Why We Ride: The Danger and Joy of Motorcycling

In this episode of Peace Love Moto, we dive deep into the eternal tension between the joy of motorcycling and the risks that come with it. Ron shares real-life stories, hard-earned wisdom, and heartfelt reflections on what it means to ride with mindfulness, purpose, and protection. From dealing with concerned friends and family to navigating the unpredictable nature of the open road, this episode explores how riders can embrace safety without sacrificing the soul of the ride. We cover everything from proper gear, road awareness, animal hazards in the Rockies, to the mental discipline it takes to ride smart. If you love motorcycling and want to keep riding for years to come, this is your reminder to ride with gratitude—and gear up with intention.

Keywords: motorcycle safety tips, mindful motorcycling, riding gear, motorcycle risk vs reward, safe riding mindset, motorcycling in Colorado, why wear a helmet, Rocky Mountain rides, motorcycle road hazards, Peace Love Moto podcast

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
What do you hear from your friends and family when
you tell them about yourmotorcycle adventures?
When you've poeticallydescribed your ride as a mindful
dance between you, your machineand the open road, how the wind

(00:38):
becomes your melody and theroad becomes your verse, how the
world opens before you when youride, and that feeling of being
fully alive, like that wild,untamed spirit that lives within
you, and your friends andfamily respond by saying you
know, I saw on the news theother night that a motorcycle

(01:01):
rider got killed out there.
Yep, got hit by a truck.
I can't imagine what that wouldhave looked like.
You know those things are sodangerous.
I don't know why you do that.
You know you should just sellthat thing and go buy a nice set
of golf clubs.
Ugh, yeah, we hear that a lot,don't we?

(01:26):
We hear it all the time, andthey're right in some ways.
While I would argue, ifmotorcycles are dangerous, I
would agree that riding them,yeah, can be.
We've got to forgive them,though, and not get mad, because
they're just concerned about us, right, and that should be

(01:48):
appreciated, yeah.
Or if they're not concernedabout us and they're telling us
that because they think we'retotal idiots, well, either way
they're making an observation.
So unless you've been convincedthat riding is just too much of
a risk to your health andyou've decided not to ride, then
the rest of this episode isprobably not for you.

(02:09):
But if you're like me and thehappiness pull of riding is just
too strong, then we've got tofigure out what to do to make
the ride as safe as possiblewithout impacting the fun.
Is that hard to do?
Well, kind of, but it's gettingyourself prepared and protected

(02:31):
for a ride that's absolutelyworth it.
It absolutely is.
Well, let's talk about that.
Thank you for joining me today.
Thank you for joining me today.
Recorded in beautiful Loveland,colorado.

(02:54):
Welcome to Peace, love Moto,the podcast for motorcyclists
seeking that peaceful, easyfeeling as we cruise through
this life together.
Are you ready?
Let's go.
They're right.

(03:19):
You know Riding a motorcyclecan be a dangerous thing to do,
and especially when it comes todealing with the unexpected.
And you may think you're intotal control out there, like a
professional moto-GP ormotocross racer like you see on
TV.
But you know what's different?
They're riding on a closedtrack, for one thing, yeah,

(03:40):
they're well-positioned to pushthe limits and, yeah,
everything's different.
Pretty much, race tracksusually don't have high school
students who just got theirdriver's license cruising around
out there.
No one on the racetrack isscrolling on their phone and
race courses are kept totallyfree of debris, even free of

(04:01):
oily patches, and free of rocks,and most certainly free of
animals.
I'm reminded when I lead toursin Rocky Mountain National Park
with Green Jeep Tours out ofVestas Park.
I'm in the front of the Jeep,driving with a headset on, and
I'll typically have 10 to 12guests in this open air
customized Jeep and yeah, it's avery cool situation.
And yeah, it's a very coolsituation.

(04:22):
Sometimes my guests will askabout where and when we'll see
the animals, and I kind ofjokingly tell them that, well,
unlike the jungle cruise ride atDisneyland, where you know
where the animatronic animalsare all the time out, here we
have no idea, because what'sdifferent is?

(04:49):
This is reality, this is thenatural world, and the animals
will roam wherever they want to.
Now I realize that I'm probablytalking some of you out of
coming out here to Colorado fora ride, but I want you to know
too that there are very, veryeffective ways to minimize the
risk to your health if you doencounter something that's

(05:12):
unexpected.
A large part of minimizing therisk is riding smart, not
pushing your limits, and, in myopinion, a large part of
minimizing the risk is ridingwith the right gear.
On dressing for the job, knowingthe difference between dressing
for a walk on the beach anddressing for a thrilling
motorcycle ride through theRockies yeah, I must admit it's

(05:34):
just mind-boggling to me when Isee people who have no clue how
to dress for a motorcycle ride.
Oh, my goodness, I'll betyou've seen it too.

