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Did you know that a fresh can of shaving cream (at least in travel size) will explode when you first press it? BLAM! Shaving cream.

This is one of those mornings where you let the shower go on a little longer just because it's warm, and not you. Every morning when I wake up, I stare out the crack in the motel curtains where I lined 'em up so the sun would hit me. I stare out at the sun.

The horizon's just a figment of your perception. But what it hides, well, that's what you ride toward and hope. Somehow, if you ride far enough, it never seems to let you down.

Biker waves:
The Midwestern High Wave:
Work glove, palm out, hand up, arm up.

The Big Bike Wave:
Thick glove, palm out, hand down, arm down.

The Cruiser Wave:
Leather glove, palm inside, hand down, arm down. Quick sweeping extension along the angle, and back.

The Low Key:
Two fingers up off their resting spot on the clutch.

The West Coast Laid-Back:
Two fingers out on a lazy version of the Cruiser.

This list is in no way accurate or reasonable. And I bet those East Coast riders ride with their thumbs up their butts and can't wave to you anyway.

Holy shit, I'm so close to the Gap! STOKED!

--

Down, down, down, always down, until I thought I could not go down any farther,
Then, onto the turnpikes and interchanges, in and out of ramps and underpasses until I'm pointing where I want to go,
Out to parkways where the sun is shining and the weather is clear, motorcycles becoming more and more frequent,

And a road that gets tighter and tighter. A two lane road that suddenly opened up to a view of a lake. And I know I'm so close. Excited. I can smell evergreens, and this road gently winds around the shores of this lake. Everything here is so beautiful.

I don't even notice, really, when the motorcycle resort (how about that) sign goes by on the left. And then, my eyes process the "dragon" on it. And suddenly I realize I'm there. The music vanishes from my head, wiped clean by a wave of pure intensity.

Remember, what you said. Not to lay it down. If you just lean over far enough, the turn becomes straight. Here we go. Look up. Look up out of the corner. Quit looking at everything and just look down the road.

Holy shit, that guy's awesome! Look at that knee puck! And then he upshifted and--
Dude, he's wrapping himself around that fucking corner! Holy shit!

Okay, okay.

A welter of emotions. A butterfly hovers in front of me for a second and then vanishes. The trees are everywhere. Every turn, nearly, is a switch back. Every corner bringing more after it. I'm taking it easy, following this guy on a cruiser, but others behind me are fed up and overtake. This is a road so tight you can use the word "overtake" now.

So I pull up too. A Yamaha rocket goes by and the guy taps his head. Up there's an interceptor. Another guy goes by, on another turn, and waves us slower. There's actually a semi trying to take this. We melt around it.

And all these corners, by the way, melt into my brain. I've got so much adrenaline going through me I can't even breathe without feeling the powered up hand in my chest. Pushing and pulling with my breathing, thumping with my heartbeat.

Holy shit, I'm so stoked. And I'm at least 20mph slower than you can take this road, if not 35mph.

And so I know, even as I pull up to the Tail, where the road forks into the Hellbender and the rest of the Dragon, that I'm not good enough for this road. I'm not good enough to be here. But I am here, and so I'd better learn. I might be here for a while.

(13:51:40) Sccr182: lishdflhslifsf
(13:51:47) anosoukanoinu: HOLY FUCKING SHIT
(13:51:51) anosoukanoinu: LOOK AT THIS FUCKING ROAD
(13:51:57) anosoukanoinu: HOLY
FUCKING
SHIT
(13:52:00) anosoukanoinu: AWESOME
(13:52:01) Sccr182: lol
(13:52:01) anosoukanoinu: DANGEROUS
(13:52:04) anosoukanoinu: HOLY SHIT
(13:52:08) anosoukanoinu: phew.
(13:52:10) Sccr182: where the fuck are you
(13:52:11) anosoukanoinu: HOLY SHIT
(13:52:18) anosoukanoinu: Dude, I just went through the dragon
(13:52:21) anosoukanoinu: HOLY SHIT
(13:52:26) Sccr182: wtf is the dragon
(13:52:30) anosoukanoinu: www.dealsgap.com
(13:52:35) anosoukanoinu: The reason I came out here
(13:52:37) Sccr182: oh
(13:52:42) anosoukanoinu: HOLY SHIt
(13:53:25) anosoukanoinu: Dude, some of the people here are fucking good
(13:53:50) anosoukanoinu: you might have to tell pat I'm going to be here for a while
(13:53:53) Sccr182: lol, grow upo around one of the most dangerous roads in north america and youll be good too
(13:54:04) Sccr182: fuck how long?
(13:54:11) anosoukanoinu: Yeah, dude, hillbilly accent and then fucking wrapping themselves around the corner
(13:54:16) anosoukanoinu: shit, I don't know
(13:54:23) anosoukanoinu: what day is it
(13:54:32) anosoukanoinu: let's see
(13:54:35) Sccr182: may 19th
(13:54:37) anosoukanoinu: do I have a week of leeway?
(13:54:53) Sccr182: what do you mean
(13:55:05) anosoukanoinu: well, I gotta be back or paid up by june 1 right
(13:55:15) Sccr182: yeah i guess
(13:55:35) anosoukanoinu: let me see how long it'll take me to get back
(13:56:20) anosoukanoinu: okay, so it's 1800 miles
(13:56:25) anosoukanoinu: if I do 600 miles a day
(13:56:31) anosoukanoinu: it should take me 3-5 days
(13:56:34) Sccr182: youll be soar as fuck
(13:56:46) anosoukanoinu: nah, 1000 is sore
(13:56:50) anosoukanoinu: 800 hurts
(13:56:55) anosoukanoinu: 600 isn't too bad
(13:56:58) Sccr182: lol ok
(13:57:10) anosoukanoinu: hopefully fucking texas won't eat my brains
(13:57:34) anosoukanoinu: so, if I leave this sunday I should make it

