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
notes from the road
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
Notes from the road: Why do I keep doing this to myself?
I love my bike. I mean I really, really love my bike, but I also love to try different bikes. Recently, I’ve ridden four different bikes, a 1971 Norton Commando, a 1975 Norton Commando, a 2021 Zero SR/S, and a 2022 Zero SR. Well, it was the Zeros that got me in trouble. If you’re a huge fan of Harleys with the loudest Screaming Eagle pipes you can get, a Zero may not be the … [Read more...] about Notes from the road: Why do I keep doing this to myself?
Two roads diverged: West Virginia
Next to the small steel bridge spanning the Elk River in Webster Springs, West Virginia, I pulled over to wrestle with Robert Frost’s famous dilemma. The GPS unit insisted on turning north while my paper map tantalized me with an easterly dotted-green line, which symbolizes a scenic roadway. Both would get me to where I wanted to go. Being one traveler with the intent of … [Read more...] about Two roads diverged: West Virginia