Could be worse. Could be raining
There’s an old saying among motorcyclists that doubles as both a coping mechanism and a quiet declaration of optimism: “Could be worse. Could be raining.” It’s the kind of throwaway line you might mutter when a trip doesn’t go quite as planned—maybe the road is dustier than you’d like, the traffic tedious, or the scenery a little less grand than the brochure promised. But strip away the gruff exterior, and you find a philosophy that has carried the riding community through decades of image problems, cultural shifts, and the occasional misguided newspaper article. Recently, a fresh wave of storytelling—and a brand-new website dedicated to the everyday enthusiast—has shown that the biker is far more than a barely housebroken hell-beast. In fact, it might just be that the worst stereotype is finally getting rained out.
The Hell-Beast Stereotype and Its Fading Grip
For as long as motorcycles have rumbled down public roads, a certain caricature has clung to their riders like road grime. The image of the outlaw biker—leather-clad, unshaven, permanently scowling, and one wrong glance away from breaking a pool cue over your head—was burned into the popular imagination by sensationalist media and exploitative B-movies. It was a portrait that ignored the millions of commuters, tourers, and weekend canyon carvers who simply loved the feel of two wheels and an open horizon. But stereotypes, however lazy, have a stubborn half-life.
Slowly, though, that grip has loosened. Demographics have shifted. Motorcycle ownership has climbed among women, urban professionals, and retirees looking for a new hobby. As the riding population diversified, the old hell-beast image began to look less like a warning label and more like a period piece. Still, every so often a mainstream outlet will dust off the tired trope, only to realize mid-article that the reality no longer matches the cliché. The result is often a piece that tries to “rediscover” the biker as a surprisingly normal human being—a captain of industry, a parent, a volunteer. That these articles still feel necessary tells you something about how sticky the old reputation was. But their increasing frequency also tells you something else: the rain is letting up.
A New Breed of Rider, A New Kind of Website
Into this evolving landscape rolls RideAMotorcycle.com, a digital publication that has no interest in either reinforcing or debunking ancient stereotypes. Instead, the site takes a totally fresh approach by simply focusing on the people who actually ride—or want to ride—today. As the newest motorcycle Internet web site, it was built from the ground up to cater to three distinct but overlapping groups: established street riders, newcomers who’ve just caught the bug, and the curious souls who don’t yet ride but find themselves peering into dealership windows and wondering what it would be like.
The brains behind the operation include Editor at Large Bill Heald, Webmaster Mark Lesselyoung, and Publisher Dean Adams. Their mission is straightforward: deliver content that speaks to the everyday motorcyclist without the chest-thumping bravado or the insider jargon that can make the community feel like a closed club. Whether it’s practical advice on gear, thoughtful takes on riding culture, or just a well-told story from the road, the site aims to be the kind of place where a prospective rider can see themselves reflected accurately—not as a hell-beast, but as a human being who happens to enjoy the wind in their face.
“It’s refreshing to see a newspaper article that doesn’t treat us like we just crawled out of a ditch. The truth is most riders are your neighbors, your co-workers, maybe even your kid’s soccer coach—they just happen to have a better commute.” — Bill Heald, Editor at Large, RideAMotorcycle.com
Bill Heald’s Take on Changing Perceptions
Bill Heald, a seasoned voice in moto-journalism, recently flagged one of those periodic mainstream newspaper pieces that attempts to reframe the biker narrative. In his commentary for RideAMotorcycle.com, he noted how these articles often swing from one extreme to the other: the barely housebroken hell-beast is suddenly transformed into a philanthropist CEO who only ever rides to charity events. While the intention is good, Heald argues, the reality is more nuanced—and more interesting.
Most riders, he points out, fall somewhere in the vast middle. They might have a white-collar job during the week and spend Saturday morning wrenching on a chain in the garage. They might be your accountant, your barista, or the person who waves at you from the next lane as you both sit in traffic. The newspaper piece Heald referenced is valuable not because it’s flawless, but because it signals a broader cultural shift: the media is slowly learning that motorcyclists are not a monolith, and that the old, scary image is about as accurate as a weather report that calls for rain every single day.
