So I got home safely, it was likely to happen… however the plane driver operator pilot did his best to make me doubt it.
You know, I’m not sure turbulence is a real thing. It feels like the whole plane had just landed on cobbles but you are thousands of feet up and passing through air, not known to behave like victorian rock roads. I think the pilot just gets bored and announces to the cabin that there is some “turbulence” approaching. As if they just looked out the window and saw a herd of cattle.. “Oh look, some cattle at 35,000ft…” casual. And then the pilot and his piloty mates exercise the biggest con in aviation. I bet there is no such thing as turbulence, I bet the pilot just wobbles the steering wheel direction adjuster flying stick until he gets a few people to shriek or until he thinks the air hostesses will coo over him and stroke his arms saying “you’re such a skilled pilot to have controlled the plane in such terrible turbulence!” Maybe my imagination has wandered off on its own…
Well now I’m back in the Real World ™ I spose I had better go back to work. You might be reading this thinking I’m just going to go off on a post-holidaic-bluesy rant… But I’m not. I recognise that its only possible to truly enjoy the good times when you have to work to get there. Drawing a parallel with motorcycling – because all the best pseudo-realisations in life can be described metaphorically – if you haven’t biked through the wind and rain, hail and fog, put effort into achieving your destination, you won’t appreciate the amazing feeling of warm feet, a relaxed pint and a good view.
Motorbiking is just in me. So is climbing, but Climber Matt™ is on pause for now. I thought it was SO in me, built into my soul, that I would never forget how to ride. And certainly, I can ride any bike (please offer to test me) but my bike had a surprise for me. Actually it was more like I had a surprise for myself because the bike hadn’t changed while I was away. I got on and started her up; sounds familiar. Threw my leg over; yep I remember the weight and position of all the major organs. But when I started off, I nearly crashed her! The bike I have had for 7 years, I nearly drove her into a wall! It was a massive shock to me. I hadn’t thought any different, just jump on and away we go, but riding a bike half the size and a 1/6th the power for a month had conditioned me into a false sense of security. I was used to ragging on the throttle and smashing through the gears, mercilessly revving the nuts off the engine to get it to do anything. The little Win could do little to unseat the devil on its back but my bike could show me who was boss. Yes, I was boss, but only if I was respectful. Once I had calmed down and exercised the correct level of control and respect we got on fine again. She still bucked and twitched when I messed up but it was nice to ride her again, a proper machine.
After a few days we are now the best of friends. My morning commute is made so much more enjoyable because I’m riding her. Not even the rain can get me down because I keep in mind that soon I’ll have my reward, once the hard work is done.