The Inside Line: Under Orders to Stay at Home

There are at least 316 million people in at least 42 states with a stay home order. This means no social outings, no hangouts, no eating out, and most unfortunate… no sports and no riding.

April was the month every gear head looked forward to, the American round of MotoGP in Austin, TX. The minute the races ended last year, I was already counting down the days until April 3rd, 2020. Unfortunately with everything going on, they had to postpone the race weekend, along with every single race so far that was scheduled and more to come. The only “race” they had so far was a virtual race, which fits considering what’s going on, but it’s nothing close to the real thing. It’s not just the race, but having all your friends come together in one place for one weekend, sharing a passion like no other.

I know there is much more going on in the world than sporting events being canceled, but motorcycles are my world and well… I’m not here to write about what everyone sees on the news.

When this all began to get worse, I decided to drive up to North Carolina to stay with my father. I figured if I have to be stuck somewhere, it’s better to be stuck up here where there isn’t such a huge population of people and can spend time with my father. Unfortunately, I could not bring my motorbike up since I do not have a car that can pull a trailer or tie it down and put it in the bed of the truck.

I’ve thought many times of how I could get my bike up here, but then realized technically I’m not even supposed to be riding my motorbike. There’s a stay at home order and it’s probably not the smartest to be riding around with a Florida license plate as certain towns here don’t allow anyone in that doesn’t live in that specific area to prevent the spread. As the numbers are not high in this county, people are still being very cautious.

Instead, I’ve picked up a new hobby, mountain biking. As close to a motorbike as I can get at the moment. For those who are about to roll their eyes because I am not “staying home,” I go to areas where there aren’t many people, as I could technically do with a motorbike, however, it’s a good workout to keep fit, keep my distance from people and stay off the road.

I’m sure you, as I am, am very excited for the world to go back to normal. It may take time, but I’m dreaming of the days I can go riding with friends and attend sporting events.

Stay safe. Stay sane.

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