I like to ride motorcycles. Someday I might get all philosophical about that point, like climbers do when you ask why people climb mountains, but for now I'll keep it simple: I like to see the country, and I prefer to be outdoors when I do it. Cruising around in a little box doesn't do it for me, and the constraints of modern life make it impractical to walk everywhere. Lacking a pair of seven-league boots, I can still take a stroll across the country with my motorcycle.

I also like to work on motorcycles. Here too philosophy is tempting, but for now I'll just refer you to Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," which is a book that you should read regardless of your feelings about motorcycles or mechanics. Or Zen, for that matter.

At any rate, I started riding in 1976, when I was 18, had finished my first year of college, and had found a sufficiently lucrative summer job to put a burning wad of cash in my pocket. That translated into a new Honda CB360T, a little road bike that I proceeded to start riding 24,000 km a year. Three years and 72,000 km later the Honda and I had visited 40 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces, it needed a new top end, and I traded it for a car. But by then I had been bitten by the bug, and as soon as money allowed I had a Harley under me (a very old Harley that broke down a lot). Money ran short again as grad school and a family developed, but in 2003 I finally had a little financial breathing space and bought at 1996 BMW R1100RSL with 67,000 km on it. I started riding again, 24,000 km a year again, this time mostly exploring the wonders of home, Washington, with occasional forays into British Columbia. There was also a grand trip through Mexico, described below. Now it's late 2008 and I've decided to finally start a website about motorcycling. The site is organized into disparate topics, so scroll down and check out what looks good.