The open roads of North Dakota hold much appeal to motorcycle riders. Scenic day trips through Theodore Roose-velt National Park in the west or the Sheyenne River Valley in the east are only hours away for Bismarck bikers, and interstates and two-lane highways provide easy opportunity for adventure.

"We've got such beautiful roads to travel in North Dakota," said Michael Jay, director of ABATE of North Dakota and the North Dakota Motorcycle Safety Program.

In recent years, more people have answered the call of the open road in the state. Attendance at training courses and the number of motorcycles registered in the state continue to rise. But more people putting two wheels on the road has come with a downside - more people have died in motorcycle wrecks so far in 2008 than in any year in the previous two decades. The 13 deaths on North Dakota roads remain a small number but represents a significant increase over past years.

ABATE, which stands for American Bikers Aiming Toward Education, contracts with the North Dakota Department of Transportation to provide all motorcycle safety courses in the state, Jay said. In 2007, 2,193 people took the course. This year, Jay estimates more than 2,700 participated. The increases have made necessary an expansion and renovation project at the Bismarck ABATE office, which houses classrooms for the training programs.

More new motorcycles were registered each month this summer than the same months last year, Billie Jo Lorius, state DOT spokesperson, said. In June, July and August, 7,203 new motorcycles were registered this year, compared to 6,131 new cycles registered during the same months in 2007.

Total motorcycle registrations in the state have increased every year since 2002, when 17,836 bikes were registered for private or commercial use, according to the Federal Highway Administration. In 1997, only 16,021 were regis-tered. This year, Jay thinks 29,000 or more will be registered by the end of the year.

Nationally, motorcycle registrations have been increasing since 1997, when 3,786,303 motorcycles were registered for private or commercial use. In 2006, the most recent year for which the Federal Highway Administration has data, 6,634,506 motorcycles were registered in the country.

Economics may play a part in the increase in motorcycles on the road, with many people looking for fuel-efficient vehicles to combat higher gas prices, Dean Thompson, spokesperson for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, said. Additionally, many people are riding motorcycles more miles per year than previously as they transition to using their bikes for commuting rather than just pleasure riding, he said.

"A lot of people are dusting off their motorcycles they had in their garages," he said.

Jay said it used to be the 40- to 57-year-old men, going through mid-life crises or experiencing empty-nest syn-drome, who took up biking or went back to their motorcycles. Now, it seems to cross all professions, ages, economic standings and genders.

Approximately 35 percent of the people taking training courses in the state are female, he said.

"Women are tired of sitting on the back," he said.

"It's hard to put a demographic on it," he added. "Once you get on a motorcycle, you get hooked on it."

Riding a motorcycle offers a release for many people, a chance at adventure for others, an economical vehicle for some and something different to countless others.

"With that brings the inherent risks," said Jay, who has "lost more than enough friends" to motorcycle crashes.

Never before have the risks been so evident as this year, when a record number of fatalities have been attributed to motorcycle wrecks in North Dakota. So far in 2008, 13 people have died in motorcycle wrecks, compared with eight in 2007 and four in 2006.

Lorius, with the DOT, said a review of 20 years of traffic records shows that never before have fatalities in motorcy-cle wrecks reached double digits for a year. The previous one-year high was 9, which happened in both 1991 and 2004, she said.

"It's still low numbers, but it's still tragic numbers," Jay said.

Fatalities have increased nationally, as well, Thompson said. More motorcycles and more vehicles in general on the road play roles in the increases.

"It's just an ever increasing, more complex environment out on the roadway," he said.

The wrecks in North Dakota, by and large, have been preventable. In the past, Jay said most fatal motorcycle wrecks could be pinned on motorists who struck motorcycles. And nationally, more than half of fatal crashes involving motorcycles are with other vehicles, Thompson said. Motorists are urged to look for motorcycles, give them enough room and limit other distractions while driving.

But during 2007 and 2008, the vast majority of the fatal motorcycle wrecks in North Dakota have been due to care-less driving on the part of cyclists.

Alcohol use was involved in 10 of 21 crashes in North Dakota in 2007 and 2008, and excessive speed or careless driving on the part of the motorcyclist played a part in 13 of 21. Several other crashes involved inexperienced driv-ers in conditions they couldn't handle.

"The more risk you take, the more likely you are to have a crash," Jay said. "I could go 100 miles per hour around a curve marked 25, but when I evaluate it, would I do it? It just wouldn't make any sense."

The risks increase the chances of problems, even if the resultant crash isn't entirely a motorcyclist's fault.

"Nearly half of all riders killed each year had alcohol in their systems," Thompson said.

Successful motorcycle navigation involves planning and paying attention far more than in a car.

"Allow yourself an escape route," Jay said. "You're constantly searching and evaluating where you're at."

Thompson said motorcyclists need to pay close attention to time and space in regards to other vehicles, take few risks and pretend they are invisible to car drivers.

"When I personally ride on the street, I get mentally tired," he said, adding that physical skills needed for cycling can be taught more easily than the mental skills.

Jay said he won't use certain roads at certain times of day if he expects the traffic to be too heavy, with too many aggressive drivers and too few escape routes for him and his bike. For instance, he avoids Bismarck Expressway around 5 p.m.

"I'll use an alternate route," he said.

Motorcyclists have to look blocks ahead for dangers, then find ways to safely avoid them. For instance, pieces of farm machinery traveling on North Dakota roads are commonplace, and Jay finds it safest to stop and wait for them to complete their travels rather than zoom around them.

"I won't take that risk of assuming he's going to turn and go around him," he said.

Anticipating problems and knowing how to deal with them are aspects of cycling brought up in ABATE's training courses, Jay said.

"That's why it's so important for people to go through training," he said.

In one of eight fatalities in 2007 and two of 13 fatalities in 2008, motorcycles crashed with deer. Though the fleet-footed animals may be hard to avoid in any vehicle, the damages to a motorcycle and a rider can be much more catastrophic than to drivers and passengers of cars.

The training courses deal with those and other situations that could be scary for cyclists, from getting caught in a gust of wind from a passing semi to navigating when a beautiful day turns "nasty," Jay said.

"We'll show you the skills of how to ride safely until you can pull off the road," he said.

Only about a third of motorcyclists nationwide had taken training courses as of five years ago, Thompson said. Going through training can help people trying to decide whether to use motorcycles as a mode of transportation. Motorcycles and gear are provided during training courses.

"You can see if you're cut out for it," he said.

The MSF stresses wearing protective clothing, including a Department of Transportation approved helmet, eye and face protection, gloves, proper clothing and proper footwear, Thompson said.

"If you dress for the crash, you're only helping yourself in the incident of a crash," he said.

However, Jay believes training and education trump helmet use. Few motorcycle-related deaths are completely caused by head injuries, he said. Even with protective gear, people need to use good judgement, get trained and take fewer risks to stay safe, he said.

Jay predicts the growth of motorcycling will continue in North Dakota, with people from all walks of life getting involved. The children of older riders are getting their own bikes, and new riders are finding their way to the road.

"The growth of motorcycling is not going to scale down," he said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)