Riding is that moment of absolute fear and excitement when you roll 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 painted 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 back up to the curb and drop your kickstand.

Riding is about taking that side road out of the traffic stream just to see where it goes. Riding is about filling up with $10 worth of gas instead of $50. Riding is about meeting strangers at a gas station and striking up a friendly conversation about motorcycles. Riding is about parking two or three bikes to a single space. Riding is about spending an hour or two washing and polishing and then looking at your work with deep pride.

Riding is about beauty. Every motorcycle is a work of art, some breathtaking in their sheer elegance. The only cars that can even come close to a bike in grace and form are European sports cars. Even the ugliest bike is a thousand-fold more beautiful than any family sedan - and every bike is a million-fold more elegant and graceful than any SUV.

Riding is about fashion - the way men and women look in leather. The lean look of a female rider in leather and chaps; the rebellious look of a chopper owner all dressed in black. It’s about a crafted stylishness that’s at once casual and formal. Riders form their own groups, identified by their dress code as much as their vehicles. How you look is part of why we ride.

If you don’t understand, I can’t explain it in any more words. Sit in your mini-van and try to tell me that your heart beats a little faster when you turn the engine on. Pull into a mall parking lot full of so many mini-vans and urban-warrior-SUVS that you worry about recognizing your own vehicle - and try to tell me you felt a thrill about coming together with them all. Drive through the countryside with your windows rolled up, air conditioning on and music cranked up and try to express the experience of motion through the fresh air that smelled of wild flowers and fresh cut grass.

If you’ve never ridden, you can’t comprehend. But once you try it, you’re hooked for life. Riding is probably healthier, too. Since it’s almost impossible to smoke while riding, motorcyclists are less likely to suffer the ills of tobacco-related diseases while riding. And since smoking reduces the flow of oxygen to the brain, which makes smokers less alert, non-smoking motorcyclists are probably smarter than smoking drivers.

Bronco Bob