Last night I left my motorcycle club at the same time as one of the other members, who was riding behind me. All was well until we left the village and were out onto the dark country roads. Things were still good right up until the moment a car came in the opposite direction, at which point I dipped my headlight from high-beam to main: suddenly no light - eek! All I could see was the car headlights approaching me, and the road had done a magical mystery disappearing act. Not a pleasant place to be, so I wobbled a bit and slowed down a lot as my stomach lurched. Then the car passed by, I switched back to high-beam and I could see again. Till the next car.
At this point, my friend obviously realised what was going on (perhaps my rather erratic riding gave me away!), overtook me, and proceeded to lead me back to my home town, bless him. To say I was grateful is an understatement: the road we were on is unlit and bendy - the sort of road that bikers usually really like, especially when they can see them! If it hadn't been for the help, I would have had a very slow and uncomfortable ride home to say the least. As it was, it became an interesting excercise in trust, as I had to completely trust my friend to be able to follow them in speed and direction - remember that bikes are rather more unforgiving than cars if you go into a corner at the wrong speed or angle.
It reminded me slightly of a trust exercise that we did at the NLP Practitioner training last week called "Falling Leaf": all you had to do was stand on top of a chair with your eyes closed, and fall backwards onto the linked arms of six people who caught you then gently rocked you down to the ground, just like a falling leaf. Easier said than done for a lot of people! I didn't have too much trouble, as I totally trusted the people catching me, and I knew exactly what to expect. In fact, I found the whole thing tremendously uplifting.
Despite the apparently comparative ease of following my lighted friend (who I also totally trust!), I found that situation just a little bit harder. Maybe it was the shock of the road suddenly disappearing whilst riding an inherently unstable vehicle at speed (no, not that fast, only about 50mph - fast enough!), or the sheer unexpectedness of it. Either way, I feel my friend and I both passed the test with flying colours. And now I'm off to buy a new bulb.
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