FREE
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VOL.8, NO.11
F O R
P E O P L E
O V E R
More than 100,000 readers throughout Greater Baltimore
Finding freedom on two wheels
NOVEMBER 2010
I N S I D E …
PHOTO BY FRANK KLEIN
By Carol Sorgen Ira Loux’s motorcycle mania began in his teens, when he would ride a dirt bike on the back roads surrounding his family’s home in the Poconos. Loux, now 52 and a software consultant living in Baltimore County, said he didn’t ride for many years after that because he didn’t have the financial resources. But about 12 years ago, he decided “I needed a toy for me,” and began hitting the road on his Harley every weekend. “Riding is an excuse to go to different places, and for getting away with friends,” he said. Loux and his riding buddies often travel up Falls Road to Brown’s Orchard, where they stop for a glass of cider and catch up on the week’s doings. He has also taken longer trips, down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Tennessee, from upstate New York to Vermont, and from Las Vegas to Utah and Nevada. For Loux, the appeal of riding is the “different state of mind” he experiences when on his bike. “There’s no GPS, no maps, no radio, no heater, no air-conditioning. It’s just you, the sound of the bike, and the elements. Riding is my toy and my escape,” he said.
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LEISURE & TRAVEL
Something for everyone in Branson, Mo.; plus, a refuge for both wildlife and tourists on Florida’s Gulf Coast page 25
More boomer bikers With their “Who me? I’m not getting older” mentality, it’s not surprising that baby boomers make up a majority of motorcyclists. Today, boomers outnumber younger motorcycle owners two to one. That’s actually down from 2003, when there were four times as many boomer owners. But many older riders have “aged out” of riding. Meanwhile, ownership among the younger crowd has skyrocketed in recent years, in part due to a series of popular cable TV shows about motorcycling and in part due to rising gas prices that have made motorcycles more attractive as a means of transportation. Some boomer bikers, like Loux, have been riding nearly all their life, while others have come to the sport recently. Janet Weber, for example, is a relative newcomer. Weber, 55, an advertising and marketing professional who lives in Baltimore City, learned to ride so she could accompany her boyfriend, Towson insurance
ARTS & STYLE
Ira Loux resurrected his love of motorcycles from his youth and has ridden his Harley all over the country. Baby boomers outnumber younger riders two to one, and women over 50 are catching the spirit as well.
salesman Paul Burke. “This is pretty new for me,” she said. “I was never a great fan of motorcycles, but Paul is a very safe driver.” Though motorcycling is primarily a male sport, more women are joining the guys on the road. In fact, according to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, more than 4 million women in the U.S. know how to ride. Burke, 62, rode when he lived in California as a young man. He gave it up while raising his family, but several years ago, the riding bug bit him again. Now he and Weber — Burke on a Harley and Weber on a BMW, both clad in their helmets and leather jackets — will
ride on the weekends, sometimes out to Friendly Farms, sometimes down to Berkeley Springs, W. Va. “It feels like flying,” said Burke. “It’s different from riding in a car. When you’re on a bike, you’re more present with nature…it’s very freeing.”
Motorcycles go mainstream There may once have been a stereotype of motorcyclists as “toughs” or “hoodlums,” but that has changed. In Eric Barshop’s motorcycle club, MCV, the 25 members — the youngest of See MOTORCYCLES, page 14
The Wiz returns to Baltimore, where it premiered; plus, a statewide book-reading “club,” and a farewell interview with the “Cathy” comic strip creator page 30
FITNESS & HEALTH 4 k Flu shot: Make mine a double k Best treatments for back pain LAW & MONEY 15 k Free international phone calls k IRA rules explained VOLUNTEERS & CAREERS 22 k Doctors lend a helping hand PLUS CROSSWORD, BEACON BITS, CLASSIFIEDS & MORE