Perishable Skills

Every rider will tell you that getting a motorcycle running at high speed in a straight line is not a problem - all the dynamics of physics and engineering reinforce the natural desire of a bike to head in a straight line. Within five minutes I can teach anyone who is able to ride a bicycle how to control the throttle, clutch and brake and get rolling down the road.

Slow speed manuevers on the other hand, are where we separate those who love to ride from the weekend warriors, since at slow speed one loses all those wonderful dynamic forces which keep you upright while roaring down the road at full throttle. So those who love to ride and seek to improve ability (and thereby increase average life expectancy) constantly train at what are referred to as "perishable" skills.

Perishable skills are just what they sound like; skills which although once learned and perhaps even mastered, perish over time without practice. One would think, "How hard can it be to make a u-turn on a little motorcycle?'" And the answer, from every rider who has grabbed brake and fallen, or had to stop and push the bike back in what is in effect a three point turn, is: "Harder than you imagine!"

Because the dynamics of speed, gyroscopic and centrifugal forces disappear and are replaced by gravity, it requires great finesse to turn a 750 pound beast (or a 400 lb lightweight for that matter) at slow speed without dropping it because the bike's natural tendency is to fall in the direction of the turn, which is helpful when navigating a curve at 5o MPH but a real pain when trying to manuever around a parking lot at 5 MPH.

So at every opportunity I practice u-turns, tight circles, stop & goes, or swerves. The Church is located in dowtown Bellevue, WA next to a big parking lot and every morning before I park the bike for the day I make it a point to perform several u-turns between parking spaces and tight circles around a light post. No doubt observers wonder if I have lost my mind but it is a simple and convenient way to keep up my skills. And having dumped my bike on more than a few occasions at slow speed (once even standing still, before I had turned the engine on), I figure I need to keep up my skills!

And I wonder what other skills I possess that are perishable without practice? Listening, for example. Not just hearing but really listening, with all my senses. Or caring. If you don't care long enough, can you reach a point where you can't care? And playing; how long has it been since I just played with no worry about scores, or winning or losing?

We are given so many gifts and so many abilitie. I wonder how many we squander for lack of practice ...