All throughout my tour in the U.S., I was impressed with how the people are friendly and warm: almost everyone doesn’t hesitate to say hi, and show they care about you. I never saw anyone behaving poorly, not once. I’m glad for that. You are nice to them, they are nice to you.
As I returned to the bike after writing, I found a lot of dew on it; the night was much colder than the previous ones. Also, I noticed that the headlamp was pointing too high. I fixed it temporarily; it would have to be done properly, with a white vertical surface and a tape measure. I’ll let the mechanic do it during the next service.
A relatively uneventful day today: I spent most of it riding the highways from Springfield, OH to Niagara Falls, ON; the trip odometer shows 687km for today, about twice the average mileage I did while on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Once today, I did a long riding session of two hours straight, without stopping. The Bonnie still had fuel left for more, but I needed to stop for a bit. My breaks were at most 30 minutes today. My butt is no longer bothering me; it definitely got used to it.
With the almost 3,900km so far on this trip, the Bonnie crossed the 10,000km total mark today. I’m impressed with how it handles, and the quality of its construction. I plan to enjoy it for a very long time.
I stopped at the falls in Niagara Falls to take in the sights and be inspired by their majesty and power. There were a lot of visitors this evening. I’m glad it wasn’t on a weekend: I had room to watch the falls and take pictures. Too bad it was so late in the day; the sun was about to set. I wish I could spend more time observing the falls, so I recorded a minute-long video for future meditation, and set myself to finding a place to camp for the night.
As I was riding today, I reflected on the parallel between practicing Aikido, or any martial art for that matter, and riding a motorcycle. It’s all about building the confidence and skill to be able to handle any situation, no matter how challenging. We build confidence by practicing skills repeatedly, and by facing increasing challenges. Through this, we develop concentration and acute awareness. Since I started riding, through proper instructor-led training and practice, my concentration and awareness have developed to a level much higher than before. By putting myself out there on a motorcycle, and learning to manage risk via preparation, awareness, and skill, it has also helped my Aikido training: I am more acutely aware of what’s happening around me, and my techniques have become sharper.
When riding on long highways that aren’t that busy, there are long bits when I am alone with my thoughts, while still keeping an eye and an ear to my surroundings. It is somewhat meditative. I can work on understanding how my mind works, which is the point of meditation: to be more aware, more present. What is the bike doing? How is the road? Where can I move to in order to best position myself in relation to others, and to anticipate any risk? What is behind me? What’s the landscape like? What’s overhead? When shall I stop for a break? How far can I handle riding? What should I be thinking about? How is my breathing? What am I feeling? Of course, I take the time to meditate on each of these separately.
Learning to ride a motorcycle and riding around town is one thing, but touring the country for over a week is something else entirely. It is one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had in my life. I could keep going for weeks, months. I will definitely do this again.
Tomorrow, I’ll head to the Muskokas and Algonquin Park. I hear there are some wonderful roads for motorcycles there.
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