The mountains hang like a dream — one that is unseen but sensed, like Kafka’s castle, haunted by places unknown and untouched, yet somehow familiar. This collection of memories, like the Midwest roads that bridge them, begins last July. On that humid afternoon, I packed and strapped the back of the Bonneville with a three-week haul of supplies: sleeping bag, tent, clothes, a … [Read more...] about Exits and Returns: Three Weeks from Appalachia to the Rockies
Triumph
A dying art: Vintage bike fans form a wrenching community
Some things, like fine wine, really do get better with time. That describes many things in life, including long term friendships. It can also describe long term relationships with vintage motorcycles. In a nod to what Robert Pirsig said in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” the word “better” can take on different meanings depending on one’s vantage point. He used it … [Read more...] about A dying art: Vintage bike fans form a wrenching community
Weddings on wheels
Not many nuptials feature a gleaming Harley as a member of the wedding party, but for The Rev. Jacqueline Weiks, it’s something actively encouraged. “I don’t do a lot of things traditionally. I never have,” she said. Weiks offers couples a variety of wedding ceremonies, from traditional to more intuitive and mystical, joining couples in holy matrimony as they stand next … [Read more...] about Weddings on wheels
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
Forest rides are forever: Woodcarver Steve Duncan recalls the Blue Ridge trails of his youth
Mountains surround the McDowell Country, N.C., home that Steve Duncan — a semi-retired woodcarver — shares with his wife and daughter. The woods are dense with oaks, poplars, dogwoods and pines, and the air is pungent with the scent of galax. Evening comes early here in the shadows of the trees, and even on summer days the breeze off the creek in front of Duncan’s house is … [Read more...] about Forest rides are forever: Woodcarver Steve Duncan recalls the Blue Ridge trails of his youth
