"The Death Trap"

The sun is scorching through the clear cloudless skies, making the black tar covering the pavement boil as if the pits of Hell itself were directly beneath. Not even a simple deer would brave it across the 10 feet of blackened highway. The only shade available would be provided by the immense oak trees scattered alongside the ditch on either side, but with the blinding sun directly above, there is not one patch of shade covering the highway for miles. In the distance a faint, but constant roar can be heard. The sound resembles that of 1,000 demons screaming as they chase their prey. The sound is getting louder and louder and as if no time at all had passed, the beast flies by, scorching the very pavement as if it were aflame itself. Just as soon as it could be seen, it disappeared into the distance once more. What was this monstrous creature? Could it have been a demon from the tales we heard as children? No, this was no demon, but a mere mortal man, a man on a mission, a mission to ride. To find freedom, to chase his passion and to escape the everyday monotonous life that many are forced to accept. This freedom he had been tirelessly searching for could be found sitting atop 2 wheels as the engine below screams down the highway, cutting effortlessly through the wind as if it were a warm knife through butter. The heat from the sun desperately trying to catch up to him as he leaves it choking in the dust behind him. The smell of the warm grassy air fills his nostrils as he burns through every twist and turn as if it were nothing more than a slight bend in the road grinding bit by bit from the pegs beneath his feet. As he grasps the throttle and pulls back, his heart races and the blood in his veins pump with force through every inch of his body with every lunge the bike makes. With every gear he shifts through, the hair on his neck raises and his determination increases. He is unstoppable, he is mighty, and he has found exactly what he had been looking for... freedom... He is me, never looking back.

The road... anywhere along the road. This is where I'd rather be. Grabbing my black, full face modular helmet, sliding down into my leather seat of my Shadow and hitting the ignition and hearing that engine spark and fire into a roar of life. The rumble beneath me, stretching from head to toe to the tips of my fingers, wrapped around the grips. I squeeze the soft rubber of my grips and step it down into first as I hold the clutch in and feel the click of first gear. It's not just a sound, it's a jolt through your leg up to your brain. It's the green light in your head to pull back that throttle and release the clutch and launch down the road. The winding, twisting curves of every turn. The trees and grass and bushes of each side. Maybe fences surrounding fields to keep in cattle or horses. The black and grey pavement and tiny cracks that pass by. The yellow lines, be it solid or strips, leading the way as you glide by. The fragrance of the grass and pastures hidden in the wind. The smell of oak and pine trees and flowers, of pollen and fire wood. That unexplainable smell of a brisk wind that hits the senses and relaxes the body making you feel one with the road. Every smell leaves a sweet taste of the outdoors in the back of your pallet. Maybe reminding you of another memory like the firewood and a BBQ. You may have remembered that BBQ joint back home that served the best pulled pork you've ever found. Your mouth waters at the thought. You feel the wind rush past your entire body, blowing and crashing into your chest and legs. You feel the bike rumble as you throttle up and down, gliding over the pavement through dips and valleys, hills and curves. You feel the foot rest touch and drag along the road as you turn hard into a sharp curve. Scrapping and sparking along the pavement. The whoosh of the wind rushing by. The roar of the engine turning spark into energy and fuel into feel. As you throttle hard, the bike picks up and pushes you back with the new found momentum. Nothing else matters... I forget every problem that may be pressing me. Every person that may be throwing what they can at me, trying to bring down my spirits. I fade away from any frustration or pain I may have and melt into the road itself, never looking back. I escape from the troubles in life and find new, more effective ways to live and progress. New thoughts, new emotions. I rise into my own personal Nirvana leaving my worries behind in the dust of the road.