(05:56):
I saw it just last week Somedude riding his motorcycle with
a full-faced helmet and aleather jacket, then below that
with a full-faced helmet and aleather jacket, then below that
what looked to be like a bathingsuit and sandals.
I make it a practice to be kindto people, not to judge others.
That dude was such an idiot andI'm sure you've seen the same

(06:21):
thing Like someone wearing fullriding gear with no helmet.
It's like thinking, well, if Ifall, I'm sure that I'll hold my
head up in such a way that Iwon't impact the ground or a
tree or anything else.
Yeah, good luck with that.
As I listen to myself, though,I know that I'm coming across.
This is coming across as alecture, and I also know that a

(06:45):
great majority of the listenersalready wear the full gear
helmet, jacket, gloves, ridingpants, riding boots, all of that
stuff.
So this may be just a reminderor some good advice that you can
give to someone else that youmight like out on the road.

(07:19):
Well, it starts with respect, Ithink Respect for the machine
and an understanding of itscapabilities and limitations,
and an understanding of yourcapabilities and limitations and
an understanding of yourcapabilities and limitations.
It extends to a respect for theroad itself, you know,
recognizing these ever-changingconditions and, crucially, it

(07:40):
means having a deep respect forother people out on the road,
whether that's a car or abicycle, or somebody walking or
animals, like we described too.
Safe riding is about beingpresent.
It's about scanning yourenvironment constantly,
anticipating potential hazards,making proactive decisions.

(08:01):
It's about leaving thedistractions of everyday life
behind and focusing on the hereand now.
We've talked a lot about that,haven't we?
The last couple of episodes?
100% focus, 100% zoned intowhat's happening all around you
all the time.
Now, this wisdom of safe ridingalso extends to your gear.

(08:25):
Just as we described, it's verymuch tied to our mindset too.
It's about knowing your limitsyour physical and your mental
limits.
It's about making the right,responsible choices, especially
when it comes to things likemanaging fatigue and especially
impairment.

(08:46):
I just want to say it now and Ijust don't say it enough, but I
probably should Never drink andride Full stop there.
Never do that.
As for riding too far betweenbreaks, now that's what I'm
guilty of.
Sometimes I just get tooenthusiastic, or whatever.
I pick routes sometimes thatare just too far for the day and

(09:09):
I get too focused on gettingfrom one stop to the next stop.
I don't know because I'm havingtoo much of a good time, but
sometimes I find myself gettinga little too tired and that
takes the fun out of it.
Right, there's no shame inpulling over to take a break or,
for that matter, especially ifthe road conditions turn into
something that oh yeah, I'mreally going to have to pull off

(09:31):
the road.
In fact, it's a sign of trueriding maturity.
Again, I'm guilty.
I've described about the fun ofriding into storms to observe
the power of nature and to seewhat I could do with that.
Yeah, I'm not the best example.
Sometimes that's just me.

(09:58):
I realize that I haven't spokendirectly about the value of
wearing a good quality helmetand a helmet that fits your head
.
I've heard any number of timespeople say that they don't like
wearing a helmet because it'seither too heavy or it's
uncomfortable, that they don'tlike wearing a helmet because
it's either too heavy or it'suncomfortable, or they can't see
out of it.
Well, I found that most ofthose people have picked the

(10:18):
wrong helmet, one that doesn'tfit their head or is of poor
quality, and poor qualityhelmets are usually heavy and
visibility is not great.
So, yeah, a lot of it is just amatter of spending the money
and getting something that fitsyour head, because, honestly,
you should be able to have yourhelmet on your head all the time

(10:38):
, all day long, and it shouldn'tbother you a bit.
If it does bother you, itdoesn't fit.
And not all brands are the same.
We'll talk more about thatlater on in another episode.
All brands are the same.
We'll talk more about thatlater on in another episode.
But wear a good quality,perfectly fitting helmet on
every ride all the time.
I'll just share this.
I was the second one to arrivewhere, way out in the country,

(11:02):
some dude crashed his motorcycleand he wasn't wearing a helmet.
He survived and he was actuallyup walking around.
Believe it or not.
I think he was kind of high too, but no, I'll not describe what
his head looked like, but youcan use your imagination and
I'll tell you this he'll begetting a different style

(11:25):
haircut for the rest of his lifebased on what I saw happen to
his scalp.
So, yuck, yeah, I've told youtoo much.
That's an image, though, I justcan't get out of my head.
And let me just say this Don'tbe an idiot like him.
Wear a helmet, because here'sthe deal when we prioritize

(11:50):
safety, we're not justprotecting ourselves, we're also
contributing to a more positiveimage of motorcycling for
everyone.
We're showing that we'reresponsible road users who value
our own well-being and we careabout those who care about us.
That's back to that originaldiscussion of what our families

(12:12):
sometimes say.
But we owe them that they loveus, they care about us and they
just want us to be safe and theywant us to be around.
So, yeah, we owe them that.
I'll close with this.
When you head out for your nextride, remember that the freedom

(12:42):
we feel on two wheels is aprecious gift and that wisdom of
safe riding is what allows usto truly appreciate and protect
that gift.
It's about finding that perfectbalance between the thrill of
the open road and theresponsibility that we carry as
riders.
Our minds and our bodies.
Those are gifts from God.

(13:03):
My friends Ride grateful foreverything you get to see and
everything you get to experiencewhen you're out riding, and be
grateful too for every safejourney that God brings you
through.
And it's in that state ofgratitude that I think, if
you're lucky, you'll find agreat deal of joy and you may

(13:28):
even find a little bit of peaceof mind.
Thank you.