Border to Border Intro

Introduction

A trip two years in the making. Where do we go? How long are we gone? I’d been getting increasingly detailed emails for over six months prior to leaving. How does this look? Can it be 15 days instead of 17? Ok, now it’s 12 but we’re flying by the seat of our pants here. (Right.) Can Mark come? Does he have the bike lined up? (Yes and a million thanks to Skip.)

Anticipation built, a long shallow incline, suddenly steepening sharply as the school year drew to a close, as I boarded the plane to Seattle, the plane to California, as Mark and I picked up the Vulcan (he rode bitch, heh heh). It vibrated the air and consumed our conversations.

Dad had the trip planned out to a T. Every day something different. A new challenge, new sights, new places. Our entire riders skill set, from sweepers to twisties to psychopath defensive urban riding, would be utilized. This was going to kill, but in a good way!

A few notes about this journal. Each day’s entry was written the night that ride was completed so it was as fresh in my mind as possible. All thoughts are from my point of view, what I was seeing, feeling, thinking at those times. In order to keep it as fresh and true as I can I’ve done very little editing, only simple grammar and punctuation. Any editorial additions will be noted. Warts and all, this is my immediate impression of the ride. Most things were first jotted now in short notes in margins at gas stations and pull-outs. It wasn’t written to be poetic or pretty or ever all that literary. It reads like a journal should, sometimes messy and rarely revised.

You may also notice the use of nicknames in place of real names. The reason for this is very simple – biker nicknames are cool. Bikers have nicknames, everyone knows that. It was fun to invent my own names for everyone and use those. Gives it a greater element of adventure, I think. Besides, who doesn’t want a killer nickname?

I will use this journal, as I hope those who participated will, to keep my memories fresh and alive. A picture may be worth a thousand words, and we know we’ve got a ton of pictures, but the immediate human impression, the details, cannot be truly photographed.

Ride hard. Ride safe.

The Riders

- Papa Rocket – 2008 Victory Vision

- Lillypad – 2006 V-Star Classic 1100

- Dirtbag – 2004 Vulcan Nomad 1500

- Stiches – passenger with Dirtbag/photojournalist

- Too Good (AKA Sidekick, AKA Pokey) – 2008 Vulcan Classic 1500