Have you ever seen a line of motorcycles parked outside a shrinks office? No, probably not but we've all seen the meme's online about it. We all get our therapy in different ways. Some need a shrink, others do their own thing. We all loves bikes, why else would you be reading this?
To some of us they are more that just a ride. They’re a release, a source of freedom, they bring us into a new community and they’re an adrenaline rush.
To me they are all of these and this is my story of how motorcycles brought me from out from some very low points and the depths of depression.
Cutting a very long story short, 12 years military service, 11 years of marriage after it that seemed more like a hard labor prison sentence, a divorce, a now ex-wife that turned my kids against me when I remarried (to a wonderful woman) and a whole new rift of court cases fabricated by the ex and here I am today - dealing with it.
I wont sugar coat it. There were times I wished it was all over, days I would hope that I wouldn’t see the next and occasions that I would ask if it really was worth hanging on to life.
Depression is a dark place. It’s a lonely place and those that are dealing with the worst of it are the ones most likely to try to deal with it on their own. The military tells you to deal with life and get on with it. Sharing life issues isn’t on the agenda there and for sure that was me too.
Enter the bikes. I passed by test in Edinburgh in December 1995. Bloody cold, snowing, hail and worth every second of it. After that I hadn't ridden for years until a colleague convinced me to go along to a track day to have a look around. The bug was back and I was hooked, again.
Since that day I’ve regularly ridden motocross, enduro, on the street, track days and have even raced amateur motocross at my right old age (let’s just say over 40).
I found new challenges, peace, new friends, community and quiet unassuming help from other bikers. Putting my helmet on placed me in my own little world. I was isolated from the troubles of life that only existed outside this world beyond my visor and I it gave me a significant amount of time to think clearly about my life.
RIDE THERAPY