Last year I wrote a post – the site’s very first post – about the riding goals I wanted to accomplish last year. I thought it would be a good time to review what I had accomplished, before I wrote about what I want to accomplish this year.
Here is what I was hoping to accomplish – and how I did.
Ride more with my wife
If there was a goal that I thought would be easy, and wasn’t one that I would bomb on completely, this was easily the one. However, I unfortunately did not ride anywhere near as often with my wife as I had thought I would. We have to commit to make time to change.
That may happen soon enough. My wife is actually quite taken with the idea of riding a little more off the beaten track, and is smitten with the now-announced Honda Transalp. If a trade in of her cruiser-style bike is in the cards, we will likely have more riding together, with a little off road, and a little longer touring now that she would have access to better luggage. We will see. Last year was also a bad year for any kind of travel for us, so short motorcycle trips might be what the doctor ordered.
Attend the Touratech Rally in Plain, WA.
Mission accomplished. So much so that I recorded a ton of video of that trip (badly), and you can see the first post of it here. More will come over the next few weeks.
Ride more off Road, with some friends
Again mission accomplished, as I road off-road for a couple of days at Touratech with my riding buddy. This was great fun and definitely built up a bit of my confidence.
Take at least three motocamping trips
Well, this didn’t quite pan out. I took two motocamping trips, and one additional trip nearly a week long. I didn’t get my usual one-week riding week in last year – and to be honest I’m not sure why. However, I did take three trips with my riding buddy:
- A long weekend camping trip to a provincial campground not far from my house. This was kind of a “checkout” trip for my new tent, and for all of my riding buddy’s gear, as he hadn’t camped in several years, and never off a bike.
- A long weekend camping trip to the Touratech Rally in Plain, WA.
- A 6 day trip to the BCBeemers rally in Nakusp, BC. Because the weather was dodgy, we actually did motels the whole way, which was the right call for us, I think. I spent most of the days riding the incredible roads around Nakusp, and stopping at local hot springs and eateries. It was a pleasant weekend, but I don’t think I’d attend for that event again.
Final Thoughts
I did a lot of riding this year, but much of it was commuting. The three trips were fantastic, and as I reflect back on them, they are the first motorcycle trips I have done since my big one in August 2019 down to Mount St. Helen’s. Certainly it was the first time I’ve had the bike in the US since COVID. This was a good year of riding, and perhaps a great year. 2023 is going to be fantastic, and 2024 is going to be a record year, I think. Here’s to the end of 2022, which I’ve been thinking hadn’t been a great year – until I reflect back on my family, my friends, and some great time on the bike.