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Motorcycling Stories: Adventure Touring From the Northwest Territories to the Yucatan Peninsula
This book includes stories of seven trips to Alaska. two into mexico, Two long tours inside the USA and one each to newfoundland and Labrador. He traveled alone on most trips. Abridge versions of several stories in this book appeared in the American motorcyclist magazine since 1986.
276 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2002
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June 22, 2008
“Asia will probably be graduating from college in Anchorage in two years. I mentioned to her…that Grandpa is just going to have to do that ride one more time. Her immediate reply was, ‘No you don’t Grandpa. That’s what they make airplanes for.’ I hate airplanes. Besides, they can be dangerous.”
Thus ends Piet W. Boonstra’s book of stories of some of his journeys on two wheels. I can’t help but appreciate a man who understands that the soul-stirring challenge of riding by motorcycle is far better than the soulless danger of air travel. Having done a fair amount of each, and being a (relatively) new Grandpa, I feel a kinship with Boonstra.
Over a 30 year span, he competed on endures, winning multiple championships. In the mid-seventies, he began looking for an alternative way to ride, and settled on adventure touring. Using a variety of different bikes, from an 1100 Gold Wing to a little 250 Serow, he rode everything from interstates to forgotten dirt roads. His stories are entertaining, heartwarming, and instructive, and one can see why he has won the American Motorcycle Association’s Joe Christian Award for outstanding freelance writing. Motorcycling Stories includes his accounts of seven different trips to Alaska, two to into Mexico, two long tours around the US, one to Newfoundland and one to Labrador. The first two stories cover the time period in which he was learning the ins and outs of adventure touring, and are especially helpful for that reason.
He often rode in harsh conditions, reminding me of a mail carrier: “neither rain, nor snow nor dark of night…” He describes doing things on a Gold Wing that I think would be tough on an enduro…which just goes to show what well-honed skill can do for you, along with a little bit of insanity! Much of the riding he describes took place well after he entered his eightieth decade. Consider the following quote: “It’s amazing how much that little machine can take, not to mention my 72-year-old body. I bounced along the ground and heard my helmet hit the dirt road three times before I finally came to rest.” Or this one: “I noticed that from riding a few hours with bare hands (he had lost his gloves earlier), the strong return spring on the throttle had caused all of the heavy skin on the entire palm of my right hand to break loose from the flesh like a huge blister. It meant that I would have to use my heavier gloves and I’d have to hold the throttle mainly with my fingers and thumb until the skin had a chance to reattach itself.” No self-pity there, just the facts, ma’am, as Sergeant Joe Friday used to say.
This was one of several motorcycle touring and adventure books that have inspired me, in my own small way, to see the country on two wheels, and perhaps someday to tour some of the rest of the world. Travel and touring is in my blood, and I want to see and experience so many things about which I have only heard or read. In the meantime, though, books like Boonstra’s Motorcycling Stories help to ease the hunger. I recommend it.
Thus ends Piet W. Boonstra’s book of stories of some of his journeys on two wheels. I can’t help but appreciate a man who understands that the soul-stirring challenge of riding by motorcycle is far better than the soulless danger of air travel. Having done a fair amount of each, and being a (relatively) new Grandpa, I feel a kinship with Boonstra.
Over a 30 year span, he competed on endures, winning multiple championships. In the mid-seventies, he began looking for an alternative way to ride, and settled on adventure touring. Using a variety of different bikes, from an 1100 Gold Wing to a little 250 Serow, he rode everything from interstates to forgotten dirt roads. His stories are entertaining, heartwarming, and instructive, and one can see why he has won the American Motorcycle Association’s Joe Christian Award for outstanding freelance writing. Motorcycling Stories includes his accounts of seven different trips to Alaska, two to into Mexico, two long tours around the US, one to Newfoundland and one to Labrador. The first two stories cover the time period in which he was learning the ins and outs of adventure touring, and are especially helpful for that reason.
He often rode in harsh conditions, reminding me of a mail carrier: “neither rain, nor snow nor dark of night…” He describes doing things on a Gold Wing that I think would be tough on an enduro…which just goes to show what well-honed skill can do for you, along with a little bit of insanity! Much of the riding he describes took place well after he entered his eightieth decade. Consider the following quote: “It’s amazing how much that little machine can take, not to mention my 72-year-old body. I bounced along the ground and heard my helmet hit the dirt road three times before I finally came to rest.” Or this one: “I noticed that from riding a few hours with bare hands (he had lost his gloves earlier), the strong return spring on the throttle had caused all of the heavy skin on the entire palm of my right hand to break loose from the flesh like a huge blister. It meant that I would have to use my heavier gloves and I’d have to hold the throttle mainly with my fingers and thumb until the skin had a chance to reattach itself.” No self-pity there, just the facts, ma’am, as Sergeant Joe Friday used to say.
This was one of several motorcycle touring and adventure books that have inspired me, in my own small way, to see the country on two wheels, and perhaps someday to tour some of the rest of the world. Travel and touring is in my blood, and I want to see and experience so many things about which I have only heard or read. In the meantime, though, books like Boonstra’s Motorcycling Stories help to ease the hunger. I recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review