Why I Ride

This is me on Mt. Evans Road in Colorado...the highest paved auto road in North America, August 2009

Some may say I deserved it because of the risks involved; I told you so; or that I have no right to complain because I chose to ride. True, I made the choice, but I also took the safety class, bought some of the best protective gear available in hi-viz colors, and added extra lights to the bike for increased visibility. You can't control someone else's negligence, bravado, or disrespect for life.

I was never dismissive of the risks, but I also had not felt as much like myself as when I started riding - especially when I attended the AMA International Women & Motorcycling Conference in 2009 held in Keystone, Colorado. After I began riding, I stumbled upon an article about the 2006 conference that was held in Athens, Georgia and promised myself that if I was still riding in 2009, I would find a way to make it to Keystone - I actually entered it into my Outlook calendar. Even when my then-spouse showed no interest in joining me before or after the conference, I forged on undeterred. My registration was secured, flight booked, and rental motorcycle arranged, I even made a connection on the conference board of Women Riders Now and met a sister rider (Hi Kelly!) from San Francisco. We split a cab to the dealership and hit the road from Denver to Keystone on our rented machines. Those few days comprised some of the most spiritually centered times I have ever experienced...perhaps more about that in another post.

All this to introduce the article I wrote in advance of the 2009 Conference that was published online. Read it here.

Journey On!