What do professionals who fiddle with complex, high-strung machinery do for fun? Fiddle with complex, high-strung machinery, of course! Meet 10 biomeds who spend their off-duty hours “heading down the highway, looking for adventure” on their motorbikes. Sometimes it’s for charity, often it’s for the camaraderie, but — no doubt about it — it’s always for fun.
Much like the city bus driver who hops a Greyhound on his vacation, biomeds have busman’s holidays, too. Meet 10 whose off-duty equipment is motorbikes.
“Riding a motorcycle is a great release from the stress of one’s job,” says Tom Saari, a biomedical equipment technician at St. Gabriel’s Hospital (Little Falls, Minn.) “It gives you time to reflect on life. It keeps the mind and reflexes sharp, and it’s exciting and invigorating. There’s a feeling of power.”
“What I like about riding is getting closer to nature,” says Greg Lenz, a biomed and Saari’s coworker at St. Gabriel’s. “You can’t get that close in a car. I like nature trails, and the more woods, the better it is.”
Both Lenz and Saari are classic bike enthusiasts. Saari’s ride is a 1980 750cc Kawasaki LTD; Lenz’s is a 1982 Yamaha Virago.
“I’ve been riding since the mid-’80s, and I used to live on the Virago,” says Lenz. “I plan to go to upper Michigan this year, to the Porcupine Mountains. Usually my wife and I go out.”
Saari’s off-hours pursuits revolve around the Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway, which claims the fastest turn in North America: 190 mph.
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