Passes & Canyons Blog

A day on that California trip.

I knew things had gone too far when my 86-year-old mother told me she won’t be flying any more if it means they’re going to pat her down all over, as in everywhere. Which, of course, is exactly what they did to me when I flew home from California a few weeks ago. Using profiling to decide who to search may not be the best idea, but can’t we at least agree that there are some people who we can reverse-profile out of being searched?

So what does this have to do with motorcycles? It’s all about transportation choices. I want to say right up front that I owe the idea for this piece in part to Bruce Arnold, who runs http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/, and his recent post, Motorcycle Touring Mathematics 102: X-Raying Your Junk vs. X-Treme Riding Pleasure. In this post, Bruce compares the example of flying from Miami to Atlanta to riding there on a motorcycle. He looks at time, cost, and dignity. By his calculations, riding would take about 3 hours longer but cost a little less. He goes on:

The trade-offs to consider, however, go beyond time and money. Given the choice, for instance, how would you rather spend an entire day: Subjecting yourself to the pains of being processed, inspected, stamped and transported like so much meat? Or enjoying the pleasures of the wind in your face, a thundering engine beneath you, and the open road ahead of you? And what about privacy and practicality? Would you rather pack what you really wanted and needed to take with you, or worry about whether your shaving cream, pocket knife or party favors will make it through security? And last but not least, just how much individual freedom and personal dignity are you willing to sacrifice in return for a questionable promise of protection from some ethereal “terrorist threat” that may or may not exist?

On that recent trip to California that I mentioned my first intention was to ride out there. Time was not an issue. This is what I do for a living. I don’t have to take time off to ride my motorcycle, it’s my job. And riding to Southern California would be a great road trip. Why would I not ride?

Well, the answer, as it turned out, was money. I was able to get tickets from Denver to LA and from Oakland to Denver for such incredibly low fares that it was the only logical thing to do. I would have spent more on gas than I did for plane fare, and that doesn’t even include motels for three nights out and three nights back. So I flew and I got groped. And make no mistake about it, the security folks will deny it, but if you fly one-way rather than round-trip you will always get pulled aside for extra screening.

I couldn’t agree more on the idea of riding as your first choice, though I’m also well aware, as is Bruce, of the factors that time, distance, and weather often play in determining whether this option is really an option. Those caveats acknowledged, Bruce’s math does makes sense when riding is a possibility, and more and more people are figuring this out. Even some people opting for cars instead of motorcycles. As security increases and the time you waste in airports increases, the numbers will only favor ground transportation even more.

Hey, here’s a thought: Let’s build some high-speed passenger railroads. Then while most other folks are blasting across the country at near-warp speed, I’ll be putting down the highway on my motorcycle. Maybe you’d like to join me from time to time.

Biker Quote for Today

And I to my motorcycle Parked like the soul of the junkyard Restored, a bicycle fleshed With power, and tore off Up Highway 106 continually Drunk on the wind in my mouth Wringing the handlebar for speed Wild to be wreckage forever. — James Dickey

Some people just like riding alone.

We met Sharon in Crater Lake National Park last week, sharing a four-plex cabin. Of course I took note instantly that one of our neighbors was on a Harley, and the fact that it had a Maryland plate make it that much more interesting. First I saw this middle-aged woman fiddling with the bags and assumed she was riding behind someone else. Then it became clear she was by herself. You bet I had to talk to her.

Sharon took early retirement and bought a motorcycle. Then she decided to take a long trip. “When will you be home?” her family asked. “When I get tired of riding,” she replied. She agreed with me that that might be never.

Yes, she had come from Maryland, the long way around. It was not her intent setting out but she was essentially doing a four-corners ride, having started by coming down the East Coast, then across the southern U.S., and was now going up the West Coast. After all this time alone she was going to meet up with a friend in Portland and another soon after that. Then she would be heading to Colorado.

“Are you going to the Steel Horse Sisterhood conference?” I asked.

Her jaw dropped. Up to this point I had not mentioned anything about the fact that I also ride a motorcycle.

“How do you know about that?” she asked. And yes, she is going to the event.

So I filled her in. Told her I’d be seeing her again in a few weeks.

Then we talked motorcycles. Of course. She asked if Judy rides and I told her only behind me–she’s afraid she’d crash and kill herself if she was operating the bike.

“Fear stops so many,” Sharon acknowledged.

But obviously it doesn’t stop Sharon. She was 5,000 miles and counting and wasn’t even thinking about heading home yet. I had to ask her if she knows Alisa Clickenger, one of the most gutsy women riders I know, and she said not in person but by email. She’s looking forward to meeting Alisa in person at the conference. I think they’ll have a lot to talk about.

As we pulled out Sharon was walking by and I called out to her, “See you in Loveland!”

“See you in Loveland!” she replied. And we will, very soon.

Biker Quote for Today

That road is fabulous, I wish to test it.