This shift matters. When the public conversation about riders stops being a freak show and starts being a community profile, barriers to entry fall. People who might have been intimidated by the imagined “biker lifestyle” begin to see motorcycling as something accessible. That aligns perfectly with RideAMotorcycle.com’s goal of welcoming the curious, not gatekeeping the culture.
Americade and the Mainstreaming of Two-Wheeled Culture
One of the best counterpoints to the hell-beast myth is the existence—and thriving popularity—of events like Americade. Billed as the world’s largest multi-brand motorcycle touring rally, Americade draws tens of thousands of riders to the Lake George region of New York each year. Wander through the crowds, and you’ll see an almost comically broad cross-section of society: dentists on Gold Wings, young couples on adventure bikes, retirees on trikes, and everything in between.
What you won’t see much of is the outlaw posturing that old stereotypes would predict. Instead, you’ll find demo rides, safety seminars, vendor villages, and a general air of affable gear-headedness. It’s a family-friendly event, and it has been for decades. When the mainstream media sends a reporter to cover Americade, the resulting story almost inevitably lands on the “surprising normalcy” angle—because, bluntly, it’s hard to maintain a hell-beast narrative when a rider is patiently explaining his aftermarket seat cushion to a grandmother from New Jersey.
Heald’s wry headline—“Motorcyclists Exposed As More Than Barely Housebroken Hell-Beasts Wander West Over To Americade, Much?”—captures the eye-rolling humor of the situation. The very fact that such a headline can be written with sarcasm shows how far the culture has come. Today’s rider doesn’t need to prove anything; they just need good weather and a working motorcycle.
Why “Could Be Worse, Could Be Raining” Matters More Than Ever
The old adage that gives this article its title isn’t just a punchline. It’s a mindset that has practical, psychological, and even communal value for motorcyclists. On a purely practical level, riding in the rain is uncomfortable, reduces visibility, and demands a spike in concentration and skill. So when you’re grumbling about a headwind or a patch of chip-seal, reminding yourself that at least it isn’t raining is a genuine morale booster. It’s a small, self-administered dose of perspective.
But zoom out, and the saying takes on a broader meaning. The motorcycling community has faced its share of figurative rain: negative public perception, rising insurance costs, the ever-present danger of inattentive drivers, and an aging demographic in some segments. Yet the response, more often than not, has been a shrug and a twist of the throttle. Riders adapt, they wave at each other on the road, and they keep showing up. The “could be worse” attitude isn’t apathy; it’s resilience wrapped in dark humor.
For the new or prospective rider, this mentality can be an invitation. The community, by and large, isn’t interested in your outlaw credentials. It’s interested in whether you’ll nod back when you pass on a backroad. If you’re standing on the curb, helmet in hand, wondering if you belong, the answer—according to the philosophy—is simple: it could be worse. You could be stuck in a car. You could be missing out on the best part of your day. You could be letting an outdated stereotype make your decisions for you.
The Road Ahead for RideAMotorcycle.com and Rider Culture
As RideAMotorcycle.com finds its feet in the crowded digital landscape, its team is betting that authenticity will win out. By focusing on the real experiences of street riders—without the hype, without the posturing—they’re building a resource that reflects the community’s true nature. The site’s structure lends itself to this: news, features, and practical guidance sit alongside stories that might just make you chuckle and think, “Yep, I’ve been there.”
Meanwhile, the gradual rehabilitation of the biker image in mainstream media is likely to continue, in fits and starts. It’s a long game, but the direction is clear. Every article that depicts a rider as a three-dimensional person chips away at the cartoonish boogeyman of yesteryear. And every rider who waves at a minivan full of kids, or stops to help a stranded motorist, or simply commutes without incident reinforces the reality that motorcycles are just vehicles—operated by people. Regular, flawed, occasionally wonderful people.
So the next time you read a headline that seems to marvel at the notion that a motorcyclist might also have a mortgage and a Costco membership, resist the urge to roll your eyes. Instead, remember the saying. It could be worse. It could be raining. And if you’re lucky enough to be out on two wheels under a clear sky, that’s something worth celebrating.