<aside> ✂️
Contents edited for concision and clarity. See the full transcript attached.
</aside>
Our conversation didn’t start with motorcycles. In medias res, we’re talking about teaching.
JV: Because that was the thing that overwhelmed me. When I had started student teaching, I had 44 kids at Lane Middle School. And they were all rough, in poverty, and, you know, I was like “This is impossible.” And [the mentor teacher] goes, “I know.”
And he’d fed them breakfast and played guitar. That’s what the teacher did. He let breakfast last all morning.
CZ: When I was subbing? The first 20 minutes of the day were so useful to settle in. And you know, you’re always going to have students that are late. And they get to eat breakfast!
<aside> 🎓
Studies, like [this one](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7304a10.htm#:~:text=Top-,Results,past 7 days (Figure).) published by the CDC, tell us that many students don’t eat breakfast. Let them eat. It’s good for them.
“Breakfast consumption is positively associated with academic achievement and diet quality among students, whereas skipping breakfast has been linked with poor mental health.” (Sliwa 2024)
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7304a10.htm
</aside>
CZ: Okay, motorcycles. That ride that we just went on — I like to think of myself as kind of experienced, but there were moments where I had to remind myself: to trust the bike, to lean into the curve — probably because I’ve never ridden that road before — but resist the urge to panic in the unfamiliar.
“Wait, bring it back, you know how to ride a motorcycle. Your technique . . . is not terrible — trust it.”
JV: But it’s dangerous. You can die.
Jesse and I taught at opposite ends of the hall in the first full in-person year, post- (really “mid-”) pandemic. His Tiger was often parked next to my kitted-out NC700X. In our staff room with no windows, on break from our classrooms with no windows, he was usually willing to speak his mind if you’d asked him to.
CZ: Where are we now and where did we just ride?
JV: We did — we are in Troutdale. We basically just did a loop, what I call the Bull Run Loop — but I don’t know what anyone else calls it ‘cause I just do it by myself.
The high school is right over there. And we did like a circle. Basically, we crossed the Sandy River a couple times. Three times. Four times maybe?
CZ: I saw the bridges.
JV: It moves away from the Sandy and it comes back.
The thing that I dislike about those corners is the uneven road surface. When it’s choppy, potholed? That, to me, bothers me the most because you can’t anticipate what that’s going to do to the bike in the corner, you know?
CZ: Part of that ride, part of the Bull Run ride, I’ve done it before. ‘Cause I was riding up to Vista House, always up to Vista House, and I always pass Bull Run, and it’s like “What is that — what is that way?”
We set out from the school where we used to work together 2021-’22.
But six years ago, it wasn’t as good as it is now. The pavement was just torn up. And maybe that was the season. Maybe it wasn’t always like that.
CZ: I’m trusting if you’re in front of me. Because if I hear — JV: You can hear my slowing? CZ: No, because if I hear a big crash! God forbid.
JV: It’s worse again.
CZ: It’s worse again.
JV: I mean, last year, year before, it was a little better.
You know, I wanted to take you on a nice, quick ride out here. You know, when you take someone on a ride you sort of want them to really enjoy it? You know, go “Oh, that’s a great ride, I really love that ride.”
Jason’s easy to please. He prefers — he doesn’t like blind corners. He really doesn’t like blind corners. So I always blow way ahead of him in the twisties, because I’m a little more trusting. He likes the big sweepers. You know, lots of view.
CZ: I’m trusting if you’re in front of me. Because if I hear —
JV: You can hear my slowing?
CZ: No, because if I hear a big crash! God forbid. Okay, so where are we now?
JV: We are in downtown Old Troutdale.
Jesse’s 2007 Triumph Bonneville. He splits time between the English modern classic and a fuel-injected Africa Twin.
CZ: What are you riding and why do you like it?
JV: I ride the Bonneville a lot for the short stuff. Because it feels kind of badass. I feel like it looks badass, after I made my modifications — I mean, it looks great before my modifications; I love the classic motorcycle. It’s a little more fun in the turns. It’s older, I have to bond with it a little bit more than the Africa Twin.
The Africa Twin feels like it’s more capable without me, I guess. The Bonneville, I have to ride it more. I really like that. I like having to have more of a closer relationship with the bike. To listen to the bike. I just really appreciate that . . . I bought that ‘95 Speed Triple [in parts.] I want to be more in tune with it.