Lead With Your Nose

If you ride, you know that your feet and your hands are often the first part of your anatomy that is out in the wind. But quite often and quite unexpectedly, you find that you lead with your nose. How many times have you been watching the road, feeling the wind, and thinking about whatever, when some scent wafts up your nose? Sometimes is a subtle fragrance, like orange blossoms, fresh cut grass or onions being grilled at a greasy diner. Other times it slaps you up side the head! You ain't sure what it is... but you're sure its dead!

Often, when riding and these odors arise, it takes me back to others times in my life and I can vividly remember so many things. Today, for instance, I ran down a long, long black patch of new asphalt. That smell; the tar and oil rising up like a ghost from my childhood. To Ace, new asphalt is just a little bit of heaven on earth; so smooth, so new, so black, and that smell! Instantly so many childhood hot summer days are remembered. Speeding along on my bicycle with the ape hangers, banana seat and sissy bar. I'd tear up the neighborhoods dreaming of winning every imaginary race in dramatic and heroic fashion. Dreaming of the day when the cards on my spokes would be replaced by a real motor; one that was big and bad with loud exhaust pipes. Every so often as kids we'd get lucky to find a newly paved road and we'd marvel at how smoothly our tires would glide across the inky gravel surface.

It seems that one of the side effects from riding is this eternal connection to the past and present. One needs to stay in the moment to stay upright and out of the ditch, yet in spirit be connected to the history, the mysteries and the brotherhood of one.