Yeah, I'm gonna ride this road as much as I can. Gonna try to get faster. Gonna try not to die.

There's a lot of plastic on the Tree of Shame--but this is what I came for.

(yes - roundabout)
Let me tell you a story about Lew and the bikeinest dog in the world, Punky. There's already one sportbiker down on the Dragon, but he's all right. Upshift and keep going.

Lew's reached his 70th year, and he's a man who's seen the tips of America, from Ushinaia to Fairbanks. And so has Punky, who's made it to 15. Punky sits on the tank bag, leashed to Lew's neck, and if he falls Lew just grabs him, hanging on the side of the bike, and he sits again.

When Lew retired, he decided he'd had shit enough of obligations, and took his pay and rolled on out with a used 2000 Kawi dual-purpose. He headed from Florida, out to Utah, to the West Coast, up to Fairbanks, Alaska, then back down through Mexico, down the isthmus, then through the western countries of South America.

On the way, his dog died once, nearly lost his lungs to a Malamute, Lew met a Peruvian lady with whom he stayed nine months and married, and met the strangest of people. Some travelers, and some not.

Believe him or not, the dog and he stand side by side, and he's got eyes that lock on to what they're looking at. I think he and his dog have seen the miles they're speaking of.

I'll finish it later. I need to get out there again.

I need to ride the Skyway, and the Hellbender, and the Gap, and I need to see speed!

sakura

Lyrics:
词：acchu iwata
Music:
曲：nirgilis

夢心地も朝一番に
yumegokochi no asa ichiban ni
There's a dreamlike feeling even, at first, in the morning

差し込んだ光と終わってしまう恋
sashikonda hikari to owatte shimau koi
The light that shone in, and the tenderness about to end...

明日からは別々の道
ashita kara ha betsu betsu no michi
From tomorrow on we go our separate ways

てそんな突然心の準備が出来ない
tesonna totsuzen kokoro no junbi ga dekina--
But "just like that" my heart can't prepare itself so quick--

深すぎて
fukasugite
Too intense--

直接心に触れられない
chokusetsu kokoro ni furerarenai
It can't touch my heart directly.

Cherry blossom
Cherry blossom

手を振る君の肩に
te wo furu kimi no kata ni
My hand on your shaking shoulder

サヨナラFALLIN LOVE
sayonara fall in love
Say goodbye--fall in love.

Cherry blossom

独りきり
hitorikiri
All alone,

吐息が紡ぐメッセージ
toiki ga tsumugu messeji
A sigh spins a message into thread:

サヨナラFALLIN LOVE
sayonara fall in love
Say goodbye--fall in love.

聞こえるかな？
kikoeru ka na?
I wonder if you can hear me?

空っぽなこの広い世界に
karappona kono hiroi sekai ni
To this hollow, vast world,

語りだす瞳は　あのままで・・・
katari dasu hitomi ha ano mama de
My pupils speak out "like that"...

僕は見つめ　そっと微笑む
boku ha mitsume sotto hohoemu
I stare intenly and smile quietly

なんでそんな　シャンと立っていられるのかな？
nan de sonna (schoen) to tatte irareru no ka na
Why can't I be standing so beautifully?

縮まらない
chijiimaranai
[This world] It won't get any smaller,

何かを僕らは知っていたの？
nani ka wo bokura ha shitte ita no?
But what did we know about it?

Cherry blossom

どこまでも
doko made mo
No matter where it goes to,

舞い散る君の声に
maichiru kimi no koe ni
To your dancing, scattering voice,

サヨナラFALLIN LOVE
sayonara fall in love
Say goodbye--fall in love.

愛おしき
itooshiki
To this sweet

この空へ
kono sora he
sky

吐息が紡ぐメッセージ
toiki ga tsugumu messeji
A sigh spins a message into thread:

サヨナラFALLIN LOVE
sayonara fall in love
Say goodbye--fall in love.

Cherry blossom

途切れない
togirenai
This uninterruptible

悲しみの果ては　どこ？
kanashimi no hate ha doko?
sadness, where does it end?

サヨナラFALLIN LOVE
sayonara fall in love
Say goodbye--fall in love

Cherry blossom
Cherry blossom

涙　すべて忘れて
namida subete wasurete
Forget all your tears,

今からFALLIN LOVE
ima kara fall in love
and from now on fall in love.

届きますか？
todokimasu ka?
Will this reach you?