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Control, motorcycle diary edition.
22 Plays7 days ago
Bobby and Steph are back on the road with a helmet-recorded conversation about motorcycles, control, marriage, momentum, and the beautiful chaos of trying to live fully while keeping the wheels turning.
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Transcript
Introduction & Setting the Scene
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey there, guys. I'm Steffy Steff, and this is Bobby. And we are on our another episode of Between Two Teeth, Motorcycle Edition. Between Two Teeth, Motorcycle Edition. Where are we right now?
00:00:19
Speaker
We are driving through downtown Dallas. It's the World Cup. It's a vibe. It is a vibe.
Exploring Control Issues
00:00:26
Speaker
It is a vibe. It's a a little warm. Speaking of vibes, yeah, it's a little warm. A storm's coming in the distance.
00:00:32
Speaker
The weather's kind of in between. It's not hot. It's not cold. And today we're talking about control of all things. Control. Do I have control issues? Yes. Oh, come on. But I think we all do. I think we all have a little bit of control issues. We want to...
00:00:47
Speaker
We want to be the you know masters of our own destiny, so
Lessons from Motorcycle Breakdowns
00:00:51
Speaker
to speak. And Bobby, today we're talking about how does motorcycles play into that aspect of control in our own lives and our our semblance of it, what we perceive it to be.
00:01:02
Speaker
Motorcycling has taught me an awful lot about so many things are outside of your control.
00:01:10
Speaker
Tell me more. Well, I was waiting to see what you're going to say to that. You know, you and i with adventures, maybe you've, if some of you follow us, you know that we had a motorcycle breakdown in Morocco. That was a big ordeal. Oh, that was a big, big ordeal. Yeah, that was tough. That involved language barriers, Ramadan, roadside. was an international incident.
00:01:35
Speaker
Hostage concerns. Central hostage. There's a lot of things going on. And then just last week, we actually were out in California and had another motorcycle breakdown. It always seems to be me. Am I the problem?
00:01:49
Speaker
i
Risk-Taking and Fearlessness
00:01:50
Speaker
You know, our history would suggest yes. However, when you break it down, it there's not enough evidence to support that theory. Anyways, we've had a KTM breakdown, a BMW breakdown. We had a breakdown in a bad kind of area for cell service, not near a whole lot of people.
00:02:08
Speaker
Anyways, yeah, we weren't in control. The motorcycle was in control. And I think especially for... The motorcycle was out of control. Well, that's fair. That's fair, yeah. it it it It teaches a whole lot of things. And frankly, part of why I motorcycle... I motorcycled as a kid, blah, blah, blah.
00:02:26
Speaker
You know, is it dangerous? Yes, very much so. But I was a little too... in life in many ways. I just... And I say that, think I was fearful of doing various things.
00:02:42
Speaker
And that's a great... And that's a great segue, Bobby, as far as you're talking about risk-taking. And, you know, where do we draw the
Balancing Risks and Recklessness
00:02:50
Speaker
line? you know, we ride bikes all over the world. We we ride bikes in all kinds of conditions and environments. So where can we draw the line between risk-taking and recklessness?
00:03:00
Speaker
That's a really good question. And if you... you know But hearing you talk about that makes me think about the saying of, I'm going to totally mess this up. You're going have to help me, Steph.
00:03:13
Speaker
We're going across a beautiful bridge here in Dallas. For those you who've been in Dallas, you see these. We're kind of switching over to the south part of Dallas now. Absolutely gorgeous. You may hear a little wind sound just going faster.
00:03:25
Speaker
But, you know, people have something like two days of their life, the day they're born and the day they figure out why. Once again, terrible rendition of whatever that quote is.
00:03:37
Speaker
Can you help me on that or you just let me know? No, I wanted to let you develop that thought entirely. And I'm glad we went to the end of the road on that one. So I like it and I'd modify it a little bit. I think people are lucky enough to get to you the day we figure out why.
00:03:52
Speaker
I don't think we always get there. I think a lot of times life throws so many curveballs at us. We're just in survival mode. We're like, gosh, this happened and I was just trying to make it you know through the year or, oh, hey, this happened. you know Figuring out why we are we're why we exist and you know these existential questions, these philosophical value systems that's in our head, some people are not even they' not so blessed by why it's able to even get there. And so I do think it's amazing to get to that point where you've even ask yourself, okay,
00:04:27
Speaker
well The day you were born, in the day you figure out why, kind of a rebirth moment. Do you remember last night we were talking about with your parents on the way back from a boating day? i so I made the comment, it's a great day when you get a chance to lay your head down on the pillow because it's not guaranteed. And your mom said, it's also great when you wake up in the morning.
00:04:44
Speaker
And yeah I think living each day to but is an amazing way to do things. Now, getting back to the question of but Risk versus recklessness. I think risk mitigation is really important.
