Today, I want to share something that I saw last Saturday, on my way home from getting last weeks posts set up. I've been thinking about it all week.
There was a group of about 10-11 motorcycles driving down the highway, merging onto an exchange when I came into their midst, well...next to their midst. They were in the most intriguing formation. It was like a zig zag of sorts, but even that fails to describe it entirely. See photo above for a better idea.
I grew up around motorcycle clubs. A family at the church I grew up going to were leaders in a motorcycle club and we hosted rallies quarterly for them on our church grounds. I took rides with them. They were always around. But I have never. ever. seen anything like this. I was enamored.
As the front driver, with his partner on the seat behind him holding onto him while her blonde hair dashed in their wind, moved, so too moved his comrades. They filled out the lane entirely, as a car maintains the space in their own lane, they formed to create their own vehicle. I found out later that the lead driver actually acts as the pack-leader, watching for dangers, keeping track of the direction their group heads. But I didn't know this in fact, only in appearance at the time.
What I loved about this, what was so good and lovely and pure about it, was the group-ness of it. The all-for-each-other practice. I noticed one of the riders fall behind. Maybe on purpose to talk to one of the other riders, but as soon as he was done, he hurried back to his spot -- filling the place in the body that was for him to fill. To occupy. Each has his purpose. I could see the purpose of the first rider. We all could imagine. But I thought of the mid-riders, they fill the space, keep each other safe from other cars, vans, 18-wheelers. The guy on the last bike at the end: he was there, for sure he was there, but he trailed just a little. And it seemed to me that in his trailing, he was watching. Watching his friends, keeping an eye on the whole scene. He was the big-picture viewer. I would imagine he saw the most out of the whole group. I also found out later that these positions change throughout the ride. That the riders change throughout to stay fresh. When the leader needs a rest, another can take their place. Maybe this in more for-fun rider groups. I would imagine Hells Angels don't really rotate the lead. But who knows! Maybe they do ;) Maybe everyone involved would be terribly mad at me for all of these assumptions, but with my limited experience growing up, I am still a lay-man in terms of motorcycle clubs.
As the head moved, so too, the rest of the team. I thought of the personalities of each of the riders. What differences they may have had. And yet they ride together. They stay together. They help each other. You see the trope of the big biker dude with his toy poodle...maybe one of them filled that. Maybe one of them just lost his father-figure (like me). Maybe the couple in the middle just sent their youngest daughter off to college. Maybe one of them just likes the feeling of the sun on his leathers. Maybe they all do. They have a common interest, love. They found one another. Their people. They get together. It could be this was the only day for the year they could. It could be their once a week ride. It could be their "if it's sunny no matter what we're doing drop we everything and go ride" ride. I like the idea of the last one. Haha. It draws out the spontaneity I so love and crave to find in my routine-set days.
There are very few examples of this kind of camaraderie that I see these days. The non-profit I used to be a part of, Boy With A Ball, the one that specialized in community outreach & development is about the only other time I can think of that I've seen this kind of we-are-all-in-this-together type of mentality. And I didn't really realize it until I saw this formation. It was a good season of life. And while it's done in the time and place and way that I knew it, it birthed in me some love of seeing a community thrive.
In doing some more research on this type of formation riding, I found this really cool post explaining it in educated detail.
