Category Archives: Road Tales

In a fast-paced world where most long journeys are viewed from 20,000+ feet in a jet airliner, we miss out on the detail afforded by the low viewing angle of a motorcycle saddle. In this category I have stored a collection of interesting experiences gleaned from years of motorcycle touring. Each tale may describe a multi-week trip, a single day, or one sublime instant. Some tales even have photographic evidence. While I post these tales largely for my own amusement, I have been told they have inspired some to try motorcycle touring. If so, then that seems like a useful purpose. May they help you realize that the universe still holds many thoughts to consider, humor to be enjoyed, and wonders to behold.

Night Riding with Yo and Mr. Fun

Sometime during the recent MAMMARY run, Yo Adrian proclaimed that he and his friend Scott (Mr. Fun) would be stopping at my place on their way to Butch and Pam’s farm for the gathering called Meet in the Middle. So it came to be that Yo and Mr. Fun showed up in my driveway about 8:30pm with plans to pick me up and ride on to Anderson, IN… another four hours away.
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MAMMARY 2012 Run Summary & Photos

The 2012 MAMMARY Run is in the books and it was a hell of a good time. Mitch and Kathy outdid themselves yet again and hosted a most excellent gathering of Netscum. This post includes links to the other posts for this trip and a photo gallery and photo map.

For Karen and I, we logged 1,425 miles on the Vector, not bad for a long weekend and our first two-up trip together on that Bike.
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Of curves, heat, and the final dash home

Even before we left the cool comfort of our Super 8 room in Morgantown, WV, we knew we were in for a hot day. The forecast was for record highs in much of Ohio and Michigan. We also knew that we may have to adjust our planned scenic route if we got too far into the day without traversing enough distance. So, we departed Morgantown with curvy roads on our agenda.
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A good lesson in loitering

When Karen and I travel out to Mitch and Kathy’s, we usually leave after work on a Thursday and ride as far as we can that night. This leaves a manageable ride on Friday, resulting in an arrival time before dinner so we can have a full evening communing with friends that we see all to rarely. However, for the trip home, we have two full days (Sunday and the Memorial Day holiday on Monday) to travel so we generally indulge in a longer route that involves fewer miles on the superslab (that is, interstate) highways.
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When a boring ride is nice

Most would say that a boring motorcycle ride is, well, boring. However, when one is riding a familiar route, and last years day of traveling the same route was filled with wind, rain, and other nasty forms of weather, a nice uneventful ride can be quite enjoyable.
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Improving weather at Bar Harbor

After the monsoon-like conditions of the previous day, we went to sleep relieved by the weather forecast that the rain would be gone in the morning. It was with some consternation then, that we awoke to find that a light rain was still falling. A quick check of the weather radar revealed that we could be dealing with a light rain for most, if not all, of the day’s trip out to Bar Harbor, Maine. Yuck.
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Lifestyle dichotomy on the Cape

After a great evening with Barb Freeman, we headed off down the back roads to Cape Cod. We crossed at the Bourne Bridge, noting the horrendous traffic in the opposite direction from all those weekenders heading back to the mainland. Yuck.

Now on the Cape, we headed up the coast of the canal until we reached the Sagamore bridge, where we found route 6A and headed down the coast of the bay.
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