Demenshea's 2008 Summer Tour
Posted by motowriter on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 (21:19:55) (74 reads)

Donna is on the road! Ms. Demenshea / Mrs. Motowriter left Reno for parts north on July 1 and has uploaded some photos from her ride out of Reno, up to Oregon and into Montana. While waiting for Mrs. M to get her own write-up together, we welcome you to partake in some unannotated photos of the Summer trip so far...

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Renting a Piece of Arizona's Moto Roads
Posted by motowriter on Monday, October 08, 2007 (00:23:05) (192 reads)

In the 15 years I’ve been working in Information Technology I’ve been fortunate in not having to travel for business more than a couple of times a year. Motorcycle travel is the antithesis of “business travel,” an oxymoron in which “travel” is a typically hurried affair involving disorienting taxi rides, the perp walk through airport security, and a daily dose of bad coffee from the in-room 2-cup “service”. The “business” flavor takes any modicum of pleasure out of “travel”.

After starting a new job at the beginning of 2007 I was sent twice in the course of a month for training classes at my company’s training facility in Phoenix. First I spent a week in class, lodged across the street from the company office with no transportation to escape the little corner of sprawling metropolitan Phoenix I called home for a week. But as compensation for a week’s stay at a run-down Ramada Inn, my wife flew down to Phoenix so we could rent a couple of bikes and do a little touring of the Arizona desert with our friends Renee/Backmarker and her pet man Bruce.

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In Search of Fall
Posted by demenshea on Friday, September 28, 2007 (20:01:09) (155 reads)

In the Nevada desert autumn quietly tiptoes across the wind-swept sage and you wake up one morning to the sure sign of colder weather to come, when the desert sage blooms for miles in every direction. The sullen summer green is replaced by vibrant yellow to ochre hues filling the air with a dusky aroma as the branches celebrate, dancing in the breeze. With the inevitable change in the air, I took a couple of days to get out on the bike in search of fall.

Nothing quite compares to this sudden transformation, although I am certain the glorious seasonal change in New England must be magnificent. (I have never experienced a fall in the Midwest or New England and suppose that is yet another adventure I must undertake -- yet another addition to my list of "musts" that's got to cover at least a decade of constant motorcycle riding!) Fall brings introspection for me, a time when I think about life’s experiences and challenges and the goals I have yet to achieve. As each year rolls by I perceive myself further seasoned as more and more white waltzes into my darkened locks. Considering a future in a world that sends away their old to be ignored and forgotten, I ponder and ride my motorbike.

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Demenshea's 7-State 2-Province Summer Getaway
Posted by demenshea on Saturday, September 15, 2007 (23:52:04) (204 reads)

I love motorcycle adventures. I love the anticipation and preparation and the subsequent glow upon returning home after another successful journey. I love the human interaction while traveling. I love the freedom most of all. The freedom to take a deep breath of daring, exposing the underbelly of desire sleeping within, then setting it free with a grin.

Grinning, I mounted my trusty moto-steed and headed north solo, embarking on a 14-day adventure to visit country I had yet to experience. My GPS held a healthy dose of craziness covering 7 states and 2 provinces. Nearly 2600 miles, a less than daunting sum for the serious Iron Butt explorer, I'm not an IBA member, to be honest, and I started with a bit of apprehension over the substantial mileage.

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ATPATT - All the Posturing, All the Time
Posted by motowriter on Saturday, September 15, 2007 (21:02:01) (132 reads)

Those who frequent online discussion venues dedicated to riding will be all too familiar with the term ATGATT: “All the gear, all the time”. ATTGATT pops up in nearly every forum topic relating to a motorcycle accident (crash, get-off, etc.). Inevitably, the rider who’s survived to discuss their own crash will pay homage to ATGATT. If I hadn’t been wearing a leather jacket, we read…

Equally inevitable is the story, generally posted online by an outside observer, of the rider who went down wearing jeans and sneakers, whose legs suffered horrific road rash, or who broke a foot--completely preventable, we’re assured, if the downed rider had only been an adherent to ATGATT. The original story might or might not include a criticism of the gear the rashed rider was wearing.

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