Mum. I want to ride!!!!!
That worrying moment when your child asks for a motorcycle.
I’m a passionate parent, I have dedicated my life to parenting with the intent to developing happy, passionate, considerate kids who add value to the world and I’m glad to have your attention for a few moments to share my story and the lessons I’ve learned.
As a parent, it’s our natural instinct to protect our children.
It’s in our soul to worry for our children and we have an innate need to prepare our children for the world.
I remember the day my son started nagging me for a motorcycle, I felt sick at the thought of him riding.
My parents weren’t motorcyclist’s so, of course, they were concerned…
My mum (His Grand Mother) would buy my son the latest football or a video game as a tactic to try and get him focused on a more normal activity… but all he wanted was to watch the motocross videos and talk about when he was going to ride a motorcycle.
My friends filled me with horror stories and told me how they got their boys into soccer or basketball… why wouldn’t I get my son into something safer they would ask… Oh, and of course then there is the cost of a motorcycle and on they would rant about motorcycling...
I was a worried mother nervous about the thought of motorcycling.
Then one day I met Andrea……….
Andrea was the mother of a Motorcyclist… I told her about my son and I asked her about all my concerns….
Her answer’s changed my life as a parent….
After carrying a knot in my stomach, being torn between letting my son do something he is obviously passionate about and me protecting him…… “to ride” or “not to ride” was the question…
Andrea made it 100000% clear to me that my job as a mother is to prepare my children for life. The only way to protect them is to prepare them.
It’s our job to Equip our children with the self-esteem, the character and the tools to grow into capable, passionate, happy humans.
“Honey, you have 2 options. Either let him ride or don’t let him ride…. But remember it’s not about the bike...”
I’m curious… “It’s not about the bike?”
“Young people need adrenalin, they need to take risks, we need to teach them how to take educated risks. They need to learn focus, they need to learn consequence, cause, and effect, they need to learn respect.
“Restraining our children is a Band-Aid fix, training them lasts forever.”
Suppressing the desire of a child is not safety, it's selfish, and it's only delaying the fact that one day he is going to ride. Against your wish.
Did you know that around 80% of males will ride a motorcycle in their life?
“I’d rather my son learn to ride in a fun, safe, and controlled environment now than to one day go against my word and learn from friends.”
“I’d rather him have nothing to prove when it comes time to get his driver’s license.”
“I want my son to have a passion that keeps him focused and disciplined.”
So here are the facts.
When your son learns to ride he will be wearing all the protective gear, a full face helmet, body armour, gloves, boots, goggles, a neck brace, the works, he may even use training wheels. His motorcycle will be restricted and he will be going slower than he rides his bicycle, he will be getting coached by someone who knows what they are doing and most importantly he will be doing something he loves.
I think it’s our job as mothers to teach our kids to focus, to give our children the gift of discipline and to show our kids how to take educated risks.
I know the motorcycle is a worry, it’s our job to worry. But isn’t our job to see our children live, to light up, to do what they love?
Boredom is a risk, disrespect is a risk, taking drugs is a risk, riding a pushbike with no helmet is a risk.
Riding a motorcycle in a controlled safe environment with all the protective gear and guidance possible is an educated risk.
Motorcycling is statistically safer than the School playground, playing football, and many other common sports but our sport is misunderstood because most parents aren’t motorcyclist’s themselves.
Motorcycling gives your child self-esteem.
Motorcycling gives your child an outlet to channel all emotions, excitement, frustration. Everything. A bad day at school is long forgotten as soon as that bike is kicked into gear.
Self-Esteem:
Motorcycling develops self-esteem.
Studies tell us that Self Esteem grows when we grow, it grows when we stand out in a positive way and it grows when we do something we enjoy.
After teaching over 1000 people how to ride a motorcycle the number 1 change I see is a positive increase in self Value. The shy/quiet personality comes alive and out of the shell. The over confident and out-there personality is humbled. Motorcycling is the ultimate Self Esteem Balancer.
Motion Creates emotion:
It is proven that motion creates emotion. You cannot be depressed if you move in a positive way. As Human’s Motion Creates positive emotions. Motorcycling makes you feel good.
Discipline:
Discipline is the reason so many youth challenges are growing at exponential levels, we live in a world where our kids don’t learn discipline. Mum and Dad, whether they admit it or not, do way too much for their children and our marketplace does whatever possible to keep young people comfortable. Motorcycling breeds discipline, when you find discipline in one area of your life it filters through to other areas of your life. The young person who learns the disciplines of looking after his motorcycle is leaps and bounds ahead of the kids who spend their time on the computer or playing ball sports.
Leverage:
“You can ride the bike as soon as your homework is done” Motorcycling is leverage.
Desire:
Motorcycling makes us hungry to be better, it fills us with desire. Desire drives us to be more, do more and give more.
Respect:
Dirt bike Kids learn respect. They respect the track, they respect their ability, they respect their bikes. We have taken the most disengaged youth and sat them on a motorcycle, through our 5 step process we ensure the motorcycle demands their respect in a safe and controlled environment. Send me a disrespectful kid who wants to ride, sit him on the motorcycle in front of an obstacle that impresses him as much as it scares him and I’ll show you a kid who learns respect fast.
Preparation:
Motocross teaches us to prepare, we have to think about what we will need for the day, prepare our goggles, our gear, and our bikes. This is all stuff the kids should do themselves.
Focus:
As soon as the helmet comes on the only thing in the world that matters is the track in front of you, learn to focus. In a world of distraction, our average attention span has gone from 22 minutes in the 1930s to 7 seconds for our young people. 7 seconds!!! We need to teach our kids to focus!
Visualization:
The subconscious mind is our most powerful tool. Motorcycling will grow the subconscious mind. First, you see an obstacle, then you see yourself completing the obstacle, then you complete the obstacle. Turn your vision into action. What a metaphor for life, what a lesson for life.
Fitness:
Motorcycling is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports in the world. If you think riding a motorcycle is easy on the fitness, then you haven’t ridden!
Friendship:
Many motorcycling families become friends for life, you meet like-minded people who are outdoors having fun. As in any sport, there are people from all walks of life. I Guarantee you will meet like-minded families.
Excitement:
Kids want excitement, riding a motorcycle is the ultimate in the minds of many young people. No 2 days riding are the same. Create a childhood that impacts your kid for life, make memories. Create experience, fill your kid up with positive emotions. Excite them and Inspire them.
Family:
Motorcycling is a family sport. It brings us together. The family that plays together stays together.
Parental Bond:
The father who spends time at the track with his daughter, the mother who inspires her son to improve his riding, the family that rides together stays together. Many parents ride, some don’t, either way, your common interest with your children is an asset that will be an asset as your child grows up.
