About this time of year, 10 years ago, I started thinking about riding in a fundraiser for breast cancer called the Pony Express. I had been inspired the summer of 1998 when the PE ride came through Seattle. I don’t think I had yet bought my 1981 R65 BMW; I remember attending the event with Jim and Barb Horton.

Originally, I was only going to ride the first leg: Seattle to San Francisco. I’d only been riding about 18 months; I’d ridden from Seattle to northern California in August 1999, but my friend J.C. and I took three days to make the trip. With urging and support from WetLeather, I decided to ride to St. Joesph, MO. But I wanted to do most of the ride solo. (I’m still not a fan of large organized rides.) I rode about 6,000 miles in two weeks (and 1.25 back tires).

Sunday night, I re-read my travel log, which consisted of 31 emails (for a 16 day trip that included a WetLeather campout) posted to the WetLeather mailing list. I was struck by how well the feeling of “newness” came through. I was also a bit boggled at how I found time to write such detailed missives! [Warning: the travel log contains motorcycle shorthand and insider-to-WetLeather references.]

I’m now thinking about an encore this year. Mike and I have talked about riding a four corners together (visit San Ysidro, CA; Blaine, WA; Madawaska, ME; and Key West, FL in a 21-day period). I’ve talked about putting a ride together for heart disease, since it is far more deadly than breast cancer. I remain uncertain, but I think I want to do a meaningful ride this summer.