Thirty-eight hundred miles from Los Angles to the Arctic Circle is a long ride just to take a picture. But this ride is much more than merely a photo opportunity. It is a chance to shake free of all the obligations of work and home. Riding with eyes wide open, looking for the next adventure, long distance motorcycling provides the opportunity to experience life outside of our normal daily routines.

Driving a motorcycle alone, on unfamiliar roads in remote areas, is exhilarating and frightening. It puts the rider at the edge of the safety boundary. Deep down we know that  motorcycling is possibly the most dangerous way to travel. And yet, we seek out the road trip knowing the danger. We know that the long hours in the saddle will test our stamina; the rain and cold will chill us to the bone; and there's the fear that one poor decision or one momentary lapse in concentration will spell disaster. The road trip allows us to face that fear, challenges us to overcome it and allows us to experience the unique satisfaction that comes from completing it.

 I decided to ride my BMW 1150 RT to the Arctic Circle about a year ago. North 34 degrees 08 minutes to North 66 degrees 33 minutes. Sierra Madre California to the Arctic Circle Yukon Territory.   

I bought my silver RT in November 2002 and had 17,000 miles on it as I prepared for this ride. The RT has taken me to Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and most of California. It handled each ride easily and except for a failed speedometer  has been flawless.  The good people at Browns Motor Works in Pomona California do the major service and my friends at  southern California "Tech Daze" are teaching me to handle the routine maintenance.     

 The weeks leading to “clutch-out” day were filled with sixty-plus hour work weeks. It is hard to prepare to be away from home and work for three weeks. There are hundreds of reasons that can prevent you from taking an extended motorcycle trip. I dealt with the ones I could resolve and I just accepted the ones I could not resolve. The plan was to leave on June sixth at seven in the morning. You know what they say about the best-laid plans. I was finally ready to "clutch-out" at the crack of noon! So much for an early start.

I generally avoid freeways and interstates like the plague. But on this ride I wanted to get across the Canadian border as quickly as possible. Knowing that I had to ride some thirteen hundred miles on the interstate, I decided to play a mind game. I could gripe and complain the entire ride or I could take another approach and put the mileage to good use. I decided to use this part of the ride to sharpen my riding skills. Concentration, relaxation, light on the handlebars, proper position, look ahead, anticipate other drivers moves, be smooth, fast and avoid the dreaded radar beam. Mind control. I rode five hundred and fifty-four miles from Los Angeles to Redding California on Friday and six hundred and forty-eight miles to Marysville Washington on Saturday. It’s not Iron Butt level riding, but it’s not bad for a casual weekend rider.

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