Cut the Philosophy Stuff.... Take me to the pictures.

One thing I have noticed from spending time on the Internet and getting to know people from all over the world, is that most people would rather live somewhere else than where they actually do.

The same applies to me I guess, but every now and again I will notice something new, or look at something familiar in a new light and then appreciate what I already have.

"Bored with your surroundings, you just got in your car and went somewhere else. Looking for the end of the rainbow. But all that breeds is is dissatisfaction because once the novelty wears off, you discover that there is just the same as here.   Life has to be lived where you are" - Patrick Tilley - The Amtrak Wars. Book 6

This happens mostly on my way home from work. I work in the City of London, travelling the 30 mile journey by motorcycle. I would say that 45% of these journeys are uneventful and take place on "autopilot", you know the sort of thing.. get on the bike, fire up the engine, and point it in the right direction - let your mind wander around a few random thoughts for an hour, and then get off at the bike at work. Around another 40% of these journeys I would say are hard work. Either due to bad traffic, bad weather, bad drivers, or any number of other factors. I hate these days, and it is on such days that I think to myself I am getting too old for all this. Another 10% of the journeys are what I would class as fun. If you ride the same journey everyday at the same time for three years you get to know the crowd of motorcyclists who are on the road at the same time. Its not like the processional progress you make in a car. Your best friend whom you haven't seen in a year could be two or three cars in front of you, and you could travel the whole journey and never know it. On a bike it's different. Car drivers may wonder why motorcyclist tend to appear in groups. Its simple really. The reason is traffic lights. A typical set of traffic lights on a major junction I cross on my way to work is red for around 3 minutes. This makes little difference to the cars. Hoewever even in the heaviest traffic a bike can travel over a mile in that time. So what happens is all the bikes tend to become clustered together.

Anyway - we are getting away from the point. Sometimes you just have to open the throttle away from the lights just for the fun of it, or go for that gap that you probably shouldn't, or change down two gears and overtake that car then stand on the brakes before the next traffic island.

The last 5% of my journeys are the one that I really wanted to talk about. But you needed to know about the rest to put them into context. These are the days when I feel glad to be alive. There's no particular reason why they happen, they just do although they tend to happen more in the spring. You feel in total harmony with the machine, the engine for some reason is just that bit smoother, the tyres grip the road just a bit better, other road users suddenly discover courtesy, another biker gives you a nod, and you find yourself smiling. These days end up the total opposite in riding style to the "fun" days. You have time. It's difficult to explain. The result is that not only do you enjoy the journey, but you get to see things and appreciate them.

Well, that's quite enough of my own personal version of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for now.

Here are some pictures taken around the area where I live. For those who don't know I live about 25 miles to the east of London, and about 150 yards from the Thames. The town was a very industrialised area and is undergoing major regeneration. The pictures below were all taken one Sunday in May 1997 within half a mile of my house, when I borrowed a Kodak DC20 digital camera from work to see what it could do. My only comment about the pictures are that the camera does lie.

Page last modified on 9th October 1997