Freedom meant different things to different people, some equalled it to monetary success and others to power.
To Helen nothing was more pure than an empty road at night, asphalt under her wheels and wind creeping through her helmet. Being far past a healthy bedtime, every burden on her mind left behind and nothing keeping her from doing what she loved.
A twist on the throttle catapulted her forwards, out into the unknown emptiness. She loved crossing these wild borderlands between the cities and rural areas where no people lived or worked, road maintenance crews being the only that ever set foot onto these stretches of asphalt.
If she felt like stopping right in the middle of the road with her lights switched off there was a reasonable chance she’d survive, the last time she had seen any other traffic had been close to half an hour ago. Still she settled for a break on the side of the road, slowly rolling to a stop on the loose gravel that offered as much grip as a cube of ice. She managed to stop with the rubber side still down, kicked down the stand, hung her helmet from the bars and got out of the saddle to stretch her aching muscles.