Fun and Useful Lessons I've Learned from My Friends

Last week I wrote about choosing your riding partners with care. While both the good and bad experiences have taught me to ask certain questions about people before I ride with them, especially on a long adventure, my blog post didn't reveal the many fun and useful lessons I've learned from riding with some of my riding companions. This week, I want to encourage you to listen to, and observe, other riders so you can learn useful tips and gain insights, thus increasing the enjoyment of future experiences.

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Choosing Your Riding Partners

This week I'd like to address a sensitive and complex subject: how to choose the best people with whom to ride. After many years of group rides, I have concluded that it is wise to choose deliberately the people you ride with. Your life and enjoyment often depend on it.

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The Natchez Trace Parkway

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs north to south from just south of Nashville, Tennessee through a corner of Alabama to Natchez, Mississippi on the eastern side of the Mississippi River.  In 2010, I rode Parkway from its terminus at Pasquo, Tennessee to its starting point at Natchez. Features include many historical sites along the route, an abundance of wild turkeys, and historical Natchez. The Parkway also comes close to the city of Jackson, making it a convenient stop. For the history buffs, an important stop along the Parkway is the site where Merriweather Lewis killed himself--or was murdered--at Grinder's Stand.

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The NC100 Challenge

In 2010, several senior members of the Raleigh Chapter of the Harley Owners Group (HOG) came up with a great idea for a ride: ride your Harley to all 100 counties of North Carolina in a 12-month period. The first group rode from May 1, 2010 through April 30, 2011. I wasn't available to ride then. However, in 2011 I was available and began in May. I completed all 100 counties by October 15, 2011 and set up a web page just to document my adventure: http://www.mikeuhl.com/nc100. In this week's blog, I want to share with you some of what I learned and encourage you to try this touring challenge or something similar.

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HOG Road Captain and Riding Safety

This week I want to discuss four related patches I've had sewn to my riding vest: (1) Road Captain; (2) Accident Scene Management; (3) HOG Safe Rider Skills; and (4) NC Community College System: North Carolina Motorcycle Safety patch. The theme here is safety through good riding practices: learning, practicing, and demonstrating them to other riders and cage drivers.

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