By Kurt Sunderbruch No, this isn’t one of those hand-wringing pieces saying that if you go on a group ride, you will surely die. Yes, I love riding with one or more other riders. As the saying goes; trouble shared is trouble halved, and happiness shared is happiness doubled. Most of my best and
By Kurt Sunderbruch As I write this, I am getting packed to fly off to the UK to ride motorcycles with friends for the next couple of weeks – maybe that sounds frivolous, especially when there is so much great riding available here in the USA, but I disagree. While there is a certain
By Kurt Sunderbruch Motorcycles are the most amazing curiosity enablers. When I’m out riding, I see things all the time that pique my curiosity. I wonder: “where does that road go?” “Man, that restaurant smells great!” “What kind of car is that?” “What’s in that museum?” These questions come up all the time in
By Kurt Sunderbruch Epilogue Once I arrived back in Nice, I found the condo we had rented in Villefranche sur Mer, and headed to the airport to collect my wife who had just flown down from the UK. End of story, right? Not quite. It was hot and humid in late July down on
By Kurt Sunderbruch Day 4 had arrived, and not a moment too soon. All the competitors, and many of the bikes looked somewhat worse for wear. My bike was rashed up and filthy, and several bikes were showing a creative use of duct tape to keep their bodywork together. A few others were unable
By Kurt Sunderbruch Breakfast on day 3 was made extra fun by being interviewed by a journalist with UK’s Motorcycle Sport & Leisure. Such are the perks of being the only American rider in competition – I was easy to interview. Day 3 promised to be the biggest day in terms of total distance
By Kurt Sunderbruch Part 5 The evening of day 1 provided its own excitement. We joined our fellow competitors for a beer and dinner, and lots of bench racing. There was excited talk and animated hand gestures describing the highlights of the day around the table. Comparing notes on where riders took wrong turns
By Kurt Sunderbruch After a somewhat fitful night of sleep, it was time to get up, pack up, have breakfast, check out, turn in my luggage, and head to the start. Apparently, the organizers wanted to have the start in a place where we could stage all the bikes, have a special test, and
By Kurt Sunderbruch Part 2: With a commitment made to doing it, the next step was to figure out how to do it. The next steps were submitting my entry, arranging a bike, and figuring out the logistics. The entry part would be the easiest, and the arranging the bike would be the hardest,
By Kurt Sunderbruch Prologue: AJ said, “You’ve been riding a long time. You certainly must have some stories about all that riding. Tell those stories.” (maybe not an exact quote, but close enough). This is my best story. It explains more about my riding experience, and what sort of rider I have become than
By Kurt Sunderbruch From the Cambridge English Dictionary: pilgrimage noun uk /ˈpɪl.ɡrɪ.mɪdʒ/ us /ˈpɪl.ɡrə.mɪdʒ/ a special journey made by a pilgrim a visit to a place that is considered special, where you go to show your respect Usually when we hear the term, pilgrimage, it’s in the context of a religious
By Kurt Sunderbruch The long, cold, wet winter has passed. It’s time to clear those cobwebs out of your head, out of your skills, out of your motorcycle, and get out and ride. Spring is my favorite season for riding. The natural world is blooming. The days have gotten longer, and the sky has
By Kurt Sunderbruch Do you have a local go-to road? Yeah, me too. I’m lucky enough to live in a place where some really fun roads are within a mile or two of my house. Roads I know well. Roads I feel like I can rely on like old friends. Roads that (almost) always deliver