It appears we’ve hit a ‘record’ weather week with clear skies, little wind, and perfect road conditions although today is a holiday so the highways were a tad busy.
(By the way Mayor Mandell - in the four riding days so far in mountain countries we’ve seen ‘nary’ a pothole so it CAN be done!)
We road from Northern France this morning back through a section of the Black Forest, ending up in Switzerland.
We stopped for some ‘authentic’ Black Forest cake in Germany and some of the guys grabbed some Black Mountain Ham - which has the most beautiful aroma you can imagine when you walk in to the little cafe on the mountain.
Today my mind was on inspiration and in studying our other riders all who have come from very different scenarios.
The prime motivator is Jack Cartright from southern California. Jack is 76 years old and travels all over the world ‘riding’ motorcycles by himself. He reminds me of Jack Palance - a good sized man - rugged - and totally ‘in shape’ as he rides his bicycle ‘at least 100 miles a week.‘ His sense of humour is immense and can tell stories til the cows come home.
Then there’s Ray and Teresa Silva, the only Harley Riders in the group, and they’ve taken a fair amount of ‘fun’ heat about that fact but he’s a hell of a rider and keeps up with the BMW’s easily.
On the back of Ray’s jacket you can see his inspiration - a cancer survivor.
The two “Johns” are Dentists and it’s their first trip over to Europe. Both are as wide eyed at the rest of us about the stunning topography; the amazing ‘new’ foods; and the head clearing two wheel feeling you get on a ride like this.
Patricia and Stan Hickle from Hanna, Alberta have had the toughest time as they have had a few ‘spills’ due to the fact that they are both self described ‘big people’ and are riding a much smaller bike in the BMW 1200 than what they are used to on their Honda Gold Wing. They too have property in Arizona.
Every time Patricia ‘falls over’ she gets up with a laugh and hops right back on the bike. Today they bumped into Jenn (our guides) while making a turn and both bikes hit the tarmac. Little damage and as Jenn says “shit happens.”
Another ‘almost’ bad accident happened when one of the kids from Taiwan was waiting by the roadside. A car came past him and ‘clipped’ the side of his bike sheering the turn signal clear off - then the car kept on going. The kid was fine but again both incidents remind you of how vulnerable you are out there on the road.
I’d have to guess the ratio of motorcycles to cars is close to 50% over here - so cars and trucks are quite used to bikes on the road, mostly giving us lots of space, but there have been a few times when we’ve had to be ‘very’ aware of traffic conditions on the motorcycles.
Today I decided ‘not’ to use the term “Bucket List” anymore - simply because it has a finality to it.
I’m going to call it the “Dream List” because this surely is a dream that I’ve had for many many years - and when you sit here at the end of the day ‘bagged’ from riding and look out at the beautiful homes, churches, castles, and buildings it’s just such a positive feeling that you get rushing through your head.
Many people say I’m lucky - and for that I concur - but by having a list of things you really desire as a basis to ‘getting it done’ truly is a blessing and I’m allready thinking about the next place in the world I’d like to visit.
Even though language is an issue the people who have all helped, or served us, along the way have truly been great and congenial.
Sometimes it’s just fun pointing at something on a menu and saying ‘lets go for it’ - to discover yet another delight from this part of the world.
The other aspect that is forefront all the time for me is the fact that my late step father Mike Sheehy lost his leg in the Second World War fighting for our freedom. I wish he was alive now so I could ‘truly’ thank him for his sacrifice for I ‘most likely’ would not appreciate the gift of travel like I do.
Plus - if indeed we all are reincarnated in the future - I promise to pay attention in school the next time around because there is ‘so much’ to learn from the past.
This has been ‘great’ - with more to come.
The Tres Amigos do Europe 2011 tour hits Lietchenstein and Austria tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment