Celebrating Woman History with Brooklyn Designer, Karen Oh!

Hey, welcome to episode number 89. Can you believe it? Of your favorite Motorcycle
Safety Podcast, the Arrival Live Podcast. My name is Leonardo Belello.
You can call me Len, and this is going to be a fabulous show for a couple of
reasons. Number one, it's the end of Women's History Month, and I wanted to do this
a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to acknowledge the role that women have in
motorcycle safety and we pulled some stats and it's incredible. Women get into less
accidents, both single vehicle accidents and any other type of accidents. They
overindex in motorcycle safety education and training. There's a lot we can learn
from the ladies, fellas. Okay. So we're going to talk about that. And then I'm
going to intersperse some stories from the women of our podcast that have been
guests on our podcast. Now this is episode 89 and I checked and we've had over 40
female guests. Now some of them were part of couples and some of them were not but
I think that is a freaking good ratio to have. Now before we get started I want
to remind you that the show is brought to you in part by the fun and good folks
over at the Heyman Law Firm. If you ever need a personal injury attorney, whether
you're in a motorcycle accident or any type of accident, call 1 -800 -HAY -M -O -N -D,
all of their lawyers and motorcycle riders themselves, and they've helped people that
we know and that we ride with who have been in accidents. So the Heyman Law Firm,
a big thank you to them. Now, to help us with this show, we have a very
passionate female rider her name is Karen Oh and she is a graphic designer living
in Brooklyn she's spent some of her life in Ohio and some of her life in Maine
Maine's great for motorcycle riding her thing Ohio is that great but anyway any any
ride is good that you come back from alive as we know so I think I hear Karen
rolling up now let's see
All right, so Karen Oh from Brooklyn. Thank you for joining us on I think it's
gonna be an episode number 89 Of the Arrival live podcast. Thanks for coming. Thanks
for having me, you know in honor of women's day or women's history month I thought
it'd be great to have Karen on the show because I've ridden with Karen a few times
in our Boop Rides here in New York City. And you're a relatively new rider now. I
don't want to ask your age, but you're a little bit over 25, probably not much.
And you're a designer, a graphic designer. You know, you've been riding for two
years. Let's start with two years and three days ago. Before,
you know, before you got your first bike, what was in your mind? - I think I was
just doing thing and then and then I remember that a friend of mine kind of put a
bug in my ear about she had gotten her license and it reminded me that I had
always wanted to learn how to ride and you know it's like when you're young and
you're like thinking oh I want to do all these things you know in life and life
gets in the way and then you forget those things become less of a priority and you
know I think I've been of that I've done a lot of things in my life, but this
was one of those things where I was like, oh, I got to do this. If I don't do
this now, I'll never do it. So she really prompted me to look into it because she
pointed me in the right direction. And sometimes that's all it needs is someone to
say like, Oh, just go take the class. And for example, just today, some guy, it
was cleaning, it's cleaning the bike chain today, because it seems like I have to
do that every three weeks around Um, and this guy comes up to me and he was
asking me questions and I said, Oh, you got to take the MSF class. Just take them
as they'll just teach you from scratch. You don't need to know anything. Just show
up with like the helmet and the stuff they tell you and they will tell you what a
motorcycle is. And, you know, and it was the same. I think, I think that's what I
needed from someone was to say the entry point to learning how to ride a motorcycle
is not difficult. And I think a lot of times it feels like there's a gigantic
barrier to learning something new like that. - Okay. - So. - And let me just
interrupt you there. So did you take the course first and then buy a motorcycle or
did you have a motorcycle and say, oh, now I gotta take the course? - No, I took
the course first and then what prompted me was I was like, let's ride BMWs.
I looked up the BMW website and they teach them MSF class at the BMW Performance
Center in South Carolina.
And so I convinced my husband, I said, "I'm doing this, do you want to do this?"
And he was like, "Oh, I don't know, you know, motorcycles are dangerous and stuff."
And he, but then he was like, "Sure, I'll do it." And so we drove to South
Carolina, to the MSF course down there. It turns out that if you live in New York
State in order to get the license waiver, you have to take the MSF class in New
York State. So I learned how to ride a motorcycle, got to ride the 310,
GS310, and so that was fun, and passed the test down there, but had to take the
class up here again, so it was fun. It was like, oh, I'm taking another class, I
guess. I took the MSF class up here again, so I could get the license waiver.
- Very cool. And so the bike that you ride now is? - It's a, so then we bought
the bike and the bike is a KTM 390 Duke. So it's a small bike, but it works
great in the city. It's light, it's nimble. You know, you can really zip around
stuff, it has good pickup. - And I can attest folks, you know, she's a good rider.
We've written in quote unquote group rides with our friend, Edder, who's been Um,
once officially, but then we did, we used AI to clone his voice and my voice into
Spanish. I don't know if you heard that, but we're actually going to do that a
couple of more times because we're getting, we're getting a lot of listeners from
South America and we're actually going to, um, uh, for the, maybe not this episode,
but the next one, uh, clone it into Mandarin Chinese using, oh, awesome. Yeah.
Just because we're getting a lot of people from, uh, China listening to the show.
So what is it? So you've been riding for two years. How many miles do you think
you put on the KTM? This, you know, I'm not very good at tracking anything in my
life, like diaries or journals, but I have actually tracked all of my motorcycle
rides. And I think I've ridden about 7000 miles. That's like 35. That's pretty good.
If I get over 4000 a year, you know, that's that's a good year for me. And it
used to be a little bit more. And as you get older, you have more obligations, but
Obligations, but you guys is great and here's like a little for the people You
know, and I love riding in our groups that we do But be you by the time everybody
gets together and then we'd make the gas stop Yeah, and the bathroom stop, you
know, and we're gone for five hours. Yes. I look at my odometer. We've only got a
hundred
Exactly exactly
Yeah, - Yeah, no, it's so true. And I think for me, I think, you know, we think
about women and stuff. It's very hard to take an entire day to go on a ride.
And so, but also motorcycle is a skill and motorcycling is a skill.
