Life on Two Wheels: Adventures in Motorcycling

Here at OnDeck, I am lucky enough work with a lot of fascinating people. A few of them have something very specific in common: motorcycle adventuring. I reached out Ty, Tim, and Cam and asked them to share some of their adventures. Here's what they had to say!

Ty Kiisel, Marketing Editor

I’ve been riding a motorcycle for several years, but got my feet wet like most guys of my generation riding a friend’s dirt bike as a kid. Right now I’m a Harley guy and my wife and I love to tour around the west. My wife started riding her own bike last summer doing her first tour to Jackson, WY over the Labor Day holiday that year.

Including her bike, I have four bikes in my garage, “Hello, my name is Ty. I have a motorcycle problem."

I’ve been all over the west from Colorado to California and Canada and have seen a lot of beautiful scenery from the saddle, but this year I took a bike I have been building for land speed racing out on the Bonneville Salt Flats for the first time. It was an awesome experience to both get my hands dirty tearing apart and modifying my 2000 X1 Buell for the Salt Flats as well as racing on the Salt.

Being a content and marketing geek, I have a website that talks about what I’m doing on the bike with photos, etc. You can visit it at https://www.thescreamingpebbles.com. Screaming Pebbles because the goal is to go screaming fast on the Salt Flats and in German my last name (at least the way it’s supposed to be spelled) means pebbles.

Tim Kelly, Sr. Manager Loan Operation

Why do I ride? First and foremost, there is no better, more therapeutic, or more thrilling feeling than getting on two wheels, hitting the open road, and riding off into the sunset. I got my first bike 15+ years ago and never looked back. I learned quickly that adventure is a calling and it’s very attainable. Riding satisfies that yearning for adventure that often becomes stagnant as we get older. It is the flame that lights the torch in me, keeping me young(ish) in mind and heart.  

I found a home in the biker community many years ago. It was like being a misfit in the land of misfit toys. Bikers are diverse, dynamic, and complex. We come from all walks of life with the same passion for the wind. We ride for fun, for charity, and for the camaraderie that you find in like minded people. We know the risks we take getting on two wheels and we do it anyway. It’s a community that could be segmented and sliced into buckets of “types” but they all ultimately overlap and intermingle creating a culture of respect, appreciation for life, and an “old school” state of mind that requires that you are yourself at all times, no matter what.  

I started “moto-vlogging” as a way to connect with my 13 year old son. In this digital age it’s getting more and more difficult to find common ground with a teenager. At the same time it’s becoming more and more crucial that lines of communication stay open with kids facing a rough world overshadowed by apathy and negativity. While my son isn’t necessarily interested in the biker lifestyle, he does love watching and making gaming vlogs so I figured what the heck. I’ll give it a shot. He now gives me tips on growing my audience, branding ideas, and content editing. It’s fun for us both and it keeps the lines of communication open. 

My future goals for This Cruiser Life are three-fold. First to provide insight into the biker lifestyle and share my experiences on the road with anyone interested in viewing. Second is to use the vlog as a means to do charitable work. Finally, third I’d like to (one day) offer motorcycle tours in which I’ll take new or visiting riders on weekend excursions over Colorado’s best roads and facilitate camping accommodations, food, and events for my guests. 

Check out the adventures of Tim Kelly at https://www.thiscruiserlife.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTPfBI6hJE3c8qzS2nwgRJQ

Cam Jones, Director Underwriting

In September 2017 I flew out to Vegas and met up with a good mate that I’ve known since high school. We rented a couple of Triumph adventure bikes and covered 3000 miles in 15 days, taking in NV, CA, AZ, NM, CO, UT, specifically to see 13 national parks in the area including Death Valley, Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. We’ve both covered plenty of ground in Australia, but seeing this part of the USA was a lifelong dream (Australia’s great, but pretty flat and boring for the most part).

I’ve been fortunate to have traveled around the world quite a bit, but this was easily the best trip I’ve ever done. The scenery was incredible, especially the variety in the landscapes – something totally different each day, and you’ve got such an uninterrupted view of it all on a bike. The people we met along the way (all of them complete strangers) were super friendly and fascinated to hear where we’d come from and why we were there (especially in the more obscure smaller towns that we sought out off the beaten path). 

The weather was crazy at times – 100 degrees and 60mph winds in a sandstorm across Death Valley on Day 1, followed by 30 degrees and 3 inches of snow on Day 2 in Yosemite, and wild fires on the way to Sequoia on Day 3. The rest of the trip was just as variable, but that’s life, especially life on two wheels.

Cover photo - courtesy of the Adventures of Cam Jones