would have the motivation, confidence nor reason to get up in the mornings to go to work. It’s my passion and I liken it to surfing. 🙂 I’m proud to be a competition shooter. I’m proud to be a Practical Shooter.
Without my sport, I would be less cultured. I wouldn’t know, for instance, about the cool artwork of Cajun artist George Rodrigue are some of the coolest things I’ve ever seen (). My friend Chet introduced me to this. Without my sport, I wouldn’t have, for instance, met my friend Lenka who works as a super Account Exec for beer company, ‘Staropramen‘. I wouldn’t know, for instance, that the Staropramen draft brewed at 12°C was one of the nicest beers I’ve ever had with little bitter aftertaste that other brews have. Without my sport, I wouldn’t have my lust for travel, UNESCO heritage sites, writing nor amateur photography fully consolidated.
Practically, there’s a lot of work to do. It won’t be easy. Will I be able to learn, remember & apply ALL the physical conditioning in what will be a relatively short amount of time? The instructors have likened the actual hours put in to be equatable to greater than the number of hours I spent learning how to drive a car back in 1997! Woah, that’s a long time ago!! 😀 I know I learn things better manually by hand, by doing and not by ‘classroom’ tuition. So, I may fail a few times at the worst. So, I may have to fork out for extra lessons if I fail more than once! However, I’m sure that once I do pass, my life will be better. The camaraderie spirit, helping each other out (biking issue or not), get-togethers and keeping in touch are some of the traits I’m very confident to be like my shooting community.
I feel a mixture of excitement, some trepidation, a new beginning & the possibility of meeting an additional new circle of friends. Well away from untrustworthy ‘work mates’, judgmental ‘house mates’, ‘meeting friends of friends’ but with the uniqueness and quiet pride of just going out there and meeting people who may become some of the best and decent friends in your life brings.
Without my sport, I would have nothing to fight for in life when the chips are down (and when seemingly, the world is full of assholes). THAT’S why & how I know I will like biking after I pass.
Post title reference:
One of my favourite songs of all time is the Manic Street Preachers’ ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’. Though some interpretations of the lyrics include ‘an attack on the hollowness of the consumer lifestyle offered by capitalism, describing how society expects young people to conform’ (Wikipedia), I find the strings sound really cool and I could see myself touring on a motorbike with this tune in my head, some day.
FreeLancer out!
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