Bike Show Woes

 

 

**Disclaimer**
I’m going to do a little complaining in this post. This does not mean I didn’t have a great time at this motorcycle show. The issue is that I’ve been to so many shows that the thing that stands out is the fact that I was slightly disappointed. Please do not take this as a reason not to go to future shows.

Now that’s out of the way, so let’s get on with it.

As the disclaimer states, I was a bit disappointed with the Progressive International Motorcycle Show this year. There wasn’t really anything that stood out to me as great. This is extra disappointing because I was expecting a lot this year (see this blog post for more on that). The one great thing that I noticed was the wheelie demo setup, but the line was so long that I decided that it wasn’t worth the wait.



If any of you know me or have read enough of my blog posts you’d be aware that I’m a fan of Ducati. Every time that I attend the show I am instantly gravitated toward the Ducati section so that I can check out the latest lineup of models. Ducati wasn’t there this year! Honestly, this didn’t help at all with my attitude toward the rest of the show.

The next thing that stood out to me was the lack of new vendors. I usually will look for a t-shirt or hoodie for my wife and kids, but it seemed that I had already purchased something from all of the vendors there, well at least the ones that aren’t for douchebags (cough, cough...Affliction). I wasn’t going to come home with the same shirts I bought three years ago.

With all this said, I’ll restate what I said in the disclaimer. I did have a great time! It will always be great to break up the winter by checking out a bunch of motorcycles!

“When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.” - Ryan Reynolds

Science Backed Stress Relief

Now that we’re well into winter, I’m starting to look forward to the first ride of Spring. When the snow melts and the roads clear of all the debris it will finally be time to ride. During that first ride I can feel the stress that I’ve built up over the Winter melt away. Do you remember when you were a kid, waking up on Saturday morning thinking you had to go to school? Then, as you realized it was Saturday, the tension faded away. That’s the feeling that I get on the first ride of Spring.

So, riding must have some health benefits with that stress relief, right? It appears that science is on our side. This post from RideApart details a study funded by Harley Davidson that actually measures notable drops in stress levels while riding. Finally, science backs up something I’ve known since I was a motorcycle riding, stress free eleven year old.

So, let’s try to stay as stress free as we can until Spring. However, if life is getting too stressful, just envision yourself on that first ride. That should at least curb the stress momentarily. Either way, let’s hope for an early Spring!

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” - Amit Ray