After a couple successful outings on my Yamaha FJR1300 during Memorial Day weekend, I decided to try out a couple loop routes the next weekend that I had created on Google Maps . The routes included some roads I had ridden before — though that was five or more years ago — but I was…… Continue reading Unexpected Fun: My End of May Rides

With travel restrictions in Ohio freshly lifted, I was ready to put a few hundred miles on my 2008 Yamaha FJR1300 during this year’s Memorial Day weekend. Though I didn’t achieve the 700 miles I had hoped to ride, I ended up getting a chance to ride with a friend/re-entry rider; got to ride one…… Continue reading Ride Report: Memorial Day Weekend 2020

Despite chilly conditions, I used Saturday afternoon to take my first “real” motorcycle ride of 2020–my traditional season-opening run to Beaverdam, Ohio. While the ride over mostly flat terrain was cold and unimaginative, the shakedown cruise went smoothly–spare realizing I had forgotten to reinstall a couple small parts–and Jadzia the Yamaha FJR1300 is now ready…… Continue reading Ride Report: Beaverdam and Back 2020

If my last post was a homer article, this one is a hometown article. Upstate New York is where I grew up, as well as where I learned to ride a motorcycle after I got my license at age 23. My family is from the Rochester area, and I went to college/graduate school in Buffalo…… Continue reading My Favorite Motorcycling Roads in Upstate New York

This is a bit of a homer piece, but Ohio isn’t as flat and boring as many think. Yes, large parts of central, western and northeast Ohio are well-glaciated terrain, but southeast Ohio is home to some of the best motorcycling roads I’ve ridden.  Here–in no particular order–are a few of my favorite Ohio motorcycling…… Continue reading My Favorite Motorcycling Roads in Ohio

Museums aren’t the only history-themed stops I like to make on a tour. While many landmarks lack some of the amenities that museums offer—like shelter from the elements—their existence marks a place or event that has been memorialized in the minds of other people. That, by itself, should give us reason to pause and take…… Continue reading My Favorite Touring Destinations, Part 4 (Landmarks)

The tone of media coverage of motorcycling is, all too often, not reflective of the vast majority of the riding community. Shows like Sons of Anarchy bring the one-percent lifestyle to living rooms across the nation and plenty of local media outlets produce daily stories about riders who are hurt in crashes or groups of…… Continue reading How You Can Help Improve Motorcycling’s Image

One article about the best museums I’ve visited just wasn’t enough. Without further ado, here’s eight more museums that I’d recommend making stops on your next two-wheeled tour. Louisville Slugger Museum Location: Louisville, Tenn. Website: https://www.sluggermuseum.com/ As far as traditional museums go, this one hits it out of the park. The museum portion teaches you…… Continue reading My Favorite Touring Destinations, Part 3 Con’t (Museums)

Some of my favorite touring destinations are museums. For those who are lifelong learners, there’s nothing quite like stopping into an institution that is dedicated to preserving a particular set of knowledge and gleaning everything you can from it. I’ve probably learned almost as much about the history of the United States from stopping at…… Continue reading My Favorite Touring Destinations, Part 3 (Museums)