The Adventures of Goldwing Bravo

In his book, "Walden" [1], Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." I've been there... Haven't you?  I mean, how much of our lives do we spend wasting time on trivial, meaningless things? I s'pose in the big picture we could argue that it's all meaningless, but that doesn't mean it has to be boring and trite.  

This is the quintessential reason I ride... I just didn't want my life to pass sitting on the couch watching TV.  

Live a life worth remembering, my friends. Smile. Eat the cake. Ride the rollercoaster. Live. Laugh. Love.   

[1] Thoreau, H. D. (1854). Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston, MA: Ticknor and Fields.

A quiet Saturday ride through Richloam, Tavares, Howey-in-the-Hills, and into Mt. Dora for coffee, wandering, roadside oddities, and one very large Volkswagen Beetle pretending to be a spider.  

Add in old tractors, a little family nostalgia, a near-perfect Florida morning, and one completely unnecessary fall into a hidden hole, and you’ve got another Goldwing Bravo road trip.  

I headed south to Okeechobee for a Labor Day weekend ride, dodged more thunderstorms than I care to count, caught a spectacular sunrise over the lake, rolled through Moore Haven, Clewiston, Belle Glade, and Pahokee, met a woman who had just landed an 11-foot alligator, and completed the full Okeechobee Loop.

Oh… and I earned the BikerGeo Okeechobee Loop patch while I was at it.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

First ride back after surgery — and apparently I decided easing into things was overrated.  

I pointed the Crimson Ride toward Clearwater and the Orange County Choppers Roadhouse, taking the long way through Morris Bridge, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa International Airport, the Courtney Campbell Causeway, and a few other worthwhile detours.  

Along the way, I talked my way through the gate at the Buccaneers training facility for a photo under the giant football, chased airplanes around Tampa International, picked up a few new Goldwing Bravo followers, and—for the first time—had someone recognize the bike from Instagram.  

Then came lunch with friends at OCC and the real challenge: a 90-minute ride home with the Goldwing thermometer reading 103°F.  Lots of water. Lots of stops. One very faithful elephant guarding the hydration supply.  

The old boy made it.  I was back.  

It’s not often I’m surprised, but...  

I recently picked up a few fishing shirts from The Deerly. After my order, I replied to one of their emails with a few design ideas. To my surprise, they actually wrote back... and then created four brand-new shirt designs based on my suggestion.  

That kind of customer service is rare these days. Extremely rare…  

Needless to say, I bought two more. You'll probably see them in upcoming Goldwing Bravo videos.  For the record: this isn't a paid advertisement. You read that right… The Deerly is not an official Goldwing Bravo sponsor (although if they're reading this... it certainly wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they were. …just sayin’😄).  

I simply believe in giving credit where it's due.  

Anyway, if you're into motorcycles, fishing, camping, wildlife, the outdoors, or you just appreciate good sporting shirts that keep the Florida sun from turning you into bacon, ya’ might want to check out TheDeerly.com. Their shirts are comfortable, the print quality is excellent, and their customer service earned my respect.  

And sometimes good people deserve a little free publicity.  

Ride safe, and I'll see you down the road! 

Every once in a while, everyone finds themselves stuck behind a slow driver who is apparently oblivious to the growing line of traffic building behind them. Thank God the Wing has a sport mode. Time to light this candle and launch this puppy!