Why We Ride: Roger Feuer
“Ever since I was a kid I couldn’t sit still. Kinetics and locomotion were everything to me. I just had to move. I like moving fast. And I liked moving dangerously.”
Roger Feuer has always been a man on the move since a three year old trying to ride an adult-size bicycle. In his younger years he begged his parents for a mini bike, with them putting him off until he was around 12 or 13 years old. He landed his very own XR 75. He rode it constantly until he got to college.
“Life got busy and I was into so many other things like being locked up in a music practice room studying classical guitar. It wasn’t until June 2013 when I closed my restaurant that I started itching to ride again. I had never actually gotten my motorcycle’s license before - just had always been out riding illegally, I guess. With my restaurant no longer eating up all of my time, I was on the longest break of my life. It was the perfect opportunity to get my license and buy a bike - do something I really enjoyed.”
On the Road Again
Roger got his latest bike in April 2022 and has clocked over 7,000 miles on it already… Some may say he’s making up for lost time. But for Roger, his rides are therapeutic - not a race. His bike has been his gateway back to nature, solitude, and himself.
“Riding is freedom. I spent a long bunch of hard years working around the clock; literally, touring with my music, coming home and working in the restaurant, and eventually traveling for and operating my own wine import business. Being back in the city out here in New Jersey, I can get on my bike and get away from the city lights. I can go and see the trees in bloom in the spring and their brilliant colors in the fall. There are a lot of great places around here like driving up the Delaware River, Pennsylvania, Northern New Jersey… Granted living out in California for 30-plus years I got spoiled riding Highway One which is an iconic motorcycle road. The traffic in the city where I am can get really dense, so it can take riders up to an hour just to get out of town. But with these views, I can’t complain.”
Grit
Traffic can and does pile up quickly in the densely populated cities across the US and causes some real dangerous conditions for bikers. But maybe the most dangerous element of the community commute are the distracted drivers - you know the ones that don’t see micro-commuters.
“It was June of 2020, shortly after Covid started, that I was in my first motorcycle accident. At the time, I was riding my 2002 BMW to a beautiful State Park about 45 minutes from New York City. I was hit by an unlicensed motorist but got up and walked away from the crash. I had some bruising, scratches, and a broken rib, and my bike was totaled, but I walked away. It didn’t stop me from riding, though. I went and bought another bike in July 2020 and rode that for about a year. It was the following September that I was hit again by another motorist. The only thing that stopped me from going off the edge of a cliff was a rock. A rock that my helmet had cracked against due to the force. Again, I walked away, basically unharmed.
My commitment to wearing safety gear paid off and truly saved my life. Of that I am 1,000,000% sure. That’s one thing I love about Catherine’s mission with Atelier Volant to make the roads a little safer for us all to share. Though we can’t change how others drive, we can choose to wear smart gear that shields us from the unknown. It allows us to continue doing something we love without constantly being afraid.”
Living for Today
“Was I nervous to get back on a bike again after two car crashes in the matter of a year and a half? Of course, I was definitely more trepidatious. But something I learned in my experiences is that life is short so live it to the fullest. We don’t control our fate; for instance, my sister who had never smoked a day in her life, didn’t drink, and breathed the fresh Alaskan air for the majority of her adulthood died of ovarian cancer at age 50.
I decided that riding brought me too much joy and at 60 years old; I am not about to give up something that makes me this happy. I know I physically won’t be able to ride forever, so I am going to live now while I have the moment at hand. Because life was meant for living and that’s how I will continue to lead the rest of my days.”
It’s this mentality that led Roger to not give up something he loves but instead hop on his new ride and adventure through life the way it was meant to be. Exploring and enjoying.