The Empty Road

8

I just love the solitude of an empty road.

Sometimes when I go for a ride I am annoyed when there is someone sharing my road and I may even pull aside to get my solitude back.

I think one of the reasons I fell in love with riding the motorcycle was the somewhat forced isolation.

Although I am infinitely more vulnerable on the motorcycle and scooter, there is something so wonderful about just being alone with myself inside my helmet.

Even when you ride with others, unless you use an intercom system (no thank you), you are still somewhat alone when underway. There is no conversation, no distracting dialogue, just an opportunity to focus on the ride.

Even before I rode I used to love solo road trips in my car/truck. I didn’t have to worry about conversation or small talk. There were no questions, no explanations.

Just me and the empty road ahead.

Some people fear solitude, they seem to fear the quiet of being with themselves. They always need to surround themselves with a crown, either literally or through social media means more recently. There are people who can’t find a crowd to join, so they build their own. I don’t understand that simply because I’ve never felt it. Some people can be lonely even when they are in a crowd. Some people can be alone and not feel lonely at all. And of course, we can all feel both ways at various points in time. In general, I only suck at being alone from the standpoint that I can’t be bothered to cook for myself when Kirk goes out of town.

113 Photographs in 2013 – #55 Solitude