Rob Brooks Road Dirt Night Rider

Rob Brooks Road Dirt Night Rider

- Rob Brooks

There is a group of motorcyclists in our area, known as the Night Riders, who enjoy carving up the country roads outside of town after sunset. I hear them many warm, summer evenings, their sport bikes howling through the dark, engines revving, clicking up and down through the gears as they slice their way through the curvy blacktop that snakes around our north Georgia home. Sometimes I just stand outside and listen, trying to count how many there are, guessing which streets they are running – and often, wishing I were riding with them.

Riding at night is an altogether different experience than daytime riding. Most riders shy away from riding after dark, and for good reason: nocturnal critters crossing roads, limited sight distances, glare from oncoming headlights, diminished visibility to automobile drivers, just to name a few. Yet for those willing to venture out into the night, the rewards can be palpable: less traffic, cooler temperatures, dancing shadows, crickets chirping and frogs croaking, a dome of stars overhead, at times even the glow of moonlight filtering through trees.