Motorcycles are truly wonderful things because they are more powerful than us. On this vast and desolate land, they can easily take us to places our feet are too weak to reach. Of course, riding a motorcycle for a long time is also tiring, no easier than walking. Many times, we ride for five or six hours straight, and by the time we reach our destination, our legs are all bowed. Moreover, the motorcycle in my family is just a small-tank, small-sized one, and with three people on it at once, neither the bike nor the riders feel comfortable. Other than that, there’s nothing to complain about.
I really want to learn how to ride a motorcycle, but I’m also very afraid of falling. I remember when I was a child, I had almost no sense of balance and was even afraid to swing on a swing. It took me three years just to learn how to ride a bicycle, and two years just to learn how to push one… In short, I thought I’d probably never dare to hope to do anything with such a machine in my lifetime. But I still like motorcycles. If I could roar through the wind – it seems that it’s precisely with this tool that I appear in the world more clearly and acutely. Otherwise… Well, actually, being limited by one’s abilities isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But since I already have a motorcycle, let’s just talk about motorcycles! – When I stand on the ground and point with my hand: I’m going there! So I go. And then I’m suddenly vaguely uneasy at the discovery that there may really be nothing in this world that can’t be done – it’s as if we’re using motorcycles to eagerly, extremely conveniently, quickly and completely leave something behind forever… But then I think that by now, this is a reality we can neither avoid nor refuse. Well, maybe it’s not necessarily a bad thing? Hey – when I stand on the ground and point with my hand: I’m going there!
Especially after we moved our home to Akehala on the edge of the desert, the role of the motorcycle became even more important. By then, we had already moved far away from the mountains. Akehala is located on the Gobi Desert in the area of the Ulungur River to the south, more than 200 kilometers away from the county seat. If you take a car, it would cost 50 yuan to go to the county seat in winter, and even for 50 yuan, you might not necessarily be able to get a ride. There are no regular bus services in this village yet. Only some private unlicensed vehicles operate, mostly old eight-seater jeeps, with at most one or two running a day. Often, before dawn, the driver would go door-to-door from one end of the village to the other to pick up passengers, and often the vehicle would be full before reaching our house. Or if there’s an urgent matter, the vehicle won’t leave until it’s full, and it might wait at the village entrance for one or two days. There’s nothing you can do even if you’re extremely anxious. However, how convenient a motorcycle is! You can set off whenever you want. Moreover, if you ride a motorcycle to the county seat, the round-trip gasoline cost is only about ten yuan, saving 80 to 90 yuan! If two people go to the county seat, they can save 160 yuan; if three people go, they can save 250 yuan. Wow! And you don’t have to worry about motion sickness either.
However, on second thought, the wind on the Gobi Desert is strong, the roads are rough, and to save fuel, the motorcycle’s speed is kept slow. So, every time we go out, we have to endure the wind for four or five hours. It’s really tough. Although my mom got me a helmet, it’s so heavy that when I put it on my head, it makes me dizzy and disoriented, so I can’t wear it at all. I have no choice but to hang it around my neck, letting it dangle behind my head. But when the wind blows, the helmet catches a full gust and pulls hard backward, making the strap around my neck dig into my flesh, leaving me dizzy and with my tongue sticking out halfway. Before long, my front teeth are cold and dry from the wind. I have to take it off and hold it in my arms. But then, there’s a big gap between my uncle and me, and the wind whistles through it. Although I’m wearing layers upon layers of clothes, I’m soon chilled through, as if my clothes were wide open, with a cold feeling on my belly. Even though I’m wearing gloves, the fingers holding the helmet quickly become cold and stiff, unable to straighten. Oh, I can’t wear it, can’t not wear it, and there’s even no place to put it. I really have no idea what to do with this thing…
