I agree about it being in your blood or not. Today I was out for a ride on the new road bike. After a quick reorientation to heavy traffic riding (Santa Monica Bl, woohoo) I was happy and at home. And out of shape but that's another story. The bottom line is that there is nothing in a car that approximates being on 2 wheels.
The reasoning for the 911 sale was both financial and time. I was slowly going broke modding/fixing the car and doing track days. And a race weekend not only eats up $1K (at least), but I would end up either dragging the boy along (and him being bored/ignored) or swapping weekends unless it happened to fall on my "off weekend." Backing away from the track pipe got money back in the bank, cut future costs, and opened up time that I could spend doing thing with my son instead of despite him.
As for the bike...a good friend of mine put it this way. He was against me selling the car, but once I did he said that buying a bike was a moral imperative. In his words, I have an "extreme personality." As with all things in life, there is good news and bad news that goes along with that. While I don't need to jump out of airplanes or do jackass stunts, for whatever reason, there is a deep need/desire to engage in visceral activities. Surfing, racing, bikes, etc. Good, bad or indifferent, it is what it is. You just try to have some sense of balance and sanity, and stack the odds as best you can in your favor. I'm planning to commute at least one day a week to work on my bicycle. Some would argue that is incredibly dangerous. Maybe it is, but it is the right thing for me to be doing.
Everybody is wired different. I see people who are perfectly happy being "parents" and doing the homeowner/bbq/neighborhood thing, PTA, etc seems to fufill them. Well, that isn't me. Never will be. If I can't be playing music or creating art or in the ocean or on two wheels, then I'm dying inside. One can argue that it is irresponsible for a parent to engage in an activity (motorcycles) that is inherently dangerous...that it is unfair to the kid. I would counter that it is also unfair to the kid to be parented by a person who is dying/dead inside and has denied themselves in order to be "safe." Somewhere in the vast gray area is a path that will work. Just depends on the details...
Do I want my son to be raised by a dad who is in a wheelchair or worse? No. Do I want him raised by a dad who is a shell of a man? No. Maybe it is just a maturity thing and I'm not grown up. Or maybe the point is never to grow up but just find reasonable chances that can feed you.
And in honor of being responsible, I gotta fire up FinalCut and get to editing. No work, no money, bad dad
