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Is what we do really so shocking?

One only needs to turn on the evening news to see that the modern world is an apocalyptic nightmare of terrorism, natural disasters, rapists, gang violence, crime, corruption, animal attacks, financial crisis, zombies, and general unpleasantness. I think a substantial portion of the population is just laying low and staying as close to home as possible. The world is scary. Breaking down at midnight on a desolate stretch of dark highway in West Texas is the stuff of nighmares...having to ask for roadside help in the deep south from someone with an accent unlike your own is certainly going to result in dire consequences...I hear they'll rob you Americans blind while you sleep up there in Quebec...and everyone in California is stoned on legalized marijuana.

I think that what you're doing is shocking to 95% of the population. You're living a lifestyle where you confront danger every day just by swinging a leg over your bike and doing so without so much as a pane of automotive glass between you and the scary world. You might as well tell people that you're a professional bull rider on the weekends or you enjoy swimming with great white sharks. I think that the mere existence of motorcycles in today's safety-centric, litigious society is shocking. They should have gone away years ago with the advent of the seat belt or the air bag.

I'm not irritated for a second when folks are shocked or point out the risks involved...they just don't get it...that's OK...maybe they're scared...maybe they lack the motor skills or the mental acuity...maybe their mother made them promise to never go near a motorcycle. It's just as well...if EVERYONE rode motorcycles, the number of accidents would be staggering...we'd have a national crisis...the evening news would be all over it...there would be one more thing to fear...motorcycles would be legislated out of existence. I prefer to count myself amongst a minority of the population...a small number of people who have taken a risk and taken in all that motorcycle travel has to offer. What we're doing is shocking...embrace it.

In my experience, breaking down on the side of the road...far from home...is often just the first step of an adventure that may allow me to meet amazing new people, exercise my problem-solving skills, or recall all those things I learned as a Boy Scout or a soldier...hell, I might navigate by the stars or even look at a paper map. Motorcycles put you out there...without the safety and security of a car or SUV to hide inside...you're immediately accessible...strangers will talk to you...some of them will go to amazing lengths to help you or to hear what you're up to so far from your home. Now, depending on your mindset, that might be the height of exercising your human spirit...or...as I suspect the majority of the populace might think...a terrifying nightmare where your incompetent mechanical, navigational, communication, and basic survival skills leave you at the mercy of a Mad Max style modern world. Fear is pervasive amongst your negihbors and coworkers.
 
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Fear IS the enemy

+1 Hondarider.

One of the MAIN reasons that I spend time on this 2-wheels-to-bliss site is to get away from the news, which strikes me as being "all bad." Is it REALLY "all bad?" or is this the illusory zeitgeist, artificially created by the 5-second news cycle that we currently enjoy?

(Non-political comment) -- Governments (really now run by corporations left-and-right), have a specific interest in making us afraid, very afraid, so "they" can offer (illusory) protection. We're being marinated, daily, in a witch's brew of F-E-A-R. Just say NO! You do NOT have to drink this foul concoction.

The real magic happens once you are on to the game. Start watching the news with a critical mind -- and see what's REALLY happening to us all.

If you're reading this mild diatribe, you are already lucky beyond measure, so enjoy your outrageous luck in whatever form that might take.

Walking Eagle
 
Great discussion, everybody! It appears that the spirit of adventure still lurks out there. At least some people "get it!"
 
One of the main reasons I do it is because I can't be reached by phone...especially when everyone knows that I am riding farther than down the street! It gives me the excuse (and isn't that sad, that I have to have an excuse not to be bothered??) to physically and mentally get away from work and the stress of life for however long I can. I have found it to be a wonderful feeling...
 
Hmmmmm........

