“It’s Not If You Will Crash But When!”

by Mark Smith
11/24/202111/25/2021

Coming Soon!

Through much (or even most) of my adult life, I had ridden street bikes, but I gave that up in 2006 when I moved my (still young at the time) family to Las Vegas so I could start law school. I loved riding but something about this city scared me. I concluded that it was simply too dangerous. Having lost my own father when I was just 14 years old (roughly the same age as my oldest daughter at the time) I could not risk engaging in activities that could put my life at risk. Growing up without a father was “rough” and I was not even going to take a chance that my own kids might have to endure the same – so I sold my bike before the big move.

Originally, I was looking at buying a dual sport bike. My “logical side” thought it made sense - I could use it to commute to the office during the week and play in the dirt with it on the weekends. It just seemed “practical” and, in some way it was me simply justifying my decision to spend that kind of money on something just for me. My wife and daughters didn’t like that idea too much and rightfully so - there are fatal motorcycle accidents in Las Vegas every single week it seems, and sometimes more than just one. It really is crazy on the roads out here.

I bought the bike the day before Mother’s Day and borrowed a truck to get it home. It sat in my garage for a full two weeks before I ever rode it – the first ride was actually on my birthday. I took the bike to an area off SR 160, which my research showed me was an “approved area.” Somehow, I got myself off the approved trail and on to a hiking path. As I came up a hill, rather fast, a large rock jumped right in front of me and I crashed … hard. They say, “chicks dig scars” and I picked up a few that day (scars, not chicks, lol). But the look on my wife’s face when I got home told me otherwise. They also say, “It’s not if you will crash, but when,” so I guess you could say I “decided” to get that out of the way on Day 1. But I kept riding that day, bent handlebars and all!

I also met God (again) out in the wilderness that day! Actually, God met me. As many others know, riding is not only fun, but it is also therapeutic (I call it Throttle Therapy). The focus it takes to navigate a tough trail or rocky incline, or simply NOT fall hundreds of feet off a cliff that frames a stretch of single-track forces every other thing out of my mind. I am forced to focus on the NOW, rather than the “what happened” or “what is coming.” For me, riding also very spiritual.