When Life Pulls an End Run Around You…

Ah, Wyoming...and now I have long hair

I cannot believe it is already nearing the end of September.  First off, no, I haven’t died and no there has been no terrible accident in my recent past.  This year has just been rather un-motorcycle travel worthy for me. 



So, excuses/explanations first-
Winter just wouldn’t leave.  We were still getting snow here and had sub-freezing temperatures and ice until the end of May this year.  Within a couple of days of Hell having been frozen over (yes, there is a Hell, Michigan, and yes, it does freeze over – often) it suddenly jumped into the mid+ 90’s (F).  How crazy is that?  The really big down side is, 2 weeks into August, the temperatures suddenly dropped into the fall temp zone- 60s-ish (F).  Now it is mid September and I’ve had to watch out for some ice a couple of mornings and wear liners in things (gloves, jackets, pants), just to go 6 miles to work.  I fear that winter is trying to round the corner early and smack us in the face.



My 97 year old maternal grandmother, who has been living with us for the last 4 years, started to go downhill in a spiral of worsening unpleasantness.  She rolled over one night at about 1am in the morning in late January and dislocated her replaced hip.  The doctors couldn’t put it back make it impossible for her to move or get around out of bed.  We had to put her in a home.  My mom was with her nearly every day as she continued to hang around, probably just to be with us.  Heaven knows she’d done her bit and was probably quite ready to go.  The consequence of this was no real tripping.  Time, need, and the knowing that we would need to take a road trip to bury her when she did pass kept us more around the house.  We made that final trip with her in August.

My dad….Yeah, he’s my bud and he reads these articles.  Unfortunately I suddenly have a dad that will be 70 next week.  How did that happen?  He still has the riding heart of a 20 year old (ok, maybe a 45 year old), but the body and ability just aren’t the same anymore.  My dad is my main riding partner.  It’s been sad to consider every time I go out with him that our time on bikes is winding down and could come to a close at any time.  Will I keep riding?  Yes.  I really love to do it.  It is part of me too.  Will I be lonesome, yes, of course I will.  Will my dad worry about me like I was 17 and just learning how to drive every time I go out by myself – yes, of course. (Dad’s can be kind of high maintenance sometimes, can’t they?)

I have been working on a couple of books I’m hoping to publish over the next year- writing one (a samurai monster fighter who races cars as a day job) and editing the other (a reluctant fairy godmother that sadly has neither a motorcycle nor a fast car, even though she’s from the Detroit area).

I still ride into work every chance I get.  However, the rain has really conspired against me this year.  It seems like we’ve averaged about 3 out of 4 weeks of rain, every month, since June began.

I still love Canyon de Chelley (AZ)

Bearing all of this in mind, it hasn’t been the year of the motorcycle for me.  But I have had time to do some reflecting and thinking- heck, I need to start planning for trips next year with the weather closing in so fast.  I am still hoping to get a fall weekend color ride in over the next month and then it will be the long winter haul once again.  Until then I have been getting asked lots of interesting questions about how I got into riding, how many places have I been, where would I like to go, etc… so I think I’ll start writing some of that down and posting.  I see a lot more riding in my future (did I mention I just got my new license sticker in the mail yesterday?) and some reminiscing until then.  So, I won’t be waiting another half year to get back here (unless I get to go ride in South America or something) and  I’ll continue to write harder for pay so I can ride more, until I can flip it and get paid to write FOR riding.

Don't forget to smell some roses!

So, you now know how my riding year has been- how about yours?  Have you done something magnificent, awe inspiring, or just plain fun this year?  Leave a comment and let us all share.  Maybe it will help me plan out my next year’s worth of riding.  Also feel free to leave any questions or fun topics you think we might like to share together.  Until next time – get out there and find an excuse to ride!