Why do I do what I do

For those who may not be aware, every year I help to plan and put on the Baltimore/Washington Ride for Kids. This ride, along with 36 other "Ride for Kids" held throughout the year in 37 locations around the US, sponsors the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. We are their main source of income for research, family support, information services, etc. Before the rides started 25 years ago, a child diagnosed with a brain tumor had about a 4% chance of survival. Today the survival rate is about 60%. An enormous increase, but NOWHERE NEAR the survival rate it should be! (I'm basing the numbers from memory of the training session I had a week ago, can't guaranty I'm remembering right)

I started attending the rides in 2001. I had seen several magazine columnists write about the events, so figured I'd give it a try. I had no idea of the emotional impact this event would have on me. Every ride has a number of sidecars and big bikes up front. These bikes hold the true "Stars" of the ride, children currently undergoing treatment for, or have survived brain tumors.

I attended the ride again in 2002, with my new bride. Laya also saw and felt the emotional impact. At that ride I spoke with some people I knew who volunteered for the ride. One of them suggested I attend a Task Force meeting and see if I'd be interested in joining the Task Force that plans the ride, or at least be a volunteer at a future ride. I attended the meeting, and really enjoyed meeting and interacting with the folks on the Task Force. I joined, and the next year, 2003 I assisted the parking lead. In 2004 and 2005 I led the parking team myself. Then in 2006, the ride was on the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana. Also about this time I was becoming more observant, and part of the parking lead's job is to train parkers on Saturday, which I no longer wanted to do (required a long drive from home). So I trained a new person to become the parking lead, and that year I only helped to plan the ride, I didn't actually ride. After that year, the Task Force would check the calendar with me to make sure the ride wasn't on a Yom Tov.

Last year I helped to register clubs (the clubs that brought in the top amount of money got to ride directly behind the kids in the following year's ride), and I was supposed to do that again this year. However, I found out there was a conflict, and the parking lead was not able to attend. So I became the parking lead again (someone else agreed to do the training on Saturday for me). This year's event bust out the previous record, and we raised over $276,000 for the kids. Not only that, but my club raised the most money this year (with the help of some friends who credited their amounts to the club, and who just became honorary members!), so next year we get to ride up just behind the kids. I hope to ride, it'll be the first time since 2002 that I actually ride in the event.

But anyway, back to the heart of the matter... Why do I do this.

Take a look at this picture. These kids are all survivors. There were a total of 11 on stage, these are just some.


Paige, the beautiful little girl being interviewed, is 4 years old. That puts her smack in between Tikvah and Ahava. I thank G-d that my kids are healthy kids, (ptu, ptu, ptu) and feel like it is paying back (keeping up the good to help other kids who are not so fortunate). Plus, this type of activity gives a positive public view of motorcyclists. There are still many people out there who go by the old stereotypes of motorcyclists all being gang members, brawling, dealing drugs, etc.

And finally, I have to admit, it's also fun. At the end point this year, I was responsible for making sure 345 motorcycles were able to park without creaming each other. I'm happy to report I was successful! (see below.)

and no, I don't have big, beefy shoulders. There's a guy with a black leather jacket behind me.

Playing "What if" can sometime really cause headaches!!

I was recently talking to a friend about Goldwings. We are both thinking about getting one sometime in the near future. He said he never rode one and would like to do so, to make sure he liked the feel of the bike. I rode a friend's Wing, but only for about 10 miles or so, down to Walmart and back. But still enough to give me a big grin. :-) I suggested he look into EagleRider, which sometimes rents out Goldwings.

After that, I took a look myself. The local EagleRider does rent out Goldwings, at $150 a day. Yikes! I was looking around their site some more, and saw that they have some special prices on one way rentals, basically to move bikes into different locations in the country. Mostly from Orlando and Los Angeles to DC. Ho hum... Then I saw they also have some in Nashville, TN. Who knew they needed rentals down there? I looked down at the various time periods that they were offering, just out of curiosity. I saw they had one in late October. For some reason that rang a bell. Hmmm, a little more digging up and I found these posts from Kosherblog: Here and Here. A kosher BBQ contest being held in Memphis on Oct 21st. Pardon me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard. Hmmmm, wonder what flights to Nashville cost? Call up Orbitz.com... Yikes, unless I want 3 layovers, it's like $200. What's this? My fingers already typed up the Greyhound bus schedule... I could get an overnight bus there for $45. Let's see, if I left after work on Thursday, I could pick up the Goldwing in Nashville on Friday morning, ride around, then either crash at a cousin in Nashville, or ride over to Memphis. Either way, do the BBQ in Memphis on Sunday, and ride back Monday (maybe Tuesday too). Wow, this is great!

