The Riderz Diaries -2

Jason on the wheels 

Geared up for the road trip .. Jason with the red beauty

 

Shooting round the city bends I hear the conversation in my head.
Thinking of the place to be, I sing a little melody instead
I won’t argue with myself, today my legs are gettin some hell

My mother tells me I should stop go and get a real job
That can’t be the way that I roll
Everybody’s growing up, having kids and paying rent
And I’m getting count of it all.
I’m gonna ride my bike until I get home.

Here are the incepts from the interview with Jason Goertz Washington,USA – A rider at heart. 

1. Why biking – what was your inspiration for living life on two wheels?

For me, it was something new to learn, as I was bored.  I had an airplane at the time, and motorcycling is a similar experience to flying.  Since then, I have given up the plane and just have the bikes.  I didn’t start out to “live” on 2 wheels, but it has sort of turned into that.  It is meditative.  I can clear my head and focus on the road and on issues I am facing at the same time.

2.  Since when have you been riding and which was the first bike? Also elaborate on how you bought it- a gift from parents, money saved or borrowed, with the first salary, or something else. 

I got my endorsement in October of 2000, just shy of my 45^th birthday. I bought, my first “learner” bike in November, a 1982 Yamaha Virago 1100.  It was a beater, but it was a great bike to drop.  Both my wife and I learned on that bike, we sold it to a friend for what we paid for it.  My first new bike I bought the next February.  I had just started a new job, and I used part of my signing bonus as the down payment, and got a loan for the remainder, which I paid off in 3 years or so.

I still have that bike, and I have owned 7 bikes.  4 Goldwings, a ST1100, a V-strom.  Some of them I bought with a loan, the ST1100 I actually bought with a credit card, and the V-strom I bought with cash from a yearly bonus.  Some I had the cash after selling my airplane and buying my house.

3.   Which is your best road trip so far? The most memorable one. The one you would want to relive provided an option. 

My wife and I did a 3400 mile trip last year from Seattle to Provo, UT, and then made a big loop around Arizona.  We hit Arches NP, 4 corners, Monument Valley, the Navajo and Hopi Reservations, stayed in a resort in Sedona, spent several days in the Grand Canyon, then a spa day in St. George, UT.  Then home. 

I am not sure I would want to repeat the trip exactly. We would definitely go back to some of the places if we had more time.  We had a lot of trials on that trip too, the wind and weather, and my wife narrowly avoiding getting severely injured or killed when a large rock came off a dump truck in front of her.  This was 4 hours from home, after 18 days!  Her visor was down and it took the brunt, and she was able to keep the bike up.

Other great memories are going through Yellowstone on my Goldwing with no helmet, stopping a few feet from bison, and cruising up and putting down my kickstand as Old Faithful erupted.  That was on the way home from a weeklong trip to Billings, Montana for a national Gold Wing Rally.

4.  Have you ridden pillion – some memorable moment

Not as a rule.  The last time I rode pillion was when I was in college, working at a summer job.  I had never ridden before, and had to go home with a co-worker.  He rode, and I rode on the back, scariest thing I’ve ever done.  Now, I take people for rides on my “Barcalounger on wheels”, my Gold Wing, with a very comfortable back seat, intercom, radio, etc.

5.  How many bikes have you had so far and which has been your favorite one. Reasons for picking it?

As I mentioned it, I’ve had 8 bikes total, and currently own 3 of them.  I guess my favorite is my Goldwing.  I have had 4, all used except for the one I have now.  I bought the first one to commute to campus from Federal Way, utilizing the carpool lanes.  I got progressively newer and nicer ones until I got my 2004, as an early 50’Th birthday present to myself.

I love LONG trips, and it is so comfortable (for a motorcycle) I can ignore most physical discomfort and just focus on riding.  I have done two Iron Butt rides on it (Iron Butt Association is a group where you ride 1000 miles in 24 hours just to join).  I might try another on my Shadow, as a challenge, but the Wing makes riding very enjoyable for me.

6.  Your dream road trip?

My bucket list would be to take a month or 6 weeks to go back east to the big touring rallies, like Americade in Lake George, and a few others.  I’d come back to Chicago, and ride Route 66 with an organized tour, or maybe just on my own.  Then come up the west coast on Hwy 1.

7.  Do you ride as part of a group or a club? Or you are the one who prefers the comfort of your bike’s company on the sands and hills. 

Yes, I am heavily involved with the local Gold Wing Touring Association chapter here in Redmond/Bellevue.  I am currently the Ride Coordinator, but I have been the Chapter Director and Assistant Chapter Director, and the Newsletter editor for 6 years.  I like both, riding is unique in that it is a solitary activity that can be done in a group.  I do some off the road riding, nothing too technical, forest service roads and that sort of thing. I hope to do more camping, by myself, this year. This is a totally different type of riding than what the GoldWing groups do. 

