Some opportunities present themselves once. The tradition of
Canada’s largest single day rally of Motorcycles in quiet little Port Dover,
Ontario is one such opportunity—for 2014 at least. If you missed the June event
you will have to wait until February 2015 before the doomy date rolls around
again.
The motorcycle descent on Dover is a tradition that was born
on November 13, 1981 when Chris Simons and a couple dozen friends gathered at a
local watering hole, had a great time and agreed to make it a ‘thing’ to do
whenever a Friday the 13th rolled around. Fast-forward thirty-three
years and Chris and his gathering of buddies has spilled over the confines of
the Commercial Hotel into the streets, the parks, the pier and beyond,
including a makeshift tent city that springs up in a Kinsmen sports park. Estimates are that more than 100,000 soul
moving machines of steel and chrome come together to carry on the tradition of Destination 13. Mike was among them
arriving on his classic, a Honda CB750.
I arrived in my own vehicle and like thousands of other four-wheeled
party crashers was stopped pleasantly at the edge of town by Provincial Police,
redirected to a cornfield and bussed-in to join the event. The irony of all those black and white rebel leather clad biker movies was not lost
on me in this moment.
And just to clear up the fuzzy detail of why I was not on
the bike with Mike—two very important factors: First, my ‘Motorcycle’ and my ‘Momma’
are not quite in sync yet. We’re not entirely finished raising the last of our
children into adulthood and I’m just starting to nurture some long supressed reckless
abandon back to life. A sustainable future of traversing the continent on two
wheels with my husband depends on a good introduction of short successful rides; this was not the day for my ride. The second reason I drove myself is the very cognisant understanding that
riding for Mike is therapy, meditation and how he gets his brain back; I have a
theory that any trouble he has with me is not going to be escaped with my arms
wrapped around his waist at 100km/hr. That’s a little like trying to run away
from your own stink. Twenty-two years of marriage has taught me that a little
space is some of the best affection I have to shower.
I could feel the benefits of his solo ride along the winding
roads to Dover when we met up in front of the Main street post office. I
couldn’t help but acknowledge that the ‘something in the air’ that is Port
Dover on Friday the 13th was also in my husband. A relaxed, no
worry, no judgement demeanour that saunters down the middle of the road
admiring the view and the sunlight glinting off candy apple paint and shined up
chrome.
There is something I discovered to appreciate wholly about
an event that draws a crowd as ‘walk-of-life-diverse’ as a biker’s rally, and
places you so completely in the company of good people who are good with life.
This
struck me right away and has remained; the amazing commonality in a crowd thousands.
Beyond the obvious affection for riding was a distinct absence of striving, a
peaceful ‘be here now’–ness which I’ve simply never encountered anywhere else
in my everyday living outside of my own personal stillness practice. It was
interesting that though Mike and I travel very different routes to inner peace,
here in this place the two came together in a single subtly of mind.
We lunched on the lawn of a beautiful Port Dover home with
soft grass and stately trees. It was an ideal side-street retreat from the sun
and the denser crowds. Gathered there with others resting we admired a steady
stream of riders leaving and arriving to and from destinations unknown.
I
closed my eyes for a moment and absorbed as much with my other senses as I
could, the sounds, the smells, the rumble of the motors and the songs of the
birds. I memorized the feel of the warm sun breeze on my skin and Mike’s hand
upon my back. This is what the world needs I thought, this right here and I
wanted to take it with me, every ounce and nuance of it—back with me from these
rally streets to everyday life. When they talk about how to change the world, I
am convinced the answer can be found in the collective peace of 100,000 souls
gathered together for no reason other than to be there.
Some opportunities present themselves only once—like life. I’m
very glad I didn’t let this one slip on by.
...to seizing opportunities!
Love
M
