Guy Boutin's Motorcycle Touring and Travel Pages

Adventures in Sport Touring with the Honda ST 1100, 1300 and the BMW 1200RT

Exploring North America...One Road at a Time

                                "The Zone"

The zone is commonly associated with athletes.  It is the place they go when everything feels  easy.  Baseballs look like volleyballs to a hitter, the basketball goal appears to be a hula hoop, golf balls fly like they are laser guided, and a runner feels like he can run forever.  

As a long distance rider I know about the zone.  When I am in the zone mile markers fly by as if they were only yards apart.  Towns 50 miles down the road, suddenly appear in what seems like minutes.  I have no stiffness in my butt, even though I have been on the road 500+ miles.  I feel like I am on display, and everyone stops to see ME ride by.  My nose catches every scent, and my eyes see things others do not.

My ST feels like its a magic carpet, and I float over the road.  I perch in the quiet air pocket of my windscreen, and 90 mph feels like 50.  The bike feels electric smooth, the ST is so quiet I can hear my heartbeat like a bass drum in my helmet.

The zone ride is rare.  It does not come often.  I do not need to ride in the zone to have fun.  Almost anytime I am on 2 wheels I am having fun, but the zone is a entirely different level.  The true zone ride is very elusive.  I have pushed my envelope.  I am not capable of a zone ride unless I am on a long ride.  The zone has been noticeably absent since my return from California.  When a rider has pushed his envelope repeatedly from 300 miles a day to 700, 800 and more, then the zone is also pushed.  Here in Alabama, I have great rides, but I can't reach the zone.  For that to happen I need to be out on a 500+mile day.

For riders in the 300 mile niche, the zone can come quicker.  Perhaps reaching it in 100 miles. I also think pure zone only comes when riding solo.  Groups cause too much distraction.  I have no empirical evidence to rely on, just my own experience.

I think many Iron Butt riders do what they do, for the chance to ride in the zone.  I have more then a few 500+ mile days, and only a handful of zone rides to show for it.  I have no idea when a zone ride will occur but it feels so good when one arrives.  

I recall the zone ride I was in across Kansas.  It was mid afternoon when I came down out of the Rockies, and entered the Front Range of Colorado.  I lapsed into the zone on the quiet, never ending road.  The miles flew by.  I arrived at my appointed stopping point for the day, and just kept going.  I did not want to stop. I pushed on, knocking down another 220 miles in what seemed like 30 minutes.  I rode along lost in thought, my shadow riding with me.  Past farms and fields full of working farmers.  It was a awesome ride.  I stopped to put my liner in my coat, as the sun went down west of Great Bend, the oncoming cold of darkness snapping me out of it.  I ended the day at 780 miles and felt good.

That ride, on that afternoon, will probably be the reason I may never wire my helmet for sound.

I had a shorter zone ride on Mount Cheaha last year.  I was in the hills, on a road I know well.  It was the maiden trip for the ST to the Mountain.  I was coming down off the Mountain, and without knowing it, the ST became a extension of me.  It was like I had wires from my brain to the brakes and throttle.  The curves came to me, in rapid succession.  Brake, lean, find the exit point, roll out, then set up for the next one.  

I was bent forward, pushing my weight down on the tank.  I had total control.  The scenery went by as if I was the one still and the trees were moving.  The line needed to take in each curve just popped out at me, as if a red line was painted on the road.  The tires felt so sticky that day, I wondered if I was on rails.  There was no indecision, every line was perfect.  I was scraping the ST all over the place, and never once wavered.  I was good that day.

I have also had a 70 mile zone rides in Wyoming, and in the Mojave.  Great rides.

Here is to your next ride becoming a zone ride, when it happens, drop me a note. Would love to hear about it.