Myth and Motorcylces- Buddy Powers

In C.S. Lewis' Myth Became Fact, he talks about how myth stories provide the unique avenue for experiential knowledge and abstract knowledge to be received simultaneously. I would also argue that a similar phenomena happens when riding a motor cycle. A bike is not like a car. The frame of a car, the controls, even the seat create a comfortable, albeit safe, cocoon around the driver. In this sense the driver perceives traveling down the road abstractly. 70 miles an our in a car feels smooth as class with the windows up and the a/c on. But on a motorcycle, the rider is out in the elements experiencing the road. The force of the wind pulling back on your body as the speedometer climbs, the sound of the engine and tires between your legs, its an extremely intimate experience with the road. Traveling by motorcycle, is a different experience. The rider gets tired from the journey because he is out taking all the tole the motorcycle is with the wind and the road and the elements. At the same time, riding a motorcycle puts the rider in a unique position to abstract himself from the experience. Especially while taking a long journey, the rider zones into an abstract state of mind made possible by his helmet. It is essential that the helmet have a face mask both for safety reason and for the sake of philosophizing. Inside the helmet, the mind gets the same cocoon that the whole body does inside the car. However, on a motorcycle, the rider's body is in full experience and his mind is taking every moment in, or else zoning out and risking his life. While at the same time the mind is safely removed from the body by the full elements, able to observe the rest of his limbs experience and reflect upon them abstractly.