Zen and the act of Motorcycle Riding

We used to have something called "moral science" as an extra classroom activity when in school. In that we used to try and meditate for a while, chant Om etc. I found all this very boring and pointless. The teacher used to tell us to empty our minds of all thoughts and then concentrate. Bloody, what the fuck do you concentrate on if you don't have anything in your mind? My mind used to stray away on a lot of things. I fell asleep most of the times or would try and open my eyes and look around to see what the others were doing.
On a motorcycle, its different. You are going, say in a ghat, at pretty high speeds. What is going on in the mind at that time? The next approaching turn; what speed can you take that at? Does it open out enough to allow that kind of entry speed? Is there gravel or water near the turn's apex? Is the turn blind, could there be some vehicle coming from the other side? All this and much more goes through the mind in just about 2 or 3 seconds. The turn arrives in that time. You have to go into it at a certain banking angle, got to have the fingers ready on the brakes just in case, got to be ready to change gear if needed, and ready to take evasive action if at all something or someone is in the middle of the road after the turn. And in a ghat kind of place, this goes one and on, till the ghat gets over. You really have no time to think of anything else, because you know that you cannot afford to think of anything else; a bad accident is so much more likely to happen if one does not pay attention to everything. Now that's real concentration. You automatically forget about people you love or hate, your boring college or work, are you hungry or not, what are you going to tell your dad about having smuggled his bike out for a ride; everything other than that bloody approaching turn. This people, is meditation. You are concentrating so hard that it's a state of bliss; nothing else can trouble the mind. Is this not what the doctor recommended as meditation? Is this not better than any conventional meditation? The feeling you get after such a ride is awesome. It's a mixed feeling of exhilaration and fear. Fear because you suddenly realize that you were doing something pretty dangerous; there is no time for fear in the actual process; it comes later.
All the thoughts flooding back to the mind later on gives the impression that you were detached from your body when riding the bike. It is a real nice; "achieved nirvana"; kind of feeling.
I have just started reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I expect the book has a lot more stuff like the post I have written here. I met many people who said that they could not appreciate the book much. I expect that it would be much more effective on a person like me who has already done a decent amount of motorcycle riding, and hence has made a few observations on the whole motorcycle riding experience for himself.