Is It Adventure You’re After?
The Adventure Begins: A Personal Ride Through My Motorcycle Journey
It's a thrilling chapter in one's life story when the sound of a motorcycle engine isn't just what you hear on the road but a surge of freedom. For me, this adventure began growing up, as a kid my dad and uncles all rode and I was able to get a taste of the freedom riding a motorcycle provides. Growing up, we would go to local meet ups and join in “Toys For Tots” events, these being my first taste of the camaraderie involved in the motorcycle community. I knew in my bones, eventually I would need the thrill of two wheels and the fresh air of the open road. From my beginnings on asphalt, to discovering the thrill of dirt and the ability to find places a road bike just isn’t set up to take you, the dirt eventually led me to the universe of adventure riding.
A Childhood Surrounded by Engines
The youngest of three girls, I grew up going to the “shop” with my dad. It’s here I discovered the thrill of a jeep with no doors, the wind in my hair, riding a motorcycle with my dad to riding a mini bike and generally growing up around cars, trucks and engines. I eventually moved to riding a quad with family friends that ended in an ER visit, where my refusal to enjoy motorsports without a helmet at the very least, began. When I was 17, enter Ryan, then boyfriend now husband and lifetime adventure partner.
The Transition to Dirt Biking
Two weeks after Ryan entered my life, my transition from pavement biking and quads grew to my love for dirt biking. It was our third real “date” and he asked me if I had ever gone dirt biking and what my experience was. I’d never been but I was eager to try. We spent an hour or so outfitting myself in gear (did you know how much gear you wear on a dirt bike? Jeez, I had no idea). This mostly all day adventure, I accidentally found woops and recovered the near biff, fell in the soft sand of New Mexico arroyos, and unfortunately my first serious accident. Too overly confident from a mostly successful day, tired and not paying full attention were the catalyst for a not fun accident and a few weeks healing from swelling and bruising even with all of the safety gear (no broken bones though!). My limited dirt bike experience became an extension of my desire for exploration, a beginning for the adventures that lay just beyond where the asphalt ends. The more we rode, racing across desert roads, exploring mountain trails and plunging through the deep sand of an arroyo, I discovered a solitude amidst the chaos, and a tranquility in the roar of the bike's engine, causing a part of my soul I didn’t recognize, to awaken.
Enter Adventure Motorcycling: The Best of Both Worlds
As our relationship grew, our yearning for adventure also grew. When Ryan showed me the TV show “Long Way Down” he stated adventure motorcycling was something he always wanted to do, though I believed this goal was unattainable due to my short stature. At just over 5 feet tall, I wasn’t sure if I could ever find an adventure style motorcycle, with the power for freeways and the ability to head off the beaten path. Ryan bought his 1250 GSA in 2021, this belief seemed to be confirmed with how big that bike is! After a trip to look at the different adventure style motorcycles, with how short I am combined with being a beginner rider on a full size motorcycle, I simply was not comfortable with not being able to touch the ground. We took a few trails riding as a two up to begin our adventure motorcycling journey. Riding two up on the trails we wanted to tackle was just not an option for us. In 2023, with our discovery of the BMW 310 I thought this might be a solution for me to dip my toes in the adventure world with a smaller bike. We went to our local BMW, and I saw this white F750GS and honestly loved the look of it. Knowing I likely wouldn’t fit, I sat on the bike and miraculously I could touch with my tippy toes! I got even more excited when I learned they made a low seat, cutting out another inch or so. We bought the bike that same day and took it home. That weekend, I started my ride in a parking lot, with cones and my husband in my ear encouraging me and giving me tips. We got his bike from home and started riding around town, getting me used to riding a full size motorcycle in traffic with the insane drivers these days. After several weeks, determined to take my bike off the asphalt we took a dirt trail in the foothills and I stumbled upon the ethos of adventure motorcycling – traversing different types of terrains and finding my story with every mile. It was like a eureka moment, the merging of my childhood ride with the spirit of exploration. Adventure biking, I realized, was not just about the ride, but an entire philosophy fueled by the excitement of unpredictable paths and the satisfaction of reliance on each other and faith in the trail. We spent a few months of the year adding some armor, changing tires and adding bags (I’ll go into detail on what we picked and why in the next blog post) and picking gear. In the latter half of 2023, we took our first road trip on our bikes to Red River, not fully realizing the majority of the trails there consisted of rocks I can only define as giant marbles causing me to realize I would greatly benefit from a more adventure focused training. While waiting to find the perfect fit for a training, we spent several months finding some less technical routes locally.
Training for the Adventure
Adventure motorcycling demands skill and foresight; we are venturing into a new world, and need to prepare. Enrolling in an adventure training course I believe is the best next step for me where I am with my skill level now. I yearn to learn the art of handling a loaded bike over various landscapes, properly managing weight distribution, standing to ride, overcoming fear based reactions to obstacles and the invaluable wisdom of reading the unpaved road. Our training is scheduled for the beginning part of April and I will have blog post about the value and things I learn. I’m excited for this next step in our journey.
The Thrill of the Unknown
I feel I’m standing on the cusp of a new horizon. Each trip we take is a blank page where we work together through trials and they become our stories. Every summit reached is a milestone in both adventure and personal growth. It's not a path for the weary; every adventure biker craves the stretch of open land, but its the unknown trail we find ourselves on that feeds our soul. The adventure motorcycling community is one both vast and intimate spanning the entire world. It's a collection of individuals, each with their own stories to share, their wisdom to impart, woven together by a shared love for the ride. In every rider's story, there’s an invitation to share in their adventure, including a mutual respect for the trials that come with the adventure, and the undying spirit that echoes, "Ride on".
Reflection
In the evolution of my motorcycling journey, one fact has become unmistakably clear — it’s not about the destination, but the ride itself that captivates my soul. The community, the preparation, the unpredictability — these are the elements that inject life into the impressive machinery beneath us. It’s a community built on the foundation of shared experiences and the unspoken understanding of the significance of every throttle twist.
Adventure riding isn't just a pastime; it's a calling. An adventure that once experienced becomes a part of your identity. It's about finding mastery in the unexpected and forging connections through the common language of the trail. Each turn opens the door to a new chapter, inviting riders to witness untold beauty and face unpredictable challenges, all under the banner of freedom to go wherever the trail takes you.
For those who share this passion, the adventure beckons — a calling that only those tuned to its frequency can hear. Whichever path you find yourself on, I hope that my story resonates with yours, and that you, too, may find the irresistibility of adventure ridings call. Ride on, fellow adventurer, and may the trail rise up to meet us both, wherever in the world it may lead.