I added it up a while back. 12,000 on the two Sprints, 41,000 on the first Sportster, 9,500 on the second, 55,000 on the FXRS, and 72,000 on the dresser. All mileage numbers are approximate of course. 34 years in the saddle, not one year, 34 times. What a long strange trip it's been. Don't really have any bad memories, just a few people and places I could do without seeing again, and a whole lot I look forward to seeing again.

All those wonderful mind pictures: sundown in the Badlands, sunrise in the hills, the beauty of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the change of colors in the Painted Desert, Mesa Verde, Yosemite, the high desert of Nevada, the expanse of the Great Plains, high in the Smokies with just the mountain tops peeking out of the clouds, the California coastline, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, the lakes states, the midwest, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Virginias, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisianna, Florida, and the rust belt. Maryland, Deleware, Pennsylvania. Canada, and old Mexico. Still gotta get to the PNW and NE. Some day, some day.

And the people, lots of smiles, plenty of friendly talk: where you from, where you going? nice day. Nice looking bike. I/my gramp/dad/brother/uncle had one. Old men sharing memories, young kids with the shy smiles, the long looks, and the quick grin when you wave. The pretty girls, and the interesting women. The friends you make and never see again, and the ones you see every year or so, out there. The little roadside places with the best cheeseburgers and coldest beer in the world.

Camping on the Yellowstone/Arkansaw/Animas river, cooking over an open fire, listening to the water as it runs by. A billion stars at night. Burning up in the heat, drowning in the rain, freezing in the cold, and loving every minute of it. Sometimes you've got somebody to share it with, sometimes it's just you and the sound of the engine, and either way it's just fine.

I've had the opportunity and privilege to see this great country without it being framed by a windshield, meet the finest of people and share the finest of times because I ride a motorcycle. It's cost me a fair amount, but it would be cheap at twice the price. Biker? I don't know, and I don't care, but I am a rider, and I am proud of that.

The big easy. Waxing philosophic as the calendar makes another turn. Merrell Wasson <2fat2fly@prodigy.net> ... #39

Editor's Note: Thanks Merrell, for a great piece of wordsmithing. This is why I ride.