My buddy Josh and I had decided that we were to make a dream come true: the biker-myth - heading out westbound for California. Although our good friend and gifted old mechanic Rick had adviced us that any motorcycle with less than 1000cc would do no good for a long ride like that Josh was bold enough to try with his 535cc Yamaha Virago. After all it was a Yamaha. Myself I had a beautiful ´94 Yamaha Vmax at the time. We took off one morning around 10 a.m. - heading out of Denton, TX North on I35.
We set our goal for the first day of riding we wanted to get out of Texas. Well, Texas is pretty huge, you know and West-Texas goes on forever. We kept heading West on I40 until it got dark and we started getting worn out. We had only stopped like twice to get gas and a bite to eat - and we were still in Texas.
So be it - we settled in the next little Motel we found along the way and got a good night rest.
The next morning it didn´t take much longer and we seemingly left civilization to head out into the no-mans-land .. All of a sudden the only manmade thing was the road we were on - straight on to the horizon. All around us but dry land.
The feeling of freedom on one hand and insignificance on the other was incredible. It´s only me and my buddy with a little machine in between our thighs and all we need strapped to the back. Thank you Rick for giving me the advice to buy a "SaddleMen"-backpack for the tour! Seeing the size of even the largest semi-trucks compared to the vast landscape around you makes you know how small we really are and how easily mother earth could just shrug us off if she wanted to...
Well anyway - then we saw something that looked like a settlement coming up in the distance. As we came closer it even seemed like a hotel or something - well... I guess they gave up before it got finished..
All of a sudden the moods changed: We were riding along the classic Route66. Things that you don´t even notice when you are in a car-box become a very intensive impression when riding on a motorcycle. A fascination that one does not comprehend unless one has taken a long ride on a motorcycle for him- or herself. It becomes clear how a book like "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance" was inspired and became a bestseller. Look at the pictures - I did not change anything on the settings of my simple camera - not that there were any options on it - the lighting was totally mysterious all along 66!
