Stories

It was the mid-60s when it happened. I was a teenager and was offered a ride as a passenger on a Honda Dream 305. We cruised through the parkways of St. Joseph, Missouri, on a humid summer evening. It felt perfect.

The U.S. Senate agreed to a resolution recognizing the Motorcycle Safety Foundation for 50 years of safety education and improving the ride for motorcycle riders across the United States.

Racing motocross was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! You could say it was my college education, even though I didn’t finish college because my racing career would take me to many states and to different countries. It exposed me to different cultures, people, and beautiful places in the world.

My journey to an unexpected career in rider education began with a motorcycle crash.

Death Valley has the wrong name. That grim place name has been around since the 1800s, back in the days of the 49ers, when the California Gold Rush enticed pioneers to head west across the continent in search of metallic riches.

Reflecting on a dream job representing the industry that is such a huge part of his family memories and that affords people of all economic and physical abilities the opportunity to get outdoors to enjoy our beautiful country.

It had been a curiosity of mine for years, tucked away per my partner’s safety concerns. But now, in the sharpness of winter, I giggle inside my helmet as I trace the lines around the range in each exercise on my Harley-Davidson training bike.

Explaining when I first rode a motorcycle is easy. It was many years later before I actually became a motorcyclist.

Don’t get me wrong – shifting your own gears is quite satisfying, but I wanted to focus on my adventure on two wheels without worrying about which gear I was in. 

Over time and additional training courses, I gained more skill and confidence. This confidence-building impacted my life in ways I never imagined. My professional life improved and what I had perceived as limitations and roadblocks, I now viewed as tasks to overcome – pushing beyond and exploring new possibilities.

Not even the Bandit outrunning Smokey or the Dukes of Hazzard dusting Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane could outdo Evel Knievel on his motorcycle.

The motorcycle sat. At first it was because it was winter. Then it was a career. Then it was family commitment. Truth be told, it was fear.

Motorcycling can be gritty and sometimes uncomfortable, but we love it because we are all motorcycle addicts!

Autumn Holley and Eric Trama met through an MSF Basic RiderCourse. Autumn was taking the licensing class with a friend, and Eric happened to be one of the coaches. But things didn’t happen right away.