Why Do you Ride?

[Ginger]

Cross posted - my friend Phil originally posted this in 2005, it's exactly what I had in mind:

The rising sun is best viewed at 70mph. Chicks dig scars. The thrill. The spills. The challenge. Being able to say "yeah, that's my bike". For the post-ride beer. For the post-ride bullshit. For the solitude. For the solace. For the friends. Because it's hard. Because it's not for everyone. For the looks of longing from people in cars. You would always rather be on the bike. For the speed. For the noise. For the chance, for the possibility. For the sound of pucks on the ground. For the whine of a four, the thump of a twin. You got a girlfriend. You got dumped. You got hired. You got fired. Because you don't need A/C. Or the radio. You need the wind. For the fun. For the fear. For the pain. For the first time you tonned it. For all the first times. Because everything else is irrelevant at 150mph. Being able to fill up with a tenner. For the songs you sing into your helmet. For the hands blackened with grease and grime. For the leather. For your heroes. For the people you love. To seeÔÇöthe road, the environment, outside the frame of a car window. For the cigarettes you smoked parked under a highway overpass waiting for the rain to subside. For waking up in DC and going to sleep in the mountains of West Virginia. For the hangouts. Being able to say "I fixed it." Because the bike will always be there for you.

Why do you ride?