I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was about 14 years old and owned my own street bikes since I was 23. Most of my riding has been long distance touring – initially on bikes that were meant to be street cruisers. In 2014, I finally purchased the touring bike of my dreams. Over my lifetime, I have ridden over a quarter of a million kilometres on two wheels. The accompanying map shows every place I have ridden on motorcycle.

Places I have travelled on motorcycle

Starting small

I started riding with my friend, Paul Hunter’s, 50 cc dirt bike. We would share a helmet between us and take turns riding the wooded trails between Westminster Park subdivision and Pond Mills in London, Ontario, Canada.

Through my teens, I had several friends who rode and who took me on as a passenger: Rick Thompson, Bruce Legg and others.

My rebel cousin Bob

As a child and teenager, I heard many stories about my much older rebel cousin, Bob Herdman, who bought a Harley in 1969 and rode from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to California, USA, for the Summer of Love. Bob eventually settled in southwest Alberta, Canada. Bob was even featured on the cover of Canadian Biker Magazine when he rode his motorcycle to the Arctic Circle!

The stories I heard of Bob made him an inspiring folk hero in my young mind.

My first street bike

In 1988, I purchased my first street bike. It was a used 1985 Yamaha Virago 750. I took a driving course and joined a riding club (The Virago Owners’ Club). We did regular day-trips around southern Ontario and longer road trips to rallies in the United States.

My first ride across North America

In 1991, I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to attend the Vancouver School of Theology (at UBC). I shipped my belongings by freight, climbed on my Virago with my then-fiancée and we took 8 days to ride to the West Coast. We took the American route as far as Montana, then crossed north into Alberta to visit my cousin, Bob, for the first time since I was out of diapers. Then we took the Canadian route through the Rockies. My fiancée then flew back home.

Living and riding in British Columbia

While living in Vancouver, I started a new local chapter of the Virago Owners’ Club so I would have friends to ride with out there. (It was also a personal experiment in understanding group growth strategies for later application to churches.) The Vancouver Chapter grew to be the second largest chapter in North America. We rode all over southern British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, with frequent trips into Washington State.

My second ride across North America

At the end of my first year of school, I was due to head back to London, Ontario to get married later that summer (1992). That spring I received a phone call from my good friend and riding buddy, Matt Daudlin, that went something like this:

It was an incredible ride that deserves a blog post of it’s own. Matt rode from Chatham, Ontario in April all the way to Vancouver, BC. He stayed with me for a week and we did some day trips around the Lower Mainland. Then, after my last worship service in the church I was working at, we hopped on our two bikes and rode down the West Coast Highway to San Francisco. Then we headed east through the mountains, across the desert, through more mountains to Denver, then across the Prairies back to southern Ontario.

Honeymoon to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

My fiancée and I were married later that summer and then we rode east through New England to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia for our honeymoon, where we rode the Cabot Trail (counter clockwise, of course) and returned home through Quebec.

My third ride across North America

In 1996, I graduated from the Vancouver School of Theology (UBC) with my Master of Divinity Degree and my graduation present to myself was brand new (but last year’s model) 1995 Yamaha Virago 1100. I rode it for a month around the Lower Mainland to break it in, then took it back to the dealer for a final once-over before hitting the road. Then my (now ex) wife and I rode the reverse route to our earlier westward trip. We took the American route through the Rockies, through Washington, Idaho and western Montana. My goal was to ride the Going to the Sun Highway from west to east. Cresting the top and seeing the Prairies laid out ahead of us as far as the eye could see is a sight I will never forget.

Settling down in my ancestral home: Hamilton, Ontario

We settled in suburban Hamilton, Ontario — the place where my Gaelic speaking Scottish ancestors first settled in 1834. I tried a couple of different riding clubs before settling with the Widows Sons (Masonic) Riding Club.

In summer of 2001, my then-wife and I rode to visit a friend in Colorado. My wife was 3 months pregnant at the time. We stopped in Chicago to visit another friend. On the way home we took a detour to Texas.

Finally owning my dream bike

A brother in the Widows Sons had a bike that I fell in love with. 1t was a 2004 Yamaha Road Star 1700. It was my dream bike. Every time he and I went for a ride together, I said to him, “Be careful with that bike. You know you’re riding my next bike!” I made no secret of my interest in owning his bike if he ever decided to sell it. In 2014, he bought a Harley and gave me first dibs on the Road Star. I jumped at the chance. It’s my dream bike. I’m still riding it to this day.

