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Gunfight at the O.K.idney Corral
Everyone—at least most of us ‘muricans— knows Tombstone, Arizona. Maybe you saw the Kurt Russel/Val Kilmer movie back in the day when you went to see Jurassic Park and it was sold out. Maybe you visited the town as a kid during a “Great American RV Trip” with your parents, and you still have a…
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An Urbane Adventure
Greetings motorized tweed lovers, Goodyear welt-wishers, suspender fetishists, bowtie buffs and Members of the Loyal Order of the Pocket Square. This one is for you. For many riders, motorcycle adventuring has come to mean, almost definitionally, scrambling across hardscrabble terrain in far-off lands, riders clad neck-to-toe in armored, dust-crusted GoreTex spacesuits, their peaked helmet-visors pointing towards…
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Getting Your Ya-Yas Out
Since I’m the proud owner of a 2013 Yamaha Super Tenere, I guess I’m a data point in Yamaha’s CRM database, which would explain why I received an email invite to their “Demo Days” at Stamford Motorsports last spring. So on the appointed date—an otherwise grey and drizzly Saturday morning—I threw my riding kit into the…
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Starling on the Slipstream
What the hell do starlings have to do with motorbikes? Here’s what. From Wikipedia: Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds; the species familiar to most people in Europe and North America is the common starling. Starlings have strong feet, their flight is strong and direct, and they are very gregarious. From the band Pavement: I…
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March Mapleness
When in March, most people’s thoughts turn to Madness. Mine turn to Mapleness. Not that I’m a basketball hater or anything. It’s just that there’s something about maple sap running down collection tubes—nature whispering about winter’s looming demise, and a sure harbinger of spring—that’s more exciting to me than a bunch of college guys running up and down…
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Ski and Ride
Skiing. Riding. Riding. Skiing. With the possible exception of surfing, eating Twizzlers, or doing the New York Times Sunday crossword, they’re easily two of my favorite things to do on this green and white earth. Some of these life-loves can easily be enjoyed in the span of a single day. But not skiing and riding. Twizzlers and crosswords? Easy-peasy—I…
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Airhead Ambling
It was a dark and stormy Sunday. What else to do but grab your bike and go for a ride? Once again, thanks to global warming, temperatures hovered in the mid-to-high fifties today—in mid-January. The only downside was the downpour and high winds, which made the Southport and Westport beaches pretty dramatic. The riding occasionally so, too. A few…
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2015: The Year in Rear View
‘Tis the season of the 5″x7″ personalized state-of-the-union address. Rejoice! Unless you happen to have a mild Grinch-streak and unlimited-space motoblog, in which case you’re rejoicing at the opportunity to dissect the holiday card phenomenon while you simultaneously indulge in it. (I may be a hypocrite, but at least I’m self-aware and honest). So here’s the thing. Every December, our…
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Ich bin ein Luftkopfer
Well, I done did it. After about a decade of web-surfing, forum-lurking, Craigslist-checking, and general Beemer-fantasizing, I finally did it. I took the plunge and got myself an airhead (luftkopf in German). For the uninitiated and to be clear, airhead does not refer to a bimbo trophy wife, at least not here. While airheads do inspire…
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Mission Planet Utah: Stage 2
Ground Control to Major Tom….Ground Control to Major Tom…. Take your protein pills… and put your helmet on… Ground Control to Major Tom (Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six) Commencing countdown, engines on (Five, Four, Three) Check ignition and may God’s love be with you… On Tuesday, we awoke in Sector Torrey to a motel room…
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Longitude & Gratitude 