#motorcycling

Motorcycling, rather unfairly, has long been considered a man’s sport. Maybe it’s because of the egos involved, or simply the result of society clinging to an outdated view of gender roles. Thankfully those views are changing. Women represent one of the fastest growing segments of motorcycling, and there are female motorcycling ambassadors like Melissa Paris, Avalon Biddle, Elena Myers, Michelle DiSalvo, and many others paving the way for the next generation.

For some reason, people tell me their stories. Throughout my life, I’ve always had the experience of complete strangers just starting to tell me about themselves. Once, while riding across the country with a friend, she said she would not allow me to take my helmet off at any more gas stops because my conversations were delaying our progress. Similarly, I was amazed on my first cross-country bike trip how many older couples in campgrounds invited me into their RVs and cooked me dinners while sharing their motorcycle stories and the role two wheels had played in their youth, how much they missed it, and, most importantly, how grateful they were for that special time.

In a perfect world, we’d be able to ride any time we wanted to. Unfortunately, lots of things can interfere, like jobs or families or…seasons. So, what’s a motorcycle junkie to do? Well, there are a ton of ways to practice your love of riding without actually throwing a leg over a bike. While they may not be as viscerally appealing as riding, these activities provide their own enjoyment and can help to ease that riding jones we all get after a few days out of the saddle. Since you’re already actively engaging in the most commendable non-riding activity in the entire universe by reading MO, we’ve decided to recuse it from eligibility. It really wouldn’t be fair to the other options, now would it?