Racing (dhowellbooks.com)

Why Roadracing?

My wife would rather I stuck to something safer, like rock-climbing

I guess the first thing I'd stress to anyone not familiar with motorcycles is that, for a streetbike, racing on a track is way safer than riding on the street. To any racer or trackday rider reading this, it's clichè: there are no Volvos, no inattentive drivers with a cell-phone in an ear. No harrassed Moms with kids screaming, no drunk drivers. No trucks, potholes, guardrails, trees, sand, oil. Everyone is going in the same direction, has some degree of experience handling his/her machine, and you can use the whole track (road). There's an ambulance standing by right there.

Dirtbike racing is different. Dirtbikes hurt you - broken bones, bruises, compression fractures, etc. Dirtbike racing - Enduro, motocross, supercross - is a battle of the body. Worse than football, racers collide hard. And they do it often - I mean, if you're clearing a triple-whoop (big jump) and the other guy behind you lands on top of you... its gonna hurt.

So I don't race the dirt. Doesn't hurt that I'm lousy at it, though I'd tell you I'm not interested in getting good at it. Roadracers who ride dirt tell you it's great for getting used to having your wheels out of line (meaning sliding the bike). I'm used to it guys, trust me...

The point is, I don't ride the street anymore. I just don't feel comfortable. I have a streetbike - it sits in the garage. Every year my insurance company asks me about it (I have theft/comprehensive on it), and I tell 'em I still haven't decided to put it back on the street. I figure, maybe in 20 years, the bike'll be worth money (hah!).

But why race? Trackriding is safer than street, right? So why add the danger of competition? To which I respond, "Why breathe?" It's just in me. Too many years of taking stuff from bosses, sergeants, bullies, professors, ex-girlfriends, playing lousy golf, whatever... I race. If I can beat the other guy - pass him where he is convinced I can't, or pass him despite everything he can do - then my day is a little brighter.

And, if I had a bad week (or month) at work, or the rejection slips from agents and publishers have got me down... I'd like to assure you, there is nothing that focuses the concentration, clears the mind of irrelevant distractions, more than staring at the turn at the end of the straight at 165 MPH. Now imagine it with 20 other racers screaming in their helmets trying to pass you into that corner.

"Roadracing motorcycles makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty." - Peter S. Egan

Try it sometime. If you'd like to race, and want some information on how to get going, you can email me. Racers are happy to get other racers addicted.