Monday, April 16, 2018

still in the mood to ride?













After following the plow over Wolf Creek Pass on the 4th of July, I stopped to take off the few warm clothes I had with me.  Sitting by the side of the road somewhere east of Pagosa Springs, I looked at my Z-1, and was amazed at what I had been through on it.  The tough ride had brought us together somehow, and as a plow passed on its return trip up the pass, I was amazed it was July, and I had been riding in a snowstorm, on two wheels.  With a moment to stop and reflect, and how the bike never missed a beat, nor did I.  And how next time I would be ready...
It was a blowing, raining, dark afternoon in the Panhandle of Texas on I-40.  On my Sprint ST, I stopped for gas in one of those unnamed towns just off the freeway.  All bundled up, and leaning against the bike so it wouldn’t blow over during fueling, I looked across at a family stuffed in a white Lincoln, the windows all fogged up.  And realized there was no way I would ever trade with them....
I had left Fargo on my Tiger heading west in a storm, for 191 miles I would be in stiff winds, hard rain, and cold, in the 40’s.  When it stopped and I gassed up and removed my rainsuit, I noticed the front tire scuffed up, on the right side, like a day at the track.  I had been riding side ways for so long it had scuffed it.  As dark as it was behind me, I was glad it was sunny ahead, even if it only was in the thirties.  Sun has a way of warming you after a cold rain, no matter the temperature.  A quick meal of mini donuts and a Coke and I was riding again...a big steak dinner awaiting me in Billings....
The sun behind me was so bright it was blinding me in my mirrors, but so dark ahead it was like midnight.  Then the downpour began, and getting of I-70 at Xenia, Ohio, I had to stop as a Mazda was at the bottom of the exit with water over its hood, but slowing, I kept going through it, and made it to safety, of sorts.  Pulling into a gas station, the overhang provided safety, until lightning hit the bowling alley a hundred feet away!  Helmet back on, I was out of there...and at my motel an hour later, checked in without showing ID or a credit card, I was so soaked.  The girl behind the desk understood, and I slept well that night, waking up to the sun shining in my room, with no sign of last night’s events.  I had fallen asleep thinking of the sirens I heard responding to the lightning strike, somehow so far away from the deep sleep I had just had.  With more rain to come.....
I had barely made it into Amarillo, riding up US 287, when the storm hit.  I had been in high winds with no place to stop, and even been hit by a tumbleweed, which carry some power.  At the Holiday Inn, the manager let me park my R90S in the lobby, which was good, as the wind blew my sliding glass door open, and taking off my boot, my left foot was purple to my toes.  With a new respect for tumbleweeds, and the next day was clear and cold, and I made it to my new home in Albuquerque the day before Thanksgiving.  You may ask what kind of fool would endure these riding conditions, but then you don’t understand those of us who ride, and our relationship with our bikes.  And the road....
Many safe motorcyclists would never ride in such conditions, might get there shiny leathers or new bike dirty.  Upset the image.  There are many safe Christians out there too, telling God how they want to serve him, then telling him how they want to serve him.  How they want to be like Jesus, and then find out how Jesus and his disciples suffered.  Suddenly a pastor hiding behind a pulpit telling them only good things is more appealing, and they live a life of being sheltered from the blessings God has for them.  Scared, and hiding, they won’t or don’t admit their fear, but have scriptures to back up their actions.  They behave like the 10 did that night after Jesus was crucified, scared and hiding in the same upper room where they had last seen him alive, some would abandon him in the garden, only a few were at the cross.  All but Thomas, who was nowhere to be seen that night, and who later questioned their story of Jesus appearing to them.  Maybe he knew them better than we do from the scriptures, as he doubted their words, and wanted proof.  We don’t know where he was that night, maybe out looking for the body wanting proof, or maybe street smart, not going to where the Romans and Jews knew they met.  He was street smart, and was out to weather the storm, but never alone.  Maybe he was not the doubter religion has made him out to be, for it is never written he doubted.  He only wanted proof.  Like those wanting proof of my riding in the storms, because it sounds unreal or unbelievable, we don’t stop for a selfie in the midst of the action, but we do pray while in it.  The storm may beat upon us, but we know Jesus is with us somehow, our testimony bearing it out, as we know and he knows.  And that is enough for me.  We are not performing to create a story to relate, we are living life with Jesus in it.  We are not out to prove Jesus lives, the spirit does that, we are just an occasional vehicle to share it.  Whether your audience believes us or not is not the point.  The moment in time was for us...and Jesus.
Consider your testimony, are the only or best times with God in church?  Or are they out every day in the storms where he is proving himself?  Too many tell us how to live but have never experienced life in Christ, only what they have been taught.  If you have never been in the rain in a rain suit, you don’t know the security of being warm and dry inside it while all hell is breaking loose outside.  Putting on a sweater when the AC gets too cold just isn’t the same.  Jesus promised us storms, or tribulation in our lives.  He never said you had to go through them alone, for he is always with us.  Somehow the greatest testimonies come from the hardest times, when we had no one else to turn to, when the storm was overwhelming us, and we saw Jesus.  Just like Stephen saw him calling him home, he is with us in every storm.  Some stay huddled in the boat in the storm like the disciples did, or upstairs, doors locked like in the upper room.  Afraid.  Not trusting.  Only Peter and Thomas dared step out, and religion has given both a bad time.  Want to get a bad name in religious circles, step out and lie life, experience Jesus, first hand.  The truth told, we need to be more like them both, to trust God, to seek him when we cannot find him, and not be afraid of what others think.  Or you can put on your sweater in church when things get hot....
Speaking of hot, the thermometer showed 124 degrees when we stopped in Needles for gas.  All the glue on my Arai melted and the molding fell off.  Arai claimed it was tested to 122 degrees....but that’s another story.  There are many moods to riding a motorcycle, just as there are many moods to knowing Jesus and being a real Christian.  Of course if you are a Christian rider you know what I mean....where will you be found when the time comes?  Just a thought.....from a guy who rides and knows about true shelter in the storm. 
God sent me a snow plow when needed.....so button up, the AC will be on in church soon, summer is approaching.  Better check my Arai....
love with compassion,
Mike
mattehw25biker.blogspot.com