And so I feel like if I don't ride at least once a week and get some solid 50
miles at least for 20 miles, anything that those skills get a little rusty,
you know, and so even though maybe it's not, they come back faster and stuff, but
I think it is a continual, it's a lifelong practice, like any sport. - What is your
pre -ride ritual, right? You keep your bike on the street, so your first pre -ride
ritual is to say a prayer and hope the bike is still where you left it, but after
that-- - Yes.
- There's a, Well, there's, so I bicycle a lot in New York City. So there is a
three lock rule and trackers and everything. And, you know, just being smart about
that. So yes, you know, making sure the bike is still there. And then a lot, you
know, the stuff they teach you in the MSF class really is like, you want to look
at the bike, check the chain before you go, check the, I've seen so many reels. I
don't know, maybe it's the same two reels of like people's like like raked clutch
levers falling off and stuff. - What's the most surprising thing? So let's say
there's a woman that lives, what part of Brooklyn do you live in? - I live in
Prospect, Lefferts. - Okay, so let's say there's a woman that's across the street
from you. She just moved in and she's like late 30s and she's never ridden. And
she's, if she asked you, you know, I'm thinking about getting a bike. What's the
most surprising thing you've learned about owning and riding a motorcycle.
What would you say?
It feels like riding a bicycle. You don't have to pedal.
So it's actually when I got on the bike, I was like, oh, this is so nice. I'm
not like sweating and I'm not tired. You know, I can just maneuver this thing
around. The other surprising thing though is that it doesn't have, it's like you can
lock the handle out in a turn but it's not it's not very much the angle is not
very much you know and so that was surprising to me too okay I thought it was a
lot like more of a turn yeah I describe it as almost like being on a magic carpet
right so like you're not peddling and you're you know higher off the ground and and
it's wonderful and it's a great way to see the city and it's a great way to go
out in the country and the other surprising thing is just the you know I did one
episode called AMC all my crashes and I've had like seven or eight and five of
them have been in Manhattan or Brookwell.
One was in Brooklyn and I live in Manhattan and now the bad thing about living in
Manhattan is you're more apt to have an accident. The thing is most of the action
that you will have are going very slow speeds. Yeah. Yeah. So like after 9 11, I
was hit by a bus because I was at a stop signal. And what do they teach you to
do at a stoplight? Keep the bike in gear and check your stupid mirrors because
people don't see us. And the bus driver did not see us. Luckily, I don't know if
you were here for 9 11. Well, you were you were you living in Maine? Okay. So
there were cops on every street corner and they came to my side and they lifted my
bike off of me and they said, "Hey, we saw the bus, you know, hit you, do you
want us to give them a ticket or something?" I said, "How's the bike?" And they
said, "Looks okay." I said, "No, I got to get to work."
You know you're okay when you're asking about the condition of your bike. Well, you
know, we had this one gentleman, Ron, I don't think he's really well. No, he read
road with us on the on the The Christmas tree ride. I was this year or last year,
but he lost 17th and half his jaw on the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Expressway and
he couldn't walk for three months Four months and when he could finally walk and he
had his jaw unwired He got on the subway to the Triumph dealership in Brooklyn and
bought another motorcycle And even though we had a gentleman.
I can't believe I don't know his name But he was on episode nine and he was he
was in a wreck and he was in a coma and then his wife came in Well, you know,
he's stable and his wife had an iPad. He's like give me the iPad She's like what
do you want to do send an email? It's like no, I want to order another motorcycle
With this being women's history month I want to get into some of the stats that
you and I shared earlier. Yeah, two more quick things that you one of the things
you You made me just have a have a flashback the other thing in big cities is is
the the the food delivery guys and gala They have no sense for law or order or
stopping at lights or anything that being said So you also have to you know if
you're on the right hand lane and you want to make a right hand turn You have to
check that there's not a like a little scooter that's an Uber Eats or a door -dash
or a guy or girl. I don't really see too many girl delivery people. Right, yeah,
yeah. Because and there was a split second that I turned into a driveway and if it
was a half a second more I would have ran into this person and that's another
thing. And then of course in New York City you know I think what the typical one
-bedroom apartment in New York City is about 600 or 700 square feet, which is about
the same size as the typical pothole in New York City, right?
So you have to look down, you have to look left, right? It's like, and now we
have the congestion price you gotta watch for the cameras. And this, you know, it's
like, why the F do we do it? But we do it because it's very cathartic and it's
very pleasurable. And the other thing I was gonna add, oh, So as a kid you grew
up in Ohio, you said yes, okay. Did your parents ever take you to see a magician?
Have you ever seen a magician perform in your life? I have Can you name a magician
that you admire or have seen? No, I can't can you name any magician in the world
ever? David Copperfield bingo, okay And you're like,
well, and why the f are you asking me this? So let's pretend David Copperfield is
here with us. OK, awesome. And he could with one, you know, flash of his of his
hand or his wand, he could make one aspect of your motorcycle riding skills five
times better than it is. What would that be? Oh, drifting. I don't know how to
drift. And I want to Drift and you want to drift. Yeah. What are you 17?
Yes. Yes. I do want to be 17 again. I want to learn how to drift and wheelie
because I can't even wheelie on a bicycle and I'm like, I got to learn how to we
You know, this is this
I tell you we've had 89 episodes I've asked that question in one form or another
and you're the only one that said that so That's kind of cool I love watching like
Enduro riders and stuff like the balance and like stuff like that. So I think
that's like that would be it. I feel like for me, motorcycling, like you said,
it's cathartic. It's really like it is mental. It is such a mentally clearing kind
of thing to do, but it is also super technical.
And I think I really appreciate and admire really good technical riders of any kind,
adventure, enduro, GP, whatever. So that's when you understand your bike so well like
that and you can maneuver it in that way. That's really very, very impressive. And
you know, even we had this woman, Sherry Ives, I think she was on episode three or
four. She's a motorcycle safety instructor in New Jersey and she teaches a lot of
the New Jersey motorcycle cops how to ride. And you know, we see Instagram and
people doing these high speed things and things. She said the real skilled rider
knows how to ride slow. And they had these competitions about riding slow around.
And that's when you know your skills are good. You can do that. - Yes. - And that
is something.
