Why Do We Ride

A Collection Of Reasons From Riders Themselves

      This page is intended to help convey to those who don't ride, or who ride infrequently, why some of us feel compelled to get on a motorcycle and go places, usually the farther the better. These are quotes from other riders, as well as a few words of my own. Not all ride for the same reason, so it is necessary to illustrate with as many examples as possible. Some are serious, some are humorous, some are a mix. See for yourself.
      By the way, this page will probably be under constant construction, something like the tollways around Chicago. So if you are an ld rider (or know one) and have some words to add to those already here, please contact me so I can incorporate them on this page.

     E-mail me at: jfgcvms@alaska.net

      A couple of years ago, a few posts to the LDRiders list caused me to ask myself the question, "What is the reason I can barely wait for the time I can get on a bike, loaded for travel, and hit the highway again." Someone had posted a list of the identifying characteristics of an addict. Earlier there was the post "You know you're an ldrider if ...". And Doug Grosjean's "Why do I ride? An answer....". I guess what really got me thinking about this was something that happened nearly three years ago. My ex was finishing one of her bi-monthly issues of the newsletter that she published for fans of what is called "Rendezvous", those meetings of people dressed in early 1800's frontier garb - mountain men and fur traders. One of her regular contributors had failed to come through and she needed a poem, written in the spirit of the publication. So I offered to write one.
      To compose something in keeping with the mountain man theme, I tried to imagine what those early trailbreakers were looking for (in addition to furs) when they went off by themselves for months at a time. The trapping wasn't the real reason they left civilization behind, it was only an excuse, a means to an end. And I began to realize that they probably weren't that much different from me and a whole lot of others who today still have to see what's over the next hill, or across the river, or around the bend. Even our rides to join together in lying, bragging, and gustatorial delights are reminiscent of the rendezvous of yesteryear, where those stalwarts would briefly abandon their relative solitude to get together and renew acquaintances, laugh and make merry, and then go off their separate ways until the following year. They, too, knew what the odds were against everyone making it back for the next one.
      Long have I thought that I was born about 150 years too late, and had I lived in those days the only difference would have been my mode of transport. Instead of four motorcycles, it would have been four horses. Instead of two lanes of asphalt, it would have been a dim trail through the wilderness.
      Thus I came to ask myself recently - is it the motorcycle that lures me to ignore responsibilities in favor of feeling the wind going by me, smelling nature as I travel through it, being so much closer to what exists out there; or is it the miles that I put behind me that are the real addiction. And I came to the conclusion that it is neither. It is, rather, the miles that are in front of me, that I have yet to travel, that are the real draw.

Jack Gustafson

This one came from the ldriders e-mail list, courtesy of Cindi Knox:

You Might Be An LDRider If...

...you have to replace your tires several times a year.
...you have an auxiliary tank strapped onto your motorcycle.
...you spent more on your motorcycle's seat than on living room furniture.
...Rand McNally knows where YOU live.
...your idea of the ideal boyfriend or girlfriend is one who lives 1000 miles away.
...your home is a bonus location on the Iron Butt Rally.
...you think changing your underwear is an expense of time you can ill afford.
...you gave up on deodorant because it doesn't help after six days without showering.
...your head is shaved for cooling under a helmet, to save time washing your hair, or because you came in third in a rally.
...there are photographs of you in every cheap motel across the country.
...there are photographs of you at every highway rest stop picnic table across the country.
...Helge Pedersen wants to ride with you.
...your spouse decides to take a vacation every time you say "Honey, I'm going for a little ride".
...the nearest restaurant you can think of is in a state that is not adjacent to the one you live in.
...you know not to ride with Art Holland.
...you and your spouse were married by Rev. Wolkoff or Rev. Tollett.
...you think a good way to spend a week is to visit 98% of the states in the union.
...people show up at gas stations to bring you bananas.
...the decision of which motorcycle to buy was based on fuel, storage, and electrical capacity.
...your shop tells you that your bike is the highest mileage Savage they've ever serviced, and your bike is only one year old.
...you ride from work in one suburb of Chicago to home in another suburb of Chicago via Iowa.
...you think a temperature range of 10 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit is motorcycling weather.
...you are trying to figure out how to carry spare tires on a motorcycle -- NOT in case of a puncture but for when they wear out.
...you crash an expensive, high-performance motorcycle on the last leg of a rally and finish second anyway.
...you crash a touring motorcycle and continue on for thousands of miles on a Honda Shadow.
...you take a motor scooter or ancient two-stroke East German motorcycle for a spin around the entire United States.
...you've considered mounting handlebars on your bed because it's more comfortable to sleep while leaning on them.
...you've ever woken up in bed in the middle of the night feeling like you were falling off your motorcycle.
...you're willing to invest a huge amount of money and time into a contest for which the reward is a plaque, hat, or mangy looking armadillo.
...you have your valuable Harley-Davidson motorcycle stolen and replace it the same day with a BMW and ride anyway.
...you've given serious thought to schemes for avoiding restroom stops.
...you know the real names of Biff, Mortimor, Warchild, Roadrash, and SuzyQ.
...you read this whole list, You might be an LDReader.