motorcyclemeditation.com

Speedo on eighty five, the bottom of the motorcycle’s relaxed cruising speed, slower is soporific, up to a hundred is comfortable, faster and the motorcycle’s fine but the motorway curves start feeling tight.

Eighty five carrying an additional advantage, it’s about five miles an hour faster than the typical speed of car clusters in the outside lane, this conferring the entertainment of gradually approaching the back of them, pause, overtake, open the accelerator, casually flash past, go hunting for the next victims. Oh what joy it is to be undisputed king of the British motorway.

Such status occasionally challenged, today’s example being a BMW powering along the outside lane, overtaking the motorcycle, its driver clearly not inhibited by thoughts of a hundred maximum. M insignia on its rear, token of performance aspirations, also an oversized ego, also an additional pricetag exceeding the entire cost of my motorcycle.

Quite tempting to open up just as it passes, stay adjacent on the inside lane for a while, open up again, blow it away. On this occasion however, sticking with Plan A, namely, continuing as before, certain of catching up at the next traffic cluster, then casually overtaking, this carrying the pleasure of withholding any overt response whatever, particularly satisfying against drivers clearly so desperate for attention.

Plan A also carrying an occasional bonus, as today. The BMW held up behind a cluster, working its way through slowly. The motorcycle arriving later, threading through faster, thus arriving at the front at the same time, car and motorcycle both doing eighty. The BMW opening up, the motorcycle likewise. That sweet pure thrill of thunderous acceleration. Catapulting past the car. Then easing off, pulling in, letting the car overtake as if not noticing. Well, that was fun, wonder what’s coming next.

Up to the Dartford Crossing and a five mile tailback, Threading through the lanes at about twenty, past the now stationary BMW, but the game different, the fun lying in efficiency rather than jaunting, just the business of getting through, sweeping past the obstacles, staying alive.