White Line Tonic
Posted in Neutral on Mar 20th, 2009
Jesus, I’m a mopey motherfucker. I’m almost embarrassed by that last “poor-widdle-me” entry. I actually would be embarrassed if I didn’t like how I wrote a few passages from it. That “warm, buttery light” line may have been pretty cheesy, but it also strikes me as being just a little bit Hemingway-esque, so I’m perhaps inordinately proud of it, so it stays. Anyway…
I got out and about on the bike again today and it’s got me in a little bit better mood. Went over to my mom’s house and did some chores around the house for her — there’s nothing like sanding varnish off a dining room table to help get your aggressions out — and then I got to play in rush hour traffic on the way home. The traffic was the fun part, the healing part.
I’ve said here before that one of my favorite things to do on two wheels is lane-splitting. It’s razor’s edge riding with no margin for error, but when you get into the rhythm of it it’s like the cars part in front of you like the Red Sea for Moses and you’re following a lighted path through them. That’s how it was for me today.
I only lane-split for about 15 miles, but it was on the 110 and 101 freeways through downtown LA, so every bit of it counted. My GPS says it took me 20 minutes to cover the distance with an average speed of 45 mph, so I guess I made it count. All I know is your problems tend to disappear when you’re flying through a 48″ wide gap with creeping cars on either side and you know one of them could change lanes in front of you at any moment. It really helps clear your head.
It works even when Malibu at night doesn’t.
