WHATCHATHINKIN'

As we wind down 2024, it is customary to reflect and relive events of the year. Not that there still isn’t plenty of great riding to be done before the calendar pages become fodder for the fireplace, but to see where we’ve been, what we’ve accomplished and what we should plan for the next flip of the year.

We had a very full year, starting off with MotoGP in Austin, TX. The racing has been great this year, and as of this writing, championships are still undecided, which makes the trip to Valencia in November so much more exciting. While our American racer Joe Roberts, in Moto2, started off with guns blazing, he still can make a go of it – time will tell. As for the premier class, Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia are duking it out, as they did last year, with Martin having a little chip on his shoulder and something to prove.

For this year’s season, I opted to make regional meals for each location, starting out with a bang for the first few races and, like so many hopeful podium contenders, falling short as the year wore on. The last few races will be a bit easier, as Japan will see some sushi, Australia a bit of lamb, Thailand some pad thai to go, a dish with rice for Malaysia and back to a steaming pot of paella for the final race in Valencia. 

May saw us gathering our Backroads Group for our Spring Break. This annual excursion had us in familiar haunts at the Hancock Hotel and the Genetti in Williamsport, PA. Our rolling crew waxed and waned throughout the weekend, but there was much fun, laughter and camaraderie, sprinkled with a few sprinkles.

Baseball. If you frequent these pages, it’s unlikely that you won’t know the passion we have for this sport. Some of our friends look down on ball and stick activities, but we see it as a diversion while we are not writing about or riding motorcycles. June was our month to continue our accumulation of stadiums, be they Major or Minor League, or simply historic fields that should be visited and remembered. Rumble Ponies, Blue Jays, Tigers, Brewers and Cubs were captured, with a glorious victory by our beloved Metropolitans in Chicago.

With the Dog Days of Summer came a cathartic and exploratory solo trip for Brian on Harley-Davidson’s Pan America CVO, leaving me some free time to visit family and take some rides on my own, while playing travel agent for my traveling partner in crime. A rendezvous in West Virginia was planned, with some excellent riding in one of the best motorcycling states in the country. It is certainly true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, as well as the freezer fuller with ice cream and closets emptier of clutter.

A quick turnaround, playing with Spenser and repacking of the motorcycles and we were off for our 13thSummer Squeeze, held in the home-away-from home of West Dover, Vermont at the Kitzhof and Gray Ghost Inns, both of which are under new ownership, with 

Cary and Eamon at the helm of the Gray Ghost and Andrew at the Kitzhof. They have all done a wonderful job of keeping what we love about their places intact while updating and refreshing and making it their own. We look forward to many more visits with new friends.

Why go home when you can keep on riding? Right, so pointing our wheels north we, along with Mark and Betsy Byers, headed to New Hampshire/Maine for the BMW RA rally. The riding in the northeastern United States is so diverse, getting from sea to mountains during a day’s ride, with lobsta, monsters and twisties to fill the day.

Rounding out the summer months, it was south to New Jersey Motorsports Park for the last round of MotoAmerica. This series also had some championships up for grabs, which makes for an exciting weekend and spending it with good friends makes it that much better.

April through September, half a year filled with miles of smiles, intertwined with the threads of friendships made through the 30 years of putting this magazine together. The time we’ve spent with our Backroads family has made a tapestry of travels, stitched into a quilt of companions, compadres and cliques. Thank you for sharing your time with us, and for letting us add you to our patchwork of pleasurable passages we call Backroads.