... this afternoon roger headed out on his "four corners" iron-butt ride ... in week or so he's going to ride from madawaska, maine, to key west, florida, then san diego, california, ending his tour in the northwest suburbs of seattle, washington ... if all goes well, within his trip he'll throw in a "coast-to-coast in less than 48 hours" endurance run and a "1,500 miles in twenty-four hours" sprint ... his preparations were meticulous, except, from my point of view, that he figures, "within two hours it's going to get covered with bugs when i go through the alton bog, so why bother cleaning it before i head out" ...
... just before hopping aboard his magnificent honda touring bike, there was a little "okay ... have i remembered everything ... is there something i've forgotten" moment, then, earbuds already cranking out his favorite tunes, he was seated and away ...
... "good luck, roger, drive safely, and, absolutely, thank you for inspiring me to accept that i'm not completely bonkers thinking it makes sense to ride my motorcycle to ohio next week" ...
... after he left, i took a little back roads wander down along china lake, then stopped in augusta for a very, very late breakfast ... i parked along the kennebec to watch a couple of hawks as they swooped around the railroad bridge looking for slow pigeons ... odd, how at first meeting i thought my bmw was so—well, so not very attractive, and now more and more i'm finding it rather charming ...