Venkat Narayanan

October 2023 - Venkat Narayanan

Venkat Narayanan“They talk about being in the moment, and people meditate to be in the moment, but if you ride motorcycles, you have to be in the moment.”

You recently completed a cross-country trip for mental health, can you tell us about that?
Well I had known about major trips that people have taken such as national park tours etc., but I knew that I wanted to do something different, and travel the entire country from the West Coast, to the East Coast and back again. I made the trip in 23 days.

Once I had the trip in the stages of planning, I had created a page and personal project and had a number of people join with their support, with the main focus and goal being mental health. People were interested and supportive of the journey, and admired that someone was stepping out of the daily routine of work, and riding for a good cause.

I never felt alone while I was riding, because I and the support of the online community that was following along. I guess a major lesson that can be taken away from this is that you have to sometimes build your own community, if you sit around and wait for it to come to you, it’s not going to come. You have to reach out and give value, and you will receive it in return.

What was the route that you took on your trip?
This year, California has been experiencing an extreme amount of rain, which I had initially had not thought would be a problem for my route, but once April came around I realized that I would need to change my route, leading me to Southern California from the San Francisco Bay Area first, and then heading into Arizona, and heading all the way East, hoping to avoid the rain. For the most part, I was able to avoid the rain, but high winds did affect energy levels.

After making my way through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and into Georgia, I did however, need to adjust my trip due to high levels of rain. I had plans to visit Washington D.C, but couldn’t because of the rain. I was even forced to take a day off, and stay at the hotel and wait it out, reading the book “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

People often think of mental health as someone who is in a hospital being pumped with medication, which is such a small percentage of what people experience. Most people suffer silently, and one of the reasons we suffer is because we look for answers to our problems, but through trial and error, people find the right way to live. A quote that I try to live by, is that you can never avoid pain but you don’t have to suffer. This related a lot to the overall experience of the trip. Although I did experience adversity on the trip, and the need to change the route, I kept moving forward and kept focusing on what I could control.

When did you originally start motorcycling?
When I was in my twenties I started riding in India, but it was not a hobby there, that was just the mode of transportation at that time. My first motorcycle was a 125 cc Suzuki, just a little guy. I cannot imagine riding for pleasure in India, I did one ride between cities, and thought to myself ‘I never want to do this again’.

In India the practice is to tap your horn as you pass somebody, which leads to the noise pollution being absolutely terrible. Then coming to the United States, I got my first motorcycle after having kids, which was a Suzuki Boulevard. I later upgraded to a Goldwing with the expectation of using it on a trip with my sister visiting from India, but she never showed up, but I now have a better motorcycle for long distance riding.

What is your favorite part about riding?
My favorite part about motorcycling is that your mind has to be right there, fully present. You can’t be thinking about anything else. They talk about being in the moment, and people meditate to be in the moment, but if you ride motorcycles, you have to be in the moment. It allows me to be in the moment, which is the most powerful thing about motorcycling for me.

How did you first learn about Aerostich?
You know I was just looking for motorcycle gear at the time and did a Google search, and the first thing that struck me was the price, but then I did the math and thought about it, and if you buy any other gear you have to buy new gear every couple years, and it’s never waterproof, making Aerostich the best choice. Now both my son and myself ride using your gear.

What’s your favorite Aerostich gear to ride with?
The Roadcrafter one-piece, and I really like the waterproof glove covers as well.

Have you ever experienced a crash?
I’ve tipped over a couple times throughout the years, but fortunately I’ve never experienced a crash.

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