Question for Married Guys who race

My wife watches from pit road. I think I like it better that way... more tires for me.

 

Lol

Plus she probably makes sure to pack all the right food and make you lunch and dinner. Helps you out when you get back in the pits after a race and you are beat and can barely put your own bike on the stand.

We have been debating about hiring a track bitch/cook/dog babysitter for this season.

 

Among other things... it really is a pretty sweet scam I'm running. I hope she never catches on. :up:

 

Yeah he does! :up:

Speaking of dog babysitting.....

....I brought the pup to Autoclub Speedway (..leashed of course), but will this be allowed at Buttonwillow?

 

Stick to your guns,dont let someone stand in the the way of stopping you doing something that you truly enjoy..... now get out there!

 

that pic made me smile.:up:

 

I took mine to a NESBA trackday, and let her ride the Buell Blast around for the "intro" lap opportunity thingy they used to do(maybe they still do?)...it was a mistake, 'cuz the asshats kept "buzzing" her as she made her pitiful way around the south course circuit @VIR. , and she felt intimidated. My theory, was to allow her to feel the experience "firsthand"... now, that's all I feel, first one hand, then the other...! Tell her to
tighten up, or head to the curb to get her stuff on the way out the driveway...yes I am divorced.
she needed to "grow up" as much as I did...

 

I guess I am lucky, when my wife and I met I was doing the mx/atv thing. But most of her family rides street on various types of bikes and quite a few of them have had SERIOUS offs, when I sold the ATV and bought a streetbike, she was extremely upset, but realized that the area we live in it makes more sense to ride street then dirt as there are no trails and a 2 hour ride to the closet mx track. So she let me ride street but was worried as all get out, then last year a friend got me into trackdays, so now I have that bug and don't even wanna ride on the street. So now I have all but retired the bike from street riding, she wants to start riding 2 up on small trips and things whenever we can get someone to watch the toddler (she wouldn't even get on the back of the bike till about a month ago). She also went to a trackday that I wasn't riding at (but friends were) early last year and only would stay for about 30 mins, but now that I'm riding and having fun, she wants to come and enjoy it as well (at the closer tracks) With the progression that has happened in the last year, I am hoping that in the next year or 2 I can start racing, and she might start trackdays but that is to be determined.

So after my long rant about my situation, I would suggest to be courteous with her, and involve her. If she doesn't like it, don't force it on her, but offer for her to go, whenever your going for a ride or something and see if she takes the bait. After a while, you might break her down just by being nice, and she might start getting into it. If not, she should at least be happy that you offer to involve her and let you continue with your passion unobstructed.

 

Serious answer - tell her exactly how you feel about the situation. Not in a rude way, but in a communicative way. She needs to understand what you want to do and why you want to do it, and you need to come to some sort of a timesharing agreement with her so that you put aside some of your down time doing what she wants to do if the track's not her thing.

Compromise - that's what makes it work.

I was riding before I met my wife, rode throughout years of dating her, and continue to ride and race to this day through our marriage. She may not be overly thrilled with the hours I commit, and rarely comes to the track, but she understands my need for speed. Why? Because I communicated from the very beginning what I wanted to do with my 'free' time, and I spend my non-riding / non-working time with her and our kids.

Now, if she's one of those people who puts their foot down after you talk to her and tries to dictate what you will do, then you need to evaluate your situation and determine what's important to you.

 

Its actually alot of fun. We are always competing against each other. He gets faster, then i get faster so then he gets faster then me and on and on. We push each other to go faster, all in fun competition. He wasn't too happy when I passed him in a race last year.

 

My father gave me two pieces of wisdom, handed down to him from his father:

"If you always do what she wants to do, you'll always do what you want to do."

"A happy wife is a happy life."

I make sure that I am always available and encourage my wife to do stuff outside of the house. Our system now is that she has weeknights and I get weekends. I never complain about changing my schedule to fit hers, but if I can't adjust my plans to accomodate hers I give her good reasons with no emotions, just the facts. We accomodate each other and treat each other with respect. Build a relationship and then take advantage of it. Plus the fact that I was on dirty diaper duty every minute of every day helped get me some free time. My wife still acknowledges that she only changed one or two "dirty" diapers and that I was the one who would get up and deal with any nocturnal emergencies. Still do, I'm the go-to guy for "accidents." That gets me points and I use them for motorcycles, either in the shop or at the track.