I found this wonderful site while tracking down some information on Ted Bishop, author of the wonderful book “Riding with Rilke.”
The man behind the madness at Twisting Asphalt is Dylan Weiss. He has copious motorcycle credentials which you can read about on the site. He has this to say about “why blog.”
In all honesty, there are probably hundreds of reasons to start a blog in today’s world. Mine was really quite simple, “Twisting Asphalt” was born out of a personal need for another creative outlet – something that felt more individual and a bit more organic then a 45 minute cut-to-clock program.
At first this need for creativity lead to a very cluttered site, full of all kinds of chaotic details. My sense is that this is exactly how the vast majority of blogs begin, that is to say most blogs tend to start without much of a focus.
In the case of Twisting Asphalt, after a few months I came to realize that it already had a focus, I just didn’t know it. 90% of the time the words that I was putting down on the page tended to revolve around my strongest personal passion in life – motorcycles. Go figure, right? Thus began the first refinement of Twisting Asphalt.
There are a great many things that intrigue me about motorcycles; They have rich histories with the vast majority of today’s major brands having been born out of the ashes of World War II, they offer tremendous price-to-power ratios which rival quarter or half million dollar sports cars for a fraction of the price – that’s a nice way of saying they’re affordable rockets, and they also combine art, science, technology and aesthetics in a seamless and yet compelling manner which I personally both admire and find fascinating.
However when I meet people for the first time and they find out that I ride a sportbike – which I have to admit is fairly easy since just about every t-shirt I own is moto-related – what I tend to tell them is that my greatest personal attraction to riding is the actual ‘sport’ of riding itself. Some might call it the ‘art of riding’. It’s an activity, which resonates within me unlike just about anything else in life. It requires a dedicated focus, a tremendous amount of patience and a heck of a lot of practice in order to be proficient. You can’t just swing your leg over a bike and instantly be perfect. And of course it also offers amazing excitement and an awesome thrill factor. There are times when I climb aboard a bike, fire it up, and feel as if I’m actually defying the very laws of physics, yet riding a motorcycle can also be a completely introspective and individual activity. Inside a helmet you can simply ‘lose yourself’ in the moment. It’s a powerful and intoxicating combination that I could spend a lifetime trying to capture and articulate properly.
I like words and am always on the lookout for good writing. I like this from a post called The Evolution of Speed.
The wind blasts with gusts of spite that send the bike wandering from line to line. The concept of confidence scurrying with each untimely breath. Uneasily I try to tuck behind the fairing, minimize the surface area. But it’s no use. The wind it seems trumps all on day like today.
Trying hide from the chaos, I squeeze harder into the tank. Duck a little bit more. Tighten up. Shutter and hide. Yet it’s an utterly worthless activity - futile in fact - because right now the world is a storm and I’m simply being caught up in it.
As the swirling, chaotic, maddening adventure continues the road dives down the back half of the hillside and returns to the valley floor. As the vistas fall away and the orange groves grow taller, I find myself imagining a more enjoyable moment. A more magical moment. A more peaceful moment. Something that feels less work like and more relaxing. But then the next gust hits, tosses me from one edge to the other, and it becomes clear that greatness is simply not meant to be. Taking stock of the situation, I find myself subconsciously backing off on the throttle because tempting fate today doesn’t seem completely prudent.Three corners later, once the bike and I have mellowed out and found what little rhythm exists, my mind starts running through the last several days.
Nice.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Tags: TwistingAsphalt, Ted Bishop, Riding with Rilke, Dylan Weiss, Ducati, Ducatista
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