Motorcycle Fit.......

I am in shape! I mean really in shape.   What shape you ask?  ROUND!   I'm a pudge.  I have a BMI that makes doctors gasp.  Small children cry when they see me walking down the street.   Little old ladies use me as shade in the hot sun.   I'm a big boy!    That being said, I choose to talk about a subject that I am totally qualified to talk about.   Motorcycle Fitness! 

It takes quite a bit of force to push around a motorcycle.  If you are not so fit, a long ride won't be as long as you wanted it to be.  And after one of those "long" motorcycle rides, you will be sore.  Your arms, hips, back, legs, butt (glutes) and even your neck will hurt.   And I hear that the best way to alleviate that ache is to be "Motorcycle Fit".    I'm not sure what that means, but a few of my fellow motorcyclists have done all the work for me.

Sportrider.com has a workout that includes simple exercises like crunches, pushups, and working your arms with simple weights.
Revzilla recommends something called CrossFit.  It sounds like torture if you ask me.
Ride Apart has given a list of 3 essential exercises;  Lunges, Squats and Mason Twists.  It sounds easy enough....

Ultimately, having a semblance of fitness is important for riding a motorcycle.  Case in point:  I may be a big boy, but I am a strong big boy.   One time I had a 700lb bike decide to take a snooze in the soft dirt I put the kick down in.   Reaching down and lifting it up is not a super simple thing do to unless you happen to be Hafthor Bjornsson (strong man and actor).    What I had to do was get myself in a squatting position next to the seat and grip the downside handlebar and the grip handle on the back of the bike and squat press the bike back up to the vertical stance that it was meant to be in.  If I had been in any worse shape than I was,  I could have been facing hernia surgery or traction.   So, however you do it, work out enough to keep you motorcycle fit.   You will last longer in the saddle, be far less sore and in a pinch, be able to lift your bike if necessary.  

Trip to Enterprise Oregon Part 9 THE FINAL CHAPTER

Aww, the ride is ending!   We finish it off just before Colfax, WA.   You remember Colfax?

It was the place with the Codger Pole.   What?  You mean you don't remember that one?

You need to watch the first video again...   here,  Click THIS to watch the whole thing again!

and you really should hit the like button, and maybe even subscribe. 

 (don't forget to follow this blog too!)

Trip to Enterprise Oregon Part 8

We ride through South East Washington.    Palouse and a few small towns.  Almost back home!

Trip to Enterprise Oregon Part 7

We leave Pendleton and start heading home!    Great start to the day and we even get buzzed by a hawk carrying his breakfast!

Enterprise Ride Part 3

Here is the 3rd Installment.  Heading through Lewiston on to Asotin and up and around some hills.  Almost... I say Almost to the Rattlesnake grade!

Enterprise Ride Part 2

Here is the 2nd leg of the ride.

This is from Colfax, WA to just above Lewiston, ID

Movie Time! Enterprise Ride Part 1

We're back!   What a trip!   I will probably write something about it,  but as they say, a picture is worth 1000 words.    What about a video?

There, that is the first leg of the trip!   There are more videos too!   Like and Subscribe to the channel to see more!  Aww heck, what am I saying.  Ill post more of them.. you know I will.  

This portion is from Spokane to Colfax, WA.   Not much to see but green.  Well, green and a couple little towns!    

Angry Biker = Dead Biker

If you type Motorcycle into the YouTube search bar you will generally see, somewhere in the mix, videos about angry people yelling at motorcyclists.   Some of these turn violent, but almost always you will see a biker getting yelled at and yelling in return with many expletives flying about.  
The problem with these videos is that they give the wrong impression of motorcyclists.   Not all of us are like that.   Most of us just want to ride our bikes and not die.  Unfortunately there is a subset of the biker bunch that seems to want to cause trouble.    This is generally limited to the 2 extremes.  Either an angry "Clubber" (The traditional bikers you see on TV and movies), or a young punk who thinks that it is cool if you wear down your chicken strips (The rubber on the extreme edge of a motorcycle tire that does not get used if you ride correctly).    The videos go like this:  The biker is usually doing something stupid.  Wheelies, illegal lane splitting, crazy revving of loud pipes or anything of that sort tends to infuriate people who think that they are the authority, and even sometimes the authorities.   Once the biker makes the other person mad, they usually have a few moments of speeding and swerving in order to flip off the offender or offended and eventually one of them wrecks or they stop and have a fistfight.   (Not smart for the anyone in a car or who isn't wearing a helmet designed to take a high speed impact.)
Now, the intelligent person will take pause at the whole situation.  The whole altercation could be avoided by just being smart and safe.   It's the Freeway, but it does not mean you are free to do what you want, especially when what you want can endanger others.
I do have a suspicion that these bikers are actually trying to get people angry.  After all, conflict makes for good entertainment...... (for unintelligent people who thrive on violence.)    But the fact that angry idiots can and do endanger everyone else around them should make us all be concerned.
However, if you are like me the sense of schadenfreude is overwhelming.   The sense of empowerment you get from seeing someone get their comeuppance is what drives these videos.  I feel guilty however.  It isn't right to get exited over someone else's misfortune, even when that misfortune is their own fault.  
Rather than make fun of them, or even cheering them, we should help to educate these angry people.  They need to understand that it isn't good for them to be that way.   The young but stupid bikers doing the tricks on the freeway at breakneck speeds, we can help them to see that they are putting lives in danger.  And we can hope they listen.  The clubbers, well we can just stay out of their way and ignore them, that's what they want anyway.    As for the cagers.. well, you are not the police, leave it to the boys (and girls) in blue to do the job of policing the streets.   If you are concerned,  slow down and let them pass.  Give the stupid space to do what they do and minimize the danger to yourself.   If we do that, then either these goofballs will see that it isn't so cool to act like an idiot or we will have a lot of new Darwin Award winners.    Either way the problem is solved.