The Mothership

1999 BMW K1200LT

The Mothership! In the world of motorcycles this is a Large bike. Among a couple of my Motorcycle acquaintances we don't think the LT stands for luxury tour but instead means large truck. It is almost impossible for me to lift it off it's side if I loose concentration when sitting still and let the weight go too far to one side or the other. The joke is that if I let it fall over at a stop sign I would have to call a tow truck. When loaded and fueled and I am riding it, the weight is approaching one thousand pounds! But the upside to all that weight is the absolute stability moving down the road and a surprising amount of agility on the mountain passes around here.

       I came to be the caretaker of this BMW when my trombone guru moved on to a newer BMW R1200. I am so glad he needed a new bike because I really find this one a joy to go and carve roads on. Every time I head out on it I feel invited to just keep going.

       It has been a bucket list item for me to go on an extended solo motorcycle ride. Preferably up the Pacific "left coast" of the United States. So with an optimism that borders on foolish I plan on going on a three week wander out to LA and up the coast to Astoria Oregon and back here to Colorado. The foolishness is leaving by April Fools day and venturing forth in this unstable spring weather and hope to leave these mountains and return without driving in snowy conditions or days of continuous rain. The optimism is with this amount of time I can drive short days or stay somewhere a day to let weather pass and have to pleasure of exploring the beaches and hills of the Pacific Ocean coast.

      This preamble brings me to the point of this post. I have lately been trying to publish musing here, and I would like to try my hand at a daily post of my adventure. I would like these words that I post each day to be more than just a travelogue. More than a description of the geography I am passing through each day. I hope to pause in my daily travels early enough to have some writing time to describe the day and the joy of being out on the road on the Mothership. I expect to meet many wonderful people in this journey that belie what media seems to be professing we Americans are now. So this too is part of my optimism.  I shall go on record here, that I will endeavor to bring a positive image of this wonderful country I am about to travel through. 

       So stay tuned to this page, as later this week, I shall embark and share with you all my journeys away from this my home river.  I will see many other rivers as I transit the Great American West. 

I look forward to sharing.

Will by the River