Hello 2021

I hope this post finds everyone healthy and safe. What a crazy 14 months it has been. Don and I are alive and well and early into another riding season. Not much has changed in our lives since last year. We are fortunate that the pandemic has largely just been an incovenience for us and our families. I know it has been much more than that to many. We are looking forward to another trip late this summer, most likely to southwestern Colorado with the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Million Dollar Highway. My wife and I are planning an adventure in Utah soon. I am debating whether to post about it. Should be some spectacular scenery, but it would be a departure from the general theme of the blog. It will involve saddletime of an entirely different variety.

In the meantime, Don and I are currently on our annual spring pilgramige to the mountains of North Carolina. Excited to have my nephew Jordan along this year. We have ridden together here before, but it has been a couple of years. This area is just spectacular and probably the best riding anywhere. We have had two great days chasing the curves. We covered around 300 miles yesterday with approximately 90 percent of them leaned over in a curve. 300 miles of mountain riding is a very full day! Motorcycling has been called the lazy man’s zen. Riding these tight and technical roads at a spirited pace takes total concentration. Rolling back into camp physically and mentally exhausted, you have thought of absolutely nothing all day but the road in front of you. It really does become a form of meditation and clears the mind.

Well, Don and I are seasoned travelers, but we can’t plan for everything. Seems that someone hacked the computer system of a pipeline we’ve never heard of and suddenly there was virtually no fuel in our immediate area. We did eventually get all three bikes filled up but it took multiple gas stations and waiting in line. I was hoping 2021 would be a better year than last, but it so far it has been crazy too! We cut our stay in North Carolina short and headed to Tennessee where gas was more readily available. The riding and weather were still great and we spent the night with some very special friends in the area. The fuel crisis actually turned out to be a blessing. In travel, as in life, sometimes you just have to be flexible and go where the road leads.