Free Wheelin'

Things usually tend to work the same way here at Backroads Central.

I have my job – a series of tasks and chores - that has been carried out for more than three decades, and seems more and more like an enjoyable – fairly stress-free very long retirement, and almost routine.

Sometimes it seems that we can run into a time when, to me, the boot is on the other foot.

Shira is awesome at what she does, art, production, color match-ups… basically being the artsy kid that her parents had hoped she’d be. It never was to include writing a monthly column, although her Inside Scoop seems to be easier for her than her Whatchathinkin page. I think she named it that when I asked her to start writing something for every month. More a question, not a statement.

Me? I never seem to be without something to say. Much to my detriment.

Until this month, it seems that the boot is on the other foot this day.

With most things in life, it is always good to have a plan, but if all you get is “crickets” coming your way – it is still best to get going - sometimes you can figure out the journey – whether writing or riding - but you just need to get on the road first.

Rolling out of your driveway is the beginning of every trip.

More times than I can remember I have ended a day by typing the very beginning of a travel piece about a museum, restaurant, or just some thoughts by simply typing in the beginning of a blank word.doc and know that the next day it will be the first thing I see on my computer – and it will get done.

So here I am dribbling down the court with just an idea of where I want to go – but I am going.

Wait, okay, I did just take a half hour to try to nail down a new Hermanos Gutierrez tune on guitar; very spaghetti western – and while at it, that got me thinking we’d be heading south and west, in a week or so, to attend the Barber Vintage Festival in Alabama.

Ideas began to percolate. It was time to start planning.

Maps were pulled out - getting the feel for where we’d be, and where we’d need to get to; and equally important what might be out there I didn’t know about.

We are often asked how we find some of the places we do.

When we started there were these things called books. These worked like your computer, but were made from cellulose pulp – basically wood; not over 30 different minerals which are mined and extracted from the earth and made into a computer by sorcery.

Many of us use them still.

But in these post-Milli Vanilli days there are several websites that we frequent – you should too. Atlas Obscura, Only in Your State, and O’Life’s beloved Roadside America have done much of the leg work for you and have a seemingly unlimited supply of odd, cool, and very interesting places to visit.

Start scouring the region for places of interest and wonder before you start planning your route.

Just because we are putting together a plan, we are never locked into it. Be willing to be flexible, and it will make your ride that much more fun with less stress. Like life, a good journey will have detours – some good, some bad.

How many times have you been detoured only to find a great vista, or a smoking few miles of asphalt?

I keep my eyes peeled, and my close riding friends know that I will slow for Historical Markers (someone thought enough to create it and put it up), odd roadside discoveries, and if I spy anything of interest.

If I find something cool, I share it - sometimes Roadside America points Backroads in the right direction, sometimes we point them. It is a great symbiosis. 

Deep journey research always gets me ready, and the travel hormones flowing… and when you do get going everything is right in the world.

Ride Safe. Ride Smart. Ride the Backroads…