00:05:01
Speaker
And we do things that are are very risky. I think I've said this before. I like to do risky things as carefully as
Everyday Risks vs. Motorcycling
00:05:10
Speaker
possible. Yeah. And, you know, I like to tie in law on this. Some of the terminology we've used when we are in torts and looking at all kinds, of looking at my battery just told me I always load batteries. So there's that.
00:05:26
Speaker
So anyway, some you know we we talk about the reasonable person, and the reasonable person is actually allowed to take risks. It's calculated. you know What would a reasonable person do in this scenario versus recklessness, which is a whole category of liability unto itself? A reckless person is not calculated.
00:05:44
Speaker
And so when we're talking about risk-taking versus recklessness, you know, Bobby and I, nothing of what we're doing is safe, completely safe. And we know that. We try to take a reasonable approach to most things. And sometimes we hit the marker. And sometimes I do think what we, we try not to, you know, go off into recklessness. But sometimes, you know, reasonable minds may differ. You just through a and did not did not. You didn't see a change at the very end.
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, we we really do. we try to be a We try to do dangerous things safely, but as we know, i'm even driving on the highway in a vehicle, that's that's something that we do dangerously as a society every day, but we have normalized the risk.
00:06:30
Speaker
yeah Motorcycling is no different. The risk just changes with the activity and the environment, the circumstances.
Adventures and Challenges in Nepal
00:06:39
Speaker
Well, and what I will say, some of the things we've gotten into, Nepal was not supposed to be what it was. We were supposed to go to Mount Everest on beautiful asphalt roads up to Everest Base Camp on the Tibet side. That's where I was going to propose to you.
00:06:53
Speaker
We show up after our medical mission, and like now time for the motorcycle adventure, and we're not going to Everest. We're not going to Tibet. And that became a very different adventure. And frankly, i was terrified. Most days, moments of most days in the Himalayas, because the roads were absolutely brutal.
00:07:15
Speaker
We didn't expect it. We hadn't trained for it. We got through it. You had your... I call it a crash.
00:07:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'm right there. i don't I didn't call it a crash, but... It was. Nepal was probably more, it wasn't what we expected because we weren't really, we really weren't bargaining on taking the risks that we ended up having to take to get through the trip. And that was, I'm going right here.
00:07:45
Speaker
That was something a little bit more than we were expecting. But, you know, we did we did get through it and we got through it safely, which is what we wanted.
The Joy and Fear of Motorcycling
00:07:55
Speaker
The beautiful thing about motorcycling, yes, is that we're in, what's this area in Dallas called?
00:08:01
Speaker
bishop art fish Bishop Arts. Bishop Arts. And we can smell barbecue. Like, ah oh, my gosh. So good. So It is unbelievable. So good.
00:08:13
Speaker
I hear you on that. And i think there's probably a pendulum swing for lots of people. people that don't do things because they're absolutely terrified of everything.
00:08:24
Speaker
I think there's people that have absolutely no fear, and that's probably not ideal. Sometimes people look at what we do and think that we're bonkers.
00:08:34
Speaker
And I can assure you, at least on my end, there's several moments
00:08:40
Speaker
that I'm like, I'm fearful here, and it's tough doing an adventure with someone that you love because you're seeing them on the adventure as well. They're fearful for their safety too. So that's what it is. Anything else about what motorcyclines taught you?
Life's Risks and Rewards
00:09:01
Speaker
No, I would instead, i would push i would push people to think about what moves them to take risks. what what ah What situations in life has has moved you to you know step outside your comfort zone and and to tell yourself, okay, this is risky, but it's a calculated risk, and to me, it's worth it.
00:09:22
Speaker
That's what i'm I'm curious in. You know, going to college, going to professional school is a risk. um Having a partner is a huge risk.
00:09:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think life is a risk life is full of these risks, and it's just your perspective on whether that risk, you know, trickles over into recklessness. And and I think from my standpoint, what I've learned in life is that the universe often gives you what you need, not so much exactly what you want. And I'd also say this, is ah you know, just from a failure perspective, like even if you fail, it's not that your risk wasn't a good risk to take.
00:10:03
Speaker
Oh, for sure. And I think people try to conflate those two those two mindsets. They're like, well, I guess the risk wasn't good if the consequences happened from that risk. Not necessarily.
00:10:16
Speaker
It can still be a good risk to take. It's just, yeah, it didn't work out. That's that's the risk. Yeah, and there's information there. And in my own life. And we call that a data point. Yeah, exactly. In my own life, every single like thing that's kind of happened to me,
00:10:32
Speaker
has happened almost because of failure that happened immediately beforehand. So don't let it tear you down. All right, guys. Well, listen, thanks for joining us. Thanks for joining us on another episode of Between Two Teeth, a motorcycle adventure.
00:10:49
Speaker
Over and out.