Yup ... I did it! I said I was going to, and I did! I had just barely pulled into Price Chopper in West Rutland, when here came George Pressley on his Harley ... beautiful day + motorcycle ... well, I was tempted beyond my abilities. So I told George, "Yup ... I'm going to have to do it! Oh, I had something important I had to do, but it would have to wait. I went home, hopped on "Baby" and took a ride! I did a loop through West Rutland then Route 4 into Rutland, Evelyn Street, down River Street, back on Dorr Drive, past the college (that's one real nice curve just west of the convent, huh?), and then headed home just about the time it was getting cold enough to bite just a little. But once the bare patches of skin turn numb, it's not so bad, and I couldn't resist a quick detour down to Chippenhook and back, just to visit a "trusted" old friend of mine.
"Trust Bend". Yeah! That's what I would call it! Oh, it's not a "great" bend, as far as bends go; not particularly impressive to look at. It's not a very big bend; or even very long (you're in and out of it in about a second). It's not really a hairpin-turn-type-of-a-bend, although it does have a pretty good twist to it. Anybody who claims to be a biker travels around hundreds, no, maybe "thousands" of bends in time, and most bends, we pretty much take for granted and don't really give them much thought. And Trust Bend ... well, for the most part, it's just another bend, but over the years I've come to think of it as a "trusted" old friend.
It's kinda like people. Think of all the people you saw today. Think of every one of them. How many? ... five? ... ten? ... fifty? ... a hundred? ... thousands? Think of each and every one of them ... individually! How many can you remember? How many left enough of an impression on you so that you'll have a lasting remembrance of them, or even just remember that you saw them today? One? ... two? ... five? certainly no more than ten!? "People are people"! right? Oh, there are a lot of people who make an impression on us. The world has a lot of charismatic, colorful, high-profile people, but when you consider the number of people you see, and the number of them who actually impress you ... well, I guess impressive people are a minority.
Isn't it funny, though, how some people impress you, and you don't know you're being impressed? You can work with some people, socialize with them, or associate with them, for months, even years, without giving them much thought. It's not a matter of being negligent, or insensitive. It's just that ... well, you just deal with so many people, that you tend to take most of them for granted, and don't really give them much thought. But some people have a way of leaving an impression on you when you don't even realize it. It happens over a period of time, as you become more familiar with them, as you get to know them better. You come to trust them, and without realizing it, you get to thinking of them as friends, and you may even realize at some point that you're impressed by them. I guess I'd call them, "nonimpressive impressive people".
Trust Bend is like that. It's a "non-impressive impressive bend". In the almost 30 years I've lived in this area, I must have gone around that bend hundreds of times without giving it much thought. I've done it by car, by truck, by bus, I've walked it, and ... ah ... oh, yeah ... I've taken it on a motorcycle. Oh, yes! ... on a motorcycle!! Lots of times! And I never get tired of it.
After all these years, I've come to realize that I'm impressed with that little bend. It's unique. It has character! Trust Bend is a "blind" curve. It's where 3 roads meet at an intersection, and it's only impressive if you take it coming from Chippenhook in the south, heading north toward Clarendon Springs. It's taken years for me to actually become impressed with it. You see, I had to get to know it well enough to "trust" it. That meant I needed to travel it time and time again, on different vehicles, at different speeds, until I knew exactly what to expect from it.
Passing through the intersection, you bear to the right, and as you come into the bend, the road banks slightly, just before shooting up a small rise. On the right side of the road, right at the top of the rise, the trunk of a tree blocks the view of the oncoming road, making it a blind curve.
The tree is close enough that you think if you take the bend too sharply, and lean too far, that you're going to whack your head on it. Actually, you have plenty of room, but, still, it's hard to resist tucking your head in just a little. And, you can't see what’s coming around that bend and over that hill. You simply have to "know" what’s there and what’s not there; you have to "trust" it.
Right at the top of the rise, as if marked by the tree trunk, the road abruptly flattens and straightens out. Now, on a bike, this creates a really neat sensation when you take the curve at, oh, say ... 30-35 NTH. You come into the bend, lean right, and roll-on the throttle right at that point in order to become a part of the curve and feel the full effect of the force as you shoot upward. Then, right at the top, just as you pass the tree, you straighten up and level out. It's a little like the sensation you get going up an escalator when the stairs level out at the top. Better, it's like passing from one dimension into another. Imagine diving from a high cliff and about halfway down, suddenly finding yourself leisurely walking on solid ground. That's the sensation; from "rush" to "calm". Actually, I suppose if you really cranked up the speed on an escalator ... Nah! ... Just not the same.
You can't really enjoy the bend, though, until you're familiar enough with it to "trust" it. It all hinges on "trust". If you don't know Trust Bend, you tend to slow down when you come into it, and then labor up it, straining to see what’s ahead, out of sight. Because you can't trust it yet, it becomes a chore just going around the bend, and it's not particularly enjoyable. But after you've driven it a few hundred times, you "know" what’s around the bend. You know that the road straightens and flattens, and that you won't go into a skid and drop your bike. You "know" that there really is enough room for you, even if there is an oncoming vehicle in the other lane. And knowing it, you "trust" it.
Turning it back around, it's kinda like people. You might work with somebody, or associate with them, a long time -maybe years -- before you realize that you've come to "trust" them, that they have made an "impression" on you, and that you enjoy their company. If you don't trust a person, you don't enjoy being with them. It all comes down to "trust".
Several years ago, a man opened a grocery store near where I live, and he sold gas there too. So, I stopped in and asked him if he'd let me buy gas by check. He said, sure, after I do business there for a while, say a few months, and he gets to know me. I could understand his position; not "knowing" me, he didn't feel he could "trust" me. 'Course, the guy lost an 80 gallon a month customer (I never did buy gas from him). By and by, he closed down, and some new people re-opened the store. So, I went and asked if they'd let me buy gas by check, and they said, "Sure"! They didn't know me real well, but they knew who I was, and that I was local. As we got to know each other more, our trust in each other grew. Not only did I end up buying a lot of gas from them, but a lot of groceries, pizzas, soda, movie rentals, and so on, and we even turned out to be good friends.
One thing that we in the Motorcycle Rights movement absolutely have to do is this: "We have to trust each other! To do that, we have to get to know each other. We have to ride together; to work together; to play together. Everything we do together in FOR-VT is important. Whether it's campaigning, planning events, putting on events, or just riding as a group. This is how we get to know each other; to trust each other. There was a time when I didn't think the social aspect of it was very important. It seemed to me it was more important to become a strong, influential political force. That is important, but before we can realize unity, we have to trust each other.
For example, take one of the simplest functions we do together; group riding. I have a pretty good knowledge of the riding habits of a number of members in our chapter. One guy might like to be up front. That's OK, I know where he'll be. Someone else might be more comfortable in the right side of the lane rather than the left. Good! If he or she is comfortable there, they'll ride better. Another rider might tend to see-saw back and forth, and still somebody else might like to use the whole lane in the twisties. OK, I just make sure I leave them the room they need, and not climb up on them going into a curve, and I remember to glance over my shoulder before I weave in the lane. Everybody has their own unique riding style, and that's OK.
The thing is, the more we get to "know each other, the more we can "trust" each other to be where we expect them to be. And the more we trust each other, the better the ride gets. We need that in FOR-VT. Let's Do it!
Oh, you know that "something important I had to do"? You're reading it. And, the ride was great!! And to you, George, "Merci, mon Ami"!