Tucson to Boston

Riding back to Boston after a warm winter in the southwest.

559 kilometers (347.35 miles) over days from May 31, 2018 to

I successfully avoided winter this year, hiding out in Phoenix and Tucson while the winter snowed and the spring rained on Boston. I'll be heading diagonally through the corn states and the midwest to check off those last few states of the lower 48 that I haven't yet seen.  continue reading...

Chickenwhat?

Heading west, on two wheels again but this time with a motor to help me.

13,891 kilometers (8,631.46 miles) over 96 days from June 28, 2017 to October 01, 2017

Most of my stories start in a someone's office, usually a doctor's office. This story is no exception.

Doctor Jiha D. Putah: "Your blood tests are back. You had Chikungunya."

Me: "Chicken what?"

Dr. Putah: "Chikungunya. It's a mosquito-born alpha virus, from the same mosquito that transmits Dengue Fever and the Zika virus."

Me: "Oh. And what is the treatment for it?"

Dr. Putah: "There is no treatment. There is nothing I can do for you."

Lovely. A disease with no treatment...  continue reading...

Bert and I

Europe, by motorcycle, from middle to bottom to top to bottom to middle.

27,651 kilometers (17,181.53 miles) over 120 days from June 02, 2005 to October 18, 0205

I'm about to embark on fulfulling a dream I've had for a long time: touring Europe on a motorcycle. In March I finally succumbed to my boss's demands that I take management training. I've always been extremely sceptical of such things and had thus far managed to avoid them. The objective of the course was to define "your highest vision of yourself as a leader" (I know, I almost gagged as well). However it turned out to be somewhat interesting; the idea was to look at yourself and try to figure out what you wanted to do in life. My conclusion was that I really wasn't interested in being a leader at the moment and that I definitely wasn't interested in management training. Hence my decision to take a leave of absence, fly my motorcycle to Europe, and see what happens.   continue reading...

Steeds

A list of my motorcycles

I'm currently on my fourth bike; I went through 3 Hondas before I discovered the joy of owning a BMW. With the Hondas I tried to travel but it was a fairly painful experience. The BMW changed that: the first time I rode it I only intended to go to the shop to get it inspected, instead I wound up driving from Boston to Montreal for the weekend. That set the pace.  continue reading...