Well, I never imagined myself here, but what else is a super cool Air Cav Huey Helicopter Pilot supposed to do when he’s out of the military and can no longer fly among the trees?  One of my buddies says I have a huge EGO, but I always tell him, that it’s not EGO if it’s true!  LOL Besides he’s enlisted so what does he know? I didn’t have to work for a living and got paid more!

What does this have to do with motorcycles and riding?  Well, I had a friend at “work” ask me why I liked riding so much, and I really didn’t have an answer. I was thinking about it one day while hitting the great roads here in Eastern Tennessee and it came to me. Riding through the trees and curves of the Great Smoky Mountains was much like flying low and fast among the trees. It truly is my therapy.

A little more about me. I started my riding career on the down low since it was forbidden by my mother. I bought a Honda CL 360 with exhaust that curved up and was designed to burn your thigh on every ride. I had to keep it at a buddy’s house so that Mom wouldn’t beat me. Even though it was a relatively small bike, I still loved to take it on long rides. I once rode it from Camp Drum, NY to my home in NJ 372 miles away. It doesn’t seem that long, but on a small bike, it was! Oh, to be young and not so bright again. I did take a hiatus from riding while my children were young and I was the only one making money. Since then, the kids have grown up, and the wife decided to move on. When one day I was out minding my own business and saw a bike for sale. Well, the bug bit me again, and off I went. That was about 12 years and close to 100,000 miles ago.  With four cross-country trips under my belt and thousands of miles around the Smoky Mountains, South Carolina, and Florida, here I am poised to do yet another cross-country ride to California and back to DC with the RFTW folks.