Many people ask me why do I ride a motorcycle. There is not an easy answer to that question but I will try to make some coherent statement below.
The History
I grew up in a small town that didn't have a lot of bikers and I had no relatives or friends that ever owned a motorcycle until my adult life. I have always been fascinated with mechanical things and tried to pick up as much as I could from my grandfather when he would work on his car, some plumbing in the house, or diagnose and fix some electrical issue. Throughout my childhood, I had a passion for exotic cars and voraciously read through the latest issue of Car and Driver to find out what my latest dream car would be. Motorcycles were interesting to me for many reasons: their simplicity, their speed, their engineering, etc. but did not captivate me the way a Lamborghini or even an F-150 Lighting could. When I moved across the country and started to work, a few new friends had motorcycles and I started to get more interest in these machines with the new exposure.
The Turning Point
2011 was a pivotal point in my relatively short life. I experienced a personal loss that I never thought would have happened and it left me in a state of shock. My plans and dreams that were made had to be erased from the whiteboard and new bullet points created while I tried to bring some normalcy and stability back into my life. One of my friends from work knew that I was getting more interested in motorcycles and was a rider himself. He recommended I take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's course to get my endorsement and try out the bike. I would strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in getting their motorcycle endorsement. They provide excellent instruction, a helmet, and a bike to help you get started on riding safely. I took the course one cold weekend in February 2012 and was hooked. I knew it was only a matter of time before I needed to get a bike of my own. And so my quest to get the proper gear and bike started. I found a bike in Tacoma (about 40 minutes away on a busy highway) and started to try and convince friends and co-workers to help me examine the bike and ride it back up to Seattle for me. I finally got a co-worker to agree at the last minute and I was all set.
Hotaru on day one
There happened to be a bike show going on the day I bought her
The Present and The Future
I am still a new rider. I only have one long trip under my belt but I am being drawn further into the sport with each passing ride. The exhilaration that a bike ride provides is only matched by the clarity it allows as well. When you ride, your mind has to be on the ride. You can't day dream, focus on the scenery, or do think about anything else that could take you away from scanning the road ahead and riding safely. I found riding during a season of my life where I needed a few moments of serenity. I look forward to longer trips and seeing this great country from a little different perspective and meeting interesting people that are willing to share a little bit of their story with a fellow rider.