Posted by Brad Osborne on November 14, 2020 · 16 Comments
The island inks that paint our arms,
Our quiet strength and worldly charms…
Filed under Poetry · Tagged with girls, love, lust, Marines, ocean, poem, Poetry, sailing, sailors, sea, strict form poetry, temporary, travel, women, World
Posted by Brad Osborne on June 24, 2019 · 8 Comments
It is still one of the most technical rides, on one of the most dangerous roads in the world. And it is worth every second.
Filed under Reading for Riders · Tagged with great rides, great roads, motorcycle trip, motorcycling, North Carolina, riders, riding, scenic roads, Smoky Mountains, tail of the dragon, Tennessee, travel, trip planning, two wheels
Posted by Brad Osborne on June 22, 2019 · 4 Comments
The Devils Triangle, just north of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the mountains of the Cumberland Plateau, is made up of some of the most unusual two-lane twisty roads in eastern Tennessee.
Filed under Reading for Riders · Tagged with best roads, devil's triangle, great rides, great roads, motocycling, motorcycle trip, Oliver Springs, riders, riding, Robbinsville, scenic roads, tail of the dragon, Tennessee, travel
Posted by Brad Osborne on June 20, 2019 · 2 Comments
The Foothills Parkway is 33 miles of paved and maintained road that follows the Smoky Mountain ridgeline from US 129 to Walland, Tennessee. It winds through the Nantahala National Forest and provides spectacular views of the Smoky Mountains to the east, and the Cumberland Mountains to the west.
Filed under Reading for Riders · Tagged with best roads, Fontana Dam, foothills parkway, great rides, great roads, great smoky mountain national park, motorcycle trip, motorcycling, North Carolina, riders, riding, scenic roads, Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, travel
Posted by Brad Osborne on June 19, 2019 · 4 Comments
Referred to as “The Mile-High Legend” their tag line is “A Drive Above The Clouds”.
Filed under Reading for Riders · Tagged with best roads, bikers, cherohala, great roads, Great Smoky Mountains, motorcycle trip, motorcycling, national forests, riders, riding, scenic roads, sightseeing, skyway, travel
Posted by Brad Osborne on June 18, 2019 · 5 Comments
US 129 runs right through Robbinsville, though the Dragon is some 30 minutes south of town. If it didn’t, Robbinsville may well not exist at all.
Filed under Reading for Riders · Tagged with bikers, deals gap, motocycling, motorcycle trip, motorcycles, NC, North Carolina, riders, riding, road trip, Robbinsville, tail of the dragon, touring, travel
Posted by Brad Osborne on June 10, 2019 · 4 Comments
This upcoming trip, I had decided to pass the baton. There were only three of us and the date was easy. I welcomed the chance to not be burdened with the detail and minutia of planning things.
Posted by Brad Osborne on May 30, 2019 · 7 Comments
I was torn between the English and Metric systems of measure. Two systems that rail against each other in their efforts to complete the same tasks. There is no simple conversion for any units of measure.
Filed under General · Tagged with cm, converting units, English, foot, gram, inch, measurement, metric, ounce, science, travel, U.S., units of measure, World
Posted by Brad Osborne on May 23, 2019 · 4 Comments
Hard to sleep the night before.
Always harder, not knowing.
With the rising sun we’ll leave,
I wonder where we’re going.
Filed under Poetry, Reading for Riders · Tagged with bikers, direction, family, humanity, life, loss, motorcycles, motorcycling, no destination, open road, Poetry, questions, relationships, riders, riding, travel, two wheels, wander, wonder
Posted by Brad Osborne on May 21, 2019 · 6 Comments
We have always been able to communicate with each other beyond any language barrier. It becomes this subtle dance of gesture and pantomime. Moving your hand across the other as if holding a pen to indicate you want to write something or would like your meal’s check. Pointing at something in the market and touching your wallet to inquire how much it costs. A whole stage full of charades played out to convey what the other is saying.
Filed under General · Tagged with bow, bowing, communication, community, cultural, culture, dialect, fluency, fluent, foriegn, greetings, hello, hi, language, metric system, pronunciation, second languages, swearing, thank you, thanks, travel, wave, word choice, words
