Why I Started Riding

October 22 2010 by Jason Fogelson

iStock_000000787311XSmall.jpgI know that you haven't been counting, but I have: This blog entry is my hundred and first about motorcycle travel for You Must Be Trippin'. A milestone like that puts me into a reflective mood, and right now I'm thinking about why I ride.

I can look back at three significant moments in my childhood that pushed me toward motorcycling.

One is a photograph: it's a picture of my father, holding me as an infant in our driveway in Lancaster, California. My dad never looked cooler -- trim and fit, in khakis and a white t-shirt, wearing his black Wayfarer sunglasses. I'm a blob, wrapped up in a blanket. And my dad is leaning against his motorcycle, a 1962 Triumph Bonneville 650. I don't remember the bike or the day, but the photograph is etched in my memory.

Another moment happened in the summer of 1969. My cousin David was 18 years old, and he was already an avid motorcyclist. I was visiting his family just as David was packing to leave New Jersey to "discover America" in his VW Microbus, towing his Harley-Davidson chopper on a trailer behind the van, his gorgeous flower-child girlfriend by his side. I helped David and his brothers push the chopper up onto the trailer, and we all waved goodbye as the van went off down the road. It was the stuff of memory.

The third moment also happened at my cousins' house in New Jersey. David's younger brothers, Andy and Adam, had Honda 80 minibikes, and I wanted to try one out. I had never ridden a motorcycle or a minibike before, and I didn't understand the controls. I jumped on, and quickly found myself careening out of control through the woods. I was 13 years old, and I scared myself silly. I swore that I would never get on a motorcycle again.

Flash forward to me at 18.

One day, a guy I worked with asked me if I'd be interested in buying his motorcycle. He had received it as a gift, and was too afraid to ride it. I decided that the time had come to confront my fear of motorcycles. I gave him $500, and took the title to a 1979 Kawasaki KZ 400.

I spent a few days teaching myself how to ride in the big empty parking lot at work, after hours and early in the morning. Finally, when I felt like I had control over the bike, I eased my way into traffic.

That was over 30 years ago, and I haven't stopped riding since. Conquering my fear of motorcycles gave me confidence to attack my fear in many other areas of my life. I realized that the rewards of riding would never have come to me if I had allowed my initial fascination with motorcycling to be crushed by my own fear and inexperience.

Now, whenever I ride, it reminds me of what I can accomplish when I confront my fear and follow my passion.

What inspired you to start riding?

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