FLIPSIDE MOTO

What do you do when you are not sure what to do with your life and feeling like things are becoming a bit too conventional? Well, you go on a  2,000+ mile ride, of course! Yes, the photos look a bit scratchy since they are low-quality scans of photos from quite a few years ago, and the video quality leaves much to be desired, but that shows the grit from this adventure. Not just that it was my first major solo motorcycle ride, but also that I got back on my bike after a mishap only months earlier. Braking too hard in a newbie maneuver, I fractured my wrist when my bike hit the ground during a hard stop. I had a cast and pins for six weeks and then went through physical therapy to get everything working. I wasn't sure if I was willing to ride again when this opportunity came along.

 

Jason was living in Wyoming at the time and one day he suggested I ride my motorcycle from San Francisco to meet him at the Telluride Bluegrass festival in Colorado. Now that sounded like an expedition. But solo? I had a lot of questions and concerns. Jason must have talked to me for literally hours walking through how I should prepare and what I should bring with me. After about the thousandth "what if?" he finally said, "You just need to decide that you are going to do it." So I put my fears on hold, bought a windscreen for the bike, borrowed some panniers, and headed out undeterred. "I am so glad I did. It remains one of the accomplishments in my life I am most proud of."