Rider Profiles

There are far more drivers than riders. Almost everyone drives. I know at least one person who neither drives nor rides, by choice. Now that's truly rare.

Before I began riding, I knew a few riders. Like most non-riders, when I met a rider we rarely had meaningful chats about what it means to ride. It's simple really. Unless you ride, it's difficult to understand why riders choose to ride.

In the universe of riders, there are some who write about riding. Some write books. They are in an ultra-small minority, pretty much like those who choose not to drive. Among the riders who write, there are a good number who write blogs, or who write posts to community fora, or other social media outlets like Facebook. For riders for whom Vespas or similar scooters are the motorbikes of choice, Modernvespa.com is the essential forum.

The moto-writers who write blogs, as I do, say that "they blog". We are bloggers.

When you ride, and you write a moto blog, you join a small world of people who share two passions: writing and riding. It's human nature that draws us to one another. Eventually we want to meet. Some of us will go to great lengths to meet. Especially if we can ride to the meeting.

All of which finally brings me to the point.

In the summer of 2013 I got on my Vespa and set out to meet fellow moto bloggers. In a bid to explore the similarities and contrasts that set us apart from the rest of society, I asked ten questions of the people I set out to meet.  Most of the riders I met agreed to my interview request, some are procrastinating, and some demurred.

If you want to read the posts that relate to my 2013 road trip, you'll find them all with a common thread in the title: 2013 Blogger to Blogger Tour.  Readers who are interested can click on the link to the 'Touring' page at the top of the blog to find all the touring posts in one place, in chronological order.

Once I get the answers and actually meet the person, I will eventually post their rider profile on my blog.  Many are bloggers, some are not, all are riders.

Here are links to the profiles (if a rider is listed but there is no profile link, it means we met, but the rider profile post is still not quite ready for prime time).

The most important profile of all I never managed to cajole from the rider: Bob Leong.  I don't know if it was his modesty, or if there were questions that probed at pain that wasn't obvious.  Maybe Bob just didn't want a profile posted here.  The last time I prodded him, he responded with a string of incomprehensible emoticons.  So Bob gets my eulogy instead.  Not so bad, really.  Ironic in a sense, that by some measures the most modest rider gets the most effusive praise.  The result appeals to my sense of the insanity of life and the twisted course of events we all must struggle with. Bob might appreciate the humor.  He's at the top of the list where chronology and fickle fate would have him.  Fitting, no?

No comments:

The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.