8. Some tips for the novice riding enthusiasts? Safety and otherwise.

Wear good gear all the time (ATGATT, All the Gear, All the Time).

Know that when you get your endorsement, it only allows you to legally learn on public roads, but will continue to learn.  In flying, a Private Pilot’s license (which takes $10,000 and maybe a year to earn) is called a “License to Learn”.  Think of your endorsement as the same thing.

Don’t forget to slow down enough to smell the smells and feel the sunshine.

9.  Please share some of the favorite moments from your riding journeys (I won’t call them tripsJ).  

The aforementioned ride through Yellowstone is one. Coming around a hill on my V-strom on a forest road barely accessible by car and seeing Mt. Adams in full view. Seeing the red rocks of Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and the formations of Monument valley without a windshield in the way is another.  Ironically, I was going the wrong direction through Monument Valley, and all the famous views were in my rear view mirror! I vowed to come back and go the right direction.

That was Jason and his riding journey so far. With may more rides to come on roads ahead.. there is a something that comes to my mind

Parked up on the long ride home..

                Rolling on the sand, I went away

                Alone in the dark, alone in the way

                Wheels were my friends all along
 Riding is my passion – nothing right nothing wrong ….
 

This post is a part of but not limited to : castrol and Indiblogger contest www.facebook.com/CastrolBiking.

The Riderz Diaries -1

When I decided that I will write about Riders and their journeys on fiery device called ‘Motorbike/Motorcycle’ the only thing I knew was how and about whom!! A week later after meeting and receiving good amount of information from some of the most interestingly inspiring people I have decided to convert this into a series - The Riderz series.

 

Riding with JD..

He is the man on the Harley

Spanning through the winds eagerly

Rounding the country on wheels for long

25000 Miles an year is not wrong

His story is different, as you would read

Passion for speed and wheels is the need.

The endings are happy as they say

They all landed together on the motorbike way

A distant interview with him follows below. I haven’t changed anything in the answers and the way they were originally presented to me. His story is a connection between strengthening a father-son bond and developing a new passion out of that bond. It truly amazes me to be reading this real life journey when I only imagined bikes as a symbol of a rockstar attitude and speed rush. Not advertising my ignorance any further J I take you to JD’s world. JD currently resides in Seattle, USA.

On a road trip.

1. Why biking – what was your inspiration for living life on two wheels?

My father rides, and I wanted to bond more with him, so I took up riding and we have done several road trips together, it has been amazing.

2. Since when have you been riding and which was the first bike? Also elaborate on how you bought it- a gift from parents, money saved or borrowed, with the first salary, or something else.

My first bike was a Harley 2006 Heritage.  I bought it myself.

3.     Which is your best road trip so far? The most memorable one. The one you would want to relive provided an option.

7,000 miles around the western states of USA with my father, mother, and wife.  The 4 of us visited every national park and natural wonder we could find.

4.     Have you ridden pillion – some memorable moment

Never ridden that way

5.     How many bikes have you had so far and which has been your favorite one. Reasons for picking it.

I own 4 Harleys.  My favorite one is my new 2012 CVO Street Glide.  Fully customized bike and it really stands out.

6.     Your dream road trip?

Already done it a few times, but I guess if I had to pick something, maybe New Zealand by bike?

7.     Do you ride as part of a group or a club? Or you are the one who prefers the comfort of your bike’s company on the sands and hills.

I am a member of the Iron Order MC but I also ride solo and with family.

The long road ahead..

Please share some of the favorite moments from your riding journeys (I won’t call them trips).  

My mother and father were high school sweet hearts.  They were truly soul mates and in love.  My father went to Vietnam and came back a changed man, a broken man.  My mother and father tried to work it out but they ended in divorce when I was 6 months old.  

I never saw my father again for 36 years.  4 years ago I decided that 36 years was long enough and I began searching for him.  I located him in Arizona.  We met and started to try and build a relationship.  It was incredibly hard, we had almost nothing in common and the number of years apart was just so large.  We were from two different generations and shared no common interests.

In August 2008 my father told me about his trip to Sturgis, he has been an avid motorcycle rider his whole life.  So I told him that I would go with him in 2009.  In February of 2009 I got my endorsement and started bike shopping.  I had ridden dirt bikes and other types of motorcycles before but never an HD cruiser. 

In March 2008 I decided on a Harley, a nice two tone black cherry and black pearl 2006 Heritage Softail.   When I bought my bike, I already knew I was going on the long bike ride to Sturgis.  So I created a plan to try and improve my skills as fast as possible.  I focused 50% of my riding towards high traffic, road construction and group riding; and the other 50% of my riding time was focused on nice mountain roads, and scenic adventures, and really enjoying the ride. 

