Thursday, November 19, 2015

more than a ride, less than a race






















Over the years I have ridden with many different people.  Some I never knew their name, but can remember what they were riding, and the road we were on that day, others I can see their face, but cannot remember anything else about them.  It’s funny how when I meet someone, and we look familiar to each other, I ask them either “where do you go to church, or what do you ride?”  It is never if you go, or if you ride, it is where and what.  Cruising over to see Tyson, my friend the GM at the local Triumph store, I met up with a young guy at a light, who loved the Bonneville I was on.  I cannot remember his name, because we never got that far, or his face inside his helmet, but I remember his Honda 919, that he said he loved.  Just another encounter, how many have you had that seem meaningless at the time, but you cannot forget?  Another young guy, Nate who sells at a multi line store, reminded me of me when we met.  He is young, and wants to ride with me, if he can keep up, he said.  He has more years ahead of him than me, but I have more miles, somewhere in between we’ll meet.  It also allows me to look back to when I started riding, and how it was all new and exciting.  Still is.  But the men I met then seemed so much older, tougher, and hardened by the rides.  Until the electric kick starter came along, these men had to kick everything, and some walked with a limp, from not finding TDC and the bike kicking them back.  I can still remember bruises from my encounters...I can remember how we would meet Friday nights in Bouke’s garage, and tune our bikes for the next day.  They didn’t need it, but when not riding, we could bench race while spending time with our bikes.  How many do that today?  But we did....and again faces fade, but I can remember the bikes.  No last names when introduced, just Mike or Bill, Slow Eddie, Gino, Biker Tony, BH, The Wild Man, or well, you get it.  Just by being there you were friends, and with bikes in common, you always had something to talk about.  Into the wee hours of the morning, and even though we got very little sleep, we rarely waited the next morning, no one was late more than once.  Being left behind and missing out on the stories of the ride next Friday night was just too much to bear. 
We never called them group rides, sometimes 3 or 4, sometimes as many as 10.  No rules, no pre-ride meeting, we rode.  We knew and respected each other, even if we rode different brands.  Or had different lifestyles.  It was expected you knew how to ride, and no one complained of someone going to fast, but you would hear about those going too slow in the corners.  Leaders changed positions, we all fueled up before we met, and when someone needed gas, he went ahead, pointed to his tank, and we knew to stop.  Very few destinations were planned, suggestions came from guys who had just taken a new road, or found a new place to eat with pretty waitresses.  We would stop at Harley stores, Honda shops, Kawasaki shops in old garages, and peel off as we each had a different schedule later.  We would just wave, no long good byes, and meet again next Friday.  No phone calls or invites, no one needed to be reminded, and we all looked forward to it.  And after a long week of work, bosses, rules and regulations, we rode in total freedom.  Our Friday night bench racing sessions and Saturday rides were more than a ride, but less than a race.  They were special...and the words to fully describe them escape me.
I don’t do group rides any more, I call them crowd rides.  Road captains, pre-ride meetings, always someone who forgot to get gas, or slept in to wait for.  Too many times only riding as fast as some newbie, or following someone so righteous they never speed, but find joy in having traffic back up behind them.  No bench racing, as many do nothing more than put gas in their bikes, and email or Instagram their news during the week.  No fiddling with setting the idle, checking tire pressures, or checking the oil.  They ride, but have no relationship with what they ride, and barely have one with who they ride with.  Maybe that is why I don’t do them, but ride alone.  Or with a certain few, who ride like I, Or we used too.  And still do.  No reminders of the time or place, or to get fuel, a mutual respect is their, never spoken, but shown to whoever cares to look.  Or who doesn’t.  A brotherhood, that today is missing, substituted by clubs, colors, rules, meetings, and crowd rides.  Maybe I am showing my age, but also my brotherhood. 
Being a Christian is more than ride, and less than a race.  It is personal, and too many don’t want it to be.  I find my private time with God to be valuable, I can listen better without a crowd, or someone telling me how to live or worship.  I find the freedom in riding a great precursor for a relationship in the spirit, with a lot less explanations.  Today so many have the education, Bible study note taking junkies, and their social schedule revolving around church events.  But very few get out and apply what they know.  We bench race on Friday nights, then got out and live it the next morning.  Today so many lack the application of their education, and seek more of God by more reading.  More teachings.  More church.  More prayer.  Not bad things, but it like sitting on the new bike in the show room, if you never ride it, you’ll never know what it can do.  Works with God too, if you never get out of the four walls of the church, you will never see all that Jesus can do in your life.  You will never get to meet fellow brothers who go to a different church, and get their insight.  You become religious by just listening to your pastor, your way of worship, your way to pray.  You miss encounters like I have, meeting fellow riders in parking lots, stop lights, or in showrooms.  You miss the fellowship you think you have by not getting out.  Your walk has become less than a ride, and little more than walk, maybe even a crawl.  I know too many men who are strong at church, but weak outside it.  They neglect to walk with the spirit, having to meet in groups.  They don’t share, they only invite others to church, where the pastor will tell them about Jesus.  Their walk never gets out of the box.
I try to be the same person in church as I am everywhere else.  If I need to apologize, maybe it is you that has the problem.  I have met and made many friends that I may never see again by being out in the world, just not of it.  Just like Jesus tells us, the great commission, as you go, share the gospel.  Jesus never invited anyone to church, he took the gospel to them.  He spent his life on the road.  Is it possible my pre-Christian riding was a great influence for taking Jesus out to the world? 
Next Sunday  you will meet in church, and sit in the same spot, with the same people.  With a service following the same procedures, you always know what is next, and a quick check of your watch tells you when it will end.  Please explain the freedom in that?  Where is the holy spirit?  The spontaneity of seeing God at work, instead of choreographed?  Are you among the first to leave so you can get to the store, and wait impatiently in line there?  Is that all you get out of church, getting out?   May I suggest a different way.  Listen to the spirit. And let him guide you.  Be bold enough to sit in a different area, meet new people.  Pray for them, maybe invite them to coffee after.  They may be waiting for an invite and you may be it.  Bench race about Jesus after church, and find it will become part of you outside of church.  The spirit is always with us, you are never alone.  But sharing Jesus makes it special.  More special outside of the church.  Are you listening?
So if you ask me to go for a ride, be warned, I have only one rule, ride your own ride.  And the same applies to Jesus.  Ride your own ride, get to know him, and quit being so religious.  You will find that the application of what you learned in church is more fun than hearing about it.  You can live it, and see others live it too.  Meeting together with a group of believers is fun, but living the life one on one with Jesus is where it is at.  Many times I have been able to share Jesus in non-Christian groups, without preaching.  They get to know God through me, not a church experience.  A sign hanging in my house simply reads, “live life in such a way that those who don’t know God, will come to know God because they know you.”  May I add riding, too.  Over the years we have gone to church with many people...how many do you remember?
love with compassion,
Mike matthew25biker.blogspot.com