Gentle Readers, It is good to have friends. I am nestled in an eiderdown of snow in central Virginia. The federal government is closed today. I have no way to tell the difference. Now, to Marlow…. This is from a 1999 motorcycle trip journal. – Marlow January 2019 Random thoughts at the end of a […]

No, this is not about the Detroit 1%er motorcycle club. – Marlow I motorcycled the highways Along coastal roads I did ride Leather and jeans protected my back side Many a mile was covered as I pursued this trade Many the moments did I speed through glen and glade Some gravel hung me out to […]

Motorcycle as skateboard Riders ramble the roads they’d like to ride, but more than anything they cherish the ones that haven’t been ridden yet. Whether they are motivated by the inspiring efforts of other enthusiasts I do not know. When a biker’s face says “Damn, this is good,” his ridership becomes a pure translation of […]

Time travel When we motorcycling time travelers left on our twentieth century machines for life on distant roads, we did so without regret as pre-modern men with a missin’ link or two. Sorta somewhere between ape and modern 21st century human beings. From our motorbike portholes looking onto the road, everything looked different. Time bent, […]

Here are some post-scripted thoughts on this gent. When my riding brother passed the age of 70 many years ago, he had one of the best minds of all my acquaintances. It had not been destroyed by madness, frailty of the body, or starved hysterically naked into clicking endlessly on digital internet ads or cat […]

There is a road In some perfect world Where wind Dances through the branches of the trees Casting leaping spots of light Across the face of a rider The trees stand tall They are grand and alone Shading the paved ribbon beneath them There will come a day when I shall no longer ride The […]

Vintage motorcycle wear Old worn motorcyclists like me have probably seen these landscape scenes on one of their rides. This is from a long ago diary entry. – Marlow Dead grass burnt from rainless months of triple digit heat. An endless sea of it. Passed a small herd of cattle scratching for a meal from […]

My last piece was a rather long collection of unruly, electrical, mental impulses about riding motorcycles. I wrote this short one below with a riding buddy in mind since he has deferred writing down his road songs. We both have been running in front of a storm. It’s about to catch us. Time has come […]

Here are more thoughts on motorcycling that came to me in waves recently as I futzed around with my Harley’s balky electrical system. Please excuse their disorganization and untidiness of grammar. – Marlow Details of an early Harley Davidson motorcycle Scratch a motorcyclist and inside you will find a pilgrim. No enthusiast washes his motorbike […]

Cuban Missile Crisis October 15 – 28 1962 I awoke this morning a bit more bored than usual to read whatever was America’s crise du jour. 56 years ago the world almost blew itself up. Well, it was actually just the US and the USSR facing off over the secret emplacement of decapitating-strike capable, two […]