From writers block to riding the edge of the world, what a magnificent weekend. What a magnificent moment. ‘Channel this, channel this,” he says… I’ve spent the last three days riding and becoming one with the machine and evoking the best of whatever it is … Read More →
Tag Archives: Ducati Monster S2R 1000
Why Canyons?
The beer is bitter but exactly what I need. As the last sip settles, I place the half-empty glass back on the table. Notice the small dots of perspiration that have built up around the base. The sweet from a hard days work. Slowly she … Read More →
Recent Rides: Shards of Silver
Silver slivers are splitting the sky as the mist drifts in on a wonderful weekday. It’s strange. And dense. And packed with a lonely laughter that’s hanging just below the surface. The last weeks have been nothing but a blur and the last moment is … Read More →
83 Mile Tacos
Shards of golden red light are spreading across the sky as a perfectly turquoise edge of an ocean barks with life. The waves crashing with such force it almost feels like there’s an earthquake looping on the house audio system. But there isn’t. Looking around, … Read More →
Montezuma Magic
The asphalt is rushing underneath. A big crestless wave of concrete. Moving with a shocking sense of speed and vitality. It seems elaborate and alive and fresh with that early morning dew-on-the-grass kind of confidence. Yet the route is so inherently dull. Laid out so … Read More →
Ortega Release
Clouds are forming in the distance and my bones are aching for a smoke as I pull off the road. Twisting the key, the bike ceases to breath and for the first time all day I can hear the silence. Because as amazing as it … Read More →
Canyon Cometh
Engines wail. Roads bend. Seasons change. But the dirt, the dirt in the middle of the asphalt, that never seems to go anywhere… Extending the kickstand, I kill the engine and slide off the saddle. Peer out over the reasonably clear San Fernando Valley. And … Read More →
Canyon Love
The light is hard and damn near horizontal when the bike crests the canyon. What had been going up suddenly dives down. The machine whirls forward – oblivious to the change in pitch — with such momentum that there’s little time to breath. Let alone … Read More →
Monster Mod #4: Brakes that Bite
My, oh, my, how I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole… After nearly nine-months with the Monster it felt like it was time to take care of my biggest issue with the bike – The OEM Brakes… Repeatedly, when either the old man or I have … Read More →
Smokeless Duc
The sky is bleeding clouds on a dark, dank day as the engine disengages. One quick kick of the kickstand — and it dies completely. Then all that’s left is the silence. And the ritual. Letting the clutch out, I lean the bike over, twist … Read More →
Rumbles on Rails
The air is vivid and the clarity stark as I gaze out at a classic reproduction of the quintessential California expanse. Wilted brown hillsides that amble up and down in a series of earthquake-riddled waves that feel like they’ll go on forever. There are no … Read More →
Soar
There’s an ache in the side and a kink in the neck, a twinge in the knee and a soreness that won’t escape me. My body feels decrepit, my mind strung out on a million different to-do lists. Physically I feel well past beat and … Read More →