WHy RIde When You're Old

Motorcycles make up less than 1% of the registered vehicles on the road but they make up about 5% (Canadian statistics) of our fatalities. To really appreciate how dangerous these machines are we must also consider how little we actually ride our bikes during the year.

In many northern states and Canada the riding season is about four months of the year. Remove from this the number days you work (unless you are one of the few who bike to work), days of serious rain, family activities, and other responsibilities that keep you off the road. Even in nice weather the bike is often a poor choice if you have to get groceries or pick your mother in law up at the airport.

We put on very few miles on our bikes compared to more traditional forms of travel. Perhaps that's a good thing if you consider the 2004 insurance statistics which claim you are 34 more times likely to be killed riding a motorcycle than traveling in a car, on a mile per mile comparison (U.S.A. statistics).

Younger people get to drive motorcycles and for the most part society looks away mumbling under their breath youth, and they let it go. Not so for us older riders it is not so easy to escape the wrath of our ever judgmental society.

"You're older you should know better; you're acting like an old fool; you're going through manopause"; stop trying to be a kid again."

I have heard them all and many more. Somehow people think riding a motorcycle is for the young but not the young at heart.

I once read a belligerent post on a blog which said.

"We have to get these old farts off their motorcycles. I am tired of jumping out at traffic lights to help them pick up their bikes."

If you are over 50 and ride you know what I am talking about. If you are over 50 and thinking of buying a bike and starting to ride, you are really in for a tongue lashing from almost everyone you know.

So how do you answer the question, "Why on earth do you ride a motorcycle?"

There are many responses you can chose from.

Bikes are more fuel efficient and leave a smaller carbon footprint on the enviorment.

• Bikes lessen the congestion of traffic and help reduce pollution.
  
• Bikes are fun and invigorating.
  
  I love to laugh death in the face.

I am addicted to speed.

The choice to ride is yours to make. You should consider the feelings and opinions of those close to you but ultimately it is your choice to ride or not to ride. If you ride then you better have an answer to the question; Why on earth do you ride a motorcycle at your age:

I offer no suggestion but I will tell you the way I handle the question.

First I always acknowledge to my inquisitor it is a fair question and I will try to explain as best I can. Deep down inside I know my answer is about as helpful as trying to explain to a six year old what it feels like to really fall in love. None the less I try my best to explain that for me riding is a spiritual experience.

Riding is for me a personal relationship between me and my higher power. Some people immediately respond by telling me; "If I want to find God I should go to church."

I explain; "I tried that and found God wasn't home. I soon discovered that on Sundays he prefers to be out riding with me." If they will listen I go on to explain:

"I understand you like to get into your air conditioned, thermostatically controlled well upholstered car and drive to church to find your God. You enjoy sitting in the comfort and shelter of a nice church with a roof over your head and give thanks and offer your prayers.

I prefer to ride my motorcycle, put my life on the line and spend my time with God on his own terms.

A bike doesn't shelter you from the world and let you peak out through a plastic bubble as the unpleasantness of life passes by.

Driving is something you do, but riding is something you live.
When I ride, I get to play one of God's Greatest games it's called "That's Life".

In this game if it rains you don't get to turn on the windshield wipers instead you get wet. If you are driving past a farmers field when he is mucking out the barn you get to share the experience, no air freshener to hang from the rear view mirror.

When God pours out the sunshine you reveal in the magnificent of it's warmth, you don't roll down the window to adjust the temperature. If you get hot you smile and enjoy it, you don't turn on the air conditioner to make it go away.

When the sun disappears behind a cloud you feel the drop in temperature on the back of your neck, I never have to look at the digital display on my rear view mirror. I never need to turn on the radio for a weather update, because my eyes are constantly watching the horizon.

I understand motorcycles are not the only way a person can live life to the fullest, but I have found they are a good symbol of how people choose to live their everyday life. Perhaps that is why in general I have always found other motorcycle enthusiast are among the nicest, most sincre and fun loving group of people I have ever had the pleasure to hang out with.

Simply put; You can live life, or choose to hide from it, each of us are free to make the choice and a true believer in God respects the choice of others.

For me the choice is easy: I would rather live life and die, then die with never having lived my life.










That's the biggest reason why I love Riding Iron.