Miguel Oliveira is amazing and so is MotoGP in which he competes. Today I share my experience attending the 2024 MotoGP races at the Circuit of the Americas with my longtime friend, Kent. We talk about the bikes, the riders, their families and our own.

Jeff Johnson said "I’m drawn to open country. It’s where everything becomes clear. It’s where the world makes the most sense. When I put myself out there, I always return with something new. The best journeys are those that answer questions that in the beginning, you never thought to ask". (2010 - 180 Degrees South)

Whether it’s imagining yourself as a cowboy, or some kind of adventurer, riding a motorcycle takes us to a new space and time. It’s hard to explain, isn't it. As for me, out on the lonely dirt roads up in the mountains, often standing on the pegs and riding slowly, yep, I’m a cowboy.

Just like Jeff Johnson said in that movie, I too am drawn to open country. Out there, the world does seem to make the most sense.

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass: it’s about learning how to ride in the rain! We have to ride with some degree of confidence that all will go ok in the end. If we are in fear all the time, well, we’d should probably sell the bike and switch to pickleball. Nothing against pickleball, but as for quitting? We won’t do that.

We love motorcycling too much. It means too much to our heart and soul. We accept the fact that we don’t have 100% control in motorcycling, or in life for that matter. And that’s OK. Maybe that’s the best part!

Courageous people. People who step out when others won’t. Those are people that we call heros. I had heard about such a person. And when I learned that she also has a passion for motorcycling, well that’s someone I really wanted to talk with.

Kirsten Midura is a change agent in the environmental and social good spaces. Professionally, Kirsten is a career consultant in sustainability, renewable energy, and marine conservation, with experience in nonprofit, corporate, and startup environments.

In her spare time, Kirsten runs Engines for Change, a nonprofit that uses motorcycles as tools for environmental and social good. She is an avid motorcyclist, diver, sailor, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and community-builder. The common thread? Everything she does is driven by a cause.

I’m excited today to share with you my conversation with a true hero. Kirsten Midura.

Kirsten's Website: https://kirstenmidura.com/

Want to be a Changemaker? Consider donating!

Engines for Change: https://www.enginesforchange.org/ - Our mission is to build and foster a community of changemakers who use motorcycles as tools to address today's most pressing global issues, and to provide education and resources that informs and inspires others to make a difference in their own ways.
Rebels With a Cause - Pakistan humanitarian tour
Be Nice Rally - Bay Area event supporting Tiba Foundation and their Boda Girls (women moto taxi riders)
Bright Future Kenya - Delivering food, medicine, and clothing to street children and families in slums throughout Kenya
Ride My Road - Using motorcycles and photography to support survivors of human trafficking
Motorcycle Missions - Using motorcycle builds to help veterans and survivors of domestic abuse address PTSD
Twende Solar - Partners for the Peru solar project

The"Biker Wave" with the left hand comes in several forms ya know, but to me it means just one thing. It means that you care. And that is what the Peace Love Moto podcast is all about. It’s about spreading the good news that riders do care for that total stranger who’s also out on two wheels. You may be out on a solo ride, in the middle of nowhere, but just about guaranteed, if another motorcycle rider is coming your way, you’ll see a wave. And once you see that wave, and you respond back, then yes, you've got a friend.

Some folks say that you can never go back in time. But I think we can. As a child on my first motorcycle, I was moving through the air with a motor and two wheels under me. Wandering from place to place with just the sound of the bike and the open road ahead of me.

You and I can do that now! Why not go back in your mind to a wonderful place and time. Your happy place. Your Luckenbach, Texas where there "Ain't nobody feelin' no pain". On your next ride, go there! So will I.

I had to learn to be quiet. Because that’s when Mother Nature can speak to you. In today's episode, we talk about riding East to the plains of Nebraska, meeting a rancher with an amazing story, and then experiences with quoting from James Taylor in Rocky Mountain National Park. Motorcycles are a perfect transport into a conversation with your mother. Mother Nature.

I could hear those motorcycles coming my direction. They had to be going fast! Echoing down through the canyon on that steep dirt road. There’s no guard rails up there! Slide off the road and you're a goner. Coming my way. Coming really fast! Those engines screaming. Two KTM’s roared up and parked near my bike, right next to the outdoor table where I was having breakfast up there in that mountain village. 2 matching KTM 500 Enduros. The riders, also in matching KTM off-road racing gear. Klim adventure helmets as I recall, neck braces, KTM jerseys, enduro pants and boots. Oh yes, these two were pros. They knew how to ride.

And the shock that ran threw me when they pulled their helmets off….? Wow, you’ve got to be kidding me!!! Ha ha, I’ll tell ya about it.