Continuing American Dancer’s effort to highlight the accomplishments of our dancers when they are off the dance floor, I talked with David Taylor about his long-distance motorcycle riding adventures. David and his wife Connie are amateur dancers who have been competing in Standard at the syllabus level in Senior 3 and Senior 4 categories, and they are now starting on Novice Standard.
David grew up on a small farm in Orange County, Virginia, the youngest of three children. They moved to Orange, a small town in the area, when David was 11. David worked at a local radio station when he was in High School and envisioned a career in radio. After two years in college, he decided to start on his radio career. He and Connie had been dating since they were in high school and got married in 1980. Their first son, John, was born in 1983. At that point, David realized that to make a living he really needed a college degree. He graduated from James Madison University in 1985 and then worked there, becoming the director of marketing. Connie was a chemical engineer and worked in the pharmaceutical industry as an associate director of quality assurance. They both retired in 2021. They have three children and three teenage grandchildren.
Connie was always interested in dancing, while David had never done it. As a birthday present to Connie in 1996, they went to a dance party where there was a waltz lesson before the party. The concept of changing weight at every third count mystified David; he was intimidated and ready to run out the door at the end.
Several years later, David took a few-week course in four dances at the local wellness center and had a blast. They met some USA Dance members and started taking lessons and dancing socially at the Shenandoah Valley Chapter of USA Dance. They later joined the chapter board, and David served as chapter president for 12 years. In 2008, after seeing an ad about USA Dance Nationals in American Dancer, they bought spectator tickets for Nationals in Baltimore. They watched bronze and silver Smooth and Standard dancers and thought that maybe they could also do that and not look bad. They stayed in the ballroom from 7 AM to midnight all three days and were blown away by the Open-level dancers. They were smitten with competitive dancing, and when they got back home, they told their dance instructor that they wanted to compete and decided that Standard best fit their personalities.
They made it through three rounds in bronze Standard at the USA Dance Nationals in 2009 and placed 6th. They competed for several years, but their jobs did not leave much time for dancing or practicing. In addition, Connie was developing knee problems, and once retired, she had two knee replacement surgeries. She also broke her foot during that time. Her perseverance in getting back to dancing was amazing.
They returned to competition at the MAC in 2024 and were encouraged by their placements. They were also successful at the 2025 Nationals and are now working on the Gold and Novice categories. Dancing is now a major part of their lives. They totally identified with their professions for four decades, but they now think of themselves as ballroom dancers, which David feels is “pretty cool.”
David’s father introduced him to motorcycles and bought him a small Honda trail bike when David was 10, even though money was tight. His father wanted to travel and see the United States. He never got that opportunity, but contributed to David’s motorbiking and travel interests and put the thought into David’s mind about riding a motorcycle across the country—a taste of freedom and yearning to roam and to discover. But this was on the back burner when David’s kids were little.
Finally, in 2003, he decided to give it a shot. He started easy, going only halfway across the country to see Greely, Iowa, where his father’s father grew up in the 1890s. He reached Ohio and kept going, without a hotel reservation or an idea of where to stop for the night. He continued to Central Indiana and found a tiny hotel at 1 AM after over 600 miles on that first day. That trip taught him that he could do long-distance treks, but he needed a better motorcycle and better planning.
His two passions—dancing and long-distance motorcycling—started in the same year. They share the common trait that balance is important for both. David said that most beginner dancers and riders are unaware that you neither lead on the dance floor nor steer a motorcycle with your arms. Leading and steering come from the body; your arms simply provide very light secondary guidance. The importance of using the body properly is paramount.
After a while, he decided that all his riding would be solo. He felt that he did not have enough maneuverability when other riders in a group were close to him. David found that, unlike in a car, when you are on a motorcycle, you can experience the whole environment. You feel the wind, temperature, and smell, whether of orchards or cattle holding pens. From a mental standpoint, riding requires intense focus but also gives you time to find yourself and to be in the moment. He finds the solitude and long hours on a trip are a remarkable experience.
Since then, and on a series of BMW motorcycles, David has crossed the continent nine times from his Virginia home, visited all 48 contiguous states and five Canadian provinces, and experienced countless national parks, state parks and monuments. He’s also encountered wildlife up close and personal, having to stop in the road while Yellowstone National Park bison lumbered by and to wait for a fully grown bull moose to vacate a lonely Idaho road.
David’s father had always wanted to see Arizona, So, David took a trip west where he saw the Grand Canyon and rode through Utah, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton on the way back to the East Coast. When he was cresting a small road in Texas heading to New Mexico, he saw what he thought was a cluster of clouds. But then he realized he was seeing snow on the mountains of northern New Mexico. It was an emotional moment; it felt very intimate, especially riding solo.
In 2008, he rode to Seattle, almost getting caught in a blizzard on a mountain in Colorado. He avoided getting snowed in, but the speed of the weather change was mindboggling. He wanted to get to Spokane and had already ridden over 500 miles that day, so he decided to continue for another 2-3 hours. He did not realize how remote Eastern Washington state was, with few towns, and all the hotels were full. He ended up riding through the night and covered over 1000 miles in just over 20 hours. When he reached Spokane, he rode to the ocean and took a picture of himself there. He thinks that is what his father would be most proud of him doing.
That was the last time he rode at night, and he now makes sure he knows where he is spending each night. He plans his trips for months before he takes them.
His longest trip was California in 2017, with 7,500 miles in 17 days through 20 states. He has ridden over 1,000 miles in one day six times. He still has things on his bucket list, like off-trail riding. Colorado is still on his list, and so is Alaska.
On his last trip in 2023, he went to Banff and other parks in the Canadian Rockies. Those were the most spectacular places he has even been. He covered 6,300 miles in 15 days. He hiked up to Lake Louise and did a difficult hike to Little Beehive. An older man passed him (David was used to being passed, but maybe not by older men), and pulled out his flute and started playing it. It was surreal to be in that location and listening to that music. A lady came up behind him and told David that the man was her husband who she had met when they were both working at the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise. They now live in Montreal, but they returned to Lake Louise for their 40 anniversary and to repeat the flute serenade that he had played when they were dating decades before. That was a magical encounter that he will never forget. While traveling, he encounters people in a human and intimate way.
Connie is very supportive of his trips, and he does not take that for granted. He is aware of the dangers of being on the motorcycle. She tells him to have his helmet on and to always wear the best protective gear. There is a stereotype of a biker with a little beanie and sleeveless top, but that’s not him; he is covered head to foot. His children are OK with his riding hobby, but they ask him not to do anything stupid.
Riding does not preclude him from thinking about dancing, even when in the saddle. He has a lot of time to think over the long stretches of the road. He is probably one of the few people who’s ever deeply contemplated the biomechanics of a feather step while riding a motorcycle through Saskatchewan. Some technical things are different, like head position in dancing vs riding, a habit that his coach, who is not thrilled about David’s trips, is trying to break.
David quoted author Wayne Dyer, “When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.” David said his riding trips are the same.
He and Connie are practicing a lot more now that they have retired. He could be riding all the time, but that would make him miss a lot of practice time. They want to improve their dancing, and they know the dedication it takes; that is where their priorities are now. They find the connection to music and the performance aspect of ballroom dancing very attractive.
