Welcome to NAMCC On-Line
This is the brand new version of the North Armagh Motorcycle & Car Club site. If you have any articles, photos etc. which you would like to contribute please email me at: namcc2000@hotmail.com. Below is a brief look at what you can find on the site...

About The Club
What the club is all about as well as some facts and figures. Club officials for 2000/1.

Club History
A brief look at the history of the club from humble beginnings in 1950 to the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the new Millennium.

Image Gallery
Some digicam and scanned photos reflecting many aspects of the club... Pictures of racing and non-racing club members... Press night photos... Tandragee 100 pics... and more!

Links
A list of hyperlinks to other fantastic bike related sites as well as some of our favourite other sites on the web.

Latest News
A look at what's going on in and around NAMCC... Will the Tandragee 100 survive another year... Keep up to date here!

Motorcycling For The Empty Nesters

When the kids finally move out to go off to college or get married and start their own families, many couples experience a sense of sadness. But after a short adjustment period, "spouses often realize that they have more leisure time, more money, and more freedom to reengage with each other," says Sarah Mahoney in "Marriage Advice: New Rules for a Good Marriage."

Both Psychology Today and NetDoctor suggest using your newly rediscovered freedom as empty nesters to take up new hobbies or activities or resume those you put on hold. At the same time, your time was more fully devoted to your children. For many of us in that empty-nester age group, motorcycling has become the perfect activity and a passion we share with our spouses, bringing us closer together.

The Biker Lifestyle

When people used to picture a biker, they often thought of a scruffy guy with a beard, tattoos, and a leather vest. In recent years, the motorcyclist's image has improved, largely thanks to TV shows like American Chopper, Biker Build Off, Monster Garage, and the two Ewan McGregor documentary series, Long Way Round and Long Way Down. While the image of the outlaw biker is still portrayed on shows like Sons of Anarchy and Gangland, the fact is that the motorcyclist as hoodlum is the exception. One of the names given to such individuals is "one percenter," signifying that they make up only one percent of all motorcyclists.

The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety released a study, "Overview of Motorcycling in the United States," that showed that 30% of motorcyclists are 50 and over, and a full 60% are over 40. Bikers also tend to be educated and financially stable; 68% had a college or graduate degree or some college education, and 46% had annual household incomes over $75,000.

"You don't stop riding because you get old. You get old because you stop riding." Anonymous

My wife, Teri, and I started motorcycling when we were each nearly 50. And now that we're both in the second half of our first 100 years, we find riding more enjoyable than ever. Motorcycling has become a new lifestyle, giving us a shared passion on and off the bikes before we roll on our wheelchair ramps in the next few years.

We took the Basic Rider Course from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), got our licenses, and read several motorcycling books together. We've attended motorcycle shows while climbing metal stairs, shopped online for gear together, and helped each other install saddlebags on both our bikes and a rider's backrest on mine, and a windshield on Teri's.

And we've mapped out thousands of miles of rides together. Teri likes to have a specific destination in mind when we flip the kickstands up, so we've discovered dozens of wonderful places to eat within a couple of hours of home. We've found a great catfish place in an old cotton mill in Alabama, a charming buffet-style restaurant in an old antebellum house in Warm Springs, Georgia, home of FDR's "Little White House," and the Whistle Stop Café that was featured in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

We invested in a Bluetooth motorcycle intercom set to make the ride more of a "together" experience. The speakers and microphones mount easily inside our helmets and allow us to communicate while we are on our own bikes. That is handy for alerting each other to potential hazards, letting each other know when one of us needs a rest or fuel stop, or simply commenting on the scenery.

Brotherhood of Bikers

When you're on a motorcycle, there is no such thing as a stranger. On the road, every other biker exchanges the traditional biker wave, pointing the first two fingers of the left hand down in a "keep two wheels on the road" salute. Fellow motorcyclists readily approach us in parking lots to talk about their favorite ride destinations, admire our bikes, or invite us to ride with them and their groups. Even non-bikers feel empowered to engage us in conversation, asking how long we've been riding and offering that they'd love to get a motorcycle someday.

We've gone on several group rides with church members and groups from other churches in our area. And we had the privilege of initiating a newbie on her first group ride. She's a colleague's wife who treated herself to a motorcycle after finishing her master's degree. Getting that bike had been a lifelong dream for her, and Teri and I accompanied her on her first multi-bike ride; it was only the three of us, but it still counts.

Biking Beyond The Empty Nest

Teri and I were inspired to take up motorcycling by our son. He was in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, when he bought his first bike. He and his wife and two boys have been stationed in Japan for the past two and a half years. They'll be back stateside soon, and we're looking forward to riding with him.

Our daughter is still at home, at least part-time, commuting to college. She will occasionally ride with us, sitting on the back of my bike. But since she's technically still home, we need to make an overnight motorcycle trip, as we want her to feel supported. In anticipation of her eventual flight from the nest, we've begun dreaming of our next bike, something along the lines of a full-dress touring bike. But there's plenty of time for that. And if we ever get to feel a little too old to wrestle two wheels upright from the kickstand, there's always a trike.