Two-Hour Adventures

I Wish I had Time to Ride

On many mornings the desire to ride collides with limitations of the clock or myriad responsibilities. A day long ride isn’t possible. Without a riding plan or goal my motivation to gear up, pre-check the bike, and get on the road can wane leaving me discouraged, frustrated, and sometimes grumpy. So what can I do when I don’t have a lot of time?

I can just get on the bike and go. Somewhere, nowhere, just focus on going down the road. Does it really matter where or for how long? It shouldn’t but it does. In art school I learned that practice matters, especially to overcome procrastination or creative blocks. Creating a plan to do something can motivate me to the point where interest and passion will take hold and good things will happen.

That’s how I came up with the idea of two-hour adventures. The Royal Enfield Himalayan and I ventured out into Rothrock Forest to see if two hours is enough for an adventure.

Building a Model of Adventure

For a long time I suffered a bit in not being able to embark on a real adventure. Like riding to Alaska, crossing the country, heading south to the Blue Ridge Parkway, or even spending a day exploring the beautiful roads of Central Pennsylvania.

I sat down and thought about what is an adventure? The dictionary described three elements that comprise an adventure.

• An Exciting Experience: An event or activity that breaks away from the normal daily routine.
• An Encounter with Risk: An enterprise or undertaking that involves unknown dangers, uncertainty, or a chance of failure.
• A State of Mind: An inner desire, attitude, or willingness to step outside my comfort zone and explore the unfamiliar.

What it didn’t describe is time or distance. Did I really need to spend days or weeks to have an adventure? And did it require riding hundreds or thousands of miles? Those elements certainly could be part of a fine adventure but I began to think I could build a model that could have the essential elements in a tiny container of time and distance.

If I were in the right state of mind.

An Old Friend

Outside an old cabin is a fox carved into a tree stump. My wife found it years ago while looking at ground pines and other mosses. I’m surprised it’s still around and hasn’t evaporated in the decay that can consume a tree stump so quickly here. Wandering around to look at it is definitely. A departure from my normal daily routine. And getting on a motorcycle or scooter always introduces risks, danger, uncertainty, and a chance of failure on a variety of levels. It’s why riding has some built in support for adventures.

Writing Things Down

To make things real I have to write them down. My brain is an unreliable depository of ideas, plans, names, todo lists, and pretty much anything requiring accurate recall. It’s why I make written lists, write in a journal, and post to this blog. When my ideas are converted to words on a page it’s much easier to see the opportunities and flaws in my thinking.

The easy part is the time restriction. Two hours. Enough time to ride a hundred miles if I never stop to take a picture or look around. Or have a snack. Suddenly a desire to ride is now contained within a two hour box. It’s a start.

The more difficult part of the puzzle is where will I ride. Into town? The State Forest? Up through the Amish valley? To breakfast? Or decide to alternate left and right turns at intersections of main roads and see where I end up.

So many choices.

It was great to get out and experience the autumn on the Himalayan.

The Adventure

I decided to make a big circle riding through Rothrock State Forest and out into Penns Valley, over Nittany Mountain and back home. A 35 mile loop. Included in my plan was a stop at Barnes & Noble for breakfast but I stopped too often to take pictures. Each stop consumes about 5 minutes. I stopped five times for pictures. Four times to look around. That ate up almost an hour of riding time. All part of the adventure.

Home with a Smile

Just a few miles from home I stopped to consider my choice of motorcycle, the weather, the view, and the idea of the two-hour adventure. I definitely had fun despite the time constraints. I wasn’t frustrated that I didn’t get to have breakfast and was happy to see a little more of the quickly fleeting autumn.

I think I have a new tool in my riding pocket. A quick and reliable way to recharge my mental and spiritual batteries. And perhaps a real value if I ride into winter where the idea of being out all day is unnerving.

Next time I am going to see how the model holds up riding in town and never venturing into the forest or mountains. I wonder if place matters in an adventure?