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As an avid motorcyclist — or shall I say: as a biker who has ridden motorcycles for the better part of 40 years — I continue to seek ways to balance my fondness for the freedom of two-wheeled adventures while dealing with the issues of being a “mature older man”: caregiving for the Spouse requires an enormous amount of time and attention; working more than full-time in a management position while serving as the Acting Boss; and the aches, pains, and infirmities of age.<\/p>\n
This balancing act gets tougher, but as they say,
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\n…”when the going gets tough, the tough get going” (with accompanying moans of mild older-age pains).<\/p>\n
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One of my sisters asked me recently, “why do you still ride a motorcycle?” when she saw me arrive to our usual Friday night family dinner via Harley last week.<\/p>\n
Non-bikers cannot understand. Riding a motorcycle is in a biker’s soul. There is nothing like the feeling one gets astride his iron horse. Especially when the weather is nice, roads are empty of traffic, and you’ve got friends with whom to ride.<\/p>\n
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I have to admit — it is easier these days to have excuses not to ride. “I just don’t have the energy of my youth.” “It’s too hot.” “I don’t ride in the dark.” “I am too tired after a long day of (whatever).” “I’m just not feeling up to it.” “Spouse can’t be left alone; he needs me.” <\/p>\n
The latter part is very real. Spouse continues to be in really bad shape. When he cries (which is infrequent, but happens), the crying kills me. I can’t fix him. I lay awake all night worrying and thinking about the next test, next medical appointment, next attempt at treatment, whatever… just to try to bring him some relief from his suffering. But it goes on — no test results, no examination, nothing shows evidence of the underlying cause of his awful health situation. Treatments that have been attempted have been utter failures with doctors throwing up their hands to say, “not my specialty” and leaving us hanging, desperate to find help elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, I can’t help but see on social media how much my family and friends are enjoying vacations, travel, and trips to exotic destinations. Or nice destinations that are not that exotic — our state’s Atlantic beach or mountains or Chesapeake Bay. I see their smiles, feel their laughter, and I am happy for them. But I have to admit that seeing this — especially among friends my age who have healthy spouses — having such fun kinda hurts, because I have come to the realization that my Spouse will continue to be in bad shape for the rest of his life, and any dreams we had of traveling anywhere together are shot. It just ain’t gonna happen.<\/p>\n
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To offset how this situation makes me feel, I ride. I carve out time to mount my Harley and get out there. I make sure that I ride with friends so that if I get fatigued, someone is watching out for me. Let’s stop, rehydrate, take a break, stretch, pee … as I said, I ain’t no young spring chicken with a camel-sized bladder. Us old-farts need breaks more frequently. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
So as I just wrote about — I took a ride with buddies on July 4, and again (with the same crew) on July 8. The most recent ride was the longest (for me) of the season so far — 180 miles of pure delight into and through Maryland’s Catoctin mountains up near the Pennsylvania border.<\/p>\n
When I get video processed, I’ll post one on this blog.<\/p>\n
I am also happy to say that the more frequently I ride, the more my riding skills are improving and I am more comfortable being out there again. I guess, after all, I am not quite ready to hang up the motorcycle boots yet and sell the Harley. I have a few more years left in me to ride. <\/p>\n
In order to maintain those skills and be safe while riding — I have to ride. That’s it… find ways to work in riding among everything else.<\/p>\n
Life is short: ride!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As an avid motorcyclist — or shall I say: as a biker who has ridden motorcycles for the better part of 40 years — I continue to seek ways to balance my fondness for the freedom of two-wheeled adventures while … Continue reading