Motorcycling For Mental Health

J.R. Hertwig “Moto Life Unfiltered”

It’s 2021; deep into the Pandemic and I’m crashing. Hard. No. It wasn’t a wide turn into an oncoming lane. And it wasn’t some driver carelessly texting their way to Godknows-where with reckless abandon. It was a life crash.

Let’s face it. We all went through some stuff in the last few years. Some level of disruption and isolation took its toll on everyone. For me, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Rapidly approaching 40, I was headlong into midlife crisis territory; weary of the way I’d been living the last 10 years. I was dead tired of living for bosses and churches, family, and everyone else. Everyone but me. I’d gotten badly lost somewhere along life’s road.

But that is just the skin-deep piece of it. My marriage had hit rock bottom. My friends no longer seemed “there” for me, and basically, all of the relationships I had in life felt skin deep. Here I was feeling stuck at the bottom of a pit, and I had no idea who would even give me that hand up if I reached out. I was deep in the mental break of builtup expectations, anxieties, and depression. That’s when I started back on a journey to find myself and get back in touch with who I am and what I wanted and needed in this life. That is when I re-discovered motorcycling.

Like many others in that wintery season of mid-life, I needed to see and feel that Spring coming on like warm memories at Mama’s house on Easter with baby chicks, blooming flowers, fried chicken, and family. Those of us in “the club”, we get it. Whether you’re in an actual club or not, you’re part of something greater than yourself any time you nut up and throw a fire-fueled two-wheeled iron horse between your legs and take off down the road.

Seasoned riders may occasionally take the passion for granted or throw up lines of distinction about who gets accepted and who doesn’t, but luckily most riders realize that’s all bullsh*t. Riding is about passion and living for the moment. It’s something that taps into our most basic human experience. It can simultaneously get us both out of our heads and more into them than we’ve ever been, all at the same time. There’s a flow of energy that’s both calm and exhilarating, and we can share that passion with others.

So remember that when you’re out there. We are one. You have a tribe. We’re all one amazing body of riding enthusiasts. So stop snarling at those sport-bikers burning up the pavement - or rolling your eyes at the high-riding boomer-on-a-beamer, or furrowing your brows at the big, bad biker man in black. They’re all just out to get a big, beautiful piece of this thing we call wind therapy. And it’s something all of us could use a little more of.

If you’re at risk and need more than a little wind therapy, visit your local Mental Health America chapter website; mhaky.org in Kentucky or mhamidsouth.org in Tennessee. Both have free screenings, insurance help, and other resources. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, dial 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.