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Boomers flock to motorcycle lifestyle

Boomers flock to motorcycle lifestyle feb.-cover.jpg
By Danielle Paine Reminder Assistant Editor Special to PRIME In clubs, on charity rides and traveling to out-of-state events, more baby boomers than ever before are trading their newly-found free time for the freedom of the open road. The reasons are many. For most, the two-wheeled sport puts a new spin on a Sunday drive, provides an outlet for life's daily stresses and gives couples the chance to share quiet times together as their lives become simpler. Connecting and de-stressing Tammy and Alan "Tanker" Griswold of Granby have had their Honda Shadow Aero for five years. With three children ages 15, 13 and six, the two get on the road alone whenever they have a babysitter or can get away for nighttime coffees after their youngest is in bed. "That's our down time," Tammy said. The couple's bike is made for long-distance cruising in comfort. In fact, they've put 25,000 miles on it so far, with long drives down back roads and treks to famous motorcycle gatherings such as Laconia in New Hampshire and the Americade event in New York. "If we have the opportunity to go, we're going to go for the whole day," Tammy said. "It is a really big stress reliever. The minute you've gone one mile, the tension leaves and it is just so nice." The pair also owns quads and dirt bikes that they ride for fun as a family, but the motorcycle has always given the couple time alone together away from the world. When they aren't alone, the Griswold's like to ride with a group of close friends who, like themselves, are just out to relax and have a good time. "You're outdoors and you're seeing sights and it's a nice way to met new people," Tammy said. "You never know what you'll see on those back roads, so I always have the camera ready." Over the years, the stereotype of typical "bikers" has given way to a two-wheeled past-time on fire with popularity for every generation. The Baby Boom generation, in particular, is now finding itself with both the spare time and financial freedom to take advantage of this trend. "It is growing, that's for sure," Tammy said about the hobby. "Just me and my husband have gotten five other couples to get a bike in the past year just by telling them about the fun we have." Tammy, a bus driver and Alan, a union operator, are at a point in life where they have fewer commitments intruding on their bike time. The two are also members of the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association (MMA), a club that provides legislative advocacy of motorcycle rights, safety campaigns and fund-raising outlets for charity. "People our age are doing this because we're kids of the '70s and we've worked for 20 years," Alan said "Now it's time to enjoy ourselves." Rediscovering the open road Bob and Laurie Tessier, owners of Bob's Restaurant in Ludlow, dove back into the Harley lifestyle (after a 20-year hiatus) when their two children went off to college about seven years ago. Although Bob Tessier got his first motorcycle when he was 16 years old, bringing his children to sports practices, lessons, camp and school activities forced him to push his hobby to the wayside during his thirties as raising a family became his top priority. "I never gave up my motorcycle license, though. I paid it dutifully," Tessier explained. "I always said that someday, when I retire, I want to get back into it." Twenty years later, in 2003, he did just that. The day after selling his family's seldom-used condominium by the ocean, Tessier walked out of a Harley Davidson dealership with the keys to a brand-new bike. "It was like I had never left," Tessier said about the friends and social events that come hand-in-hand with owning a Harley Davidson, a phenenomon he discovered when he purchased his first Harley back in his twenties. "It's not only a motorcycle, it's a lifestyle. You live and breathe Harley Davidson." Along with being a member of MMA, Tessier is also a member of H.O.G., the Harley Davidson Owners group, run through local Harley dealerships. His wife, Laurie, has ridden on the back of his bikes "forever" and will have her very own bike this spring after taking a state-run motorcycle safety course. "We work together and we're together a lot when we're on the bike, there's no radio and limited conversation but we just click," Tessier said. "When there isn't much traffic and it's a sunny day and the bike is humming along at about 45 on a back road that seems to go on forever, it's the best thing. If you could fly, I think it would be that same feeling." Often, they meet up with friends for leisurely rides out to good restaurants, sometimes just to get ice cream cones on hot summer nights. A few times a year however, the pair trailers their Harley to huge events such as Bike Week in Daytona, Fla. This August, they may even fly down to the famous gathering in Sturgis, S. D. "A good friend of mine, who just turned 60, got back into riding seven years ago," Tessier said. "He has driven all over the United States already, something I want to do when I retire." Discovering a new passion Neal Johnson, a Wilbraham resident and town firefighter, bought his first bike at age 50. An avid hot-rod builder his entire life, Johnson never thought he would opt for just two wheels. "It was something that everybody was going through at the [fire] station," Johnson explained about buying and restoring his bike, a 1983 Goldwing GL 1100. "Everyone had a