On my recent 2 week trip back to the US for Christmas, I was unprepared for how much I would MISS my bike and miss riding in general. It was only a fortnight and it wasn’t like the weather in snowy Istanbul was conducive to good riding, but the weather in hot, sunny, gorgeous Florida WAS, and the growling exhaust of every passing motorcycle plucked at my urge to ride. Being a bit of a motorcycle motard, I had to find a way to calm down.
There was little I could do to appease my addiction, other than hang out at the motorcycle shop, hopping on all the floor models of the bikes I liked and luxuriating over their design details, drooling over the aisles of tantalizing MX gear, toying with all the bike accessories on display, and in the end, spending money I didn’t have on far more paraphernalia and apparel than I have any immediate need for…like 2 full MX gear sets (gloves, jersey, trousers), MX goggles and two extra (and extra cool) mirrored lenses, and a roost guard. For my street bike, a Riderscan curved blind spot mirror and last but not least, THE helmet I’d had my eye on– a flat black Shoei X-14. I love that helmet so much, I didn’t want to take it off…
When it became a financial necessity to keep me away from that store, I got my motor fix by chatting with my @d1rtgirlz partner, Fulya, about our enduro training plans, upcoming meetings with potential sponsors, arranging social media events, photo shoots, dreaming about the soonest we can get our group together for short and long circuit rides… and when the time difference prohibited that, I pored through the stack of motorcycle magazines Dad had thoughtfully saved for me.
When Bilgehan and I arrived back home late last night, the first thing I did when the taxi pulled into our street was go check on my bike. Even from the taxi ride home I was messaging the Yamaha clan, my motor crew, about our weekly meet up. During my absence they had even suggested throwing a welcome back party upon my return. Of course, any excuse for a meet up will do. It won’t even be 24 hours back before I see them all again. Happy girl.