Living the Passion as a Dad

Months prior to Isaac’s birth, I got lots of “So…when are you selling the bike?” and “You want me to take care of your bike for you?” Although I knew I would not give it up completely, I did start questioning what the future would look like and whether or not I would even be able to ride…or even want to ride. On top of that, I always see lots of forum members selling their cars and bikes stating the arrival of a baby as their reason.

Upon Isaac’s arrival, I found a new strength in me, from the Lord, to take care of all the house chores and Isaac whereas before, now I realize, I was quite the bum and Jen was right to doubt me when I told her I would try to be more helpful after Isaac was born. Things got busy quick and before I knew it, the days started flying by, and I was enjoying every minute of it and never even stopped to think about my next ride. However, when Jen told me Jen Chen was coming by one day to help her with Isaac, I surprisingly jumped at the opportunity to go for a ride. That’s when I realized the passion was still alive and well, except now it’s been prioritized, but in a good way. I always thought it would be such a scrifice to prioritize my passion for bikes under taking care of my family, but in reality, it comes a lot more naturally. Perhaps this is the “honeymoon period” and things will begin changing as time passes and feeding/changing diapers start becoming a hassle and tedious, but that just gives me all the more reason to cling to God and prioritize my time with him first and at the same time being held accountable for my actions and attitude.

Howay graciously took a day off last minute and came out with me to explore some new routes. I google mapped a new route for us that would ultimately take us to Harriman State Park, just south of Bear Mountain. Unfortunately to get to the twistier part of the route, we had to travel about an hour on 287 and 206. At least we were able to take a break and warm up at Jack Trebour Motorcycles and check out some Ducati’s, MV’s, Suzuki’s, and Triumph’s.

From New Route 12.02.08

After regaining some warmth in our bodies, we continued on, but at this point, in order to get back at a decent hour it was unlikely that we would reach Harriman State Park. We found some nice tight twistie sections that wrap around a lake which reminded me of why i love riding so much. We stopped a couple of times because I thought we were off track but it gave us an opportunity to snap some pics…the 2nd reason I take rides in the winter.

From New Route 12.02.08

From New Route 12.02.08

From New Route 12.02.08

In the end, we made it as far as 3/4 distance, found a place and stopped for lunch. Despite being completely empty, the small deli we stopped at had excellent burgers and fries and the owner, who ran the shop by herself, was really friendly, chatting with us about some nice routes in the area.

From New Route 12.02.08

From New Route 12.02.08

We headed home after lunch so we could get back before Jen Chen left. Overall, the route was good with the only downside being the long distance we had to travel on 287 and 206 to get to any scenic/twistie areas. Hopefully next time if we have more time to spare and it’s not as cold, we’ll be able to make it all the way to Harriman or maybe even Bear Mountain.

In the 3 weeks that i’ve been a dad i’ve learned that fatherhood is not about losing your identity to your family, but prioritizing all the important things in life so you can enjoy each to its fullest and bring them together when you can…kind of like TSM.