Riding after the death of a friend.

I think many of us can relate the feeling of why we ride back to our tricycle/bicycle/mini-bike days....It was freedom, independence, the smells of plant life (and even cows on a dairy farm) that you could never experience in a car, efficiency, doing something many were "scared" to do (which made us a bit of a bad *** ).

Your life is yours to live. You are not obligated to justify it to others.

Keith

First, so sorry for the loss of your friend.

Why I ride? Good question. Not really sure. I think it's for all the reasons stated previously. For me, I suppose it's mostly the freedom that comes with riding on 2 wheels. Also, I would have never met the cast of characters I've met, attending an ST event. They have all become new family members, to me. Some more than others.

This year, I hope to spend more time on "two lanes" and off the superslab. I want to see & experience more of what others have seen and talked about. Oh yea...I think I'll slow down some too. Not really sure why I seem to enjoy going fast on 2 wheels, but I do. Sometimes way too fast. I have a difficult time keeping it under 20 over. It's so much fun....unless you get caught.

Regardless of the reasons WE ride, it's a decision you'll have to make. Life is what you make it and how you enjoy it.

Ride on!!!!

I don't think I can contribute any more than has already been mentioned.
But to me riding motorcycles is the closest thing you can get to flying on the ground, the sense of freedom riding evokes.
I love the visceral feel of the wind, the smells I pass through, actually feeling what you also see.
The feeling of being on two wheels as opposed to four and being couped up inside a metal capsule.

I lost a good riding buddy back in 2002 to cancer. I ride mostly by myself now a days. But Gary is still riding with me......

I ride because I love the sensation of wind in my hair, and leaning into a curve, or waving to those wonderful others who share in this passion with me. I feel the same way about Bungee jumping or Skydiving.

I understand the risks. I am WILLING to take care of my own responsibilities. And then show that if one can take care of oneself, then maybe, just maybe, one can be an example to others.

Like how Uncle Ben tells Peter Parker - " With great power comes great responsibility" - Riding motorcycles gives me the power to enjoy & experience life/travel in ways not possible via 4-wheel machines or aircrafts or boats. But I take that experience only after willingly and consciously doing WHAT IT TAKES to be SUFFICIENTLY responsible.

#ATGATT

Regards,
Vishnu

So sorry for your loss. Everyone handles a loss in there own way. I would never want anybody to give up riding because a died doing what I love so much doing.
It is my dads fault for my love of riding. I remember the rides on the back of his Harley as a little boy. And he bought my first bike when I was 5 years old. A Honda Mini Trail 50. All down hill after that.

I ride because I like it so much, for the many reasons already well described.
I could buy a 30" fan, hook it up to a gasoline motor, and sit on a stool in front of it. I could have a throttle linkage to my hand or foot, to feel more wind in my face when I felt like it. I could set up a pair of big monitors to either side of the fan and program my computer to show videos of mountain passes. I could even get a smelly wet dog to lay down at my side.
But all that would be ridiculous! That's why I ride motorcycles....

The wife and I lost our son in July of last year to a motorcycle accident.
So I can say I know what your going through I've felt and heard all of the reasons to give up riding.
But in the end we came to the decision that we were a motorcycle family in the beginning and we would stay one.
We love riding. It made us closer and brought us together as a family.
Ron

For all of the reasons mentioned above but also, as a life long skier, motorcycling fulfills my turn-carving and speed cravings: motorized road skiing.