And she's, and then we also had Monica Holmes, who lived also in, she lived in
Harlem and she played a women's professional volleyball. She played division one
volleyball out in California. Oh, really? Okay. And, and she coached Columbia and I
think another school, I want to say Hofstra maybe. She was a women's, and now
she's, she lives in Montclair, New Jersey, somewhere in Northern New Jersey. she's a
mom to one or two kids rides a BMW and she was an MSF instructor and I'm not
gonna take a guess if you were the good student or the bad student but I asked
her you know she told me a story she's like yeah I'd be I said what's it like
being an MSF instructor she's like you can't go to Home Depot and not run into
somebody that you've taught and they always and they always like hey remember me I
had the Yamaha blah blah blah and she And she said to me kind of in passage said
you know what I only remember the problem students the ones that If you were a
good rider, I didn't remember you But if you were a crappy rider, and I had a
feeling that you were gonna get in an accident I gave you special attention and it
always stuck in my mind and And that's you know and even like about having the
show I started this show Because I was riding on my way to church like almost six
years ago, and a guy ran a red light, his wife was in the right seat, the
passenger seat, and I bounced off him like a freaking tennis ball, and when I was
down, when I realized I was going to be okay, I kind of looked to the heavens, I
said, "God, how can I be a safer rider? I'm not a kid," and it wasn't even my
fault, but I didn't want to be an MSF instructor, and there's nothing against that,
but I didn't want to work weekends, I wanted to ride, so I kind of idea, you
know, to do this and meet so many nice people and wonderful people like yourself.
But let's talk about women a little bit more and, you know, so Karen and I were
kind of throwing some stats around and let's talk about some of these stats here.
So I'm going to read something and then we'll discuss it. So male riders account
for approximately 90 to 95 % of all motorcycle fatalities in countries where data is
collected. Yet, so women, and when you average, so even though women are, when you
solve or when you make the number of riders equal and the mileage equal,
women crash their motorcycles less by a factor of nine. Why do you think that might
be, Karen? - I think, you know, I think there's a couple things I think women have
to like they're coming into like quote unquote a male dominated space of
motorcycling. So I think there's a little bit of one imposter syndrome of like you
want to walk in and make sure that you know what you're doing. So they you know
you would I think you would go into it like wanting to know your stuff. So maybe
taking a class before you get a bike not having friends show you how to ride and
things like that. So I think there's a little bit more of like a careful kind of
like process of like learning how to ride. Because when you come in there, it's
like, oh, people are gonna judge you. Like, are you gonna like, you know, run into
a curve like I did or something, you know? And then feel like a total idiot. And
then also the fact that you're a woman and then they're like, oh, women can't ride
and stuff. So I think there's-- - You're absolutely right. - There's that, you know?
- You're absolutely right, yeah. - You wanna know what you're doing. - You do, and I
just, I have some more stats that I even looked up, even though women are
underrepresented as riders, and 24, so in 1992, the last,
when they started keeping stats, only 3 % of motorcycles were registered to women. In
2017, that number was 24%, and I know it's higher now,
and in minority communities, especially African -American, the women's-- the registration
rate to women is over 40%, which is funny. And I also think-- and stats show that
women are over -represented in MSF training courses, which tells us that they want to
do it right. They want to learn the right way. And I don't know if that comes
from chromosomes or hormones or what you were talking about because the next stat we
can talk about is men are more likely to be involved in single vehicle crashes
which means the rider has lost control and again this is equating out for you know
the number of women and percentage in miles traveled so just what do you think the
reason why men lose control of their it more might be yeah I mean you know I hate
to generalize cuz I think there's riders on both sides it's testosterone admitted but
yes but I think that there isn't a need for women to go fast and I think that
could be cultural like that are called cultural it's it could be patriarchal where
it's like you know when I talk to women about sports and things like that and
motorcycling they're like oh it's too fast it's So it's so fast. And I'm like, I
don't know if that's genetic. I think a lot of it is like kind of when you're
raised as a girl, you're not supposed to do these like things that are like pushing
the envelope or being on the edge and stuff. And that's definitely the way I was
raised. And so you're, I think you're just, I think women tend to be more risk
averse. Also, there's just a lot more that we're processing, especially as if your
parents or if you're older, that you're thinking about relationships with people, like
what's at stake or like whatever, that is not gonna make you be like, "I'm gonna
go out and I'm gonna send it," you know?
I like going fast. I think I'm used to going fast 'cause I'm a big snowboarder and
I've snowboarded for a long time and stuff. So I'm used to that sensation, but I
definitely remember when I was learning And I did not take a class learning how to
snowboard. I just learned with my friends on the side of on a hill that that was
not the way I wanted to, you know, because it's painful and it's and it's very
scary, you know, to be doing something that that involves gravity or speed or
whatever. So I can see I can see that I think the MSF classes do a really great
job for anyone to take you from ground zero, especially on a thing that is not a
toy. And I think maybe that's the thing too, is that that guys might think like,
oh, it's just a bike with an engine. I don't know. It's definitely, it can be a
weapon. For sure. And I think physics and physicality comes into play because on the
average, you know, women tend to be shorter than and and bikes that you know women
can reach the ground on tend to be lower displacement and lower power to weight you
know you could have a six three guy who has zero motorcycle experience but he can
fit on a 1200 Thruxton I guess it's called you know that will go this almost the
speed of sound and that's the wrong bike for him yeah and and even so I think
it's also and part of Maybe also when men pick up motors, like you did it later
in life and we'd have to look at statistics if that's a factor. But if you're
picking a riding in your twenties, we had, do you know the comedian Alonzo Bowden?
No. He's on NPR and he's got four Amazon specials and he's kind of the Jay Leno
of motorcycles and I had him on twice and and he said, you know, he's a little
bit older than me and he said, you know, When the 70s and early 80s motorcycle
training was, this is the gas, this is the brake, here are the keys.
And if you got home in one piece, hey, congratulations, you're a rider. And I thank
God that training has come so long. But let me ask you this, you're busy,
you're a designer, you live in New York City, we go crazy, do you ever practice?
- Yes. - Yes, so I have taken, I like taking classes. I've always been a nerd,
so I'm like really into classes. Even though I don't like being told what to do, I
like taking classes. So I took MSF class, then I took Basic Rider 2.
