I was trying to decide between sleeping for a few hours behind the gas station, or to keep on keeping on. It was cold, foggy, and late. In typical fashion, I kept going. And I am extremely glad I did.
Every once in a great while I get to experience an incredible serene and transcendent moment while on my motorcycle. Two previous events that come to mind are; riding through the dark in Bahia de Los Angeles with an incredible breeze in spring of 2009, and shutting off the bike while coasting down all the mountain passes in northern Pennsylvania in summer 2007, again at night. In this case it was descending down out of the mountains towards the gulf coast. On a slow curvy road over the course of an hour I dropped from extremely high elevations near the volcano, down through the canyons, to nearly sea level. The temperature kept increasing, flickering lights were scattered across the hillsides, and the glow of the moon illuminated the entire landscape. It was one of those beautiful numinous moments that most people miss out on. I’m convinced there is something about night riding that brings it out. But it’s more than just darkness, it’s a perfect combination of weather, location, spirit, and I suppose, being self aware.
Around 3am or so I hung up my hat.
I slept right here in the road, next to the bike. I didn’t even bother to take out the sleeping bag, just laid down in all my gear, slept two or three hours, then stood up, kicked the bike, and took off again. Still a long way to go.
I made it to Playa del Carmen at 10pm of the third day. I rode 17 hours on day one, 21 hours on day two, and 18 hours on day three. It was fairly exhausting, but more than that I just felt gross. I’d been on my bike in my riding gear for 72 hours, sweating in the sun, freezing in the cold, and getting coated with dirt the entire way.
I slept out behind a construction site I happened across.
The next morning I rolled over to the resort where my friends were coming in a few hours later.
And I noticed my front tire. Hrmmm…
Checked in, cleaned up, and settled in to a few days of relaxation.
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