Sobering News

Today is the 9th anniversary of my only motorcycle accident. I totaled that bike and broke my thumb. I was reminded of this early this morning, and it was on my mind all afternoon as I logged 250 miles.

When I arrived at my stop for the evening, I had 4 missed calls and a text message from Brian while I was riding. 30 minutes before I stopped and got his messages, he was involved in an accident, courtesy of someone making an illegal left turn.

Brian's fine. Relatively uninjured. Obviously shaken, and I'm sure more than a little pissed.

Left turners are the ones they warn you most about in motorcycle safety classes. Brian t-boned this one at 20, and it looks like his bike is totaled. His bike was awesome. A 2004 BMW R1150R that he had finally hit the point of being able to say "I don't know what else I would want to do to this bike. It's set up perfectly." It had everything. It was set up for everything from a spin around the corner to a 3000 mile week, all in comfort and style.

But I'd like to tell people how close this hits for me. I have ridden more miles with Brian than anyone else. We did the original Mototour together, and have spent endless hours together on the road. Brian and I work on our bikes together, talk bikes, go to bike shows and share a love of the same things. And the friendship extends well beyond just motorcycles.

Several of the roads on this years trip are roads Brian and I discovered back in 2006. We had started talking about a mini-tour this August, since Brian can't make the big tour. Now it looks like that's off the books.

I'm sure I'll have more to say about this later. I'm still processing it, honestly.

Think good thoughts for Brian.