I took that class. I took Advanced Rider 2, or Advanced Rider, whatever the next
class after that was. And then I discovered Moto Gymkhana. And this guy Julius runs
it out of Floyd Bennett Field. And Moto Gymkhana is basically like a cones course.
And it's all about slows. I mean, you're never really out of second gear, per se,
but it's all about maneuvering your bike through tight U turns, chicane,
weaves, you know, and things like that. So I am kind of obsessed with it because
it's such a technical practice. And I kind of love like the idea of being able to
be that nimble on a bike and obviously on a 390 it's a lot easier than if you're
on like an R1 or you know, a heavier bike. But it is really great practice.
I think one of the things that I get nervous about still is like,
if I have to do a U turn and there's curbs, you know, so I think I still have
the, it's like that target fixation mental stuff that you're like, you can make that
20 foot, 19 foot turn or 10 foot turn, I can do it, I can do it. But if I see
the curves, I get nervous, you know, or if I see cars or whatever, or remembering
to you know, like a right hand, locked out right hand turns from a stop, you know,
it's like you can do it, you know how to do it, but when you have to do it on
the street, it's like a different mental thing. So I think just mentally being able
to like practice that on a course is really, I agree. It's really important. And
you could, yeah. And you don't have to be, it doesn't even have to be. And we
talk about this a lot. And I get so many emails from people saying, Len, thank you
for talking about similar skills and strategies all the time because we need to hear
this all the time. And I had this woman, you would love her. She's also creative.
She's like a leather crafter. - Oh, cool. - And she edited a coffee table book
called The Moto Ladies Guide for Women Who Ride. It's on Amazon, and I'll link it,
you would love it. 'Cause it's a beautiful coffee table book and she has a Ducati
that does not have a speedometer because she doesn't want to know, she doesn't want
to be able to stealth a cop who pulls her over. Hey, do you know how fast you're
riding? She can honestly say no. But one of the things that she does, and she's
really big on high visibility, which I want to talk to you about, but she,
and she lives in Denver, Denver, right around Colorado. No, what's that other state
that has all the kind of flowery people. Oregon, one of those two.
Flowery people. Now, I will always remember Oregon as the flowery people. That's
great. Anyway, so she was on a chicane, and she carried her phone in her pocket,
right? And she went down. She had a tank slapper, you know, the slapper, and she
went down and she skidded 150 feet, and the bike went one way and she went the
other and she said to me, I am so glad that I kept my phone in my jacket because
if the phone was on the handlebars on my bike, I couldn't call for help. And I
think now, again, there's no right or wrong answer. I'm of the, and you know,
you're probably 88 episodes. We've had, you know, you're probably the 97th or 98th
guest, but what is your feeling on, on having a phone on a handlebar. I have my
phone on my handlebar because that is the wrong answer. No sense of direction.
But also I have heard I love that. Well, first of all, let me say I love that
you talk about safety because I think sometimes people think that it's not cool to
think about safety. And I'm like, when you are on a machine that can go 90 mile
an hour, and there is no cage around you. I'm all about like Captain safety like
armor everything armor everything up. You could never have too much padding But
that's a that said I have heard that When you have things in your pocket or on
your body those things can be And I've heard this from like women on in this
Facebook group. That's like They talk about women's gear and stuff Of wrecking and
then having that stuff really damage damage you like bruise you I don't think a
phone would like keys or a lipstick thing that is like 50,
but and you know, there's Definitely not in the city. I mean, I have a GPS that
is almost at eye level and I use that and You know, even and even Apple says
They're not responsible for any damage if you do have it on there But it's also
like in peace some people say oh, I want to see where the, the speed cameras are
and things like that. So I use ways, but use, use a headset, use Bluetooth. Like
that. I, I, I don't, um, I just have my phone because I always need directions.
And so I have, but you could use your, your, your headphones, you know, for
directions turn by turn or get, or get like a GPS that has maybe a bigger screen,
you know, I mean, I've seen your bike and, you know, mine is a little bit more of
a touring sport tour type bike. So I have like a mount. But yeah, so I would say,
and Monica even said the, the, the, uh, the instructor, she said, she tells people,
if you've been riding less than five years, it's put it in your pocket. And if
you're on a country road upstate, like George, uh, that's a good, that's a good
point. I mean, I'll, I definitely have to think about that and consider it. You
know, it's like, um, I think my goal is to not to wreck.
But I think that's a really good point though. That's something, see, things I
learned today. So you're a graphic designer, you're an expert with the, what's that,
what's the technical term for that color palette that you guys use, the wheel,
what's that thing called? The color wheel? I don't know. We don't really use that
stuff anymore. It's like, oh, because it's all digital. Yeah, it's all digital. I
mean, every color you have a number, right? Yes. Oh, Pantone. Yeah, the Pantone.
Well, Now that everything's subscription, Pantone is now his license, so you have to
like, they detach themselves. All right. Save it for the designer podcast. We're
talking motorcycles. It's a mess. What I wanted to talk to you about is the gear
that you wear, and I've ridden with you a few times. I don't remember. Do you wear
like any Hi -Viz stuff? No, but I should and I love Hi -Viz and I didn't get into
Hi -Viz Until I was biking a lot and then I was like I love hi vis and I would
have this Ikea vest that I've Because it was like The kids thought I was either
construction worker or police officer because it was just if you look in hi vis
vest It's hard to find gear. That's hi vis I we do have rain gear that is like
the KTM orange and that's hi vis and so if it's cloudy or raining out Then it's
definitely like like you can see me, but it is not a lot of gear is a lot of
it's black in the United States you know I hear in Europe that there's a lot more
yeah I think Amazon definitely has some good selection of my viz Revzilla Anthony
from Revzilla who I love and would love to get on the show so Anthony if you're
listening and spending your your millions of dollars that you made after you sold it
loved to have you on the show But even I had Trudy Hardy. She is the chief
marketing officer of BMW Motorrad, Motorcycles, and she's born and raised in New
Jersey. I did the show with her via Zoom like I'm doing with you, but she was in
her living room. And you know, most people have like pictures hanging on their wall.
