Flying on the ground: A tour to the Helen Balloon Festival
I have motorcycles. A bunch. New ones, old ones. And I ride a lot, nearly every day. Short, far, sometimes for months at a time. Riding is its own unique sensation and operation, and I think that’s why I enjoy it so much. Sometimes if I ride long enough, it even feels like I’m flying.…
Continue Reading Flying on the ground: A tour to the Helen Balloon Festival
Latest
Touring the two Virginias: Seeing new life in the Bluefields
A few days earlier, a buxom, wet and nasty bitch named Helene came our way up from Florida, uninvited and unwelcomed, and for many people in many places…
Continue Reading Touring the two Virginias: Seeing new life in the Bluefields
Helene’s Wrath: Fleeing the Aftermath With a Weeklong Odyssey
On the third day with no power, no water and no more ready-to-eat food, I looked at my Yamaha Tracer 9 GT sitting there with nearly a full…
Continue Reading Helene’s Wrath: Fleeing the Aftermath With a Weeklong Odyssey
Alabama adventure: Letting the music fuel the ride
I’m piloting my Yamaha Tenere 700 briskly in a westerly direction on Alabama 281, also known as Cheaha Road. I can’t shake a disorienting feeling of déjà vu…
Continue Reading Alabama adventure: Letting the music fuel the ride
Smoky Mountain 500: Carrying my icon on iconic roads
Wanting to ride the Smoky Mountain 500 across Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina for about four years now, I finally made plans with a riding buddy. Then that…
Continue Reading Smoky Mountain 500: Carrying my icon on iconic roads
Going MADBR: Wildlife, water crossings and adventure
“Seven, not three.” I was saying in my helmet as we paddled knee deep across what turned out to be the last water crossing. The preview clip taken…
Continue Reading Going MADBR: Wildlife, water crossings and adventure
The Smokies: Over, under and around
A morning breeze off the Oconaluftee River in Cherokee, North Carolina, eases the rising summer heat as I head north on U.S. 441. Like many fellow motorcyclists, I…
More
Ride to remember: A Tennessee couple’s philanthropic adventure to Alaska
Stretching through the breathtaking landscapes of the Canadian wilderness, the Alaska Highway unfolds like a rugged canvas, inviting motorcyclists to traverse its…
Continue Reading Ride to remember: A Tennessee couple’s philanthropic adventure to Alaska
Old school camera captures: Craftsmanship and the Copperhead
In the quiet of the thawing winter on a sun-filled Sunday morning, I brushed the dust from the Bonneville and wheeled the…
Continue Reading Old school camera captures: Craftsmanship and the Copperhead
Looking for Andy: Exploring Mount Airy, the real and fictional Mayberry
For those of us in the bifocal set, a breezy ditty whistled as a tall man with an enviable shock of dark…
Continue Reading Looking for Andy: Exploring Mount Airy, the real and fictional Mayberry
Cumberland Cascades: Stunning waterfalls await Tennessee travelers
My first roadside break of the morning began at Washington Ferry on the western bank of the Tennessee River. Happy to be…
Continue Reading Cumberland Cascades: Stunning waterfalls await Tennessee travelers
The perfect bike for a mountain road trip? How about a 40-year-old thumper
What is the best motorcycle ever made? Easy. The one you have the most fun on. Now defining fun, that’s all in…
Continue Reading The perfect bike for a mountain road trip? How about a 40-year-old thumper
