NEWSLETTER 02-21: THE DEAD OF WINTER

January wasn’t too bad. There were several warm-ish days and no snow to speak of. On some of those days, motorcycles were conspicuously cruising thew roads; could spring be far off? Now  February has squashed any notion of an easy winter. The weather pattern has stabilized with storms cascading across the continent bringing snow and ice to nearly every one of the 48 contiguous states. Now 35° seems reasonably warm enough for a short ride, but the heavily salty roads do tend to give me pause. The wood pile is going down at an alarming rate; will spring never arrive?

I’m here to tell you that it will. Keep faith, stay strong, spring will come. Soon we will all be riding again, soaking up the warm sun as we bend into curves, enjoying the amazing burst of life that is renewed each year, smelling the smells, and feeling the oneness with nature and the machine that only riders know. But what to do in the meantime?  Some days I feel the weight of our newly isolated social norm; endless days spent at home have made life into a Ground Hog Day re-make for many of us, but there is a way out.  Unless you are a hard core pessimist, you will realize that the pandemic will have an ending. Life will, sooner or later, return to something close to normal. In the meantime, here is how to make the winter blues disappear: PLAN TO RIDE.

Now is the time to mark your calendar, setting aside time to ride. The 2021 RetroTours Schedule is now posted at www.retrotours.com.  8 or 10 reservations have already come in and more are on the way. If the posted schedule does not match yours, pick the date and we’ll arrange a custom tour to fit your exact needs, which can be for 1 rider or any size group. Please help us keep these classic bikes running.

RetroTours will make it easy for you. Just get here and ride. We will take care of airport transfers as needed, overnight accommodations, route planning, bike preparation before and after. If you feel you didn’t get your money’s worth, I will refund your fee. I promise you will totally enjoy the bikes, the roads, the destinations, and the camaraderie. You do not have to spend a fortune and travel to the far corners of the world to enjoy a unique motorcycle adventure. We ride fast enough to keep things interesting, slow enough to stay safe. It’s a beautiful country and there is no better way to experience it than on old bikes on back roads. We take Covid seriously and take all reasonable precautions. Getting out for a weekend (or longer) will do you some good. Want to take 10 or 12 days and ride down to the Barber Museum in Leeds, Alabama? I’m game; just let me know.

In addition to planning for upcoming rides, I like to relive last season’s rides. The ride reports on the web site will give you an idea of what RetroTours is all about. The bad days are in there along with the good ones; it’s all part of the adventure. I still have 5 more ride reports to post from 2020. The more it snows the more I tend to catch up on posting ride reports. Looks like there will be plenty of postings in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned to this channel.

Here is a picture of Andy’s Harley 250 two stroke. After blasting around in the dirt for a while on a cold winter’s day, what could be better than to warm up by a campfire? The icicle shot is taken off my front porch. I still have a bag of sharpened sheet metal screws and if it stays below freezing long enough, I may have to find an XR 80 or 100, stud up the tires, and take to riding around in circles on the frozen pond. Meanwhile, how about a ride in the slidecar? No really, spring is just around the corner, Punxsutawney Phil be damned.

CHEERS!

joel @ retrotours

    RIDE A PIECE OF THE PAST ON THE PATH LESS TAKEN!