She had two rows, seven and seven, so 14 Motorcycle helmets that was like her
artwork like real I think they they were real they were real helmets But she had
so many different types of helmets and and for the women out there that either have
kids or a thing You having kids, you know, we talked, you know, there's this famous
interview on YouTube. You may have seen it the flying will lenders they're the
Trapeze family, you know, and there's a famous interview where they interviewed the
head of the flying lenders about you know him about his kids being in in the act.
He said I never wanted my kids to be in the act because it's so dangerous you
know and I said that to Trudy she had a son who was in her in his 20s and like
she said we he wanted to ride but we made sure he was as safe as possible every
bike he had was small and they had a governor and they make sure they taught him
from the beginning to have the right gear and to be present and in the moment and
now he's like a very safe rider and his mother rides I'm not I would think his
father rides too but I don't remember her saying that and she also mentioned BMWs
rider training school in Greer South Carolina and it's not cheap like they have a
two -day version that's probably 1600 bucks but a lot of guys my age they love the
Mets and they go down to Florida And they spend $4 ,000 to go to Mets fantasy camp
spend $2 ,000 and go to you know Motorcycle riding school because you know if you
suck at baseball, that's fine. You suck at baseball But if you suck at riding
you're dead, you know pretty much Yeah, so so she was really great and then one of
the things we talked about do you remember Jersey Shore? The show Were you a fan?
I didn't really watch it. I don't think I got we didn't get we didn't get cable
when we were kids my parents wouldn't Wasn't that long ago? It's like 15 years ago.
I don't think but anyway, so we're talking about you know Well, then I was living
in the woods and we didn't have definitely did not have cable I mean main you
didn't have kid, but you know who snooki is right? Yes. Okay, so if If snooki rode
up on a motorcycle what kind of motorcycle do you think would fit snookies look in
her personality. Oh my god. You cannot ask me about bands or motorcycle brands
because I can never remember any of them. But what would her bike look like? Would
it be? It would be like it would be wrapped. It would be like pink glitter. Maybe
you have those led lights on it. You know, probably. Yeah. She would have like a
like a white outfit with a white everything would match. You know, for sure.
For sure. And you know, we had them And just to get serious a little bit, we had
a woman named Portia Taylor on the show. She's the editor -in -chief of Black Girls
Ride magazine and blackgirlsride .com. And I forgot where she's from, but she's a
little bit younger than me, but we both really love '90s hip -hop. And we were
going off on like PM Dawn and
And, you know, kid in play, you know, and but she told the story and she rides
for a living. So she's very skilled. She's got a big touring Indian. So she does
have a headset with a phone calm and the whole thing. And she told a story of she
was asked to speak at the the march on Washington. And I'm getting chills
remembering it now. And and she got a call, I think it was from Al Sharpton while
she was on the mic. And she, and it wasn't Al who called her right away. It was
like, Al Sharpton's assistant, okay? And he says, so she answers the phone, she's
like, "Hi, this is Al Sharpton's assistant for Portia Taylor. "Can I speak to Port?"
She's like, "This is her." So then she put Al on the phone. And then so Al said,
"Hey, we really want you to speak "at the Women's March on Washington." Or I think
it was The african -american march on watch I'm gonna get this wrong But she was so
excited that her mother was on the other line So she put Al Sharpton on hold while
she was riding and she's like my I gotta go Al Sharpton wants me to speak at the
whoops watch I want you know and And she's like a very passionate rider. She's a
brand ambassador for Indian motorcycles and if I get this wrong, I'm gonna switch it
out in the editing, But she was great, you know, she talked about not only the
gear, but she talked about road rage and how,
because I asked her, I said, because she rides so much in many different cities,
she must get cut off. And I said, how do you tackle that? She's like, you know
what, if somebody cuts me off, I feel that there's a reason. And maybe they're late
for work or they got to bring their kid to school. So I'll just pray for them and
let them have the road. And I said, Porsche, you are a much better person than me,
because I would be cursing them out like you wouldn't believe. Do you get that? So
you ride in the city a lot, you must get cut off. Like, do you have a temper?
Like, how do you address that? No, because I mean, I'm a driver in New York too.
And I just think he just got to approach it with kind of the Zen attitude of
like, look, whatever, people are just gonna, people think we have this thing where
we're like, people just think like if they get ahead of you, they're going to be
earlier and they're going to be 20 seconds maybe or you're going to catch up with
them at the next light. It doesn't matter. You know, I think it's really more just
about like, I'm not going to be around someone who's driving like that, you know,
like avoid them. Because it's really like, it's not worth it to me, it's not worth
me risking any injury or whatever to try and beat them or to try and like get
aggressive with them like I'm not going to win that you know so I definitely I
think it's really just about like when you ride in the city you got to just again
keep your head off swivel and just be really alert as to what people are doing
because you're basically invisible you know four -wheel you know there's a huge debate
about like in the city it's like people in four you know on four wheels think that
it is their entitled right to drive in the city. I am a driver, I have a truck.
- You have a truck, wow. - Yeah, so I know, but I don't have that sense of
entitlement when I drive. I think it, and then everything else doesn't matter. And
that includes anything on two wheels and pedestrians and you know, whatever. And I
think that's backwards. - It's tough. I mean, I'm Italian and you're My dad, who is
one of the best guys in the world, he's almost like a cat in the sense that, do
you ever have a cat growing up? - I have so many cats. - Okay, so you know, like
when you're petting them, and you're petting them and they're like purring, but if
you move your hand a half a millimeter to the left, they will scratch your eyes
out, right? And that used to be how I am, but there's this guy on YouTube that I
do some meditation, I have the comm app and the whole thing. We talked about pre
-ride checks earlier and one of the guests on the show said part of their pre -ride
check is imagining that they're going to get cut off and what their reaction will
be and to kind of be in the moment and not let it affect them because you're not
going to win. You're not going to win
So that's, and then, you know, you mentioned something about practice and you kind
of did it in an organized way, but you know, my parents live on Long Island and
they live not too far from the Long Island Railroad Station in America. If I'm
leaving their house and I'm going home, I'll stop in the Long Island Railroad
Station on a Sunday where there's nobody there and I'll practice there, I'll even
put my camera on like a fence or something so it could watch me. I'll put like a
wide angle lens. So, you know, you swerving and breaking. And let me ask you this.
