Blue Ridge Motorcycling Magazine

notes from the road

Notes from the road: Autumn can be a season of renewal, too

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She sits there as I grab my clanking golf bag and walk past. She sits there as I make a quick trip to the grocery store — without her. She sits there as the weekend arrives and dust still accumulates on her gleaming paint. I tell myself I should take her out for a ride today. Then the day slips away, and my motorcycle still sits there. “This guy rides more than anyone I … [Read more...] about Notes from the road: Autumn can be a season of renewal, too

Notes from the road: Adventure is a just an unpaved mountain road away

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Some days, tarmac just doesn’t suffice when you’re an adventure rider. On a quiet Monday with nothing on the calendar, I headed into the lush wilderness of the Pisgah National Forest to escape the heat of summer and find that connection between earth, motorcycle and man that often gets lost navigating through heavy urban traffic. I needed the tonic of the wilderness, to borrow … [Read more...] about Notes from the road: Adventure is a just an unpaved mountain road away

Notes from the road: The latchkey kid becomes the free-range rider

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I couldn’t resist turning into the old subdivision. My Yamaha Tracer 9 GT made easy work of the large hill that once took me a lot of exertion on my black-and-yellow Huffy BMX. I still remembered each home and each childhood friend (and enemy) who lived there more than 45 years ago. Maybe it’s just the wistful nostalgia of a man who recognizes there are more miles behind him … [Read more...] about Notes from the road: The latchkey kid becomes the free-range rider

Notes from the road: Happiness often lies in riding nowhere

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Without realizing it, I eased the bike to the opposite side of the lane, instinctively avoiding the pothole I knew was around the next bend. I know every crack in this backroad. It’s one of my favorite local loops when I feel like riding but don’t feel like really going anywhere. The warmth of spring has yet to arrive. I ride out the last of winter daydreaming about more … [Read more...] about Notes from the road: Happiness often lies in riding nowhere

Finding motorcycling zen while crossing Ecuador

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Before the advent of modern geography or GPS systems, the native people understood this place to be at the center of the world. It wasn’t until 1736 that the French Geodesic Mission launched an expedition to measure the equatorial line of the earth that the world learned what the native people already knew. My first experience on the back of a motorcycle was in my early 20s. … [Read more...] about Finding motorcycling zen while crossing Ecuador