Sections

Expert Analysis

Old Man Fitness: The power of pain, and why I don’t regret a damn thing

by ·

“You’re going to regret that when you get older.” We all heard those words growing up when old timers would come around and interrupt our grand plans with their wrinkled faces and limping gaits. We ignored them, of course, but as the years wore on, and our own faces started to show the signs of wear we once attributed to our parents, and our own strides began to suffer under the weight of decades of injury… most of us come to a crushing realization: they were right all along.

“You’re going to regret that when you get older,” we now say as we come across young bucks sacrificing their knees, lower backs, and other joints in the name of adventure or accomplishment. They roll their eyes too, just as we did, and go about their warrior ways. If you’re anything like me, you’re tempted to shake your head, to dismiss their foolishness as naïveté and ignorance… but then you look back on your own mistakes, your own injuries, and through the objective lens of hindsight, I can now tell you unequivocally, I don’t regret a damn one.

Yup, I’ve had more concussions than most of the football players you see on TV. Yeah, I’ve been under the knife more times than a forty year old actress trying to stay twenty forever. Yes, on cold mornings, hell even on some warm ones, my cocky Marine strut gives way to a slow, lumbering limp moving to beat of popcorn popping joints and the occasional muttered swear.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING.

Your subscription is important and supports our editorial integrity. Advertisers are sometimes afraid of being associated with controversial news topics, and your subscription is vital to ensuring we can continue to publish the courageous news we are known and respected for.

Get Insider Access and Expert Analysis Today

SUBSCRIBE NOW

or Log In

SHARE THIS

BECAUSE, FACTS DON'T TAKE SIDES

Your Subscription Supports Honest News Efforts

TRY 4 WEEKS FOR $1.99

Comments

Join our community. To comment on this article please join/login. Here's a sample of the comments on this post.

  • Avatar
    John C

    Michelle, I did enjoy my riding so much that I would never discourage you or anyone from riding. Just be aware all around you is my advice. It's a wonderful life riding. My years of riding through the Great Smoky Mountains was awesome!!! Enjoy and soak it all in, and oh... the Blue Ridge Parkway on a bike from Cherokee to Asheville, NC... beautiful beautiful on a bike. Keep going to Skyline Drive and beyond, it's the best the east has to offer in the motorcycle world in my opinion!!!

  • Avatar
    Michelle B

    Owww. That's the part I keep wanting to skip, the risks that are so completely out of my control. Just...ouch. But. I also love the incredible feeling when the bike rumbles to life and rolls out onto the road, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't be quite as much of a supercharged rush if it wasn't also a risk. There is something incredible about being that close to nature with that much power to move through it. Tail of the Dragon?? As in, Smokey Mountains? I drove through there (in a car) last Fall; it was beautiful. (Not that particular stretch, just a small part near Gatlinburg.) I'm glad you survived four decades of riding....AND that it was still worth it! I'm hoping with practice (and awareness) comes confidence and adeptness. ;-)

  • Avatar
    Michelle B

    <3

  • Avatar
    Roger C

    My motto (with respect to my body) is that "It only has to last a lifetime" and my plan is to leave this earth having used it to its fullest. After my military career, I slowed down while raising children (planned to stay alive/physically fit long enough to raise them). Now, as a grandfather, I am loosening the reins again. I can relate to the article; it mirrors my own mentality. Thanks brother.

  • Avatar
    Daniel Y

    [email protected] dressed like Uncle Sam, and Capt America. I love it!!! That’s really awesome! I agree with you, as far as competing on the international stage, we have a lot of untapped talent. As a side note, there are a lot of human monsters wasting away in our prisons, that could have turned out a lot differently with proper structure, discipline and a solid butt kicking every once in a while. I remember hearing about one kid in paticular, that was about 18, or 19 bench pressing 600lbs for reps, that unfortunately finally got the structure he needed in the prison gang that end up recruiting him.