How do you measure experience in a sport? How do you measure proficiency? How do others see and judge you? How do you decide when you've been there and done that?
In scuba diving, the first equipment intense sport I experienced, there's guys with ultra new equipment and decked out camera gear that take up half of the dive deck and spends more time playing with his technology than experiencing the dive. Then there's the guy that’s really been there done that with perfect buoyancy control and twenty year old equipment. His experience level and confidence flow from him the way that the tech-gearhead's money flows from his wallet.
In scuba diving, the first equipment intense sport I experienced, there's guys with ultra new equipment and decked out camera gear that take up half of the dive deck and spends more time playing with his technology than experiencing the dive. Then there's the guy that’s really been there done that with perfect buoyancy control and twenty year old equipment. His experience level and confidence flow from him the way that the tech-gearhead's money flows from his wallet.
In riding there’s different levels of been there done that. Just like in diving one can't judge another's experience by the gear or the bike. The most obvious stereotypes are discussed ad-nausea on forums, messages boards, bars, coffee shops, and bike nights. Each different riding style has its own stereotypes of the newbie, the expensive gearmonger, the old timer, and the person who has really been there and done that.
All riding types have the short timers; people that join the sport and are active for a few years before they retire to due tickets, injuries, loss of interest, or spousal obligations. You see this just as much with the middle aged white guy that buys a brand new Harley Davidson as you do with the twenty something who buys a supersport and rides wheelies down main street. In my travels I hear the same story over and over again from people that "used to" ride, but had to stop for the above reasons.
Possibly the stereotype that gets the most fun poked at them are the coffee shop riders. You know the type, they own expensive bikes, be it Ducati riders with Dainese gear or BMW with pristine branded textiles, and only ride them once a month to the local bikes and coffee meetup. Maybe they've been there done that already and they don't need to do it anymore? Who knows.
All riding types have the short timers; people that join the sport and are active for a few years before they retire to due tickets, injuries, loss of interest, or spousal obligations. You see this just as much with the middle aged white guy that buys a brand new Harley Davidson as you do with the twenty something who buys a supersport and rides wheelies down main street. In my travels I hear the same story over and over again from people that "used to" ride, but had to stop for the above reasons.
Possibly the stereotype that gets the most fun poked at them are the coffee shop riders. You know the type, they own expensive bikes, be it Ducati riders with Dainese gear or BMW with pristine branded textiles, and only ride them once a month to the local bikes and coffee meetup. Maybe they've been there done that already and they don't need to do it anymore? Who knows.
Since I'm a sport rider, as the name of my blog would imply, I feel a special obligation to mention the iconic Crotch Rocketeer. Being that its April the type is starting to come out of their winter hibernation and start screaming down your roads wearing tank tops and shorts, with an amazing mohawk on their helmet and a disregard for their wellbeing in their head. Unfortunately few make it long enough to grow out of that phase, learn control, buy some gear, and not kill, injure, or ticket themselves out of existence. I hate to make generalizations, but these guys don't last long enough to have been there, done that.
Each riding type has a different level of being "there". In my opinion its marked by a consummate professionalism about riding. These are the riders that try to be the very best they can be all the while mitigating the risk of injuries and legal problems. Riders of this caliber aren't the ones bragging at bike night, but you can see their accomplishments by lack of chicken strips, a collection of track day inspection stickers, location stickers, high numbers of their odometers, and sun bleached gear.
At the track you might see it as the guy on the old ninja 250 or well used supersport passing the guy on the brand new Ducati Panigale 1299 in a tight corner.
On the highway you might see the lone adventure bike rider with a plethora of location stickers on his panniers, riding in the rain in the winter by himself.
On your favorite roads you might see the guy on the superbike with saddlebags who is touring across states to see various destination roads, someone who has such good body positioning and core strength that they can ride such a bike all day.
During my November 2015 trip I realized I was almost “there” when I got the biker wave from a guy on a BMW 1200gs in an orange Aerostitch suit during a rainstorm on an otherwise empty coastal highway.
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