I would intentionally ride at the worst part of the day in the worst traffic.  I would also intentionally ride through all the road construction and torn up roads I could find.  I knew that once I was out on the open road, you never know what is going to come up.  I joined two HOG chapters and 3 meet-up groups so I could get as many rides as possible and joined the largest group of riders I could find to get comfortable with formations, and group riding and just being around 100’s of other bikes.  I wanted to be comfortable in Sturgis and other rally events.  So by the time I left in July 2008 I had about 5,000 miles of open road riding and 5,000 miles of gridlock, construction and formation riding.

Along the way, I fell in love with riding again.  I was completely addicted, and so was my wife.  She rode with me on my 2000 mile trip to AZ(Arizona,US) to meet my father then she flew home.  After that my father and I rode to Sturgis together and a few thousand other miles. 

The love of riding and motorcycles has given us not only a common ground from which to have conversations, it also allowed us to build our first shared memories together.  It has facilitated a bond to begin building a relationship.

It’s been 21 months and two bikes later since I bought my first Harley.  It’s also been 42,000 miles.  My wife has purchased her own bike and received her endorsement.  She rides a 2007 Sporster 1200 low.  We have started to ride as a family, and it’s just been awesome.  My father reached out and contacted my mother for the first time in 39 years.  She has joined us in our love of the road, and the spark between them has never died.  Much to my surprise the two of them got re-married in July 2009.  39 years of divorce could not keep them apart.

 

Riding has brought my family together for the first time in my lifetime.  I truly believe that had we not taken up riding, we would not be together as a family today.  We tried for 2 years to try and build a relationship and it just wasn’t working.  We needed that common bond and shared passion in order to make progress towards a family bond.  Riding enabled us to cross a 39 year gap and start living again.  

I just wanted to share my story in hopes that others understand the power and impact this culture can have.  Riding is more than just bikes, its memories, is common ground and shared passion, and in my case, it was a catalyst to help repair a broken family.

I am dumbfound – stuck – numb and every other emotion when I read this for the first time. All I can say is 

‘Two wheels move my soul, four wheels move the body.’

Part of but not limited to : Castrol Power(www.facebook.com/CastrolBiking.) and Indiblogger contest.

The right and the wrong

The parking lot, Basin valley-

Drops of rain trickled down her forehead. In her mind she knew that the drops were not helping her to purify contrary to what she was expecting them to do. She wondered in those anguished moments about the same scenic sequence that happened few hours ago and how it is presented in Bollywood movies. She wiped out her face with the tissue she held hard in her right fist.  One last check of her appearance and she was ready to go. Go back to where she would live ever after and happily ever after. That was a promise she had made some hours ago.

Her apartment, 201, 12 Wilkinson way-

The shower was on and was pouring warm water at high speed on her head.  She could see his face. Not clearly but enough to spit out the venom. Next day in the morning, she wore her favorite white shirt and matching brown skirt. She had a meeting at 2:00 pm with the client that she would postpone. After the checkup she went to her favorite restaurant – The Mexican Grill, near Lal Bahadur road. With a wholesome lunch in her tummy, she drove back to office. 

Her office, Bhansali towers, Jay Kishan road.

On the way to her cabin, Sunanda signaled her. The signal was a way to communicate about a chit chat session in the women restroom.

‘Did you hear about Anil?’

Her heart skipped a beat. ‘What about him?’

‘He is dead. His body was found near Basin valley parking yesterday night.’

‘Oh!’ was all she could say.

‘Police suspects foul play and robbery.  He wasn’t a good soul after all. Well, that being said the management will decide about the new manager in the coming weeks. Rakesh definitely stands a chance. What do you think? I think he will be a better option than ……………………………………………………………………..’

Images of last evening floated in front of her eyes. The offer for buying a coffee and discuss her candidacy for the Assistant manager post.  Her thoughts that her hard work will pay off in the end. The decision to drop her back to her house. The secluded parking lot. The act of accidentally brushing her curves while putting on the seat belt.

The heap of clothes – the blood – the loss of respect – her wounds and scars – his smile and promise not to tell anyone and give her the much awaited promotion – his judgment that things work this way in the corporate society – his idea of not calling it a rape ‘It isn’t  a rape – we benefit mutually. You would understand how life works Smita. You are just- too young.’ All this while she sobbed hard.

Her decision to not call it a murder. She did not wash her hands after sledging his son’s bat a hundred times on his head while he was busy buttoning his shirt. The rain washed off the blood and the remains of the bat were still lying in her fireplace. 

She felt no pain. This is how it worked in her world.