Off the Cuff with Jacqueline Ross | September 2026

Off the Cuff with Jacqueline Ross | September 2026

Greetings, Humans!

As if I’d written this column before, but never before it was time. This picks up right where I left off last month, when I talked about how, at one point in our lives, no matter what we were doing, we were all beginners. Every single one of us had to start somewhere. Well, it turns out I was setting myself up for this month’s column without even knowing it!

I recently had the absolute pleasure of working with two brothers: a 3 year old and a 7 year old…and I was thrilled with enthusiasm! Three year old John rides a CRF50. When I had him sit on the bike, his little boots barely touched the foot pegs. He didn’t care one bit. Lil homie John just wanted to rip! His older brother, Nicholas, rides a KX65.

Our session went amazing, and I honestly believe a huge part of that was their attitudes. Neither boy had ever ridden a motorcycle by himself before, yet, within an hour, they were both riding on their own. They never questioned whether they could do it. Their attitude was simply, “I CAN.”

I had to give you the backstory to get to the front story.

As always, I asked Mom and Dad if I could get a photo with the boys after the lesson. Another refrigerator photo! Just look at those smiles. Isn’t this what it’s all about? Even while John was riding by himself with me running alongside him, his little head inside that helmet was bobbing around like a bobblehead, and he had the biggest smile on his face.

I always learn something when I teach. This time, I learned something I want to carry with me: from now on, I expect my cheeks to hurt from smiling when I ride. Even through a challenge. These boys didn’t overthink it. They didn’t worry about what might happen or convince themselves they weren’t ready. They just got on the bike and gave it a shot.

And maybe that’s the reminder we big homies need. Sometimes we make things so much harder in our heads than they need to be. We get caught up in whether we’re ready, whether we’re good enough, whether we’ll fail, or what someone else might think.

But what if we approached more things with the attitude of these two little homies? So, here’s to putting that “I CAN” attitude into practice and seeing just how far it can take us.

Believe in yourself, 

Jacqueline