Why?

This blog is about the cross country motorcycle trip I've been planning for a long time. A really long time. I lot of people I've talked to about this trip (family, friends, co-workers, guys on the street), keep asking me "Why?" So I thought I'd dedicate the first post to the primary reason. Obsession....really.

When I was 14 I became obsessed with a book about motorcycles. It used as a primary plot device the story of a 17 day motorcycle trip across the US. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig is about metaphysics, relationships, facing your past, and motorcycles. It's two-thirds memoir and one third philosophy, with the philosophy focused on reconciling "classical" vs "romantic" thinking. While I've read the book many times the reason I always came back to it had more to do with the motorcycles than any kind of real interest in philosophy.

Flashing forward thirty years I have a real motorcycle, 2 weeks of vacation, a brother willing to accompany me and a detailed itinerary from Seattle, WA to Leonardtown, MD. I'm blaming ZAMM for putting this idea in my head when I was 14.

We leave from Seattle on June 9th. We hope to be home (Sean to Atlanta and me to MD) by the 20th of June. We have stops planned for Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Sturgis, and any other interesting places that we can manage along the way. Yes, we are looking for suggestions.

Sean is riding his 1995 Triumph 900. I am riding a BMW F800GS. Neither of us has a whole lot of experience motorcycle camping. This should be fun!!