Then reality started sinking back in. That'd mean leaving my wife and kids alone for 5 days or so; during school too. Hmmm, a little bit selfish I guess, especially since they probably wouldn't be going on the Ride to Remember in Omaha next May. Sometimes it's nice to dream, and with internet research now, I can fill in the details on the dream so easily. Flight availability, costs, schedules, same with trains and buses, hotel reservations. I had even thrown up a few routes from Memphis back home on Google Maps. It makes the dream even more tempting. But the priorities (family!) come first.

And Laya, since I know you are reading this... it's NOT meant to try to nudge me into sending me off. I was just thinking about how even 10 years ago, I wouldn't have been able to pull together all this information, schedules, prices, availability, maps, etc., in a matter of just a few minutes, and that's what I'm mainly talking about. But hopefully you'll excuse me if I try to make BBQ Brisket that Sunday! :-)

Ride to Work Day!

Reminder for those of you who ride... Wednesday July 18th is Ride to Work Day. Of course, if tradition holds, that means it'll be raining over here... (and the weather forcast is already calling for an increase chance of rain on Wed... sigh)

Buy rain gear for your local motor patrol!!

I'm sitting here in my office (yes, I know I should be working hard!) looking out in our parking lot. We have 4 level parking deck. Several of us who ride motorcycles park on the bottom (ground) level, near the entrance to the building where the building guards aren't very far off. I'm getting a good chuckle, because it's POURING out there. And in the parking lot, next to where we park our bikes, are two wet policemen, waiting out the rain. One of them even took out a rag and started wiping his bike down. Come on guys, you ride your bikes, you know you might get wet!

And for the record, no, I didn't ride in today. 1) There was a 60% chance of heavy showers, so I didn't even want to try; 2) I'm heading out for two meetings later today, and I don't take the bike on the beltway during rush hour. I just get cooked.

Ah, the rain finally let up, and it looks like they are heading out. Maybe I should have offered them my extra rain gear?

Laya's first ride

Soon after my wife and I began dating, I asked her if she'd be interested in going out for a ride on my motorcycle. She had never been on a bike before. She decided she'd give it a try. I told her I'd start out slowly and on local roads. If she didn't like it, we could quickly head back for the barn. I showed her how to put on a motorcycle helmet, and where the footpegs were. I also made sure she knew that the motorcycle turns by leaning. When I leaned to the left, she needed to lean with me. Some people get very nervous, and lean the other way. This can actually cause the motorcycle to go straight!!

She was doing just fine on the local roads, so I kicked it up a little bit, and headed west, towards the mountains. After about an hour, we stopped at a gas station to have a bite to eat and to stretch out. I took a look at my tailpipe... what was that on there? Melted rubber?? "Ummm, Laya, did your foot feel warm at all?" Yep, turns out she didn't realize her foot wasn't on the peg. Instead, it was on the tailpipe. So her brand new shoes then looked like this:




(She still uses these shoes today!)

After leaving the gas station, we continued on to the Shenandoah Mountains, going up Rt. 211 to Skyline Drive. This stretch of 211 is a biker's dream, heading up the mountain, very twisty, left, right, left, right... Wow!!! But as soon as we got onto Skyline Drive (located just before 211 started going downhill) I could feel Laya's head bobbling around a little bit. I pulled into the first rest area, which also was a picnic area. Oh wow, I guess the road got a little bit too twisty... Laya was dizzy. We stayed there for about 45 minutes or so, resting, letting Laya get her balance back, and eating some pre-packed sandwiches.

The speed limit on Skyline Drive is only 35 mph, so even though it was twisty, it wasn't enough to get Laya dizzy again. Plus I took my riding back down a notch. After exiting Skyline Drive, we continued heading back to my place. About half way before we got back, we pulled into another gas station, and got some ice cream and again sat down to relax and talk. (While I have done 1,000 mile days, this was Laya's first time on a bike, so I didn't want to push it by any means!)

