Why aren't you riding yet?
Ok, so maybe you're here because you intend to start, or perhaps you've got some unanswered questions...perhaps you're trying to convince yourself not to ride...after all, many will be advising you never get on those death machines...those 'crotch rockets' as some call them, donor cycles, they cleverly quip. I see...well there's no guarantee I will donate any organs as a result of a motorcycle injury...but I can guarantee that if you're in a car you'll be donating lots of time to traffic.
Whose life is in question here? You guessed it...yours....so all the good advice in the world isn't going to change the fact that you have to live with your decisions. It's easy to be safe, but it's easy to be full of regret later on when that 'summer of 2006' is a distant memory.
If you want to ride, do it. Life comes but once....and sure, you'll be safer not riding, that's true. You'll be safer not driving...and you'll most certainly be safer not doing anything remotely risky.
Life isn't just a noun...there's a verb in there...you have to live it. Sure, any of us can muster basal metabolism...but that's a bit boring, isn't it?
I ride because I can, because it's exciting, because many are afraid to. I feel the most free when I ride, happier, at one with nature, more alive in general. You are literally more free when you ride.....free to squeeze around cars blocking that right turn, free to use the carpool lane in California even without a kid or passenger strapped to the pillion seat. You're free to get where you need to *right now*, without the ponderous acceleration of a car or its larger size getting in the way when you're stuck behind 3 cars lumbering side by side on a 3 lane road...in a car, you'd have to sit there and slowly go crazy. On a bike, it's a fleeting annoyance...you can laugh as you split between the rolling roadblock and move on with life. In fact, one of the best things about riding is being able to minimize rudeness and stupidity displayed on a daily basis by people in cages...and the rolling roadblock is just one way they'll torture you if you're in a car. Riding is a thrill, but better yet, it's a small dose of happiness that will carry throughout your day and your whole life.
When you ride, you're exposed to the environment, for better or for worse. You're not in a mobile living room they call a car, truck or SUV...nope, it's the joy of minimalist transportation (who said being green had to be boring?). You're one body and the motorcycle is about the most efficient and compact way to move you through space....and it's fun. The rush of the wind, the whine of the engine as the road comes at you faster than you've ever seen in a cage. Your senses come alive, even if you didn't expect it...suddenly, talking on the cell phone is a bothersome distraction. Kids wave at you, as if you're the missing Power Ranger. Applying makeup is supremely irrelevant (especially with that Icon Kitty helmet and dark visor you're wearing, right?). Who cares what's in the newspaper (it can wait) and hunger takes the pillion as adrenaline flushes your system. It's one thing to get to a destination, it's another to experience the journey...look at the birds without impediment from a-arms, smell the bakery or flowers or stank, note the changing cold and warm fronts and learn to appreciate not being cold or hot. Somehow, the trip is more meaninful to me when I have to work a little bit to get there....when I rode my 2002 SV650S to Yosemite, it was amazing. I could see the sites unimpeded...I got to ride with some other people who were headed the same way...the smells of the woods flooded my helmet. I've driven to many other locations in cars and can't remember much of the drive other than red...yes...seeing lots of red.
I gave up riding once. I used to ride scooters....first a wee Honda Spree 50....what liberation....the pure of exploration without being tired from pedaling was amazing. Then, my range increased with my next scooter after I graduated high school...the cool Honda Elite 150 Deluxe. Houston, we are clear for takeoff. I learned to ride in the do-it-yourself fashion of the day.
When a friend of mine had a bad accident on his motorcyle I gave up riding after some pressure from my mom....naturally, she didn't want me to get hurt in the same way. I relented and sold my beloved scooter...but the dreams I had of riding never went away. Fourteen years later, my brother had a wild hair to get an SV650, and I joined him in the MSF class. My bad habits had me barely passing the riding test while he got a perfect score. Too bad he gave up riding soon after. I kept riding and have decided that I won't be giving up riding again...even with my two crashes since 2000. Why do I ride, despite the obvious risk? Here's a thought experiement I like to answer that with:
'If you could fly, would you?'
Think about that. I know I would..without a second thought. I think most people want to fly...especially as kids when we tie the bathroom towel around our necks and do a few takeoff practice runs like Superman. Sadly, that dream dies with Santa Claus when we realize we can't fly...but if you *could*...wouldn't you? There would be risks, of course. You would get rained on, you'd shiver in the winter or bake in the summer depending where you were. You could hit a power line, a bird, another flying maniac, and there would be no shortage of people warning you of the dangers of flying.
Ya see, flying is like riding....and both are have risks....but the guarantee we have of picking safety over life is regret...and there's no way to fix regret, but you can start living now.
When people warn you about the risks of whatever you want to do, they're simply re-affirming that life has risks...it's part of being alive....and nobody gets of out this life alive so you may as well enjoy it...especially if you're still young.
That, my friends, is why you should ride. See you out there. :D
