Forever on 2 wheels

Since 2002 I have been on many long Motorcycle excursions. The pure Lunacy of some of them has me looking back on why we did it the way we did. The first was a long weekender of right at 1000 miles to Arkansas and back through rain and Fog... I have made probably about 25 trips to Arkansas and Talimena drive as well since then, each one with its own misery or elation. We have ridden to New mexico and Colorado a few times, Wyoming twice, Idaho,Utah, and Montana with a day in Yellowstone. Also to Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as a trip to New Orleans and all over Texas. Along the way we have visited caves, mountains, civil war battlefeilds and crossed many rivers. Have ridden 3 times to the top of the highest paved road in North America, Mt Evans Colorado. And talk about weather....Rain, in buckets coming down so hard cars are parked on the side of the road as we ride by. Hail....it hurts! Winds... high winds! Snow, yes I said snow. Cold cold in the early morning and 110 degrees for hours coming home.  I have ridden as much as 18.5 hours in one day and many many days of over 12 hours. We have had flats, deer encounters, had a car hit a member of our group while sitting at a gas station, and he received a broken leg. We have been inundated by Love Bugs in Mississippi, hit by large insects and small birds. Pooped on by birds, splattered by bugs and peed on by cattle in a truck. I have been stung by insects on my face and neck and ear 6 times! We have seen animals galore, bears, deer, Elk, Moose, Wolves, Eagles, Foxes, Coyotes and a cave with 12 million bats flying out of it and dodged every kind of roadkill you can imagine. We have also ridden at dawn and watched as the sun peaked up over the horizon in a splender unmatched. And we have watched it set while we chased it over the horizon. We have met wonderful people, eaten in awesome little cafes all across this land. I have covered almost 100,000 miles on my bikes in the last 10 years, and the one thing that sticks in my mind the most are the guys I have shared the road with, from my Pastor and music leader, to other church friends, to local riding buddies to close friends I met because I ride, to those few biker buddies I am proud to call Brother, and you know who you are! Whether it was on top of Mount Evans, sitting on a park bench in Eureka Springs listening to Banjo music played by stringy haired stinky hippies, or sitting in a large circle of friends just laughing and having fun, biking has kept me sane. It has given me life long friends, and as I said in a previous post, kept me on an even Keel. Its all about the experience, good or bad on a bike, but at least it is on a bike. This retrospective was prompted by my looking forward to my large trip in 9 days, hopefully I will only add to the stories, and create more memories that last a lifetime....Forever on 2 wheels!!