Training Runs

The Regenerative Power of Motorcycling Back Roads

While healing from war, divorce, and career shifts, I ventured on 15 motorcycle Training Runs between 1982 and 2002. My excursions, all taken on street bikes, are recounted here. The journals chronicling these adventures reflect how the accumulated mileage cleansed my mind and nurtured growth. Several journeys were undertaken while on furlough from the soul-deadening perils of industry—discharging CPA duties as chief financial officer for two mid-sized companies. It is not difficult to forget the office when losing the battle to a mud-soaked mesa above Red River, New Mexico, or successfully navigating a BMW K100 RS along a four-wheel drive road over 12,640-foot Cinnamon Pass in Colorado. Also, riding four hours and covering only six miles—bouncing along a rocky streambed masquerading as a road—epitomizes occasional bad judgment. There is a thin line between adventure and stupid. This book is neither a travel/guidebook nor a historical treatise, but a string of vignettes that present an emotional passage. Ride along and explore landscapes of nature and people while learning the importance of listening to your heart and soul. When in the past someone asked me what I did, I responded that I was a CPA, loved photography, and wrote a little on the side. Now when somebody asks the question, I tell them I’m a writer, photographer, motorcycle rider, and jeep driver who does a little accounting on the side.