how do wives cope with husbands who race motorcycles?

i’d like to know how couples resolve the other spouse’s fears about safety, especially when there are children involved.

While my husband does not race I can look at this question from the perspective of a mother with children racing, one of which races at a top level in the country I am in.

It is very difficult to sit back and watch your child race at high speed and over enormous jumps or sit at home and wait for the inevitable phone call that they have broken both arms or something worse. But while saying that it is something that all us mothers have learned to deal with as I know if I stopped my son racing it is something he would never get over as he is so passionate about it.

I don’t think it would be much different with a husband racing. If it is what they want to do you just have to be supportive and find a way to deal with it. I hate watching starts in mx as with a gate full of 40 teenagers all desperate to make the first corner first, I usually find myself looking at my feet waiting for the commentator to say that my son is upright.

I also got involved in the sport and am a licenced official so I tend to be doing something on race days. Sometimes that works and other times it can be a pain if you know your son has gone down and you cannot leave your job.

If your spouse goes to the track to watch try and get her to speak to other wives as you will find that may feel the same. Try to get her to understand that if something bad is going to happen then it will happen regardless of what situation they happen to be in and in racing all care is usually taken.