On Thursday, I’m giving my first Ignite Seattle talk. It’s a light-hearted call for folks to take the motorcycle safety course wrapped around a pitch for driver awareness of two-wheelers. So I’ve been thinking about motorcycles even more than usual.
About this time of year, 10 years ago, I started thinking about riding in a fundraiser for breast cancer called the Pony Express. Originally, I was only going to ride the first leg: Seattle to San Francisco. I’d only been riding about 18 months; I’d ridden from Seattle to northern California in August 1999, but my friend J.C. and I took three days to make the trip. With urging and support from WetLeather, I decided to ride to St. Joseph, MO. But I wanted to do most of the ride solo. (I’m still not a fan of large organized rides.) I rode about 6,000 miles in two weeks (and with 1.25 back tires).
Sunday night, I re-read my travel log, which consisted of 31 emails (for a 16 day trip that included a three-day WetLeather campout) posted to the WetLeather mailing list. I was struck by how well the feeling of “newness” came through. I was also a bit boggled at how I found time to write such detailed missives! [Warning: the travel log contains motorcycle shorthand and insider-to-WetLeather references.]
I’m now thinking about an encore this year. Mike and I have talked about riding a four corners together (visit San Ysidro, CA; Blaine, WA; Madawaska, ME; and Key West, FL in a 21-day period). I’ve thought about putting together a ride to raise awareness about heart disease, since it is far more deadly to women than breast cancer. I remain uncertain as to details, but I think I want to do a meaningful ride this summer.
