THE ONLY THING THAT RELATES THE GOD OF MERCURY TO ALL MOTORCYCLE RIDERS IS HIS HELMET. Well, that may be a stretch. (Not all bikers wear helmets). But it’s probably closer to a truth than any whimsy that depicts all motorcycle riders as coming from Mercury. Sure, of all the major ancient Roman Gods, Mercury is the one noted for speed. But not ALL motorcycle riders are fast.
Some bikers never were inspired by the notion of taming a two-wheeled missile. And others who have been charmed by that wayward path may evolve into somewhat of a reformed motorcycle maniac in their elder years. (I would count myself in the latter, with an emphasis on the “somewhat” part of “reformed.”)
Men Are From Mars…
I never read the book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, but I understand it was an attempt to reconcile differences between men and women by likening them as creatures from different planets, further idealized by classical Roman Gods.
Now, I’m no expert on Roman mythology. But if the differences between men and women can be characterized as from separate planets, I would say it’s fair to state that motorcyclists are not from the same planet as non-riders.
I mean how can you even describe motorcycle riding to a non-rider? Earth languages do not allow an adequate conveyance of the concept.
Regardless of the difference between motorcyclists and non-riders, my education lacks in naming a Roman God that adequately looks over riders. (On the other hand, my familiarity with Roman mythological Gods does not extend much more beyond the ones mentioned in this article).
Mercury in Mythology
Let’s consider a definition: “Mercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce.” Furthermore, “The word mercurial is commonly used to refer to something or someone erratic, volatile or unstable, derived from Mercury’s swift flights from place to place.” (From Wikipedia).
Irrespective of the “swift” part, and ignoring that I’ve known a small percentage of riders who could be characterized as “erratic, volatile or unstable,” (I’ve probably been called that more than once when I used to collect motorbike speeding tickets as a hobby), the definition fails to portray a majority of motorcyclists.
Hence, if riders are from a different planet than our fellow earthlings, I do not believe we have identified the correct one.
I mean what kind of other planet would spawn creatures who find solace and relaxation in an endeavor that anyone else would consider abundantly dangerous?
On the other hand, if we consider that Mercury is also “A planet god known for his intelligence,” that might be an apt depiction of the collective wisdom contributed throughout this blog by its readers.
(Consider this post as testament to the occasional eccentricities that surface on this site….)
I recently told a non rider friend about an upcoming tour 3000 mile motor cyle tour that I have planned . All went well until she said “why would you ever do that on your motorcycle when you could do it in your car?” basically end of conversation…
Motorcyclist are from Mercury. There’s just GO in our flow!
Mercurial Miriam
I must say that I agree with the line in the article about earth languages being unable to describe the feeling of a ride. I’ve given even trying to share the experience with my non-riding friends. I’m not sure if we’re from mercury or some other planet way out there, but I trade being able to ride for anything in this world.
The sun at your back The wind in your face. Riding the highways from place to place.No place to go everywhere I’ve been my rides are my memories I can share with friends.No matter what you ride the world is waiting so open your eyes. Have a great year of riding an keep her on two wheels.
In response to Mark who said, [quoted from his comment,] “If the hippies and potheads of the sixties had only discovered motorcycles they would have been singing about Mercury instead of lame insipid Aquarius,” and other comments:
I fit Mark’s description. I also manage to ride between storms here in Beautiful Boston where we just got two inches of RAIN to wash the salt off the roads. But it also came with intense winds, so it dropped a lot of tree limbs at the same time. I can avoid the tree limbs.
Just a few hours before the next weather blows in with a few inches of snow.
I ride year round, as long as sand, salt and ice are to the side of the road only.
Made a heated shirt, use hippo hands, and generally don’t even notice the cold if the temperature is at freezing or above. Mid twenties gets cold for long rides.
And I’m a risk manager / insurance guy. Blows peoples minds when I show up on a bike which gets to the point of this — I feel safer on my Goldwing than in my Altima. Better range of vision. Better maneuverability. Much more comfortable seats; [leather vs. cloth.] V6 vs. straight 4, etc. I can’t make the same arguments about comfort when I show up on my ‘81 CB900f Supersport, but it still makes a statement about managing risk!
Motorcycle riders are definitely a different breed of people, we all share a distinctive brain pattern configuration, not necessarily identical among all of us, very difficult to explain to the non-rider, but clearly understood between us riders regardless of our riding style. This article is a very illustrative attempt to convey a description of the, lets call it: the typical “sane” motorcycle rider.
What you have described to me with your reference to Roman gods, is all those conversations that I have with non-riders (quite frequent discussions since I ride daily)
Generally the non-rider says something to me like.
“Oh you ride a motorbike in this traffic, aren’t you scared?”
or
” It seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to get from A to B”
Of course what our interplanetary cousins do not understand is that A and B are almost irrelevant to we riders as it is the actual journey, which ironically, they in their cages, tend to dread and endure rhat we from Mercury delight in..
I would say that the planet Mercury is overall a happy and almost euphoric place where we live in the moment, on the edge, exciting and captivating.
If the hippies and potheads of the sixties had only discovered motorcycles they would have been singing about Mercury instead of lame insiped aquarius..
oh and what is Kindle? and who cares..
Mercurial Mark..
Hi,
I’ve started a new blog in which I review blogs that are available for subscription via the Kindle. I’ve subscribed to yours, and am going to have to give it a bad review because it is unsuitable for the Kindle. Here at your webpage, anyone who wants to read the articles just has to click on the article title to see the whole article. For readers of the Kindle, however, the title link is not live, and so all they get is a single paragraph with an ellipsis telling them that t here’s more to the story…which they can’t read without coming direclty to you blog.
I don’t know if you’ve got the ability to do something to your software feed so that the complete article is available for view on the Kindle, but if not…that might explain why you don’t get any subscriptions for Kindle. Which I think you probably would…if the situation were otherwise!
An excellent description of the way many motorcyclists might be described. Especially to
non-riders.