Deja vu

Superstitions Close up and personal. 

Deja vu.

When I was a kid, riding around in Edmonton,  Alberta, Canada, on first my 1966 Honda S 90, and soon after, my 1968 Suzuki A-100 street scrambler. The feelings I felt, the incredible elation, the charge, the tingle on my skin when my engine fired, the freedom I felt, and later named my motorcycle business,

FREEDOM CYCLE...

can't be simply stated as this.

To this day, I feel the feeling.  I can't describe it. Like jumping into a crystal clear cold mountain lake  or seeing the sun rise or set, snow capped mountains, or really, really great sex... it's still there.

My ultra reliable Chinese built Adventure 150 scooter... like old Number Seven

It's a new year today.  The sun is bright and strong especially for a January winter day. There's little snow on the ground and of course, were anticipated a blustery blowing snowy December 31st. This morning I rose to a sunny day and little fresh snow.  Seemed like a bit of a gift, the extra day to do, well what ever I wanted.  Including this is my Blog and how far behind I've gotten.  Of course some of that is excusable, after all I have a new laptop and even though Tom did an expert job something's always get lost in the shuffle.  There's a lot of things stacked on there for a decade, not all of it retrievable.

For example, Tom says to me via tele... "I was able to save 46,000 pics..."

Man, can you imagine how much Kodak film I saved when digital came on stream!

Anyway, I digress.

I'm slowly getting back up to speed and I thought I would share a little tonight on the 1st of the new year.

Riding the Senator highway, Bradshaw mountains, early December. Yes I did make it through.

Reading Frank Conner(s) adventures had a lot to do with my own drive to ride.  FC wrote stories about riding bikes that often didn't seem suitable for what he was attempting but he made it work.  There were articles about the Superstitions, riding a Trail 90 to Florida from the West Coast or exploring Death Valley.

His travel stories made me think, dream of doing such things on my own but of course, living in Northern Albertan, working in the Oil Sands, getting a Red Seal (no it's not an animal)

When I bought a brand new BMW R60 in 1973 the trips became longer.  Waking in a Jasper Park campground with a foot of snow barely holding up under the weight of my tent, riding the Jasper Banff highway, over the pass, the people I met as I got older and began to put large amounts of miles on the odometer.

Cliff dwellings

As the years passed and I gained confidence and experience, always the dream of Frank Conner, the US south west and the Superstitions, in some ways haunting me.

The famous Painted Rocks

As often happens, one man's misfortune is another's dream come true.  As a financial advisor I had flexibility, I managed my money well and when the WW mortgage crashed in the markets I was ready and able to take advantage and bought a 1026 2 story condo in excellent shape only a few minutes walk from Glendale Community College. I paid cash, bought furniture, a scooter and shortly after a Yamaha XT 350 dual purpose bike.

Takin' a break on a hot fall day.

During the next few years, I tripled the mileage on the reliable Yamaha and rode not just pavement but back roads and trails that were often only remnants of such.  A flash flood or two and what was traversable by JEEP now was a challenge for my trail bike.

I rode everywhere, often overnight... had 5 stories published from the South West and countless Blogs.

ALL things must pass... and after 10 years of having a second home, and with some health issues, and insurance fences pressing, I decided to pull up stakes, drive from the East coast 5000 miles to the AZ desert, and bring back the few things I wanted to keep at my home in PEI Canada.

Getting some patio servicing, oil, filter, tires, chain and valve train... 

So... it's new years day, the year is 2020, truly science fiction territory and I am looking forward to continue riding and writing.

B 29 Enola Gay dropped the bomb on Hiroshima Aug 6 1945  (Pima Air museum)

In 10 years the one and only live Gila Monster I came across.  About 30" in length

D

A/C DOHC 4 V 6 speed transmission

I have several bikes still, some very versatile like my XT 600 others not so much  (like my TTR 125)

Stay tuned, I may not be on here as often but then again, maybe more so.  In some ways my writing may mimic Frank Conner's stories or maybe just a jaunt to the US east coast, maybe not the Superstitions but possibly the White mountains, certainly  New England, after all, last time I renewed my Passport I took the 10 year term and plan to get my monies worth.

So my friends... I will sign off with a Happy New Years to you all... keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.

My pal for many years... Boo! 

Cheers from the Doc