While we were talking, I congratulated her on her first motorcycle ride, and had a gift for her to remember it by. I knew that she loves to collect key chains (I didn't know how much so until after we were married, and I helped to move buckets of them into our new home!) So I got her a keychain with Popeye and Olive Oyl riding on a motorcycle together. (all together now... aaawwwwwww...)

From there, we rode on to a gathering of motorcyclists in the DC area at a bar near my office (shooting pool, kicking tires, etc.) After all that was done, we arrived back at my place. It was a long ride, and she did a great job on it! Now, with the two kids underfoot, it's hard to get away for a ride together. Hopefully some day this summer will find a nice day where someone can take the kids for a few hours, and get out for another ride somewhere. Or actually, now that they are at camp some days, I might even take a morning off of work. The mountains keep calling...

Oh, and it only took about 2 hours to scrape off all of the dried up rubber from the tailpipe. :-) At least she never did that again!

Skyline Drive: Experienced on a motorcycle

Several years ago (winter of 1999-2000 to be exact) I took a course in travel writing. All of the articles that I wrote were motorcycle related (big shocker there, huh?). Below is one of my favorite articles, written about a ride I took on Skyline Drive the summer before. It's a trek to get out there, but once there, the scenery is so beautiful. In fact, the first time I took my wife (then girlfriend) for a ride on a motorcycle, I took her out there. I'll have to write about that another time, if she doesn't tell me not to. (a few interesting things happened on the ride)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the write-up.


"Sorry folks, it’s going to be another hazy, hot and humid day." I rolled my eyes, the weatherman may be sorry, but he didn’t know just how bad it would be. After a long, hot week at work, I was itching to get out and ride my motorcycle. It gets warm enough on the bike without the help of the heat wave toasting the East Coast. His sympathy wouldn’t help to cool me off. If only there were some place cool to ride. That’s when I decided on a day trip to Virginia’s Skyline Drive.

Skyline Drive, in the Shenandoah National Park is always a great road to ride. I often feel sorry for the people whose only encounter with the road is from the seats in their car. To truly feel the full effects of Skyline Drive, they need to experience it from a different perspective, two wheels instead of four.

The Front Royal entrance of Skyline Drive is just 50 miles west of the D.C. Beltway on I-66. This was the only stretch of the trip where I envied the people in their air-conditioned cars. However, I kept my patience, I knew the fun would soon begin. Once I reached Front Royal, I quickly found my way to the northern entrance of Skyline Drive. After paying my entrance fee, the festivities began.

Skyline Drive travels through the Shenandoah Mountains, part of the Appalachians. (In fact the famous Appalachian Trail follows Skyline Drive through the park) Therefore, as I started this leg of my trip, the road had to go up. Up is where it’s cooler, approximately four degrees cooler, Fahrenheit, for every 1,000 feet higher in elevation. More importantly, to go up, the road starts to take a series of switchbacks, right, then left, then right again.

This is what separates a motorcycle from a car. As a car turns back and forth, the driver simply turns the wheel in one direction, then the other. At most, the occupants feel some centrifugal force, pushing them in the opposite direction of the turn. But a motorcycle only has two wheels. To turn, I have to press on the handgrips, press left, press right. This action causes the motorcycle and me to lean, and thus turn. Lean to the right, lean to the left. I’m not just passively feeling the turns; I am a part of the turns.

I soon reached the Range View Overlook, 2,810 ft above sea level. Every one of these overlooks is breathtaking. It is said that years ago, before the modern day pollutants got into the atmosphere, on a very clear day one could see the Washington Monument from Skyline Drive. Unfortunately, all I could see in the distance was the haze that I had come to escape. But below me, above me, and around me, were the trees of the forest and the grass of the meadows. Neither was experiencing the heat wave, instead they displayed their brightest green. I knew I would have to come back again during the fall to see the trees when they change into their multi-colored autumn coats.

As I rode through the trees on the bike, I was not separated from them by a four-sided steel cage with windows. Instead I was a part of the environment, out there, feeling the wind, the change of temperature when I rode out of a shady area into the sun, able to smell the fresh mountain air. I raised the visor of my helmet to let more of the cooler air in, to cool my head. At times, when passing a section of road where both sides sloped downhill, it felt as if I was actually flying over the mountainside.

