A Prodigal's Path: Travel

My 2007 Yamaha FJR 1300a and I have covered over 18,000 miles covering 7 States the last 3 years. I love traveling on two wheels and the challenges it brings; wind, rain, heat, dehydration, 500+ mile days, even snow. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it . . . but the connection built between a rider and their bike is like none other. A skilled rider will build a relationship, of sorts, that allows him know what the bike is going to do before she does it. It’s all built into the intimacy between the bike, your mind, body, and spirit. You literally function as one as the bike reacts to your body, controlled by your mind, which is reacting and anticipating the bikes every nuance.

Snow in Dixville Notch, NH

Your senses experience everything; quick changes in temperature, rain, g-forces, all the smells you miss when you’re cocooned in a car, and the realization that while banked deep into turns your toes are within inches of grinding the pavement. It’s as close as you’ll get to flying without leaving the ground. Good riders know and accept the risk and realize that riding well is all about managing and controlling as many of those risk factors as you can. There are always the ones you can’t and I met up with one this last Saturday when the car next to me decided to change lanes without looking. Luckily the FJR & I both survived with a few dings, dents, scrapes, and scratches. I’m looking forward to having her back in a few weeks as my annual 3 days trek through the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains is approaching quickly.

Here are a few photos from a few of my trips.