Volume 1 Episode 1

I can’t believe what has come of this idea of mine to take a motorcycle ride. Honestly, I never imagined anyone other than myself would give a shit. It started innocently enough, wanting to celebrate my incredible good fortune to be in one piece at seventy and amazed with having been given this time and shamelessly wanting more.

There are actually some people who have been reading this blog already and following me on Facebook. A couple of weeks ago, I learned how to Instagram, which I will be doing from the road. I am sure you didn’t know that I had Mind and the Motorcycle t-shirts made months ago. I have been running through my business cards, using them to direct people to the blog. I have made arrangements with Resort Parks, Int’l to stay at some of their destinations and have been writing in their monthly newsletter to members. Getting a poster made to promote a contest with Kauai Harley Davidson to guess my total mileage. I just took my first selfie, using a tripod and I took about a dozen shots of my left eyeball before I got it right.

Who the hell quietly decides to take a celebratory motorcycle ride on the mainland and then makes it into a goddamn production? It is almost embarrassing, but for some weird reason it also feels perfectly normal to me. However, this normal ride has some major schizophrenic tendencies. Riding around four hours a day for over two weeks is a lot of riding. Everyday will bring a new journey and destination. At the same time I am cruising and taking in the scenery, I will always be writing the next post, taking the next picture or coming up with an entertaining audio podcast. It is a hybrid of vacation and work, but a different kind of work, at least for me. I have volunteered to share my experience on the road with others.

Right now, all of my meticulously selected gear is sitting in a pile in a basket, haphazardly dumped until it is time. At some point on the ride, I am going to think to myself, why the hell didn’t I pack X, because I need it. I will laugh and happily live without it, whatever it is.

The trip is well planned and on paper it is perfect. While I will try and hold to the schedule, we will have to see where it first goes off course to accommodate some unforeseen circumstance.

I will be getting on a plane a week from today. I will get into San Francisco fairly late at night, taking the BART to the North Berkeley stop. I will walk to the Berkeley Inn and likely see about sending off my last blast before the actual ride begins. Between now and then, I will probably pepper the blog with some posts because there will be more to share as we get closer.