and I still do not understand the emotion behind this pleasure.
I have just finished a 1000 mile Blue Ridge mountain ride with you:
another time of solace, pleasure, beauty and adventure.
Those who have not done this motorcycle thing
do not understand the experience, and
even those who have,
are not always able to understand your allure
or articulate your many attractions.
I have known you now for 13 years.
I have traveled the length and breadth of this country on you, and you
have given me many, many hours of pleasure and excitement.
As I shined and cared for your metals, and your leather places
and I could feel the connection we have with each other.
25,000 miles together is, hopefully, just a beginning.
Others who see your gleaming structure comment,
"That's a beautiful bike," but
they do not feel or understand OUR connection.
I have named you "Liberty" because you have given me
a freedom from the labors of this life.
James Madison named his horse "Liberty"
and I understand his feeling towards his friend.
and leather, that emotion brings you, my friend, in a real sense, to life.
You have captured my respect and admiration as you have carried me through this nation as no one else has done or cared to do.
We have become partners in this experience I call "living."
I have used my knowledge of the dangers and obstacles to weave our adventures on the roads of this nation,
and we have done this together, as a team.
This is a bargain, a partnership, isn't it?
I will watch over over you with care and attention to all the intimate details you can't conceive of or take care of,
and you will give me the power and mechanical beauty to
carry me to new and different avenues of joy.
Can one thank something that is inanimate?
I think not, but I can praise our connection
and your many gifts to me as I travel, with you,
the roads of this brief life we have both been given.
James P. Weaver, 2013
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