Addictions are many and varied. Drugs, alcohol and tobacco are the most common. Aside from a few recreational vegetables in my late teens, I've never done drugs. I've never been a big drinker, although I enjoy a cold beer once in a while, and can honestly say that I've never smoked a cigarette in my life.

I do have an abuse problem, however. I think I'm addicted to riding motorcycles on racetracks. For years I thought I had it beat but I'm fighting a losing battle once again. Oh sure, I ride every street bike I can get my hands (actually my buttocks) on, but nothing can compare with opening the throttles all the way to the stops and bending anything with two wheels through a fast sweeper. Especially when I know I won't run into gravel, dogs, cops or old guys in Buicks.

This horrible dependency peaked in my twenties when I was a Pro class road racer yet I managed to quit cold turkey back in 1976. I didn't even attend races as a spectator because Step 10 of the 12 Step Program bluntly says, "Stay the hell away from the racetrack." I was clean for over 15 years but finally caved and rode my street bike to watch a Shannonville Regional in 1991. Hey, just one couldn't hurt - could it?

And so began the downward spiral into racing oblivion once again. Twenty-two years of "clean and sober" went down the tubes in 1998 when I entered a borrowed Yamaha RD350 in the Vintage Road Racing Association's Spring Fling at Shannonville. It wasn't a great return as I kept thinking, "Damn. I used to be good at this. How come I suck so badly now?" I finished sixth out of 25 riders and planned on more vintage races but a nasty street accident three weeks later pretty well finished off my season (not to mention my right ankle).

In 1999, I co-rode a Kawasaki 350 triple to third place in the VRRA's two-hour endurance race - my first podium in 23 years. I did three more solo races that year and wrapped up the final race of the Millennium on my ass at the Shannonville hairpin. Yep, I threw a borrowed TZ125 away on the warm-up lap. Always the consummate professional.

Then I began mainlining once again. Honda press launches usually include a couple of track days so each year I scored a mid-January fix. We've been to

Roebling Road

in Savannah, Georgia, the Motorsport Ranch in Dallas, Texas and we even did Las Vegas twice. January of this year found us checking out the new Hondas at Moroso Motorsport Park, just north of Miami, Florida.

I'm not a bike snob though - I've ridden old bikes, new bikes, stock bikes and racing bikes. At Roebing, Honda Canada allowed me some time on Jordan Szoke's RC51 Superbike. On my second flying lap, moisture appeared on my visor and I suddenly realized that I was riding a 150-horsepower, $200,000 Superbike in the rain - on slicks! Yikes. I pootled back to the pits very gently and was allowed back out when the track dried.

The same year, I became the only person other than Frank Trombino to ride Yamaha Canada's 170-horsepower, R1 Superbike. No other journalists were permitted a test session and in fact, even Yamaha's Pro 600 guys were left out in the cold over that one.

I guess my dependency peaked in 2002. For the first time since 1976, I committed to an entire series - RACE's Suzuki SV Cup. Through McBride Cycles, I arranged to borrow the SV650 that young Matt McBride won the whole enchilada on the year before. I'd then write a series of articles about the season, detailing the adventures of an old guy against the young lions.

I ended up third overall in the six race series, despite the fact that I was too beat-up to ride the final round due to a heat race crash, courtesy of cold tires on a cold track.

That year I also rode Bavarian Motorsport's Moto Guzzi V11 to a scary ninth place in the Canadian Thunder race at the Mosport Superbike round, then capped off a pretty good season by winning the Master's race at the VRRA Mosport festival on Supershow's Yamaha TZ750.

Ten races that year was a bit much and it strained our homelife because, other than racing, we didn't have much of a summer. But Cherie realized that it was something I had to get out of my system and supported me, even though she's not really all that cool with me racing. Especially when she watched me throw the SV down the road at Shannonville at probably 140kph!

I vowed to get my problem back under control and now, I'm perfectly okay with press launches and a couple of vintage races each year. I've balanced my "need for speed" with domestic requirements and now it's all good. This year's Honda press launch is behind me so I can probably get through the rest of the winter without "jones-ing" too badly. My KZ1000 vintage racer is ready to go and I'm looking forward to two or three race weekends this year.

If you've ever wanted to go racing or do a track day - do it this year! As you get older, the years really do fly by and it would be a shame to be blowing out the candles on your 50th birthday cake, whining that you never tried racing when you were younger. Even at my age, I've never found a "high" quite as exhilarating as motorcycle roadracing.

If there's no challenge, there can be no reward. Living without pushing yourself isn't living - it's simply existing.

"Steve Bond is the motorcycle columnist for the Saturday Toronto Star Wheels section and freelances for a number of other publications."