bike, but I had never expected myself to have one." This same group of friends also formed the Cooked Jakes Club, which now boasts about 40 people, almost all of whom are over the age of 40. "There are a lot of couples," Johnson said. "It's just the bond, it's like having somebody that is with you all of the time that makes it great." Johnson and his wife spend time with friends every week (during warm weather) at local cruise nights and family events to show classic or custom cars and motorcycles. The restoration work on his own bike, and others that he has since restored, has netted him several trophies at these events. Whether it is the community of belonging to a club, the freedom of feeling the wind in your face or the quiet time together for couples, the Baby Boomers' love affair with motorcycles seems to be growing stronger with every retirement, every child sent off to college and every sunny Sunday that beckons toward an open road. ABC40 newsman makes the most of rediscovered passion Name: Jim Polito Age: 43 Job Title: Chief Investigative Reporter ABC40 PRIME: When did you first become interested in motorcycles? Polito: As a kid [in the 1970s] I rode dirt bikes with friends [but] as I got older I lost touch with it. When I moved to Rhode Island I started [riding] again with friends. PRIME: When was your first ride? Polito: It was [on] Douggie Gow's motorcycle a 50 cc Honda. Back then they didn't have pure dirt bikes it was a small motorcycle. I must have been nine years old. PRIME: What was your first bike? Polito: The first one I actually purchased myself was this one. When I lived in Rhode Island I was always fortunate to have friends who had a nice fleet [of bikes]. PRIME: Tell us about your current bike. Polito: It's a1990 Harley-Davidson Heritage soft tail classic. It's got a 1340ccs engine and I've customized it and modified it added custom tanks and custom chrome and got it to the way I like it. The motorcycle takes you on a journey, but the motorcycle itself is a journey .You're always modifying and customizing it. PRIME: Do you prefer to ride solo, or with partner or a group? Polito: I ride alone a lot. In fact I'm just preparing to go off on a long trip alone. Last year I took two weeks off; this year I'm taking two-and-a-half. Last year I trailered my bike to Toronto and visited friends, then drove to Key West and back [visiting friends along the way] . a total of 3,600 miles. This year I'm heading to Texas . I'll start here, stop at a bike rally in Charleston [S.C.], along way I'll take the Blue Ridge Parkway [and] I'll probably take the Chisom Trail, [but] it's definitely [going to be] a lot of back roads. I know I'll make a stop in New Orleans. This year I don't think I'll make it to Florida. But I [also] love doing charity rides John Bish always rides on the back of my bike [for the Molly Bish Ride] and my friend, Marilyn, has always taken Maggie [Bish] on the back of her bike. PRIME: Are you a member of any motorcycle clubs? Polito: No, I'm not a member. PRIME: Tell me about your first ride of the season the sights, the sounds, the smells. Polito: That first ride . you don't duplicate it for the whole year. You've been waiting for it for so long .it's hard for a person who rides to explain to a person who doesn't what it's like. When you're on that bike you see things you don't see when you're behind the wheel, feel things . you feel and see and taste and smell things. I just can't get enough of it . just talking to you about it I get the itch. PRIME: What's your favorite time of the day to ride? Polito: During the summer I'm always getting home late because of the news. I'll do errands, eat supper, then I'll go out to garage, get on the bike and just ride and ride. That, and getting up first thing in the morning, heading out on a country road before the traffic starts. I love that. Bottom line, I'll take any time. PRIME: What is your favorite local ride? Polito: One of the spots [I like] around here is going up by the Log Cabin . that's a really, really nice stretch, and anywhere north, into Deerfield, Northfield, over by Sugarloaf those are beautiful places to ride. PRIME: What's your favorite long-distance ride? Polito: It's anywhere getting to the shore the Connecticut shore, I spend a lot of time on the Rhode Island shore, going down to the Cape- I like doing that. PRIME: What's the best thing about riding a motorcycle? Polito: It's the journey not the destination. There are many people who, when they drive in the car, without a radio , they would go crazy. On a motorcycle you don't want a radio, you don't need it, the ride is your entertainment. There's something about the freedom- it's just you and your motorcycle.There's a a lot of metaphors [that compare riding a bike] to riding a horse .you still need to shift it, you need to control it. PRIME: What's the worst thing about riding a motorcycle? Polito: Getting caught in the rain. I've got rain gear, but when rain hits you at 55 miles per hour, it's like a nail. That, and drivers who don't look out for motorcycles .when I slam on brakes, it's a lot different. PRIME: Do you have a dream trip? Polito: Yeah, I do. It would be Europe with saddlebags filled and no worries, enough funds to cover me and just explore. It would marry two of my favorite loves I'm a big history buff and my love of motorcycles. If I could take six months off and do that I would. But I probably wouldn't bring my big Harley I'd probably get a smaller bike - a Ducati a great Italian bike or a Triumph - an English bike.