25 Years Off, One Ride Back
After not riding for 25 years, my friend pulls into the driveway, and he’s actually got the Intruder that I had gotten in the 80s or so. He looked at me and he said, “take it home.” He knew. He knew, once I put my butt on that seat, it wasn’t coming back.
Looking at that Intruder from all those years ago, I was scared, because I had never actually been on a 1400cc motorcycle. Before I had gotten the Intruder, all of my other bikes were small. So, I ended up taking a motorcycle safety class, and they had these 250cc bikes to practice on. I learned a lot, like that you have to counter-steer when you go into the bend. So, given my experience level, when I first put my leg over this Intruder, I wasn’t prepared to ride that thing because after not riding for 25 years, I was definitely a little rusty, and then when you add on another 1000cc’s of what you’re used to, it’s a lot more bike to handle too.
As much as I loved riding, I stopped riding after having two daughters, building a house, going to graduate school, and not having a lot of extra money to buy another motorcycle. So, it was so great when my friend showed up with that Intruder and gave it to me.
There’s a whole comfort when you get on the bike. I have had a convertible or two that I put the top down on and drive around on a nice day, and it’s kind of neat. But there’s nothing that can replace getting on a motorcycle and just being in the air, and the freedom that it gives you. It cleanses my thought process. I live in the mountains here in Pennsylvania, so we have a lot of beautiful roads to ride on and just take it all in. To me, it’s great medicine.
Interview by Gregory Andrus
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