Rain was falling steadily the day I brought my 1995 Honda Shadow VT1100 motorcycle to the shipping terminal in Lowell, Mass., for its cross-country trip to Seattle. Not ideal riding conditions, but you’ve got to play the cards life deals you. As I bundled up to hit the road I tried to put a positive spin on it: Maybe if it rained now, there’d be less of it during my motorcycle adventure back home from Alaska across Canada.
Looking back, this was absurdly wishful thinking… Speaking to friends from the Last Frontier, they asked how the riding was going. “It’s been raining at least every other day,” I replied. They suggested not riding in the rain. “I’d still be in Seattle,” I deadpanned.
And since I’d be in the neighborhood, I figured I might as well visit all the Canadian provinces for good measure. After all, an opportunity like this doesn’t come along every day and this was one gift (iron) horse I wasn’t going to look in the mouth.
Robert, a riding buddy who’d accompanied me on several trips around New England and was once rewarded with waking up to a frost-covered motorcycle in the White Mountains for his efforts, offered to follow me in his car so I wouldn’t have to take the train back to Boston once I was bike-less. It wasn’t until we got to Mill City and I saw my bike strapped to its shipping crate that I really felt I was going to miss it. In the grand scheme of things, this was a blip considering how inseparable we’d be for the next ten weeks, but I’d had so much fun on that thing, knowing I wouldn’t be able to ride for a while was sinking in and it was a bummer… a necessary evil.
And me without my camera for a farewell pic! Back home, I packed up my helmet, boots and riding gear for their trip to Seattle; read “The Longest Ride” by Emilio Scotto; and at the recommendation of friends, watched Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s “Long Way Round” and “Long Way Down.” Other than this and a thorough pre-trip gear check – including many things I hoped I wouldn’t need: fix-a-flat kits, a first-aid kit and bear spray among them – I couldn’t fathom what else I could do to prepare for the journey ahead. After all, I had an estimated three months of riding ahead of me… How hard could it be?
