Vacation Epiphany On The Open Road

Ron 0:04

Good day, my friends. Hey, let's take a deep breath, relax, and picture this. You're on a well-earned vacation, a motorcycle trip that you've been planning for for months. You're on your motorcycle and the highway is stretching out in front of you for your cross-country solo ride, and the tension from your stressful job is just starting to melt away. Relaxation, finally. Then, out of nowhere, the solution to that huge problem that you've been trying to figure out back at work smacks you in the brain like a fat June bug hitting your helmet. That problem at work that has not only kept you awake every night for weeks, but also the same problem that's been in the back of your mind since you left on the trip. But now you figured it out. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, on your motorcycle. Well, that's amazing. And that's just weird. You think to yourself, oh man, what if I'd figured this out before I left for vacation? Sometime during those countless hours that I was sitting in front of my computer racking my brain before I left. And more importantly, I could have fully enjoyed my vacation from the very beginning instead of having this problem back at work in my mind the past 400 miles. Can you hear the passion in my voice, my friends? That's right, because I've been that guy, and maybe you have too. So today we're going to be talking about how riding your motorcycle and experiencing your zen moment where all is right with the world may just help you to get unstuck before you go on vacation. A mindful state where you clear this mental fog and unlock high-definition thinking. A state of mind where your brain has room to breathe and room enough to figure out things on its own. We'll be talking about the value of writing and doing most anything for that matter, distraction-free. Because when that happens, with your brain free to do the work on your behalf without you even thinking about it, the results may be that you're the smartest person in the room. We'll see. Who knew that a motorcycle could do that for you? Well, let's talk about it. Stay tuned. Thank you for joining me today.

Fast Culture And Its Hidden Costs

Ron 2:42

Recorded in beautiful, Loveland, Colorado, welcome to Peace Love Moto, the podcast for motorcyclists seeking that peaceful, easy feeling as we cruise through this life together. Are you ready? Let's go. Most of us live our lives at 80 miles an hour. Metaphorically speaking, we're in a constant state of doing and doing quickly. In the corporate world where I spent most of my career, we were taught that fast is butter, whether it's writing software, executing projects, whatever. Have you ever heard of agile methodologies? Well, I once taught a class about it, but I must admit I didn't really buy into it. It was just my job to teach at that time. Agile was about making fast decisions, getting fast results, and even if you made mistakes. Fail fast, they would say. Faster is better. And of course, the boss reminds you of that these days, because now you've got AI to help you draft that report that's due today, right? So go, go, go, get it done. There's no excuse for being slow. Just a personal note Agile methodologies should not be applied to riding a motorcycle or learning to ride a motorcycle. The whole idea of fail fast and often, don't do that. Don't fail fast and often. There's an old joke that goes, if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving is not the sport for you. So maybe that maybe that applies to motorcycling as well. Well, back to the agile thing. I've realized that when you're failing fast, you're often too busy to work out to figure out why you failed in the first place. Yeah, I mean you'll eventually get to an answer, probably. But yeah, wouldn't it be best to research it first? Look back at your history. So on a motorcycle, we learn that smooth is fast, right? The smooth requires a clear head. And have you heard this from your boss? Back to the office example. You have that report ready for me, and uh you'll say, uh, what report? And then they'll say, The email that I just sent you

Stress Fog Vs Clear Thinking

Ron 5:10

about five minutes ago, I really need that report. So you so you throw something together, hoping that it makes sense, and yeah, hoping that nobody asks you any questions about it, because yeah, by the way, you're gonna be presenting it. Oh, I remember how I used to put together those last-minute presentations. Many times I did that and had to present it in front of a group, only to find out on my very first slide, the title slide, I'd misspelled something. The title page in the biggest print, right? Yeah, you double check everything in the whole deck. The the facts, the figures on each page, everything is accurate except the title that you find out in front of the group, and that's when you really feel like an idiot. You see, there's a cost to speed and the associated stress that comes with it. Being in such a rush creates a mental fog, and when you're stressed, your brain's creative pathways literally shut down. There's lots of studies about that. You aren't being smart when you're stressed, you're just being reactive. So maybe this episode won't help you if you've got to create a report in the next five minutes. But

The Case For Riding Slow

Ron 6:26

when it comes to allowing yourself to think things through, to consider all the angles, all the options for solving problems, I believe the best thing that you can do is hop on your motorcycle, head out for a little while, and here's the kicker. If you've got a really serious problem to work through, intentionally ride slow. I recently added something new to my garage, and no, it's not another motorcycle because my wife won't let me.

