motorcyclemeditation.com

For today’s excitement, a meeting in Central London, start time one o clock. Routines duly observed, plenty of time allowed for the motorcycle journey. Rain threatening but not yet arrived.

The destination lying in a part of London often ridden past but not hitherto actually stopped at. The route checked out prior to leaving, a perverse benefit of motorcycling being the need to get it all straight in your head, you can’t easily look at a map on the way. For the moment abjuring satellite navigation, preferring to hone the brain’s spatial awareness, plus learn more about London, plus practice keeping eyes open.

All going fine, finding the right environs, only one problem, the road I want isn’t where it’s supposed to be. The map crystal clear in my head, except maybe I should have taken that left fork a mile back, shame I can’t do a U-turn, it’s a one-way street.

The road proceeding interminably, then a tangled one way system. Minutes being eaten up. Backtracking to a known reference point, deep breath, start again. The road I want still not where it’s supposed to be. Hurrying now, stopping, asking people, nobody knows. The first little flutter of anxiety starting to clutch.

Going fast in the motorcycle now, round and round in unfamiliar roads, feeling trapped in a maze. Rain starting, then heavy. Some cars held up at lights, the motorcycle zipping around, one making an unscheduled turn, missing it by a millimeter. One smidgeon different, the motorcycle and rider would have been skittering sideways on the tarmac.

Calm down, dammit, don’t be such a baby. Stop, phone the secretary, I’ll be a few minutes late. Find a store, buy a streetmap, look it up, get there. What’s so difficult, get it right dammit, if you don’t, on a motorcycle you’ll kill yourself.