The Bostonian Abroad

A real "Mike" video if ever there was one!

Two years ago, I was a very new rider, and I was eager to get as much experience as I could on the road. At least, that is how I justified to myself the fact that I was riding in weather that is too cold to stand in, let alone ride a motorcycle! I have no such out this time around - two years later, 18,000 miles more experienced, and having no excuses to turn to. I simply have to admit to some form of mental dysfunction, or the simple incapacity to utilize rational thought. Perhaps it is just my base desire to affect some sort of macho posture: "I can ride in weather so cold, penguins step back and say, 'DAMN!'" I don't know what it is that has motivated me recently. All I know is that, the colder it has gotten, the more I've wanted to ride in it - and without a windshield!!! So the temperature dips down to the lowest level it has been in years. It's 18 degrees, and the meteorologist is warning everyone to stay inside lest their flesh freeze solid. ...

Here it is, the end of yet another year, and I'm feeling my typical chipper self: anti-interactional, nervous, and bored. This has actually been a banner year for me, as I am full-time where I work, meaning that I get some job security, a pension, and medical bennies (first time in my career!). I also paid off my credit card debt, which was really vexing to me for a long time - but no more!! The drawbacks have been emotional, mostly. I've been fighting what my mother calls the Irish Melancholy. I also have a penchant for being alone, which means friends have to be very patient with me. Seems I don't have much room in my life except for my wife and my pooches. But I'm generally happy about this, except that I keep having these pangs and guilty feelings at not being more social. I'm hoping that either I'll get more social, or I'll just stop feeling these pangs. Then there is the wife being downsized. The economy has definitely affected us. I lost part...

Watched some videos recently on youtube. That site is my porn, especially when it comes to Harley Davidson. On crappy days when there is no hope of riding, or when I have a free moment at work, I like to look up new and different versions of what I have, or I even scope out bikes I'd like to own some day. One thing I've noticed both in the videos and the comments on videos is how many people hate Harley Davidson. When I looked up videos of the Blue Ridge Parkway, I saw all kinds of comments about how Harleys are junk, the company is junk, the riders are all followers and faux bad-asses, and how real men ride crotch-rockets that can go from zero to a billion in a tenth of a second. I looked up videos of Ultra Classic Electra Glides and found comments on how this or that guy traded it in for a Honda Gold Wing so that he could, "keep up with my wife." I even ran into one of these hate-mongers in the parking lot at the gym. I was getting on my bike and a rice rocket...