Endless Skies and Seemingly Endless Roads.

Our first couple states were just weekend trips. We rode to Michigan

while spending a weekend in Wisconsin with Sean’s brother and sister in law.

We took our Iowa (my home state) picture

on our way home from Des Moines where my brother had run/swam/biked a triathlon.

The first planned multi-state trip was during Sturgis week in 2011. I was not quite done with my chemo, so it was great to take a day and get away from the crowds and noise in Sturgis.

In one day we visited:

South Dakota

North Dakota

 Wyoming

 And Montana 

It was a hot and dusty day and traveling through the back roads gave us a new appreciation for having towns every couple miles and a convenience store on every corner. The countryside and the views were amazing - even the free-range cows.

and we both understood the draw to the pioneers and adventurers more than 100 years ago.

The day gave us just a small taste of our adventures yet to come.

In the Beginning: Aloha

We’d already visited a lot of states on the bike. Yearly trips to Sturgis took us to South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. We’d been to Wisconsin many times and Iowa. We didn't count these states as “official” yet.

There was one state though, that we visited in 2009, two years before our quest began, that we did count as number 1 of 50 – Hawaii.

We were married on September 9, 2009 on the island of Maui, one of the single most wonderful days of my life. 

We flew into Hawaii a few days before the wedding, and took one day away from our families to rent a Harley and travel the island.

We didn't know where we were going, or really care. We just started following the road, stopping whenever we felt like it to take a picture or get something local to eat.

The sites we saw were amazing – breathtaking views (and breathtaking sheer drops of the cliffs),

and rain, sun, and the smell of the ocean mixed with flowers and volcanic soil was intoxicating.

At one point stopped on the roadside to take a picture, and a local man walked up to us and starting chatting. He told us to stop and park at the next pull-over just around the corner. We’d see a footpath that went down into the valley. He said to take that path to see some amazing sites that no visitor usually gets to see.

We hesitated. It sounded like the plot of a bad slasher movie. Or it was going to lead us on yet another amazing site seeing trip. We started down the path, a little concerned that around any twist or turn someone would jump out at us and rob us of our belongings (a set of keys and a camera – they wouldn't have gotten a lot). That never happened and we will forever be grateful to that local stranger for pointing out the path.

As we were returning the bike I asked the rental attendant to take a picture. This is our first official picture, and while it doesn't specifically say that we are in Hawaii, it will have to do, since there is no state line to take a picture at!

Quinlans’ Great 50-States-by-Motorcycle Adventure

We are on an adventure that it never occurred to me that I’d take. Not that unexpected adventures are new to me, they actually happen quite often, but this one is an epic adventure:

We are going to ride through all 50 states on our 2002 Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail.

Originally, the plan was to have our picture taken in front of the state sign in each state and have a beer nearby. These two actions would designate the state as “Officially Been Visited”. Unfortunately, when we visited our first official state, all the bars were closed, so we couldn't have the requisite beer.

It was probably a good thing not to include the “have a beer nearby”. Many of our states were visited very early in the morning, or we spent only enough time to get our official picture and hit the open road again.

So, our current rules are:

• The photo must be taken of an official state welcome sign.
• We must be within the state limits when the picture is taken.

Sounds pretty easy, right? It isn't. It didn't occur to me that you can’t stop on the interstate to take a picture. For each picture we have to cruise the back roads near the state line until we find a “Welcome to…” sign. 

Easy isn't always better, though. As you will read, some of our greatest stories come from riding the bike roads of America.

The Name: Yoga and the Art of Motorcycle Riding.

With all due respect to Mr. Persig, I've never read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It looks like a good book. I’m all for being Zenful, I know nothing about motorcycle maintenance. I do, however know Yoga and Motorcycle Riding.

I've loved yoga for years and am even certified to teach yoga. Since I spend so many hours on the back of the bike, I've even developed my own set of asanas (poses) that can be done on the bike or during gas stops. But that really isn't the reason for the name.

A large part of yoga is learning to be mindful and live in the moment. To do this you must learn to calm your mind and live life fully in the moment you are experiencing right now. That’s what motorcycling does for me. The sights, sounds, smells, the feel of the rain or snow or sun on your face, the taste of salt or pine needles in the air – these all keep me present and fully aware of the gifts this part of the earth is giving you.

Sean and I bond on these trips. We rarely
talk while we are on the bike, but our connection is always there. This, my yogi friends, is my Samadhi.

The Advent of the Adventure

Back to how this all started. Early in 2011, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. We’d been married just over a year and our life was wonderful. There was no way I was going to let that change (at least permanently).

I had successful surgery, a couple rounds of chemotherapy and a few reconstruction surgeries.

Sean was there for every chemo session, every doctor’s visit, every trip to the hospital. As anyone who has gone through this knows, during these sessions, visits and trips, you end up with a lot of waiting time on your hands. Waiting for the chemicals to enter your system, waiting for your turn at the doctors’, waiting for surgery to start and waiting to go home.

At one point during a particularly long chemo session, Sean said “you know, we should…”. In all honesty, I don’t remember what he actually said, but I don’t know that’s where the plan to see the country via motorcycle was hatched.

Thus began the Quinlans’ Great 50-States-by-Motorcycle-Adventure (QG50SMA).

In the next couple months, I’ll try to share our adventures up this this point. You can even note the timeline as I go from long hair, to completely bald to short hair to “trying to grow it out” hair (which makes for really, really bad motorcycle hair, by the way). Sean always looks the same.