Rarely do I ride 1,800 miles just because a stranger suggests an awesome ride, but I had just met a fellow rider, Scott, in Springerville, AZ, and he was already persuading me to take a ride near his home in Utah. He called it the Nebo Loop, but it’s also known as the Mount Nebo […]

The tires were humming along to the cadence of our favorite adventure tune, and I was lost in reverie. It had been just 16 years ago that I gave birth to my favorite pillion, who was riding with me now for the first time. There was no greater gift that I could think to bestow […]

“Whether one moves slowly or with speed, the one who is a seeker will be a finder.”—Rumi— A couple of years ago I was touring Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with my friend Ken and his wife Cindy. I used the occasion to extend a solo trip and rode south through several state parks to meet […]

People outside of the motorcycle community often think that our beloved hobby is mainly about the motorcycle and its mechanics. In reality, among the more important aspects of riding are keeping in touch with other riders and being part of social riding groups. Motorcycling, like other high-skill outdoor activities, such as sailing and skydiving, can […]

I’m on historic US Route 66 heading east for a small village nestled next to the Rio Grande in New Mexico called La Joya. Each year, I make this journey across the wild west, past little communities and towns with interesting names: Newberry Springs, Oatman, Cool Springs, Valentine, Peach Springs, Twin Arrows, Two Guns. They […]

Motorcycles have become very reliable, but occasionally problems still happen. If the engine stalls on the road, get to a safe place. If it’s losing oil pressure or overheating, stop immediately. Engines need compression, gas, and spark to run; you must determine which is lacking. Most stalls and no-starts are caused by minor problems like […]

When my daughter was little, maybe six or seven, I took her outside on a summer night and we climbed a ladder up to the roof of our house to look at the moon and stars. I’ll never forget it; she looked at me with wide eyes and said, “are we allowed to?” I said, […]

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are used in all sorts of common portable devices, including cordless power tools, cell phones, laptops, and tablets. Lithium-ion cells have made nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries outmoded, and lithium-ion batteries are making inroads into the motorcycle market. The safest lithium-ion battery chemistry used for starting engines is lithium ferrous phosphate (LiFePO4), […]

Digital transformation and disruptive technologies are concepts that we’ve all experienced very strongly in the last 20 years. Some traditional business models have been shattered to pieces and ceased to exist. New ideas that started as tiny and harmless worms have developed into either beautiful butterflies or dangerous monsters, depending on your point of view. […]

Humans are not the strongest, fastest, biggest, or most agile species. However, Homo sapiens excels at one particular feature more than any other creature that has ever lived: exchange of accurate, meaningful, and rich information by way of conversation, either verbal or via gestures or other body language. Some other species have the ability to […]

I had other ideas for this column, but today I find myself unable to write a single word about anything other than the loss of my dear friend Bob Walden, who died tragically in a motorcycle accident in August in Virginia. Bob and I met through RoadRUNNER after his complimentary letter about one of my […]

In the 2009 documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Director Ken Burns spoke about the grandeur of a world known as Yellowstone National Park, as well as less familiar National Park Service areas, such as Abó Ruins, an integral part of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in New Mexico. Burns once said: “We are […]