Morning Bike Ride

First bike ride of the year this morning, and fittingly it was to work.

 

The weather is just too beautiful and every time I saw a dude on a motorbike I felt like I was missing out. When I started to envy the courier and delivery guys on their bikes - I knew that I had to take some rapid action. My regular group of riders seem to have disintegrated (or have cut me off the mailing list), and anyway the Group has exploded in numbers to the extent that I feel a stranger in the very biking club that I was a founder member of.

 

For the longest time my motorbike has looked so forlorn in the garage. It has hardly been used the last year, and my worry is that it might develop some mechanical trouble due to it being idle for so long. I have fleetingly flirted with the idea of selling my bike many times, but have been just too lazy to start the process.

 

Anyway I geared up at home and crossed my fingers in the hope that the battery was not dead when I pushed the start button. I was half expecting to walk back up to change out of my biking gear. The BMW batteries are not the greatest to start with! Gearing up and out is the worst part of biking, and it takes me as much time as the commute itself.

 

But it responded to the first push of the button, and I got on clumsily as it had been a while since I had ridden. The petrol gauge read a bit low, so that meant that I would need to fuel. That also meant that I would need to take the Emirates Road rather than the quieter Bypass Road. As I puttered out of the garage, there were doubts in my mind, as I was going out onto one of the busiest highways in the UAE. And I had not ridden for months! At the last minute I decided to take the Bypass Road, as it dawned on me that I could refuel in a fuel station in the facility I work in.

 

I felt awkward for the first few minutes as my body adapted to the riding position, but after the first few kilometers I started easing up. I still stiffened up at every roundabout and exit, but it started to feel more natural. I had resolved not to go too fast today as I still had to get used to the bike. But the weather, the open roads and the sheer power of my bike were too seductive. Before I knew it I was zipping along at a merry pace.

 

By the time I hit Emirates Road I was in my “mildly aggressive” comfort zone. A short but brutal race with an Audi A7 (Abu Dhabi number plates), had my heart beat accelerating. By the time I reached work I felt like I had had an early morning workout - exhilarated and ready for a new day.

 

Now how great would it be if they could come out with a riding suit that automatically assembles itself onto you? Think about Ironman and his suit!!!!