Old man rider

It was some kind of a death wish.  “Passing on at sixty” (https://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2014/04/passing-on-at-sixty.html) was written not long after my father died.  After nearly seven (7) years of looking after my parents — their full-time caregiver — I came to realize that living too long isn’t at all that lovely; it’s mawkishly worthless.  In fact, at that time, I think you’re a masochist to entertain such an idea.

ctto: No one can doubt KTM Adventure

off-road capability.

In those years, my mom was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and in her last two years was bed-ridden after she broke her pelvis when she accidentally slipped while vacationing in my sister’s house.  Imagine, aside from being her son, I was sometimes her father, Rufo; older brother, Rustico; and, in rare instances, her former municipal councilor younger brother, Roberto.  Aside from Alzheimer’s, she was also diabetic.

          My father though was lucid until the day he died; seven months after my mother’s death and a two-week battle against stroke-induced mild ruptured brain aneurysm.  But in those seven years, he was practically shackled by arthritis.  He sometimes can’t almost rise from his bed for simple basic natural functions, like going to the toilet to pee.  I’d seen how he agonized just to get out of his bed to sit at his favorite spot in their house’s veranda whenever his infirmity strikes.

This was the backdrop that prompted that blog.  I was, at the same time, at a crossroad, too.  My wife and the elder of my two daughters wanted me to retire instead re-entering the workforce at 54 years old.  This thought bothered me no end:  What if I live the ripe age of 91 years old, as my parents did, afflicted and burdened by the same infirmities and disorders and, most importantly, financially dependent on my wife and daughters.  How can I then enjoy and live my life to the fullest?

ctto: RE Himalayan: British brute 

made in India

A couple of months back, I just turned sixty.  No, I am not retired and still very much alive.  I’m earning my own keeps as a government employee.  My take home pay is less than half of what my wife and daughters each received but this accorded me to indulge in simple luxuries.  I can even pick the tab whenever my wife and I go out for our favorite hot brews during our off-days.   

Enter this life in the midst of COVID-19.  (I am suddenly reminded that I have yet to read in full Colombian Nobel prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel “Love in the Time of Cholera”.)  And there's the posts of millennials in social media that said “life is short”.

This led me to another blog I wrote, “Bucket list” (https://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2016/10/bucket-list.html).   Life is now indeed short for this old man.  And rightfully, I should make the most out of it, i.e., if ever I’ll come out victorious from COVID-19.

That blog reminded me how can I make the most out of this life.  I certainly don’t entertain retirement, yet.  In fact, if I can pursue one of my bucket lists, I can be more productive in my job and the government will be more assured that it won’t be shortchanged because of my age.  Not only that, I can, at the same time, simultaneously pursue other late-life interests that will further sweeten my life. 

ctto:  Yamaha Serow 250 has all the 

specs I need. 

Coming up second in my hastily prepared lists is a 250-cc enduro motorcycle — also known, if I am correct, as dual sport or adventure bike.  My preference then is either a Kawasaki or a Yamaha.  That still stays.  The egoist in me, though, would love to have a 450-cc KTM enduro or even settle for a 500-cc Royal Enfield Classic Chrome.  I would today opt for a KTM 390 Adventure or Royal Enfield Himalayan.  Any of the two will perfectly fit in my plans, albeit prevent me from using some of my meager financial resources to pursue other interests.

An enduro bike would fit to a Tee the job I now have at the education department.  This bike would be handy in monitoring schools struck by hazards as the designated Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Coordinator.  I can easily visit flooded schools by taking alternative routes which my current ride, a compact SUV, cannot.  Or, effortlessly trek winding roads to be at the schools of our Ayta brothers and sisters, which were hit hardest by a recent tremblor.

 Moreover, an enduro bike would be my ideal La Poderosa — the 500-cc Norton motorcycle that medical student, Ernesto “Che” Guevara and his biochemist buddy, Alberto Granado, used for their (hedonist) continental trek that unintentionally exposed them to the injustices perpetrated against indigenous peasants and to the pervasive poverty in rural South America — to photo-document the socio-economic changes in rural Pampanga.  Unlike Che, this old man will never be radicalized by the things he’ll see but this though will either validate or quash his notions when he was a radical young social activist.

ctto:  Kawasaki KLX 230 has the specs
               and within my budget

        Given this perspective, KTM 390 Adventure or a Royal Enfield Himalayan, or, even a BMW G 310 GS, will therefore never fit my purpose.  A European adventure bike will certainly feed my ego but it can never outperform the more reliable and better adapted Japanese enduro.  The former would also cost at least  a hundred grand more that can be used to buy a decent DSLR camera for my photo-documentation.

The COVID-19 menace has certainly steeled my resolve to pursue these late-life wishes.   Wishes that would not only sweeten my few remaining years on earth but would certainly make life more exciting. A well-spent life it would be indeed!

So, watch out for the Old Man Rider with a camera out there in rural Pampanga after we successfully stabilized the COVID-19 situation.  The Old Man Rider will certainly be in the midst of preparedness and prevention and mitigation initiatives of Capampangan schools to completely tame the virus.  (30)