When I first posed the question for this thread: "Is what we do really so shocking?" I meant the "we" to be the women who ride. I did not phrase the question in a manner to convey that. My fault. "Shocking" may have been the wrong word but in the context of the question being about us women riders maybe it was right. :dunno But, the answers coming from both men and women have been educational to me - I had no idea that men got the same sorts of questions. :brow So, I guess we are all collectively a little bit nuts in the non-riding population's thinking to be willing, and wanting!, to travel by motorcycle and see, feel and smell the world in all it's glory (yes, even the smell of the manure in the spring when the farmers spread the fertilizer). So, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised when I have conversations with non-riders and have them express such surprise at this addictive activity of mine/ours. ;)

vroom, vroom,

Louise
 
One only needs to turn on the evening news to see that the modern world is an apocalyptic nightmare of terrorism, natural disasters, rapists, gang violence, crime, corruption, animal attacks, financial crisis, zombies, and general unpleasantness. I think a substantial portion of the population is just laying low and staying as close to home as possible. The world is scary. Breaking down at midnight on a desolate stretch of dark highway in West Texas is the stuff of nighmares...having to ask for roadside help in the deep south from someone with an accent unlike your own is certainly going to result in dire consequences...I hear they'll rob you Americans blind while you sleep up there in Quebec...and everyone in California is stoned on legalized marijuana.

I think that what you're doing is shocking to 95% of the population. You're living a lifestyle where you confront danger every day just by swinging a leg over your bike and doing so without so much as a pane of automotive glass between you and the scary world. You might as well tell people that you're a professional bull rider on the weekends or you enjoy swimming with great white sharks. I think that the mere existence of motorcycles in today's safety-centric, litigious society is shocking. They should have gone away years ago with the advent of the seat belt or the air bag.

I'm not irritated for a second when folks are shocked or point out the risks involved...they just don't get it...that's OK...maybe they're scared...maybe they lack the motor skills or the mental acuity...maybe their mother made them promise to never go near a motorcycle. It's just as well...if EVERYONE rode motorcycles, the number of accidents would be staggering...we'd have a national crisis...the evening news would be all over it...there would be one more thing to fear...motorcycles would be legislated out of existence. I prefer to count myself amongst a minority of the population...a small number of people who have taken a risk and taken in all that motorcycle travel has to offer. What we're doing is shocking...embrace it.

In my experience, breaking down on the side of the road...far from home...is often just the first step of an adventure that may allow me to meet amazing new people, exercise my problem-solving skills, or recall all those things I learned as a Boy Scout or a soldier...hell, I might navigate by the stars or even look at a paper map. Motorcycles put you out there...without the safety and security of a car or SUV to hide inside...you're immediately accessible...strangers will talk to you...some of them will go to amazing lengths to help you or to hear what you're up to so far from your home. Now, depending on your mindset, that might be the height of exercising your human spirit...or...as I suspect the majority of the populace might think...a terrifying nightmare where your incompetent mechanical, navigational, communication, and basic survival skills leave you at the mercy of a Mad Max style modern world. Fear is pervasive amongst your negihbors and coworkers.

+1 :thumb
 
Getting away

One of the main reasons I do it is because I can't be reached by phone...especially when everyone knows that I am riding farther than down the street! It gives me the excuse (and isn't that sad, that I have to have an excuse not to be bothered??) to physically and mentally get away from work and the stress of life for however long I can. I have found it to be a wonderful feeling...

Yes, exactly! Although, I find I can get away from things just by turning off my cell phone. However, riding clears the mental cobwebs.
 
The difference between disaster and adventure is attitude.
:wave

Life can be an adventure or a long, boring, worthless way to spend your time. Your choice!
 
My wife and I are leaving tomorrow morning for a trip from Delaware to Chicago, then through New York State, about 2000 miles. We've been up and down the East coast several times.

Our friends are acting like we're planning a trip to the moon.
 
Last year we asked a cop in southern California for some directions. He inquired and was astounded that neither the ST1300 nor my R1100 had experienced no mechanical difficulties on our cross country/continent trip.

Once had a gas station attendant in Springfield, Mass, ask if I had bought the bike in the US and was taking it home to Canada. When I told him, no, that I had simply ridden the bike to Boston and was returning home, he left the counter and came out to examine my "old K". He just couldn't believe that anyone could actually ride from Canada to the U.S. and back again on a motorbike. :dunno

Have had lots of friendly and inquisitive folks throughout Canada and the U.S. stop to ask me questions about my travels and the bike when they see my plate. Often they tell of having given up riding many years ago and regret having never gotten back.

