The Gift of Independence: Why I ride with my kids.
In today's world, so many of our young people are overstimulated and under-encouraged. Our kids spend hours upon hours lost in a digital fantasy world while we parents cater to their every need and insist on doing everything for them as if they might crumble to pieces if they have to get up off the couch and do it themselves. As an avid outdoorsman, and especially a motorcycle rider, I insist that my son be a part of my adventures. It is my belief that in doing so, I am combatting the harmful effects that today's digital society is having on our youth. In having him with me out on the road experiencing life and all of its hardships, I hope to give him the skills for adulthood that seemed to come naturally to those of us in previous generations.
My son is 13 years old going on 25 like most kids today. He has been exposed to things on the internet that my generation would have had no way of knowing anything about when I was young. While there are certainly many, many good things that have come about with the invention of the internet and the near-instant access to knowledge from around the globe, there have also been numerous drawbacks and disadvantages, that we as a society have not yet begun to fully understand. It seems pretty clear to me that the generation of kids under 20 years old, who grew up in the modern age of digital access to just about everything, are soon going to find themselves out in the workforce with no marketable skills, as well as finding themselves out on their own with no ability to fend for themselves. Or worse yet, they will find themselves living with their parents well into their middle ages. Todays kids have lost all of their ambition and drive, and prefer to sit around all day long watching 10-second clips on youtube or Tik Tok, instead of having human interaction with friends and family.
So why do I say that taking my son riding is “Giving him the gift of independence”? It’s simple really. By putting him on a motorcycle, I am giving him complete control over something that has real-world consequences if you don’t show the machine the proper amount of respect. If you do something dumb on the bike, you will most likely see instant results of your stupidity in the form of a crash or wipeout. Now, I know that sounds horrible and no parent wants to see their kid get seriously injured but the fact is, that when you are first learning to ride a motorcycle, the injuries are, generally speaking, not that severe. They are however a lesson in having respect for your machine, as well as having respect for your own well-being. While riding through the woods or out on the trail, I put my son in front often. I do this for various reasons. 1. It gives me a chance to evaluate and critique anything he may need to improve on, 2. It lets me know immediately if he needs help, as opposed to being in front and having to turn around and look for him every so often. But, mostly, it gives my teenage boy a chance to do all the decision-making. It not only gives him instant feedback on whether or not his decisions were good ones or not, but I believe it helps his young mind with the daunting task of having to make grown-up decisions…..decisions that have real-world outcomes. The science is fairly settled on the fact that the brain is a muscle and like any other muscle it must be trained to be strong and efficient. By giving kids an opportunity to “train” their brains in this manner, I think it helps them throughout their lives with regard to making good choices.
This past weekend, my son and I made the six-hour drive out to Moab where we would have the opportunity to ride several different types of terrain. We started out on Onion Creek, twenty-some-odd miles east of town on Highway 128. Onion creek trail is really just a high clearance vehicle road that runs east from the parking lot just off the highway near Fisher Towers, but it is an awe-inspiring 11-mile ride through a red rock canyon that makes over 20 stream crossings while climbing steadily toward the expansive opening of the La Sal valley with the mountain range just to the east. The road offers many challenges, including sharp blind corners, drop-offs, and steep climbs that must be navigated properly or you could get really hurt. The creek crossings are of course super fun, but you never know what lies under the water so staying sharp is required.
Once we got through the eleven miles of fast and flowy road, we got into more technical riding on the jeep trails in the La Sal Valley that offered obstacles like rocks, jumps, and sharp switchbacks. It was great fun and gave my son a chance to really stretch his “mental” legs while traversing the challenging terrain. There were certainly many areas where my son had reservations about going forward in the lead, but I would encourage him to give it a shot and see what happens. Sometimes he wasn’t able to get it done and would need me to demonstrate the proper techniques or correct line to get over the obstacle, but oftentimes, with a little forethought, he would sail right through whatever was standing in his way. This creates a great sense of accomplishment in a young kid's mind while at the same time giving them positive feedback on making good decisions. It also gives instant feedback on making bad decisions, unlike many other things in life where they just shrug their shoulder and blow it off. Pain is a great teacher and causes a person to make better decisions in the future.
After several hours of riding in the Onion Creek area, we loaded up the trailer and made our way into Moab and over to the Slickrock area. After paying our very reasonable day-use fee at the check station, we drove the half mile to the parking lot and got everything ready for the second ride of the day. This time, at the famous Slickrock trail. I had never been there before and didn’t really know what to expect from the ride. I hoped that my son would have the skills necessary to ride the trail because the last thing I want during any riding session is to end on a bad note or fail to accomplish our training goals for the day. After getting the bikes off the trailer, and suiting up for the ride, we headed out. I decided to take the practice loop as the sign said that it was just as hard as the normal route, but since it was shorter I would be able to gauge the difficulty level of the trail. I instantly realized that Slickrock is everything that they say it is. Rolling Navajo sandstone with an incredible amount of traction but constantly changing angles and elevation. It was so much fun to ride that within minutes, I knew that I would be back there often. But enough about me. My son was able to learn a ton about bike balance and counter steering in order to keep the bike upright on the constantly changing surface angle. A large part of the turns were blind, off-camber turns that really test the skill of even the most seasoned riders. The constant climbs followed by seriously steep descents made body position on the bike very important and when you add in the sharp turns that accompanied each of them, it really meant that you had to stay aware of what you were doing, lest you fall off the bike and slide down very, very large drops.
At the time we started Slickrock, it was late in the day, 3 o’clock, and we had been riding for most of the day. We were tired and sore and riding new terrain that neither of us had ever ridden before. It was seriously challenging for both of us. I couldn’t be more proud of my son for the way he handled the bike throughout the day, and for having the courage to face his fear in many situations. As I stated at the beginning of this article, by having to make decisions that have real consequences, it is my belief that we set our kids up for future success, and isn’t that the ultimate goal of being a parent, sending your kids out in the world with all the tools they need to survive and succeed? I believe it is.
I would love to know what you think with respect to my theory on this subject. Please leave a comment in the comments section is agree, disagree, or have other thoughts on the article.