Three Benefits Of Slowness

Ron 7:06

It's an electric scooter. I got it about three weeks ago, and I've been taking it to my local coffee shop almost every morning. So by car, that coffee shop is about three miles away on the main road. So yeah, it's six minutes through town, including stoplights in the car. But on the electric scooter, I take the long way down the bike paths, which deviate from the main roads. That same trip to the coffee shop works out to be about six miles, about twice the distance going down the paths, and my average speed? About 10 miles an hour. Yeah, my scooter has a speedometer on it. I've ridden about 90 miles, according to the app that comes with it, on that scooter so far, and mostly to that one coffee shop. I carry a small backpack with me that has my ball cap that I put on after I take off my helmet. And no, I'm not wearing my motorcycle helmet, I wear a bicycle helmet. Anyway, yeah, carrying uh my ball cap and a book. I typically carry an American history book. I've been reading a lot of David McCullough stuff. I love travel books too, Lewis and Clark. Anything about travel. Yeah, I know. That's a lot of scootering, and it's a lot of coffee for that matter. But with these with these rides, I really noticed something strange. So I'm cruising along at 10 miles an hour, right? Sometimes eight. Sometimes if I'm feeling crazy, I'll go 12 miles an hour. But mostly I yeah, I'm following the bike path, so it's it's slow going anyway, and I like that. Now, common sense says that's very inefficient, a huge waste of time and money. I know what you're saying. You're saying, Ron, you're going to coffee shops too often, and you could if you have to go, then you could just surely just take a shorter route and take the car or take the motorcycle, you'll get there so much quicker. Yeah, I hear you. But here's what I've discovered. And I'll call these three benefits for being slow and inefficient. Let's call the first one the range paradox. So just like the scooter gets more miles per charge when you don't have it pinned full throttle, by the way, it will do 25 miles an hour. But it's the same thing when I don't pin it and go so fast. It's the same thing with my brain, I believe. My brain has more mental range when I'm not redlining it with stress. I just go straight mostly, slow and easy, when I'm out on that little scooter. I listen to the birds because it's so quiet. With that electric motor, you can hear the birds. Silent bliss. And when I do engage cruise control at 10 miles an hour, yes, it has cruise control too. I'm not only saving battery, in a sense, I'm saving me. So our second reason for going slow and being inefficient, let's call it the high resolution factor. So at 10 miles an hour, the world becomes really clear, like high-definition TV. I'm hearing the birds in the trees as I go along. I'm actually looking at the architecture of houses that would normally just be a blur. Much of the path I follow parallels the river that runs through our town, and this past three weeks I've seen dozens of pairs of beautiful mallard ducks and Canadian geese by the hundreds out in the fields. Yesterday I was cruising along on the bike and I spotted a bald eagle out there. Yeah, when you're riding slow, you see more things, and you see more things more clearly. And finally, this, the third benefit for going slow. I'll call it the the human connection. On the motorcycle, we have the biker wave, those two fingers down, and sometimes we do the peace sign. That's what I typically do, two fingers up for a peace sign when I'm passing somebody. But at 10 miles an hour on the path on a scooter, it's not just a wave or a peace sign. Sometimes it's a real conversation. And I love that. I'm usually slow enough that when I'm passing a walker, and you ring your bell, by the way, before you're about to pass a walker, so that they'll know you're coming, I get an opportunity to say hi. Hello, how are you? And hear a response back. And sometimes even stop and talk for a few minutes. That's happened any number of times. Because it reminds me that being, quote, smart isn't just about solving technical problems or being the most efficient. It's also about staying connected to the world around us, the wonderful people who are out there all over the place. Nature, how beautiful is that? And just being in an appreciative state, knowing that wow, how fortunate I am to have the mental and physical capabilities to be out here, whether you're on a scooter or a motorcycle. That alone is a real gift.

Mindfulness Regrets And Next Steps

Ron 12:34

Well, to kind of wrap up, here's what's been on my mind. Now at retirement age, I'm thinking a lot about the what ifs. What if I had discovered mindfulness earlier in my life? What if I had incorporated mindful thinking into my career and my motorcycle rides for that matter? Let's explore that next week. But until then, I just want to thank you very much for listening, telling your friends if you like it, and I really appreciate your feedback as well.

Thanks, Connect, And Sign-Off

Ron 13:04

Message me on Instagram. I'm out there. Uh it's Peace LoveMoto Podcast. And um yeah, send me an email. It's Ron at peaceelovemoto.com. I'd love to hear from you. Tell me where you're coming from and what you ride, all that good stuff. Love to meet you virtually, maybe in person someday. Who knows? But until next week, ride safe. Have fun. And I wish you peace. And I wish you love it.