What we take for granted as normal, so many are astounded by our riding adventures. Me, I marvel at those who travel down to the tip of South America or through Africa. Now those riders are real adventurers! :thumb
 
That's funny. I'd have zero reservations about riding anywhere in Canada or the US at a moment's notice, but I admit that I have some fear about riding into South America. I read all these travelogues about folks riding from Alaska to the southern tip of South America and I'm completely jealous, but I succumb to the same fear that keeps most people within 100 miles of their homes. I suppose I'm not much better. I think it's the language barrier that intimidates me most. That and the apparent lawlessness that I see on the news. If the news about Mexico is as sensationalized as everything else that I see, my misgivings are probably without basis. I did spend 6 years working in Juarez and nothing bad ever happened despite assurances from US television that the drug cartels, crooked federales, and bandidos were going to shake me down and then do very bad things to me. Turns out that I made some great friends and had experiences far outside my New England background.
 
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

If we didn't live venturously, plucking the wild goat by the beard, and trembling over precipices, we should never be depressed, I've no doubt; but already should be faded, fatalistic and aged.

-Virginia Woolf, -A Writer's Diary-

Too bad that Virginia didn't just grab a handful of throttle, versus filling her pockets with big rocks and sinking to the bottom of the river. Surely there's a lesson here, somewhere?

Walking Eagle
 
I get that a lot from my co-workers.

You ride your motorcycle 150 miles one way for breakfast???? GASP!

You rode to work today? Its raining, OMG!!!

And some of them are beyond shocked that I took a 5000+ mile trip on a 250cc Honda Rebel.

I feel so sorry for these folks.
 
Which makes me wonder, are there still such timid women?

Yup. I used to belong to a women's motorcycle forum, and a bunch of them wanted to go on a week long trip. As the plans for the trip evolved, I would have to say that about 3/4 of the interested women changed their minds when they found out that spouses were not invited.

Seems that these women were too afraid to leave the neighborhood without their spouse. What if my bike breaks down? What if I run out of gas? What if something happens?

arrrgghghhh! If I had to depend on my spouse to go with me, I would never get out of the driveway. Sell the bikes, ladies, and go back in the house because your embarrassing me. lol.
 
LOL. My wife is pretty adventurous, but lacks the navigation skills required to find the mall. If she were to head out on a weeklong trip, we'd never see her again. I suppose that wouldn't stop her though so I guess I worry about it more than her. She routinely drives the 180 miles to her mother's house with nothing more than exit numbers on a post it note...no map...no route numbers...no towns...no clue. She just knows to get on I-90...go to exit 11A and get on another road...then exit 7 onto another...exit 12 onto yet another...and finally exit 7 into her mother's town. She has no clue if she's driving east, west, north, or south. She doesn't know where she is on a map, what towns she's passing, virtually nothing. Just 11a...7...12...7. I asked her what she'll do if she ever get off at the wrong exit and onto the wrong road...she says she'll figure it out. I guess she's actually more adventurous than I am. I'd never leave home if I didn't know for certain that I could find my way back.
 
LOL. My wife is pretty adventurous, but lacks the navigation skills required to find the mall. If she were to head out on a weeklong trip, we'd never see her again. I suppose that wouldn't stop her though so I guess I worry about it more than her. She routinely drives the 180 miles to her mother's house with nothing more than exit numbers on a post it note...no map...no route numbers...no towns...no clue. She just knows to get on I-90...go to exit 11A and get on another road...then exit 7 onto another...exit 12 onto yet another...and finally exit 7 into her mother's town. She has no clue if she's driving east, west, north, or south. She doesn't know where she is on a map, what towns she's passing, virtually nothing. Just 11a...7...12...7. I asked her what she'll do if she ever get off at the wrong exit and onto the wrong road...she says she'll figure it out. I guess she's actually more adventurous than I am. I'd never leave home if I didn't know for certain that I could find my way back.

Lol. That's why I bought my wife a Garmin. I have read that men navigate by landmarks. I forget what they said about women and navigating.

Harry
 
The one time she used the GPS, she got lost and now she doesn't trust it. She just sticks to her post-it note or the expectation that a kindly cop or other public servant will always happily escort her to her desired destination. We call that the "pretty girl in a convertible solution". She's had surprisingly good luck with that.
 
Which makes me wonder, are there still such timid women?


I'm always amazed when I speak to people who have never been outside of their hometown. In Salt Lake City, I have talked to people who have never been up on the several canyons near town. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to live a different lifestyle. :)
 
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