If you look at a map of Skyline Drive, you will see that as it weaves its way through the Shenandoahs, there is almost no stretch of the road that is straight. The constant curves are a siren call for us motorcyclists. As I rode the curves, all the tension of the long week of work started draining out. Now it was just my bike and me, working together as a team, leaning to the left, leaning to the right. Sometimes tilting so far, I felt I could reach down and touch the road, but I wisely decided not to test this.

As I came around a right hand sweeper, I looked ahead to a breathtaking view. Three deer grazing by the edge of the road. The animals here have learned that the traffic on Skyline Drive is mostly harmless, the deer were content to stay where they were, and only one interrupted her meal to look over and admire my motorcycle. Having seen the deer munching their meal, I decided to make a quick stop at the visitor center in Big Meadows and have a meal myself. Checking the time, I noticed it was starting to get late, so rather than head further south, I turned around, and started back north, to the Thornton Gap exit.

As I exited Skyline Drive, I picked up Rt. 211, a perfect road to end the day with. As 211 worked its way down from the mountaintops, it was extremely twisty, with several hairpin turns keeping me at full attention. I felt so good I had to let out a “YEE-HA!” while curving through back-to-back switchbacks. As I got closer to sea level, I could feel the surrounding air get slightly warmer, but since it was late in the day, it didn’t reach an uncomfortable level. As I pointed the motorcycle home, I realized how lucky I was to have a naturally air-conditioned, twisty, yet scenic road within reach to help me keep my cool on those hazy, hot, and humid days that mother nature kept throwing at me.

I'm still here, and sneek preview

It's been a while since I posted. I was away several days for the Jewish Motorcyclist Alliance's Ride to Remember, then when I got home, I was slammed with work (they actually wanted things done!), and busy at home as well. We moved Ahava into Tikva's room. My wife wanted to try having the girls share a room since when they were separated, there were various things that would set them off crying. Also, when they were with my parents during the Ride to Remember, they shared a room, and my parents thought they got along fine. Pretty soon I'll post some pictures and write ups from the ride itself, but I'll just quickly say here that it was great. We had over 100 Jews on Motorcycles crossing over the GW Bridge into Manhattan, they actually shut down the top deck, so we made the crossing by ourselves. It was a really cool feeling! Here's one photo of the crossing:


More of a write up and photos to come.

Making progress...

Sorry for being so quiet lately. I've been preparing for JMA's upcoming Ride to Remember!

I finally got the trailer thing just about figured out. Here's a picture of the bike up and ready to be tied down. (I had practiced the tying down before)

Now I just have to get that footpeg replaced! The bolts are stubborn and do NOT want to come off!

Response from HODS

In a recent posting, I mentioned a comment about motorcyclists and organ donating. I sent the following e-mail to the contact person at HODS.

Cool, love to meet you, love to have you ride your motorcycle with us (with a helmet) it would be kind of funny cuz motorcycle guys without helmets are donors

I know you meant the above comment as a joke, but I just wanted to let you know of something, in case you are contacted by any other motorcyclists.

In the past few years there have been at least two states that had bills proposed that were basically to the effect of, if a rider without a helmet was killed in a motorcycle crash, he/she would be an organ donor regardless of whether or not he/she chose to be. In essence, it meant that riding without a helmet was automatic consent for donating organs. (New Mexico: http://www.ama-cycle.org/legisltn/releases/2003/g03002.asp
California: http://www.ama-cycle.org/news/2004/organdonor.asp)

A lot of people in the motorcycle community were obviously outraged at this. In my mind, this is similar to requiring anyone driving without a seatbelt, riding horseback without a helmet, riding a bicycle without a helmet, smoking, or engaged in any type of activity that has some element of danger to become mandatory donors. Fortunately the two bills above were killed.

So as I said, I know you were joking with your comment, but given the past history associated with it, you might not want to make a similar comment to other riders. It's still a bit of a touchy issue in the community.

Thanks, and hope to see you in the parade!

I got a response almost immediately:

Wow,
I had no idea.
Thanks!

