Zen Bike Ride Through the Forest

When I was a little squirt Dad had a motorcycle. At that time it was his main means of transportation to and from work, but periodically he would take us kids for a ride one at a time. I still love the feel of the wind in my face and the wind in my air. Who cares if it means I swallow an occasional bug! For the past year I’ve been hankering for another ride on a motorcycle but am picky about who I ride with. It’s been probably 20 years since I’ve been on a motorcycle. It took me a few times before I was able to get off and on the bike with some grace. I’m not so graceful and was worried about burning myself on the muffler.

Last weekend the opportunity presented itself to ride with a friend from the park. One of the guys in the park offered to take me for a ride. When we got on the bike we were certain we would encounter rain. The roads were wet as we approached Elgin, but we never got rained on. I wouldn’t mind rain as long as it didn’t mean hail. I remember Granddaddy getting hailed on and how it left bruises.

On this trip we drove to Bastrop. Our first stop was the Bastrop LCRA Park. We drove through the park, walked to the water and then moved on. This is a cool place to get a kayak or a canoe and hit the water. There are a few cabins on the water front that would be cool. Our next stop was Bastrop State Park. For those unfamiliar with the area, Bastrop is not too far from Austin. This state park is in the Lost Pines area which is a forest in the middle of the hill country. This state park has a golf course. We drove around and explored the park and then hit a state park road that took us to Buescher State Park. The parks are connected by a 12 mile road. This is the closest I’ve been to the “mountains” since I left Denver. On the bike you could smell the pine and maybe cedar.

For about 10 years I drove a standard. The lasts couple of years my car has been an automatic and I miss the standard transmission. It was really cool to hear the click of the transmission and the engine shifting gears. I’m easily amused!

As a child Dad took us for short rides, maybe 5 miles. This trip was just under 100 miles. It sure was nice to be able to stretch and stand up a while when we got back to Austin.

I think I need to uncover the layer of dust from my copy of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”