If you know, you know, Karen and I go riding these groups of anywhere from 30 to
60 people, if we asked, and there's no right answer, but if we asked 40 people in
our riding group, the following question, does your bike have ABS? Do you think most
people would know if their bike has it? Oh, I don't know.
It's a good question. Maybe maybe some do. Yeah, okay Yeah, and and when you
practice like if you take the basic writer course to or a CEO ARC They'll they'll
have you do a high -speed stop and yes make they want you to lock in your ABS So
I know what it feels like you have to know what feels again Yeah, and the other
thing is like when you ride around the city That is that is some good practice
right there because there's a lot of things coming at you and you're stopped at a
stoplight, you have to be able to see the stoplight, anticipate the stoplight, people
are gonna try and run the reds or run the yellows, you know, and stuff like that.
So in addition to just basic skills practice in terms of like being able to make
tight turns and stuff, if you can survive riding or cycle the city before you get
to the ride, before you get out to the like highway or the nice like country
roads, that's a good warmup, you know, but it also, it also interestingly too,
it's like a weird mental shift when we go on the rides with Etter and we're out
in the country roads and it's really nice and pleasant. And then we come back into
the city. I literally have to tell myself like - - It's a buzzkill boy. - But it's
also like pay attention, pay attention. You know, I'm unconsciously, or sometimes I'm
telling myself, all right, pay attention, pay attention, 'cause you're not, you can't,
it's not a casual thing. It's like a, it's kind of like a aggressive like, you're
not being aggressive, but you have to be aggressively aware. I don't know if that's
the right word. - Well, and you think it's gonna be a joke, but it's not. When I
get closer to my house or just like coming home, I pretend that I'm near a Taco
bell and the reason for that is I don't want to crash if I'm on my way to a
Taco Bell if I'm leaving the Taco Bell fine right but if I'm my way and I say
okay we're pretending you're going to Taco Bell be extra careful now if I can just
find a low carb keto Taco Bell that would be but you know that actually reminds me
we had we were talking Karen and I were talking earlier about, you know,
when we had shows for Valentine's Day where we had couples that ride, and we had a
gay couple, Jen and Katie, and they're in a motorcycle group. Have you heard of the
Sirens? - Mm -hmm. - Okay, so you're familiar with the Sirens,
and part of the thing that they do as their community service is they deliver
breast milk to people that can't make their own or make enough of their own. And
talk about needing to get somewhere on time. But one of the reasons, things that
they said, they knew what they had in their side cases was so important that that
made them ride extra careful, number one. And they also had rules,
and some of the things we really should talk about is in order to get into the
group, the sirens, no drinking three hours before a ride, and no drinking at a rest
stop. And you know, you and I go to the two wheel Tuesdays and the rides, and
there are guys when we'll have lunch and they'll have a beer or two, I never will.
What's your stance there? - Well, I cannot drink, so I cannot process alcohol.
So it is typical, like very common in Asian people, but.
- Oh, it is, okay. - Yeah, so I don't drink and I don't understand.
Again, I just don't understand what it is about wanting to drink and then drive or
ride or anything, anything. Anything other than your own two feet, to be honest.
- Yeah, I think it's part of, like media, like we're taught, oh, a beer is
refreshing. It's not, alcohol is and and Elisa Clickinger. So and this is a great I
mean we have every episode is great but her story she's like around my age and in
the early 90s her husband left her like left her like the next day left a note
I'm out I'm divorcing you you'll hear from my lawyer next week and she was a bank
teller from Connecticut she had never been within 10 feet of a motorcycle. And she
was depressed. And she had a dream that she was riding a motorcycle and all her
problems were gone. So the next day she got out the yellow pages and she took a
motorcycle course. This woman has written two or three books about riding. She speaks
all over the world about riding and how it gave her confidence and solved her
depression. And she's great. And One of the things that she talks about, alcohol
number one, how it is dehydrating, and because of her, whenever I go out for a
ride that's more than an hour, I make sure I'm hydrated, because your mind thinks
differently when you're dehydrated. And she's been such an inspiration to thousands of
women. She's led women all over the world. We had this one woman, very cute,
very nice woman, could barely speak, well, spoke English okay, but we had an
interpreter on she was a dentist so she is a dentist and she's like now she's
probably early 40s back then she was like 38 36 and she just hated being a dentist
or didn't really enjoy it and so she rode from the tip of South America in the
summer rode up to Northern Canada so she had one full year of summer because by
the time she got across the equator and back down and and and her thing was about
being prepared. Now, do you do any overnight trips or most of your trips like day
trips, would you say? - I haven't done an overnight trip. I think I admire women
that go on adventure bikes and take their time and take time for themselves to do
those kinds of things. It's kind of one of my goals. I feel like if we could get
another bike, there's like a big debate as to like what we would get because I do
like the technicality of like a kind of like a sport bike, but I like the
versatility of the adventure bikes and the ability to kind of go camping, go
wherever you want and go on dirt roads and things like that. So I think the
longest ride I did in a day was 400 miles. That's a good day. Yeah, that was it
was kind of unintentional and I kept texting my I'll be home in an hour and then
it would like six o 'clock would roll out and be like, okay I think it'll be like
eight because we're upstate somewhere and then we would make it closer and It just
turned into like a longer a longer a longer day, but it was great It was great
and it it wasn't it didn't feel difficult because I think again like you said like
We took breaks. We took the time to like Get snacks or whatever, you know,
whatever we needed and people weren't pushing themselves to the point I mean, I feel
like people don't seem a recycling as a sport, and it is and you wouldn't do those
kinds of things if you were doing You're going to your tip, you know, yeah That's
kind of how I think of it. Yeah, I agree and you know now Heineken, you know And
now these no alcohol beers are so they taste better and they are things like liquid
death Is that it's called liquid? Yeah, it's the fancy water Yeah, the fancy water
now that comes in different flavors because A lot of times, if you had a barb with
your friends, you don't want to be seen drinking an Evian, you know, bottle, but,
but yeah, and even growing up, I would watch movies like "Easy Rider." I can't
believe, "Easy." So these guys go across the country, right? And that was, you know,
so that's why I have the bike that I have, and I've always had a bike that at
least you could put saddlebags on. And my bike, I can go for eight days and, you
You know, with limited clothes, you know, that's awesome. Yeah. And I've done that
before and two years ago, do you remember the movie, the Blair Witch Project? One
of my favorite movies and I'm not a horror fan and it's deemed as one of the top
five horror movies of all time. And there's not one drop of blood in it's all in
your head. Yes. And it was filmed and that would be like a good day trip each
way, maybe that we do with the group because it's only about four and a half five
hours away and I tell you the population of Burkittsville, Maryland is like 110
people. It's like four blocks and I went there looking for the Blair Witch. I was
like, "Hey, did you see the Blair Witch? Have you seen the Blair Witch?" Everybody
said, "All right, we get this all the fucking time." Yeah, I know. They're like,
"No, tourists again." But it is like, you have some dirt and fire roads in there
and I was there at night and it was kind of spooky, I will tell you that. But
yeah, the being able to, there's something about, and whenever I take most of my
trips, I never have to be anywhere at any time. I can do 100 miles in a day, or
I can do 400 miles in a day. - Yeah.
