Soundtrack to the Road

Countdown - 169 Days

Is there anyone who doesn't like music? I haven't found anyone yet. It's amazing to me how we can all love music, yet argue incessantly over what's 'good' and what's not, regarding musical genres or styles.

I have always had a more keen fascination than most when it came to music. I enjoy so many styles that I can't really pick one for a favorite.

I started out liking pop, AM radio music: Elton John, Brownsville Station, Three Dog Night, Alice Cooper, etc. Then, Heart, Kansas, Rush, Uriah Heep etc. Later it changed -passionately- to 80's hair metal: Scorpions, Vandenburg, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot, Van Halen. Then came the alternative years: Elvis Costello, Clash, Cars, Joe Jackson, Pretenders, and the more modern alternative: Verve Pipe, Brian Vander Ark, Jones Thing, Sorta, and Glenn Hughes (I'll call him 'throwback alternative' coz he's really back to that 80s metal hair band stuff).

Why do I bring this up? Easy. Travel is so much easier with music to accompany you. I just got an 'upgraded' Ipod that will triple the available tuneage that I will have at my disposal. That will mean I could *theoretically* boost my collection to 9,000 songs, all ready to blast in my earbuds as I travel down the road. I'm at 3,100 or so right now, and I can't remember exactly how long ITunes says it will take to listen to each song, but let's just say I won't even be able to hear everything on the Ipod right now, not to mention anything I add between now and departure day.

I'm not even going to attempt to try and give you an idea of what playlists I'm planning to put together for this trip. I don't even know that I will. All I know is that I will be draining my Ipod battery by jamming all day while motoring. And quite honestly, I can't wait until I have all those tunes right at my fingertips. You see, so many times I'll buy an album (yes, I'm so old I still call them 'albums') and I won't really have the chance to sit down and listen to it as closely as I'd like.

That will change when I've got a full day to put a soundtrack to the sights and smells I discover along the way. And that's really the way I look at it. Music is so powerful in that it can affect your mood, your emotion, your outlook and color your attitude. I often let the melodies in my ears become the soundtrack to the road. There's nothing like a nice rhythmic, acoustic and musky sweet sound of Brian Vander Ark and his lyrical story-telling as you cruise down a canopied tunnel of trees in northwestern Michigan. Hardly anything can compare to putting the hammer down on the Interstate while the Scorpions rock out to "Blackout" and you find yourself having to really watch your speed.

Before any safety freaks begin mentally forming their 'letter to the editor' about how unsafe it is to wear earbuds and operate a vehicle, let's chill. First off, wind noise, engine noise and loud pipes already cut down your ability to hear most anything on the road. The earbuds help protect ears from those loud road noises from damaging my already sketchy hearing. And years of riding have taught me to 'hear' using other senses. For example, you can 'feel' a car coming up from behind to pass you, because it pushes the wind over toward you before the car is even alongside. Normally the pitch of the wind will also change as it deflects off the other vehicle. But even not hearing that pitch change, you can feel it in the way it pushes your bike slightly away from the approaching vehicle. As long as you aren't blaring the tunes so loud that you cannot hear at least your own engine, you'll be golden.

Some folks think that anything other than road noise (or lack of it via earplugs) is the only true way to truly two-wheel it. I compare this argument to the same with mandatory helmets. In my not-so-humble opinion, I feel like each rider should make their own choice. If you want to enjoy the 'natural sounds' of the road, great. Just don't disparage my right to craft a soundtrack to go along with the fantastic visual images I'm experiencing.

Unless it's country music. Then somebody please put a bullet in my head, because that's a sure sign I've suffered a head injury somewhere along the road. (And to country fans reading: I don't apologize. Somebody has to stand up for the truth and proudly pull back the curtains of deception and show the world that this 'country music' is really nothing more than aural swill for the uninitiated.)

Okay, I just wanted your blood to boil for a minute. I kid. I'm a kidder!