A bit of cool news -- The New York Times just quoted & linked to TheBikerWeb’s Biker Blog!!! :-D
This is a huge thrill, personally...
When a big dog like the New York Times is actually kind enough to link back to a little blog like mine, that’s a really special thing for me. Thank you!
Simply put, I built this site, and write this blog, because I’ve been in love with motorcycles since I was a little kid, and I saw my first chopper at the age of 6 -- we’re talking the old skool chops that were still on the road in the late ‘70s / early ‘80s.
I remember how I literally stopped in my tracks as that leather-clad fellow with a big beard blowing over his shoulder rode by on a low-slung chromed out chopper, while I was playing near the street. He looked over, and smiled, and gave me that “biker wave” I know so well now. After that, I was hooked. (And in turn, these days I always make a point to be nice to any little kids that want to have a look at my own ride.)
And despite my enduring lust for a bike while I was growing up, my parents made it very clear I was not to have a motorcycle so long as I lived with them. They just couldn’t deal with worrying about the dangers involved (which I understood even then -- that sort of thing isn’t easy for parents).
Well, when I went to college, the very first thing I bought wasn’t a set of plates, or furniture, or any of the regular stuff a person needs when they get their first apartment....I bought a motorcycle! :-) My first ride was a little Honda Rebel, and I put over 2,000 miles on that thing the first summer I owned it (which is a lot, considering the terrible weather, even in summer, of Northwestern PA).
I saw a couple of old pics of me on that bike recently -- and I gotta admit that I looked like a gorilla riding a tricycle! I’ll post one of them whenever I can get around to scanning it. I’ve always been a bit of a big dude (strong, not fat), and I’m surprised that little bike could handle me (though it topped out at 55 mph...it wouldn’t go any faster than that unless I went downhill). I’m 5’ 11” and I hit 200 lbs by the time I was a Junior in high school -- I took martial arts classes (Aikido & Tai Kwon Do), 4 to 6 days a week, from the ages of 8 to 24 (12 years straight), which gave me the self-discipline and awareness of my own mortality & physical limits that made for a safe riding experience.
Anyway, that’s my rambling story of how I came to riding and experiencing “Life on 2 Wheels”. :-)
You can check out the New York Times article here.
They apparently liked my post about Harley Davidson & the new Indiana Jones movie.
