Can a Cross-Continental Motorcycle Trip Change Your Life?...The Answer is Yes!

There are some experiences that affect you, and then there those that leave you forever changed.

There I was taking in the view from my campsite overlooking the Pacific Ocean, when I was hit with a profound sense of accomplishment. I ran down to the beach, took off my riding boots and let the waves wash over my bare feet. 

It was July 2019 and I had covered just over 3200 mi. (5100 km.) to get from my driveway in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada to my campsite in Malibu, California.  I was only 8 days into what would become a 26 day, 8700 mi. (14000 km.) motorcycle adventure, and I had already travelled across one international border and through nine states.

Day 1 – What started as a beautiful sunny morning when I entered the U.S. (crossing from Windsor, Ontario into Detroit, Michigan) eventually turned into three hours of white-knuckle riding as I navigated the Chicago area freeway system in a blinding rainstorm. 

My rain gear completely soaked through and I would eventually locate a Harley Dealership on the outskirts of Chicago and buy new gear…which, by the way, is amazing and has held up for over two years and numerous days of riding in the rain.

Day 2 – I rode through the 110+ degree heat-wave that was gripping Iowa and Nebraska, making friends along I-80 with a wonderful couple, Jordan and Chaunt’l, who were riding west from Chicago – we made the same gas and Gatorade stops several times and eventually decided to become riding mates the rest of the way to Denver. 

Days 3 and 4 – In contrast to the heat and humidity of the prior day, I needed all my cold weather gear as I made my way over the Rocky Mountains – in fact, the temperatures dropped to just above freezing on the road to Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in North America at 14,130 ft.. 

Day 5 and 6 – I was truly awe-inspired by the profound beauty as I rode over, under (literally) and through the rocky canyons of Utah and Arizona. 

[note: do yourself a favour and put Zion Canyon and Brice Canyon, in southern Utah, on your motorcycle riding bucket list along with Antelope Canyon, in Arizona] 

Day 7 – I barely saw another motorcycle for the entire day which I attribute to the extreme temperatures that hit over 120+ degrees in Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park and on through the desert terrain of southern Nevada. Being one who does not do well in extreme heat, this was the ultimate test of my-self designed desert gear and DIY cooling system…I literally would not have been able to continue without it! 

Day 8 – Finally, I arrived at the west coast and even LA’s rush hour traffic (in what was a comparatively bearable 110 degrees) could not change my feeling of profound bliss as I made my way to my home for the night – a hillside campsite overlooking the Pacific Ocean. 

I arrived sweaty and exhausted, feeling a little overwhelmed at the prospect of setting up camp, when the spectacular view reenergized me and the thoughts of all I had seen and experienced in just 8 short days filled me with a sense of awe. 

I had been to California more times than I could count, but this adventure was monumentally different - I didn’t fly into LAX, spend 40 minutes in a taxi, and tip a stranger $10 for carrying my bag to some 8th floor hotel room. 

No…

I rode every mile. 

I had seen it all. 

I had smelled it all. 

I was hit in the face with America, in all her awesome beauty. 

…I was on the kind of motorcycle high that keeps a rider addicted for a lifetime.

As I set up my tent, I realized that just a few miles away were all the chic hotels where I had stayed on my fly-in/fly-out business trips. They all seemed so foreign to me now – attached to a world that felt increasingly less authentic than the life my motorcycling adventures had given me. This little patch of dirt that I was about to call my home for the night felt like the most perfect place on earth, free from the constructs and pretences that once seemed so important.

THIS is the magic of riding, and of long-distance motorcycle riding in particular! 

It changes you at your core; it is a form of meditation that connects you with the present moment; and re-defines your sense of what is important. Riding, and experiencing all the wonderful people and places that you would never discover through conventional travel, somehow unites you with the natural world – and reminds us we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.

My long-distance riding adventures have given me a gift – the ability to hear the quiet voice in my soul that has always known the world could be a kind, simple, and magical place…and as I stood on that beach looking at the setting sun, with the waves washing over my toes, I knew that the past 8 days had begun to transform me. I was inspired by a newfound sense of freedom - freedom to allow myself to live outside the conventional norms and to discover my ideal existence.

…and this was just week one!

…there were 3 more weeks ahead.

…who knows what would happen next?! 

Stay tuned for weeks 2, 3, and 4!