Let me try to give some of you some insight. I don't know whose going to read this and this isn't to any particular group of people. People come up to me all the time from my own mother to people I don't even know saying the same things concerning me riding a motorcycle. "CJ one day your going to kill yourself you need to be careful" I could go on an on with the quotes. Fact of the matter is I KNOW THIS. I've tried so many times to explain why I ride hard....why I hardly hit the breaks....why I take the corners so hard. My fellow riders can appreciate this as well as some non-riders..
Let me make sure anyone who is reading this understands a few things. I didn't buy a bike for the glitz an the flash....Yea, I may be flashy at times, but when it comes to riding it's different. I don't give two shits about riding up and down Broad st till my engine overheats to look good to a few females.....I don't want to sit around at a gas station for 6 hours and then go home. It's all well an good to stop in meet a few riders and bounce and hit some routes....but some of you dudes looking to get bikes or with them all ready have them for all the wrong reasons.......that shit is sad....real talk....I ride for the thrill, the rush, not knowing what's around the next corner, seeing how far I can push the bike, and finding that next treasure of a road.
PLEASE understand...this doesn't mean I don't care if I die or have disregard for life. I just don't hold back...I can't allow myself not to enjoy the pleasures of life out of simple fear. God or YOUR higher being has a plan for each of us. Our time is our time....I can't look back in 40 years and say I could have done this and that, but I didn't...because of Fear.
For around two years I've been trying to figure out the perfect words to help you all understand...I've found them....they aren't mine, but do include feelings that I hold inside and is everything I want to say........
"I ride because it can kill me. Every time I pull on my helmet and light my engine, I do so knowing that I may not reach my destination. I choose to tempt fate as if I’ve nothing left to lose.
I ride because it’s more than I can afford to lose. I work to feed myself, and I cannot work from a hospital. One crash may be too much: I may not be able to make it through. I’m playing for all the marbles this time.
I ride because it scares me. When the margin for error gets small and the price for failure great, I get tense and I get nervous. I get reminded that I’m not yet ready to go. I know that I’ve more to live for.
I ride because I can push through the fear. Every day I push closer and closer to the pavement, knowing that I will eventually find it, again. I know that I will tear more leather, skin, plastic, and steel. I reach for it still.
I ride because my bike is more capable than I. There is power and performance yet to be found in that machine. It is capable of standing up at eighty miles per hour. It can carve up the mountains faster than my Porsche. I must rise up to meet its abilities. It will stick if I trust it. It will throw me if I fail to respect it.
I ride because I want to control that beast. I can make that bike yield to my command. I can force it to run faster and deeper than it should. I can hold it down when it begs to scream. I can cut, weld, and rebuild it to fit the mold of my will. It has no purpose aside from that which I give it.
I ride because no one believed I could. I was told that I could not handle the speed, could not control the power. I was told that I lacked the experience and the judgment. I was told that I was not strong enough. I was told that I couldn’t pay the price. I was told that I would not survive. Still I ride.
I ride because it makes me feel alive. Every second that I shy away from death, every second that I feel the pain of misjudgment, every second I feel the power of this machine and reach to find its edges, I am reminded that I am still alive, inside and out."
Peace
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