The Perfect Vehicle

The Perfect Vehicle

Melissa Holbrook Pierson asks the question "what is it about motorcycles?" in her first book The Perfect Vehicle. I found myself laughing and smiling while reading it on the vanpool on the way home from work. Pierson is an entertaining and great writer, her book reads more like a novel, though it's non-fiction. I went to the SF public library the other night and got the book (I'm always looking for a reason to go to the library) and did a little research about the history of motorcycles and what not. I picked up what looked like a children's book from the early eighties about motorcycles and was surprised to see it had really great illustrations and descriptions of various kinds of bikes and their beginnings. I also finally learned the difference between a 2-stroke and 4-stroke engine. I'd always wondered.

And now a reading from my favorite paragraph so far in Pierson's book - 'eh hem:

"So it begins. You learn the basics of how to ride, make mistakes, not too serious if you're lucky, learn some more, futz around. Buy a bike and learn to fix it, because the fixing and the accompanying flush of self-sufficiency are part of bikes' allure in an increasingly monolithic, unfixable world. Go on lots of rides, alone, with good friends and occasionally near strangers, and alone some more. Spend the week waiting for the weekend. Grow to love traveling so much you begin to feel that only by going places can you be at rest. Build a world made of maps and of dreams of using all of them."

And so it begins - see you gals on Saturday.