• Stories from the Road

    That Magic box

    The sun was just about over the horizon, another cool December day was coming to a close. It was one of those perfect end of the season riding days. If your riding in the northern parts of the country, you know what I’m talking about. Old man winter is knocking on the door and with the simple change in the jet stream we can have a winter blizzard come into New England just a quickly as the 70-degree days have seemed to have disappeared. I had taken full advantage of this glorious day and spent the majority of it on my Explorer, riding some gravel, pavement and everything in-between. One…

  • Stories from the Road

    Hadlyme CT Country Store and finding happiness

    I had the most wonderful thing happen to me yesterday while on my ride. I had stopped at the Hadlyme Country Market just up the street from the Historic Hadlyme Ferry. If you are not familiar with this area of Conn I suggest you take a ride down and do some exploring. It’s a wonderful place to ride your motorcycle, and you’ll find yourself on some tight little twisty roads that have elevation changes and some challenging corners. Lots of driveways to some grand old properties with some blind corners so you should take a relaxed pace if you want to truly enjoy yourself and soak in the flavor of…

  • Stories from the Road

    Eat well, because breakfast isn’t until the morning!

    Eat well, because breakfast isn’t until the morning! As I pulled into the Stone Cow Brewery at 4pm on a hot and steamy Sunday afternoon I could see a small trailer parked way up on a hill past the cool barn that had smoke Bellowing out from inside the big bbq pits. I called Phil the guy who was in charge of setting up the harvest host travelers. “See the dirt road near the bulldozer” he says, “drive up that road towards the big hay barn. The big field on top of that hill is all yours..enjoy” then hangs up before I have the chance to say thank you or…

  • Stories from the Road

    Because one is always nearer by not keeping still

    “….because one is always nearer by not keeping still..” My plan was pretty simple, I was going to ride off on two wheels watching the setting sun behind me in my mirrors. Capturing moments thru my face shield of my helmet, writing about all my experiences with the twist of my wrist! Ride into small towns I’ve never heard of but only seen on maps. Maybe kiss a few strange girls along the way. Hoping to find my last 1st kiss. I won’t think about the nexts days path until I find myself on it. Ending each day in a new physical location but in the same place in my…

  • Stories from the Road

    Dancing Tree on the Trans MA Trail

    I took this photo 2 years ago today, I like to call it the dancing girl tree. It’s one of my favorites photos from my motorcycle rides I’ve taken. If you look closely, or better yet let your focus go, use some of your imagination and you might see Jennifer Grey being lifted by Patrick Swayze in the movie Dirty Dancing . You’ll find this tree along the Trans Mass Trail, a fantastic route put together by Keith (Hulked up) a motorcyclist from Greeenfield Mass. It’s a collection of dirt roads strung together starting in Greenfield ending just over the CT line in the town of Norfolk. You can google…

  • Stories from the Road

    Taking no risks is risky

    Taking no risk is the biggest risk! Riding down this lonely back road in Western MA, a road I’ve been on a thousand times but in some way for the very 1st time on this day.  I came across this little pond with a small bench, just inviting strangers to sit for a minute and enjoy the view. There were no houses around, no small summer camps that seem to belong to this one small spot.  However, someone placed this bench here and I’m pleased they did.  See it was early spring of 2021.  I was riding down this road heading for a quick little get away by myself.  Just…

  • Stories from the Road

    Romance in Motorcycles

    One of my favorite authors is Peter Egan, His style of writing invites you to join him in his journeys. He writes in a column style, or short story style. In one he wrote..” there is real romance in motorcycling, and its always recognized by a certain type of individual who values adventure above security and comfort. Luckily, every generation seems to produce a surprising number of these people “ Its in the spirit of that romance that I usually find myself flipping thru the pages of one of my paper maps wondering what is out there. Or reading a story of an adventure someone did and finding a map…

  • Stories from the Road

    Café Racer Dreams

    I’ve always been a lover of performance motorcycles. It was hard for me to understand the whole beauty before function idea. However I never judged or had issue with what other people got out of their two wheeled passions, just wasn’t my thing.   I saw beauty in gold Ohlins suspension. Or carbon fiber bodywork. When Yamaha came out with the 5 valve genesis motor, or Honda with the trick oval piston NR750 things like that is what stirred my passion with motorcycles. When café racers started to replace the choppers i was so excited. Let’s reduce weight , increase performance make them handle well and yes, they can make…

  • Stories from the Road

    The Many Lives of a Cup of Coffee

    The many lives of a cup of coffee Why does coffee taste different in different environments, Or does it? To me there are many ways to enjoy the 2nd most popular beverage in the world. It fits nicely between tea and beer. How many times have you said “ let’s stop for a cup of coffee” or made plans to meet someone “ for a cup of Joe?” Let’s face it we Americans drink more Java then any other country in the world, and you know why? It taste damn good! Even better when your one two wheels ! Trust me it does. There is something special about stopping for…

  • Stories from the Road

    Die Young as Late as You Can

    The idea is to die young as late as possible. Several years ago I was taking pictures of my yellow duck in a field near the center of Lincoln MA. The bike was way up on a small hill and I was 200 yds away near the road snapping photos. I heard a car stop behind me, and when I turned around and looked this older gentleman was snapping photos of me. I thought maybe he was a town official, or retired Police officer and he was going to inform me I shouldn’t be parked there. But to my surprise when I waved to him He commented what a great…