Rider Numero Tres: Jared Hansen

Introducing me, Jared Hansen:

"I think, subconsciously, it’s all about Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli.

"For every Halloween from age 5 to about 11, I cuffed my jeans, greased my hair, slid into a white t-shirt, and donned a pleather jacket before I took off into the neighborhood. When every door cracked open I popped out both my thumbs, and in the best Fonzie voice I could muster at an adolescent age, I crooned out “Aaayyyyyeee!”

"Most likely, it may just be the repressed child within me still looking to be as cool as Fonzie. But as I grew and appreciated more of what riding motorcycles meant, a few things stood out:

"Get Lost - There is something about the break from the structured monotony of our daily grind that dissipates the minute you fire up a motorcycle. Open mind. Clear thoughts. Liberation. Riding on a road that nobody would ever travel on, would have no reason to travel on, unless they had a motorcycle. Gliding on two wheels in the middle of nowhere with only the asphalt in front of me as if it had been scratched into the open range only moments before I arrived. Only the persistent nagging thought of “What if I just kept on going?” interrupts my quiet. The open road provides clarity unattainable within the commotion of the suburban streets.

“When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon

"Dominion Over Steel and Fire - There is a power that  every rider holds over the machine they ride. With the rotation of my wrist, I control fuel, fire and steel, a team of nearly 100 horses. I decide when to turn, when to stop, and when to move forward. Yet in the same moment, I also realize that I am at the mercy of everything around me to bring me home alive. It is the perfect balance of power and submission.

"Unison - Part of my love for motorcycles also comes from my love of restoring old motorcycles. Take a thousand small, insignificant and useless pieces on their own, combine them specifically, and you can travel at 100 miles an hour. I am fascinated that all these can come together and work in unison perfectly. Thousands of moving parts all fulfilling their individual purpose, combined to fulfill one greater.

"Or….maybe at the end of it all, it is really just about the Fonz."