The post Riding Across North America appeared first on Scattered Wisdom from the Saddle - Rev. Ryk Brown.

When you get into an accident with a car and you’re on a motorcycle, it does not matter who is at fault or who is to blame, because you’re still going to get hurt, possibly badly, or possibly killed.

When you’re dead, and you’d rather be alive, blaming the car driver doesn’t really help much. You’re still dead.

The key to experiencing joy on a motorcycle is not reducing injuries; it’s avoiding an accident in the first place, regardless of who is right or wrong.

As a rider, I have a responsibility to be observant of all my surroundings – not just other vehicles, but also pedestrians, road conditions…everything. It’s my responsibility to anticipate dangers by observing other people’s actions. It’s my responsibility to identify potential dangers before they happen and to avoid being in a dangerous situation in the first place.

Even if the other driver is completely in the wrong, it is better for me to give up my right of way to a selfish driver and live another day, rather than claim my right of way and end up dead. Then, only my ego is bruised, not my body. Eventually, they’ll hit a radar trap.

Life is similar.

If an emotionally dangerous person’s selfish actions have the potential to hurt me, and if challenging their actions won’t make the situation better, but will more likely increase my risk of harm, then I may be better off getting out of harm’s way, rather than challenging them. That way it is only my ego that is bruised, and not worse.

When another person is in the midst of being selfish, they are not in a place to be corrected by my challenge to them; they’re not in a listening place. So, I may be better off to give up my emotional right of way in that moment and step aside, rather than claim my emotional right of way and risk more serious emotional injury. Their selfishness will eventually catch up to them.

The post Blaming and Finding Fault Can Still Get You Hurt appeared first on Scattered Wisdom from the Saddle - Rev. Ryk Brown.

Paul’s extended family were all motorcycle enthusiasts. His cousin, Ian Oliver, who lived next door to me had a small Yamaha 50cc dirt bike. He took a spill on it one day and decided to give it up and gave it to Paul. We were probably about 14 at the time. We rode it regularly on the trails near our house, taking turns. That was my first taste of motorcycling.

It took me until my early 20s to finally purchase my own bike. It was a 1985 Yamaha Virago 750. I took the Ontario motorcycle safety course to prepare for my motorcycle license. In my class was Matt Daudlin. He looked familiar. It took us a few days to realize we’d been cabin mates at the Ontario Music Leadership Camp back in grade 11 (1981). We have been friends and riding buddies ever since. Matt was also in my wedding party.

When I graduated with my Master of Divinity Degree from the Vancouver School of Theology in 1996, my graduation present to myself was a (still new) 1995 Yamaha Virago 1100. A month after purchasing it, my then wife and I rode it 5000 km from Vancouver, British Columbia to London, Ontario.

About ten years ago I met a brother Freemason in the Widows Sons Masonic Motorcycle Riding Club, Brock McCulloch, who owned a gorgeous 1700cc white Yamaha Road Star. It was my dream bike. I kept joking with Brock that he better be careful with that bike because he was riding my next bike. When he sold it, he gave me first dibs. I jumped at the chance. I’ve had it for about 8 years now.

The pandemic has been hard on all of us. I have really suffered from the isolation. Monday July 19, 2021, was two weeks past my second vaccination, which meant I was fully vaccinated and finally able to socialize with other fully vaccinated people. The weather was beautiful. Paul said he was coming to Hamilton on the Harley and wanted to know if I wanted to go for a ride. Oh yes I did!

We followed Ridge Road along the edge of the Niagara Escarpment through Stoney Creek and Lincoln, then took the back way to Niagara Falls, picking up the Niagara Parkway just south of the top of the Falls. We followed the Parkway along the Niagara River up to Queenston where we ran out of time and had to head home. I rode with Paul all the way back to London and then rode by myself back to Hamilton. About 500 km in total for the day.

To date I have logged about 250,000 km on my motorcycles. And, yes, I only ride Yamahas.

The camera I am using is a Kaiser Baas X600 which I just picked up on sale. This was my first attempt using it.

The post Paul and I Celebrate 50 years of Friendship with a 500 km ride around the Niagara Peninsula appeared first on Scattered Wisdom from the Saddle - Rev. Ryk Brown.