Back in 1989 Craig and I first met as we entered Army Officer Candidate School and began our careers as military officers. Now almost 30 years later we are still friends and one of us was smart enough to get out of the military, I’ll let you guess which one of us that was. All these years later we are still friends and still seem to challenge each other to try crazy things.
Two years ago on the Fourth of July Craig and I were sitting around with out wives and he made an offhand comment how we should ride motorcycle around the entire Michigan Upper Peninsula, and I needed to get a dirt bike. I looked at him and said, “You better be serious, because I’m getting a bike to do this.” Two weeks later I rolled a used 2013 KTM 350 EXC-F into my garage and trip planning began. On Labor Day weekend we took off and spent the next week riding through the UP staying off road as much as possible and camping off our bikes. Great fun was had, through the mud, the rain, the falls, the laughs, and the gorgeous land of the upper peninsula. We covered almost 1200 miles during that week and almost all of it was in the dirt.
That brings us to this week as we are about to leave on a new adventure. A few months ago Craig and I may have been sharing a few beers and came up with the bright idea to take $1500 and fly to somewhere at least 1500 miles away, attempt to buy used bikes and then ride them home in no more than 5 days. A couple issues arose.
First, how do we convince the wives to let us spend the money? How do we convince them we need another bike, when there are already three in the garage, and then how do you explain that it’s truly a good idea to buy a plane ticket and fly to Dallas? Yep that took some explaining and the caveat that the bike should be sold once we return home.
Second, time off work…handled. Then coming up with the money since we’d need money for bikes, hotel, rental car, oh and I may have bought a piece or two of new gear to wear. My wife laughed at me as I tried on a new pair of motorcycle pants and made the statement that the gear I’d be wearing will cost more than the bike I’ll be riding. She’s got a point there.
So here we are a few days from leaving and we’ve decided to document our trip and make this as fun as we can. We fly to Dallas Tuesday night and hope to start bike shopping first thing Wednesday morning. Craig and I will both be sharing our thoughts and pictures as we go! Come along for an adventure, because life is about the ride not the destination!
$1500 road trip challenge 
That’s a crazy idea! But I know you are just crazy enough to make it work! Have a blast and be careful!!
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This reminds me of my dad. Not as “crazy” perhaps, but I think the spirit is very similar. He took a road trip on his bike almost every year when I was growing up with a good buddy of his. I forget his name at the moment. But almost every year, he’d load up his bike with a trunk of necessities, his tent and sleeping bag and hit the highways; while mom loaded my brother and I up in the car and we headed for Kansas to visit family.
While they took the highway and stayed mostly in KOA camp grounds, my dad and his buddy have been to almost every National Park, up and down the East and West Coast, and even to Canada together. (Where a lady hit my dad and Big Red was totaled. But he was fine thanks to his helmet, and he got to buy Ole Blue. Man, that bike was pretty. Or was it The Silver Bullet? Or Black Beauty? …no that one was the Harley Road King.) My dad loved Gold Wings. He bought his first one with his tax return when I was about six or seven years old. I remember how excited he was. He rode other bikes before that, but I don’t remember much about them. One broke down when he was going to school at Red Rocks College and I remember mom and us kids had to go get him. That one had a chain on it that had broken. And it wasn’t near as big as a Gold Wing; especially with the fancy fairing and the saddle bags and whatnot.
He kept riding them ever after; until he bought the Harley. Mom didn’t like that one. She said the seat was too uncomfortable, it was too loud and whatever else. Definitely not the touring bike the Gold Wing was. Which made it cool the summer he and mom rode the Gold Wing and my brother and I got to ride the Harley and we took a road trip up to Cripple Creek for my first time. (I lived in New Mexico at the time and was in Colorado visiting them-I didn’t live in Colorado-yet!.) At one point, my brother gave that Harley full throttle, and I thought I was going to fall off the back! Man, that was fun! (After I realized I wasn’t gonna die.) But, a year or so later, dad sold the Harley, cuz mom didn’t like it and wouldn’t really ride it with him; and he kept the Gold Wing. He said it didn’t really make much sense for him to have two bikes anyway. But, I knew he was kinda sad about it.
As my dad’s health began to fail, the Gold Wing was sold and he rode a little moped around town. I would pass him on the road sometimes, and thing, how cute, and how sad–he had to miss his Gold Wings. And when the doctors gave him only a couple more years, the moped was given to the grandkids and he rides a lawnmower around the property. Sorry, I’m getting teary eyed and too nostalgic! LOL
Anyway, it’s those motorcycles and the rides my dad would always take me on that I would and will remember most about my dad. Even as a teenager, he and I would go drag Main St. on his Gold Wing together in Lander. Boy would I hear comments about it at school the next day! “I saw you dragging Main on the back of a motorcycle….with a guy who looked kind of old.” They would say. “That was my dad!” I would say. I was proud of him and the fact that he would spend that time with me. We didn’t have a lot of father-daughter time otherwise. I had no problem dragging Main and being seen with him.
My dad loved his bikes and his bikes trips, and I loved hearing his stories about what he saw, or how he and Kenny did this or that. Oh! His buddy’s name was Kenny! Haha! But mostly, I loved the way my dad would light up over it all. I loved seeing him like that.
I look forward to hearing and seeing more about your trip! I like to live vicariously through others, since I am never in a position to do a lot of the cool things others get to do.
If you happen through the Ozark National Forest, be sure to wave our direction as you ride through! We live on top of Weddington Mountain about 8 miles Northwest-ish of Weddington Lake. Of course, these mountains aren’t like being in the Rockies, but they have a beauty all their own through these winding roads. I have come to love the rich foliage, the big craggy rocks, the dirt roads, the coyotes and the deer, the berries and grapes growing wild, the flowers everywhere in bloom, and watching the lightening bugs as the evening cools down….
Safe travels my friend, and hope you have a blast. May your face light up when you talk about this for years to come. 🙂
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That’s a fantastic write up and exactly why I ride. I love the adventure and making memories.
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Thanks! Glad you liked it! I like to write but…I’m rather long winded! Haha
Rather enjoying this idea of yours! Love your spirit too!
Stay safe!
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