I think the hardest part about sending this type of a message is to do it carefully so it doesn't sound like you are madly raging against the system, but at the same time, making sure to get the point across. It looks like this was successful. At least he is now aware of the issue and probably won't make a similar comment to other motorcyclists.

Over she goes!

The first big motorcycle ride of the year, and what do I do? Drop the motorcycle. First off, there were no injuries (well, not to a physical person, the bike did have some damage).

I was riding on Snickersville Turnpike, which is a nice country road in the rural western part of Northern Viriginia. The only part of the road that is tricky is an uphill, 180 degree hairpin turn (also known as a switchback) at one end. If you plan out your line, and keep the bike moving, it's possible to do. But I never enjoy doing it.

This time, I was behind another motorcycle. Just before we started up an incline, a pickup truck pulled out in front of us and took the lead. As we approached the hairpin turn, the truck slowed, then stopped, even though there was no one coming in the opposite direction. This completely threw off my line, and in trying to readjust my path, I wound up going too slow, and the bike didn't have enough momentum to continue. She started going over.

I ride a Kawasaki Concours. (affectionately called a Connie by its owners) It's a great bike. One reason why a lot of riders like it is because it has a 7.5 gallon fuel tank, which is pretty large for a stock tank. However, unlike some bikes like the Honday Goldwing, or ST1300, the tank is right up there, between my knees, and that means the full weight of the gas (which I had topped off that morning) was leaning over to the right. That's over 40 pounds. Most Connie owners know that if the bike starts going over, it's very very hard to keep it up. And down she went.

Another thing that many Concours owners know is that if the bike goes over, you might as well expect that the footpeg bracket will be broken, even before you take a look underneath. The other rider was off the road in the gravel, but was able to get his bike back on the road, then came over to help me right the bike. Yep, there's the footpeg laying down there on the asphalt. Groan

The other rider helped me to clean up some of the other stuff that was on the road (pieces of the bracket, and some screws that popped off an air deflector I had on the bike). After it was cleaned up, I mounted up and rode the bike straight home. No sense taking a risk by riding more without a footpeg to secure my foot. Most of the way I kept my foot on the passenger peg, until my leg started cramping up. I'm just glad it was the right side footpeg that broke (if either of them were to break). The brakes are on the right side of the bike. If the left side peg had broken, it would be really tricky to shift the bike on the ride back.

Anyway, a new bracket has already been ordered, as well as a replacement deflector. The bike should be fine for the Ride to Remember coming up soon. Once the adrenaline wore off, my arms and leg were sore from when I tried (unsucessfully) to hold the bike up, but that'll go away.

The one "silver cloud" here? When I described what happened to my wife, she asked about how the experience would be different if I were on a Goldwing (the bike I'm looking into getting someday). I told her that the fuel was stored down low (beneath the seat actually), so there was a lower center of gravity. Also the seat height was lower, so my feet would be more firmly planted on the asphalt. Also, there are bars on the bike that help prevent pieces from breaking off in the event that the bike goes down. After reviewing this, she said maybe I should look into getting a Wing now, rather than waiting a few years as we originally thought.

Recent articles on Jewish Motorcycle groups

Here are two recent articles on Jewish motorcycle groups that were published.

The Washington Jewish Week writes about The Tribe MC (Washington DC metro area). Article here.

The Jewish Ledger writes about the Chai Riders MC (NY/NJ/CT). Article here.

I've noticed that a lot of times when I meet Jewish riders, they never knew that there were Jewish Motorcycle clubs (there are currently19 that I know of, in the US, Canada, Israel, and Australia. Some new ones are expected in Europe in the next few months!) Maybe instead of focusing on trying to get write ups in the Jewish media, clubs should start focusing on trying to get write ups in mainstream motorcycle media. As much as I hate to say it, they'll probably find more Jewish motorcyclists that way.

Ah, the morning ride

It's been a while since I was able to ride my motorcycle into work. Besides the nasty weather we had here mid-January through most of February, I also had tire problems. An air leak in an old, worn out tire, then I got the wrong size replacement tires (they fit the bike, but make it too tall for me). Yesterday I finally picked up my bike from the shop in rideable condition.