- Depending if it's the summer, five o 'clock, I'll start looking, I don't camp, I'm
not a camper. Camping to me is having a hotel room with a balcony, basically.
(laughing) I think what I appreciate about like being able to do the adventure
biking or trips is that when you're riding you are I'm essentially offline except
for TV except except we're not getting lost But I don't answer phone calls I don't
I try not to look at my text anything that distracts me because I think also The
mental aspect of the mental health aspect of riding like that stuff, you know,
you need to get, it interrupts that, right? It interrupts your flow of like why you
like riding. And sometimes I don't even like, I mean, sometimes I don't even like
riding in groups or with people because then I have to pay attention to them and
stuff and riding by yourself is really great. Even though you probably shouldn't do
it, like you shouldn't do a lot of things by yourself because if you do have a
crash, but. - Well, yeah, as long as you have the phone and I think I'm a for,
you know, you're right. I mean, I try to do both. I tell you, sometimes just the
fact that we had a group, right? Cause there'd be some Saturdays, you know, I get
the, the Saturday blues. Sometimes I work so hard during the week and I wake up
and like, you know, so before I met Etter, I didn't ride as much sometimes on the
weekends. But if I know, I got to be at that stupid Jersey park that we go to
all the time. Whatever the hell it's called, you know, and listen to add or say,
okay, gather around everybody, ride your ride. And I know you're gonna be listening
to I'm joking here. Right? Love that. But I must credit him because when I know
that I'm going on a ride, I make sure my ass is up. I'm showered and my teeth.
And then once I get on the bike, I'm like, this is freaking great. You know, yeah,
I've never regretted going never, Never never even though I've blown off all of my
like obligations to like life. I have never regretted It has always been a positive
thing when I come back, you know And do you take in that? I I so like if we're
in the summer and we get home like say 3 34 o 'clock I'll maybe have a sandwich
and let's turn on like some music and I have the best two hour nap in the world
Because it's tiring. It is it is like it's not like I mean you're not running a
marathon and stuff But it is like you got to squeeze the tank you got a like it.
It's a mental challenge It's like you have to stay mentally focused and I think
that's what's tiring when I get yeah when I get home I'm like yeah, it is the
mental too. What do you do for your ears now? You're you know, I've been riding
for a while probably I probably have 150 ,000 miles,
you know, - But it's over 25 years. So it's not that much. - But still, I mean
that's impressive. - I have, my right ear is like 99%. My left ear is probably 86%.
So it's fine, but looking in hindsight, the first 15 or 20 years that I wrote,
I didn't use any ear protection and helmet technology was not what it is today. So
do you, I would recommend for people, especially if you're in your twenties,
you know, if you're 60 years old, you've got 20 years left, who cares, right? But
you know, you're in middle -aged life when you're like thinking about how many years
you have last and not. Well, we had this woman, very sweet woman. She started a
podcast because she heard my podcast and she's about my age. And she has a son
who's grown and she was, she felt, she Failed her road test like three times.
I felt bad for her. And so we were talking about her getting the fourth time and
she was like himmin' and hawing. I said, look at it this way. Your best years are
behind you. If you die, no big whoop, right? And it was kind of half true and
half joking. She said, you know what? You're right, but if you die at 23 years
old, that really sucks, you know? So, But yeah,
I would recommend ear protection. A lot of people say, "Oh, I can't do stuff."
Yeah. I've started to because I've seen you guys, the riders who have been riding
for a while, wear earplugs. Like Edder wears earplugs. I have a good helmet. I have
an AGV helmet. It's actually very quiet. And then I have a cardo inside. But then
I'll wear the earplugs and then put the helmet on. And it does help because it
does, you know, I get ringing in my ears. like, oh, if you want to, if you go to
a lot of shows and your youth or whatever, or you're trying to mess up anyway. And
then you're like, why am I making it worse? You know, so I think, I think, I
think that is really good advice. And I was kind of looking into like different
brands, you know, I was like, oh, maybe I can get better earplugs, you know, you
start to get into the weeds with like, all the tech and like, which ones are
better and stuff like that with anything, you know, you're right. And I was just
looking at some of my notes. So, this was one of the best Friday nights I've had
in a while. I'll tell you why, not just 'cause we're talking, and that's great. But
to prepare for this, I kind of reviewed all the women that I've had on the show.
And like we said, it was like 40. And I don't think she lives in the New York
area anymore, or she visits often. But her name is Christina Chapman.
She is a, or was trained as a lighting director on Broadway and off -Broadway shows.
She's probably, you know, she's younger than me, no exactly, but she's been riding
for many years. Okay, and she told a story about cross -dressing.
She, when she was younger, she wanted to enter motorcycle races, but they wouldn't
let girls. So she had to cross -dress as a boy, and she won races.
And she's still living in and I think she might've moved away and do some traveling
things with a show. I have to, I actually really should text her. But she talked
about scan, predict, identify, decide, execute, which is like what you probably
learned in MSF school, CIPTI, whatever it's called. And I think that is,
yes, you should definitely do that. I think that it starts to come naturally.
