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daily kansan
Area bikers find freedom in motorcycle ride
Joe Zeller, professor of design and ceramics, strained his eyes to see what was obscuring the road ahead. A small dark cloud covered the highway, and Zeller's motorcycle
was going to take him right through the middle.
"I noticed the road in front of me was a little cloudy," Zeller said. "I was going about 80, and I realized the cloud was a swarm of bees. I zipped through, killing about 200 bees. I was covered with bee pollen and carcasses. I was fully clothed so I wasn't stung."
The bees were not so lucky.
"You just don't think about those things in a car." Zeller said.
things in a car, zeller said.
Some are abandoning cars, or cages as some bikers call them, and hitting the road on bikes.
"It's a real feeling of self-sufficiency," said Eric Alfrey, Shorewood, Wis., senior. "I look down, and there's nothing between me and the road. It's freaky, but once you get past that, it's an amazing feeling."
Alfrey just bought his bike, a 1981 Suzuki, two months ago, but he rode his dad's bike all summer.
"I knew my dad rode in college," Alfrey said. "I heard stories and saw pictures. I'm carrying on a tradition, in a sense."
Alfrey said his bike was the best way to relax.
"Riding a bike is as close to flying as you can get," he said.
Mike Richardson, director of facilities operations, likes to travel the hills of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas on his 1982 Honda Gold wing Aspencade with his wife. Johnelle
"You can really see everything and experience the hills — it's kind of romantic." Richardson said.
"You can experience the environment so much more; you experience the curves and elevation."
Zeller, who owns three bikes,
said the first time he rode in the mountains was the most memorable.
"You could feel the air temperature changes as you go in and out of the shadows," he said. "You could smell the pine trees. It was a sense of being apart from the vehicle and a part of the surroundings."
Lawrence residents Paul and Voni Graves have taken family motorcycle road trips to North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
The Graves admit they are more enthusiastic than the average rider. Paul is the president of the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association, which has 30,000 members nationwide. Voni has won the BMW mileage contest four of the last ten years.
"We put one kid on each bike." Paul said. "They couldn't fight; the most they could do was stick out their tongues at each other."
Paul Graves started Fix Your Bike weekends in his garage for area bikers. Before long, he was writing a local monthly technical article in the BMW owners' newsletter. He now holds seminars at national rallies and writes for the national newsletter. Voni conducts seminars for woman riders and about long-distance riding.
"I encourage women to ride," Voni Graves said. "Many women are raised to think motorcycles are scary things. I want them to get past that. I have found riding to be a most wonderful thing, and I want them to experience it too."
Local rallies let enthusiasts experience their hobby together. On the
first Sunday of every month, hundreds of bikers ride into Cassoday to grab a bite to eat, look at different bikes and hang out. Another big rally is held at Perry Lake during Labor Day weekend.
"You don't need a bike," said Jeff Fieger, Topeka resident and Harley Davidson rider. "Just show up for a good time. It's like a big party. Just bring your tent. Stay up, get drunk til you puke and drink some more."
Motorcycles are just as much a vehicle for friendship as a mode of transportation.
The Graves have an extensive network of motorcycle friends.
"I don't think there is any place in the United States where we could be more than 100 miles from someone we know," Paul Graves said.
Richardson said there was a bond among riders.
"Quite often, when I fill up my cycle, people talk to me," Richardson said. "They ask where I've been, where I'm going. They ask about my like. You get closer to people, which I think is a part of traveling."
Fieger said bikers were more likely to help each other, too.
"Usually, when you see a motorcycle broken down on the side of the road, you see another cycle pulled over helping," Fieger said. "How many times do you see a car just pass another car that needs help?"
The hospitality and friends are secondary to a freedom blkers say can't be experienced in a car.
"It makes my heart pound just thinking about it," Voni Graves said. "I can't put it into words. It's the testing of yourself and the machine, and getting a little better all the time — pushing the envelope."
Below: For Paul Graves, the president of the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association, motorcycles are a family affair. He and his wife, Voni, also a motorcycle enthusiast, have taken their children on motorcycle road trips.
Above: A car ride through campus is a contained experience. But burning down Sunnyside Avenue on a motorcycle, riders can feel the sun at their backs.
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