Gearing Up for Another Year of Riding
It’s March already and I’m not trying to brag, but here in Arizona it is starting to warm up again. This is a year-round motorcycle riding state, which is one of the reasons I live here.
No, winter is not over completely, it can still snow again, but I can’t help already thinking about more long rides this year.
I’m probably jumping the gun, but I’m already polishing chrome, oiling the chain, pulling out the camping gear and riding gear, checking tire pressures, and changing the oil.
The Ultima from the book Against the Wind is still looking good and running great. Since I’m sitting here writing about riding, I can’t wait to take her somewhere soon. Where it will be this year is anybody’s guess. Maybe there will be another book in it.
There is so much awesome country to see in America, it can be difficult to decide which direction to point that skinny front wheel. But once you get going it is even more difficult to stop.
No matter what kind of motorcycle you own the important thing is to get out there and go. I know a lot of my readers are long distance riders and share my enthusiasm for the open road.
As I’ve said before, I don’t like to put on too many miles per day, preferring to stop and smell the gas stops and the coffee, perhaps take pictures and maybe meet some strangers and other travelers. Life is about the journey and to me, so is a motorcycle ride.
The small towns and two-lane roads, mom and pop motels and diners can almost make you forget what year it is, and if you stay off the internet and don’t watch the news, you can almost forget all of the troubles in the world.
The scenery mostly looks the same as it did in the sixties and your biggest care is that the bike keeps happily running and you can find a comfortable place to spend the night. It can be nice if the rain stays away too, although that is often too much to ask. But that’s life; Taking the good with the bad. It’s not what life brings you that matters, it’s how you deal with it.
I may not look like I did back then, but the view between the handlebars looks the same and the call of the road still makes you feel young and doing it on a chopper makes it all the better.
All you riders out there stay safe, and I’ll see you next month.