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The Big R word. Retire.

We seem to hear this word more and more these days. Maybe it is that we are all getting further along on our own journeys. More miles down the road, more wear and tear. The bumps we hit along the way seem to hurt a bit more, and the sharp curves we run into along the way…? Well, once we were sure-footed and steady. Maybe not as much these days.

Where cold and rainy days were once just part of the deal, maybe we think twice before venturing out. Hell, things just are not like they used to be.

So, these days, when I hear ‘retire’ in a crowded room, I perk up and try to hear what is being said.

There are some of us who have a plan for years now, and a specific thought of how they will handle the inevitable. Some others won’t consider any sort of retirement – no matter what. 

I can hear them… speaking with a semi-false bravado that “Hell, it’s all good. It’s all worked well for years now. Look, I still got some tread left. I still got a few more good years!”

Sorry, dude. You probably don’t.

Age and years of a hard life will surely, and eventually, take everything and everyone down a notch, but then there are those unexpected occurrences that can come out of the blue and cause all sorts of problems and quickly sideline you, or worse, have you carted away to somewhere they can help. Maybe.

You could be putting along, just fine and dandy, ‘cause everything is running fine and dandy and then – Pffft! Yup, that is you on the sidelines thinking about that last gasp of air you have. It bites to be flatlined. But it happens. Sometimes it can happen multiple times.

Those who run through their lives, and miles, without a care can be the happiest riders you will meet on the road; as they say, ignorance is bliss. Then these folks can find themselves on their back, with their friend standing around wondering how to help, and what to do.

Maybe they should not have pushed it. Perhaps they should have had a plan. One that would let them relax a bit – maybe they should have retired when they could. Now it might be too late. So sad.

Sometimes I think of retiring, and I actual have many times. Lord knows how many times I have preached in this magazine that if you think it might be time to call it quits and retire, then you should.

But, this obviously doesn’t make a difference when mayhem shows up and causes a bit of crisis in your day’s ride.

Trying to practice what I preach, I retired my BMW GS just before our Summer Solstice Rally. Yet, even with brand-new Dunlop Mutant Tires properly installed and inflated, I had an issue on the backroads of Virginia. Running through a sweeper on Route 33, my rear tire clipped something hard enough to lift the rear wheel off the ground – with both Shira and me on the bike. Whatever it was, it was sharp enough to puncture the tire too – and miles down the road there I was, on my back looking at the tire, with Shira standing around wondering how to help and what to do. Across the road, I spotted Dean Winters smiling. He waved and disappeared.

I plugged the rear tire as best I could, but the next three days were one of a limping ride at best. I would go for 75 miles, the tire would "flat" line again, and I would have to resuscitate it.

When I did get back home, I was a little more deflated when a number of local shops told me they no longer patched tires from the inside. It was an insurance thing, and I understood.

I reached out to Dunlop – just to answer the query to which I already knew the answer. They said it was time to retire.

No… it was sad, but even this early in life, it was time to, once again, retire. It hurt a bit, well, my wallet, but in the long run, it was the right choice to be made in life. All is good now.

Maybe it is time for you to retire.

Maybe you should do so, before it’s too late, and you're not able to.