I’ll be riding 2000 miles on my Harley this weekend, and I guess you could say I’m kind of pumped. This will be one of the longer trips that I’ve done since my epic bike trip 10 years ago of more than 10,000 miles in a 3 month period of time.

Back in 2002 I was in a rough spot in my life.  I had just come through some difficult things that left me questioning life in general and what it was all about. I didn’t have any answers or any clue where to start looking to find answers so I did the only thing I knew to do… I hit the road.

I bought my first Harley Davidson (Sportster) back in 1996 at the ripe old age of 17. So I was no stranger to the road and riding, but for this trip I was wanting something a bit bigger, the only problem was I couldn’t afford the bigger Harley “Softail” that I had my eye on. Most of the newer Softails with lower miles were costing 14 and 15 thousand dollars. My budget was around 8 thousand and I was going to have to take a loan out to do that.

Then it happened (insert angels singing here). I got a phone call from a buddy of mine in New Zealand where I lived in 1999 and 2000, but that’s another story. My buddy told me to check the exchange rate of their dollar vs ours. When I did I saw that ours was worth more than double there’s. So I went on line, found some New Zealand Harley dealers, and before I knew it I had acquired a like new condition low miles 1995 Softail Nostalgia worth $16,000 for only 8 thousand bucks!

A few hundred dollars in shipping charges and a few weeks later it arrived in Los Angeles.  I paid $99 for a one way bus ticket from Raleigh, NC to LA to pick up my bike, and meet my New Zealand friends who couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join me on this adventure with their bikes.

I learned a lot of things about myself and about life in general on that road trip. Taking a few months to get away from it all, and ride with no clear destination and no time to be there was exactly what I needed to keep hold of what little sanity I still possessed.  Had I not taken that ride  I honestly think I would be dead or in prison right now.

SO… Even though this short 6 day 2000 mile ride is nothing in comparison to the other one, I’m still excited for the opportunity to hit the open road again. Because in the end, every mile I ride is like much needed nourishing calories for my soul.