Awesome things

There’s a great blog called 1000 Awesome Things in which the author posts about everyday experiences that are in some way special, or ‘awesome’. Well written and entertaining, the blog is hugely popular (over 3.5 million hits so far) and is definitely worth following. So cruise over there for a look (once you’re done reading me, of course).

Anyway, I was thinking about that premise – the sum of those events, big and small, that form our collective experience and, more specifically, that fuel our addiction to motorcycles and motorcycling. You know the ones – those you tell friends and family about because they are exceptional, out of the ordinary, or totally unexpected.

In that context we all have our own list of awesome things, and here are a few of mine.

1. Overcooking it going into a corner, then pushing hard on the inside bar to drop the bike further and further into the slot until, foot pegs scraping, you apex the turn and start to straighten out, able to breathe again. Pushing the limits of modern tire technology – awesome. 

2. Riding the Yellowhead Highway West from Edmonton. The rain stops, the sun breaks through the clouds and the Rocky Mountains fill the horizon before you. At that particular moment, all is right with the world, your bike, and you. Living the moment - awesome. 

3. A cager stopping to help when you are broken down at the side of the road and driving you 20 miles back into town for parts. Then sticking around to make sure your repairs are successful before continuing on his own journey. Good Samaritans - awesome. 

4. Strangers in a campground inviting you to share their table and a full course meal after weeks of beans and hot dogs cooked over a campfire. Fellow travellers of the road - awesome. 

5. The police officer who chases you for 5 miles on a winding road, not to give you a ticket (although well-deserved) but just to see what you’re riding and talk bikes for a while. And then, as he leaves, tells you where he’ll be parked with his radar gun for your return trip. Sympathetic cops - awesome.

What would be on your list? Please share in the comments.