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
Notes from the road: The latchkey kid becomes the free-range rider
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
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
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
Notes from the Road: A bridge never too far
Other than the wind rustling the newly bare trees, the loudest sound in this quiet roadside park is the thump of my motorcycle boots on the well-worn wooden floor of Campbell’s Covered Bridge. I pace the length of the 38-foot historic bridge, pausing to gaze down at the peaceful trickle of Beaverdam Creek below and savor my unexpected solitude. During the warmer months, the … [Read more...] about Notes from the Road: A bridge never too far