My drive into work normally takes about 20 minutes. I took a more leisurely route in, stretching it out to about 40 minutes. It was cold (of course I missed all the nice, warm days!), but I had a great big grin inside my helmet anyway. With gas prices once again on the rise, and the winter weather just about gone for good, I'll be taking the bike in to work much more often now. The one thing I need to be careful of though, is that my trips home tend to get longer and longer. I like to find different back roads and see where they head off to. But I have to remember the kids are back home, waiting for my return.

No Riding on Passover??

According to this article, we can't use ethanol based gasoline during Passover because of its corn based contents. This is the second time ethanol gas wrecked a good motorcycle ride. Apparently it does a very good job of cleaning out the gunk in your gas tank. Only problem was, the gunk then goes into your carbs. More detail here. I had to take my bike to the shop to get the tank drained and the carbs cleaned before the bike would run again.

And yes, I know the article was a joke. Nice thought though. :-)

Hello World!

I don't know if that's the standard opening line for a Blog, but as a former computer programmer, that's the standard opening line for me.

Anyway, I'm still trying to get this whole blogging thing figured out (e.g. how to get it all set up the way I want), so please excuse any construction mess you may see.

So, who am I and why the long name?

The name is Jewish Deaf Motorcycling Dad (JDMDad for short). I tried to think of the things that make up who I am and what I am. A lot of people define themselves by their jobs, or specific field. "Hi, I'm Joe, and I'm a mechanic." That's nice, but WHO are you, really? So I tried to think of who I really am, what makes up my core elements, at least as of March 21th, 2007.

The answers, in no specific order (well, the order that sounded best when I verbalized the 4 terms):

Jewish: Born and raised Jewish. Now becoming more and more observant of my religion. I don't know if I'd label myself as "Orthodox" or Baal Teshuva yet, but I'm heading in that direction. Keeping kosher, observing Shabbos, etc.

Deaf: Well, there are varying degrees of deafness. With hearing aids on, I can actually hear pretty well. Not that I would ever pass for a hearing person. But it definitely has made its mark on me. Especially when my company (and work will NOT be a focus of this blog) has problems with scheduling an interpreter.

Motorcycling: After I graduated from college, I finally went out and
learned how to ride, then got myself a bike. (note the order!) I'm
very active (sometimes too active) in several motorcycle groups, including a Deaf motorcycle group, and a Jewish motorcycle group. At first I was going to use the term "Biker" but that has too many negative connotations. Plus you'd probably imagine someone in leather, riding a chopper, no helmet, etc. Definitely an incorrect image.

Dad: The biggest and best change of my life came when my first daughter poked her head out and said "WWWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" I now have two daughters, and now fully understand why you never get between a mama bear and her cubs.


Why a blog? I've been reading some other blogs, mostly Jewish related, and posting some comments. But I started to have a little bit of blog envy and wanted to give it a whirl myself.

Why an anonymous blog? Really, I'm more than willing to be open about who I am. But my wife is concerned about the crazies out there. So I agreed to try to do this anonymously. With two little girls, I understand her feelings on this, and since I don't want to endanger my kids or my marriage, this is it. Thus the kids will be getting alternate names for the blog (and my wife picked one for herself as well). I'm sure within a month I'll be totally confused and calling them by the wrong name to the dinner table, earning strange looks from the kids and my wife. I'm also pretty confident that if anyone who knows me in "real life" looks at this blog, they'll peg me in a minute. That's fine. Just don't pop out and give the info to everyone else, m'kay?

The names of my girls (in chronological order) start with a T, then an A. So after my second one was given her name, for a few days, I used to refer to them as "T & A." Then I thought about that hard for a minute, and no longer use that term.

My oldest daughter (Currently 3 something) is Tikvah.
My youngest (currently 2) is Ahava.
My lovely wife (age is irrelevant if I want to survive) is Laya.

And I'm your host, JDMDad, Jewish Deaf Motorcycling Dad.

The things that I have in mind to write (some have already been written, and are just floating around my computer with no place to go yet) cover my 4 identity points, some separately, and some in combination with others. And of course some things will just be totally off the top of my head. How often will I post? Will this be one of those many deserted blogs? I don't know. I'm figuring this out as I go along. (Literally! I have a copy of Brad Hill's "Blogging for Dummies" next to me, and several "Blogger.com" help pages open as I type this).