Growing up I spent a lot of time on a bicycle. I would ride my bike all over town, build jumps, etc. I’ve had my share of spills and close calls on them too. Still have the scars on my knees from going down on a few different occasions. I also remember nosediving off a jump which resulted in a head first fall directly into the ground that shattered my helmet into a thousand little pieces of styrofoam. Amazingly enough I didn’t have any injuries from that crash. I’m just thankful my neck wasn’t twisted like the handlebars were! These incidents never did deter me from hopping back on and going for another ride though.
As I went into college, I continued riding mountain bikes. I rode in a couple of charity rides, ranging from 50 to 150 miles, with my aunt. During my weekends I would often pick a nearby town or area I haven’t been to and ride there on some new roads I haven’t been down. I just enjoyed getting out on the road and exploring new places. So a good amount of my younger years were spent adventuring on two wheels.
I didn’t start riding motorcycles until I was 25. My mom was never fond of motorcycles to begin with but I just never really had an opportunity to learn and it wasn’t something I actively pursued early on in my life. It wasn’t until a conversation about God with a fellow biker that the door opened to learn to ride. At this point in my life, I was certainly open to the idea of riding. We took a 1985 Honda Rebel 250 out in a parking lot and I got the rundown of the motorcycle, some of the mechanical aspects, levers, shifting, etc. Once I fired it up and began riding it around the parking lot, I was hooked! Shortly after that I bought my first bike, a red 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650. I have been riding ever since.
During this time, I have read countless articles and books and have watched movies and videos of various motorcycle adventures. Everything from Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman traveling around the world in Long Way Round to scooter tramps living off their bikes to long cross country trips. Thoughts and ideas have been floating in my head about taking a long trip of my own for some time now. These books and videos have all fed my desire to do so, teaching me a lot along the way as well.
I have taken some shorter trips over the years, nothing lasting longer than a week, and I have yet to travel farther west than Nashville TN via motorcycle. Over the past few years I have had a hankering to hop on the bike and travel from coast to coast. At the end of 2018 I began trying to formulate a plan to take the coast to coast trip. I was thinking of what I wanted to do, the places to visit and the roads to ride. Unfortunately those plans never came to fruition as I decided to continue on with a few projects that I had already started (through work and various groups I was working with). I just didn’t feel right leaving at that point in time.
The following year, the end of 2019 through the first two months of 2020, resulted in many life changing events for me. All of these events just fed the desire to get out on the road, to adventure, and to get away from the status quo. One such event was selling my house in February which leaves me no longer having a home and all the worries that come along with it. Doors closed on many other projects that consumed me over the last couple of years as well. This released me from the many things that keep one tied down.
It’s time to for me to hit the road, get out into the open air, and rejuvenate my soul.