Why Do We Ride?

We’re only weeks away from Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Week, when hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists will descend upon the Grand Strand for one of the country’s “Big 4” bike rallies. If you haven’t yet booked your accommodations, start here or here to get the best rates. For ongoing updates of Bike Week events and activities, check back regularly at myrtlebeach.com’s 2007 Cruisin’ the Coast page.

For Bike Week visitors, here’s hoping these links help you answer your fundamental questions of “what,” “when” and “where.” And in my own attempt to help everyone understand the “why,” I’ll leave it to two people who can explain it far better than I ever could, but in dramatically different ways. One is the author of an eloquent essay, and the other is a deaf mute from a faraway land.

I can’t tell you if Ian Chadwick or Vladimir Yarets (pictured) have ever taken part in Myrtle Beach Bike Week, but in this case it really doesn’t matter. Each, in his own inimitable way, has his own take on the fundamental question of “Why do we ride?” In turn, they can help both the uninitiated and the avid bikers better understand the essence behind the massive popularity of motorcycling, and such bike rally destinations as Myrtle Beach, Sturgis, Daytona and Laconia.

Chadwick’s essay goes into far more descriptive detail, but ultimately boils down to these fundamental reasons:

Riding is more real: “On a motorcycle, the real world is never excluded from the experience of traveling. There are no cell phones; most bikes don’t have stereo sets or radios to distract us. We can smell the world we travel through, feel the wind buffet us, hear the sound of traffic; we are aware of environmental relationships, of the road conditions, and of our surroundings.”

Riding is more demanding: “Motorcycles are about control. Subtle changes in body position, a slight motion of the wrist, a casual shift in the location of elbows and knees - all of these affect the ride, the lean angle, the power applied to the wheels. Tiny movements translate into significant reactions. To ride a motorcycle is to apply your entire body to the act of riding. Everything the rider does has a result. You cannot ride and not be aware of how you sit, how your arms are flexed, the position of your shoulders or your legs.

“To ride is to remember your body, to use it. To ride is to manage a vehicle and its resources.”

Riding is a challenge: “In a world of virtual experiences, instant gratification, point-and-click interfaces, and automatic transmissions, riding is an anachronism. It gives us the pleasures of having to be awake and aware in our activities. Riding is not for the dull-witted. Driving modern vehicles with their consciousness-magnet devices, however, is perfectly suited for them.”

Riding sets us apart: “On a motorcycle, you can’t be reached by cell phone. Without special equipment, you can’t even hold a conversation with your passenger. You’re alone, you’re unprotected, you’re not one of the crowd. You’re alone with your thoughts, in a Zen-like bubble of consciousness. You look, you think and you ride.”

Riding is more socially interactive: “Any gathering of riders is generally sociable and more friendly, a place where strangers talk animatedly about their interests and their bikes. Drawn together because of one common interest, motorcyclists have a basic underlying respect for anyone else who rides. Sure there are brand and style loyalties among riders, but the fact that you ride makes you welcome at almost any motorcycle event. And you never have to defend your passion among riders. They already know.”

Riding is fun: “It is a joy to shift gears onto an open road, lean into twisty corners. It is a sensory delight to ride to the top of a hill and then scoot down it again. It is pleasurable to flick gears, tap the throttle, twitch a knee and have the bike obey like a trained quarter horse. It’s variously exciting, relaxing, enlightening and ennobling to ride.”

Riding is passionate: “Riding is that moment of sphincter-clenching fear and excitement when you scream through a tight corner, leaned over further than you thought you could, then pop out into the straight with a whoop and a grin. Riding is that feeling in the morning when you open the garage and there it is in all its chrome and plastic glory, and you just have to smile even though you’ve seen it a thousand mornings before. Riding is about the heads that turn to look as you pass by. Riding is about the envious glances from coworkers as they exit their dull cars and watch as you pop your bike onto its centrestand …

“If you've never ridden, you can't comprehend. But once you try it, you're hooked for life.”

As for Vladimir? His experience answers even more than “why.” It reflects the power of a passion that has sent Vladimir and his bike on an unimaginable worldwide journey (which, by the way and by the look of his map, has included the Grand Strand). It shows how the biking community will compel complete strangers to band together to take care of their own in times of adversity. And although Vladimir can only communicate in writing, and through his own brand of sign language, it explains so clearly why – almost seven years and 146,000 miles later – he’s still going.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in May. Drop us a line, and let us know about your most memorable Bike Week experience!