But she was like character and she talked about you know her writing approach to
things and she lived in Brooklyn and talked about that but I don't know why I say
that other than you know that is a thing I don't know if you know these things
these what do you call like a thing sifty an acronym I guess yeah I think it's
good to have but I think it's also being in the moment creating a bubble around
you we had this gentleman on the show and like Pretend you're you probably too
young to remember the movie with John Travolta the boy in the plastic bubble. Do
you remember this?
You know the scanning thing is so true It's like and they do teach you that but
it's like you need to look this was this is a great piece of advice It's like you
look ahead and you follow back So you can anticipate manhole cover,
whatever, pothole, whatever, because you're looking two cars ahead. You're not looking
at the car right in front of you, because if they break, it's too late. If you
look at three cars ahead, if they start to break, then you know, you don't have to
break, but you just know, nah, there might be a sudden stop coming up ahead. Plies
to driving, it applies to anything, you know? And it's true. The more you can the
more you can the safer you'll be but also to like you can you can figure out what
you're you know kind of escape route or how you're going to maneuver around some
weird shit that's going on. Well yeah. Be aware and even you know like you said
you as a bicycle rider you can tell when when cars are changing lanes we were
taught to look at the front tires of a car because they will turn before they do.
And I know we're running a little bit late. You got another five minutes to hang
out with us. Okay, cool.
There are two other people that were not necessarily guests on the show, but helped
me co -host a few times. One of them is, have you met Jamie Chang yet?
No, but I've seen her mentioned a bunch. Yeah, she's also a designer. Yeah, she's a
designer. Jamie's pen and ink .com. She's looking for work, if anybody wants to hire
a designer, she's looking for work, but she's from Taiwan. She's probably, you ever
meet somebody 20 years ago and they were like 28 years old and you still think
they're 28 years old? - Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. - And I met her like five years ago,
so it's probably early 30s now. And she's not, I could probably bench press her
with one arm like she's not of the biggest person but not she's got no and she's
kind of introverted but when she's on a motorcycle it's reversed and not that she's
a foolhardy or reckless but she's so she she she and she's got to be five four
maybe a hundred ten pound she hit a deer last year on a Royal Enfield I saw that
yeah yeah and she still rides and she bought another bike and and She really loves
museums, and she lives in Flushing, Queens, okay? And there was this one date,
a year and a half ago, during the winter, that it was the last day of an exhibit
at the museum on the Museum Mile here, Metropolitan or whatever it is, you know?
And she didn't want to take the subway, but there was snow on the ground. There
was snow on the LIE. There was snow on the BQE. There was snow Manhattan and she
wrote her what and she put a picture on her Instagram of her bike like in three
inches of snow parked Right outside the Guggenheim or whatever You know, I would
never do that, you know and so I got a hand at her because when you look at this
person Oh, that's not a motorcyclist. That's just a nice, you know Early 30s
millennial. I guess you're a millennial in the early 30s, you know and then we I
had Ana Ice, we call her, because she's from Iceland and her last name is very
difficult to pronounce. But she loves goggles for whatever reason. She rides a Ducati
scrambler, and she helped me a couple of times, and she is open -minded,
but also independent. She loves to have her phone on the handlebar and will Justify
it five ways till Sunday. I know she's gonna be listening to I asked her to be on
the show But but she she she counters that one of the things she said is that
because it's there It's almost like my Taco Bell story, you know being extra alert
because it's there It kind of forces her to be extra alert. So I guess I can kind
of Understand that Are you on Instagram or anything like that? Okay, so maybe we'll
put in the show notes of people want to follow you, uh, your Instagram page and
look at all the crazy things that you know, it's your Instagram motorcycle stuff or
design stuff or both. It is random. It is, uh, baking bread,
motorcycling, weird construction things that I have to do. Um,
it's random. It's my life. It's my life. Cargoing shit, random shit,
beekeeping. I do a lot of different things. Oh, things are your beekeeper to oh yes
because you came to the to the oh for those we had this amazing I should post
some photos it was amazing Halloween ride I wanted to come as the Tin Man but I
couldn't get metal paint to look like tin on a on a smock you know on a one
thing so I came as a duct tape man right which was actually better duct tape man
remember we had some red -green references going on and it was brilliant. That
costume was brilliant. I'm going to put the B photos on the show notes. Karen came
as the Bumblebee. Did you come home with the same number of Bs that you left with?
I think I lost a couple, but they stayed on the bike for a long time because I
left them on the bike and then it rained and they got muddy so then I had to
take them off. It was great having You will put the B photos on the show notes
and we'll put how people can follow you and thank you for taking time out on a
Friday night. - Yeah, no, thanks for having me. It was really fun talking to you.
And the Taco Bell thing, I've been to Taco Bell once and so now I-- - You have
not lived. - I know, I need to get your tips on Taco Bell because now I'm gonna
think Taco Bell when I take right -hand turns. I think that's great. say goodbye
Karen. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Hey,
what a fun show that was with the beekeeper Karen O from Brooklyn and just a
little side note. One of the things that she mentioned after we finished recording
was that she purchased a first aid kit for her motorcycle. Now it's nothing fancy.
It has some material. it has gauze, it has bandages, it has a scissor, it has some
ointment, things like that and she carries it now wherever she goes and she inspired
me to not get one for my motorcycle but to get one for my house and then I'll
put some bandages and stuff in my tank bag or something like that. So we'll put a
link to that first aid kit on the show notes, we'll also have photos of me duct
tape man saving the world one strip of tape at a time, and Karen's a B outfit.
I want to thank the good folks over at the Heyman Law Firm for their support, and
I also want to thank Rob McLaughlin, our Senior Vice President of Music.
And if you go to Spotify and search for the West Coast Arts, you will see and
hear his music. And his son is now finishing up his freshman here in Princeton
University, wow. And his son also has some music. I'm gonna see if we can get a
link to his Spotify tunes. And also thank you,
the listener. Hey, this is number 89. We'll blow through 100 episodes this year.
That's for sure. And whether you've been listening since episode one, or this is
your first episode, thank you. Keep the emails coming. We We got some great emails
the last month. It's amazing and also if you have any ideas for the show You want
to be on the show anything like that or email me at arrivealivepodcastallonwork @gmail
.com My name is Len Belello. You're happy happy happy and humble hosts until next
time. We'll see you soon
(upbeat music)