Leanings 3 Quotes

“And, of course, motorcycles are somewhat dangerous, as are most things worth doing—flying, mountain climbing, horseback riding, defending your country, skydiving, arresting felons, football, auto racing, boxing, firefighting, scuba diving, etc. You don’t do these things to be safe; you do them after deciding what kind of life you want to lead, careful or exciting.”
― Peter Egan, Leanings 3: On the Road and in the Garage with Cycle World's Peter Egan

“Then I had one of those odd shifts of focus and looked down at my bike, and my dusty, worn gloves on the handlebars. We were in the greatest place in the world, but what had it taken to get here? Quite a bit. Learning to ride, getting a driver’s license in high school. Acquiring tools, learning to change flat tires and clutch cables. Gaining dirt experience and going to dealerships to shop for the right bike. Installing knobbies and handguards and a skidplate. After years of youthful indigence, moving through a series of jobs that finally allowed you to afford a truck or a bike trailer. Learning to read maps and cross rivers in deep water. Finding helmets and enduro jackets and motocross boots that fit. Getting a passport, paying your bike registration, learning a smattering of useful Spanish.… And living long enough to have friends who were crazy enough to do all these things, as well. People you could count on who’d gone through the same lifetime of motorcycle connections that had brought us to this perfect spot in time. As I put my helmet back on, it occurred to me that you are never more completely the sum of everything you’ve ever been than when you take a slightly difficult motorcycle trip into a strange land. And make it back out again.”
― Peter Egan, Leanings 3: On the Road and in the Garage with Cycle World's Peter Egan

“A year from now, you won’t remember why you stayed home, but you never forget a motorcycle trip.”
― Peter Egan, Leanings 3: On the Road and in the Garage with Cycle World's Peter Egan

“And on the wall next to my desk is a huge Rand McNally wall map of the United States and southern Canada. All I have to do is turn and look at it (as I did just now) and I get this strange rush, an odd mixture of hope and foreboding that harkens back to something a Viking might have felt when stepping into a longboat. Or, in my case, an Irishman stepping into a curragh. It’s a vision that blows the walls off your house, zooms you backwards into deep space, and makes anything seem possible. Looking at a map is the seed of adventure. GPS screens don’t do this to me.”
― Peter Egan, Leanings 3: On the Road and in the Garage with Cycle World's Peter Egan