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Motorcycling has been getting a bad rap for a while. The two images that pop culture has attributed to motorcycling had been that of Hell's Angels on a trip terrorizing small towns or of a guy who is pushing 40s and is not ready to admit it. If these are the images that get conjured up when you think about motorcycling, well think again. There is a lot more to it, that the riding makes it addictive, that makes the enthusiasts going on for ever.

Ask Mr. Gittner (Name Changed), an acquaintance of mine who is 75 and is still waiting for summer so that he could take his machines for a short ride around the park.

To begin with, just the experience of riding a motorcycle could not be more different than driving a car. In a car, one is cocooned in a metal cage, separated and insulated from the outer world. On the contrary, a motorcycle rider is very much immersed in nature. Riding down a winding country road, one could smell the flowers and the wind is always on the face. Over time, the rider and the motorcycle will almost fuse together and one only needs to will the motorcycle to make a turn or slow down a bit. That enables the rider to have the vision of his or her own body floating across the landscape and the rider is liberated from the boring artificial world that he or she is living in every day.

Furthermore, I could attest that riding a motorcycle builds character. When you are out there on the road, it is almost analogous to the way you live your life. You are not the most powerful or the biggest machine in the traffic. But you also know that you have an advantage that the big trucks lack: versatility. Riding a motorcycle also teaches us to be alert all the time and make quick decisions that will save your life. It also builds your confidence by proving that you can be alone out in the country and you and you alone choose your destination; or in case of life, your destiny.

Additionally, when you ride a machine long enough, you build a rapport with the bike. It becomes your best friend. There would be nothing like a short ride around the neighborhood, or out to the country to relieve stress. As I have seen in a commercial for a motorcycle, unlike a girlfriend it never complains when you leave it out for hours and come back only when you are in the mood. It never complains when you ride other motorcycles. It will always there for you and it never expects flowers.

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