Motorcycle Misadventures

From NC to the Canadian Border: Backroads Mag

Backroads magazine has an online version as well as a print monthly. They say they are "Available in select shops from North Carolina to the Canadian border, each month Backroads gives riders places to go and things to see. Then we give you superb roads to ride with our own Rip & Ride Route Sheets™." If you live in the area, or just want to travel there, you'll find some good rides.

Thanks to Michael Murray (of the Motorcycle Travel DVDs) for sending the info.

United Sidecar Association and The Sidecarist Magazine

If you're interested in sidecars you'll want to know about the United Sidecar Association. It's a membership only association and they send out a print magazine quarterly, with articles and information about rallies and events and members adventures at home and abroad. This edition reports on a couple who are riding through the back country of Africa on a Kawasaki KZ 750 B4 Twin with  a Side Strider off-road sidecar chassis. Amazingly, they met another sidecar-ing couple from France, riding a Moto Guzzi the other way. Anyway, if you have a sidecar or just want one, you'll want to check them out at http://www.sidecar.com/

Motorcycle Travel Planning DVDs

The other day I blogged on D. Brent Miller's interview with a producer of the DVD Get Lost: Oregon.  Yesterday I got an email from Michael Murray with a link to his set of DVDs on motorcycling I haven't seen them, but it looks like he has a nice array of titles:

Learn valuable preparation tips as you plan your next motorcycle adventure in Alaska, Copper Canyon, Baja Mohab, The Trans-America Trail, New Zealand . . . Here's the link.

Michael worked with TransAm Trail founder Sam Corerro on that title, so it should be good!

Anybody got input on motorcycle travel DVDs they like? Let me know. I may do a Miss Adventuring episode on the topic.

Do Think About Being Happy?

If you do, you're probably not. I just listened to a podcast interview with NPR National Correspondent Eric Weiner (joining guest host Ted Asregadoo filling in for Michael Krasney) for a discussion of his new book, "The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World." He found out that if people think about being happy a lot, they're less likely to be happy. So when you're riding a motorcycle across the country, and you're not thinking, "Gee, I'm happy," then you're happy, right? But if you are thinking, "Gee, I'm happy," then your mind starts measuring your happiness against your unhappiness. Like that boyfriend you left in the dust, or the boss or the mother in law or the knock you picked up in the right side of the engine about 100 miles ago and ungrateful children and the mortgage... I could go on, but I've decided I'm not going to think about being happy any more. Check it out here. You'll be surprised at the results of his research - the happiest place in the world is . . . find out.

Lost on a Motorcycle in Oregon

You'll want to listen to this very entertaining Sojourn Chronicles  podcast, a conversation with Dru Martin -- producer of  the Get Lost: Oregon DVD -- about a group of adventure motorcyclists in Oregon back country. Dru also talks about the filming of his new DVD on Baja, Mexico.  It's an audio podcast with a short text intro. I know you'll enjoy it!

The Miss Adventuring Podcast has Launched

Tune in now to listen to the first show with Lisa Alpine, who makes her living as a travel writer and dance workshop leader.

It all began on her 18th birthday when she boarded a plane to Paris and started working her way around the world. Lisa describes how she created a career of travel writing and leading dance workshops, how she makes money, how inspiration and intuition guide her life, and the joys and challenges of family, love, and relationships in a career that has taken her off the beaten path. Most of all, get her tips for creating your own path and business from what you love to do, whatever that may be. Lisa is all about encouragement!

You'll also hear the multi-talented D. Brent Miller on the podcast. He's the Ohio-based publisher of Sojourn Chronicles, as well as an audio engineer and professional sidekick.

 What is the Miss Adventuring Podcast?
The Miss Adventuring podcast is a weekly MP3 audio program where you'll hear from guests who share tips for those of us who want to create our own fabulously misadventurous life. When you click "Listen Now" the program will either stream or download to your computer depending on how you've set your system to handle MP3 files (iTunes, Windows Media Player, Realplayer, QuickTime).

I hope you enjoy the show, and I'd love to hear from you if you'd like to comment on the format, the guest, or if you have questions or suggestions, or even want to send me your stories of how a misadventure changed your life for the better. Don't forget, subscribe to the Miss Adventuring mailing list if you haven't already.

Thanks for tuning in!

Carla King
Miss Adventuring

Becoming One with a Cantankerous Outfit

Greg Williams writes the "On the Road" column for the Calgary Herald’s Driving.ca section. Inside Motorcycles magazine published his entertaining review of American Borders in their magazine. You can read it on his blog.

Nominations Open for the MBI Riders Choice Awards

Your chance to nominate manufacturers, people, organizations for the best of and the worst of 2007 in the annual MBI Riders Choice Awards.

Vote in these categories:

• Best concept motorcycle or scooter
• Best manufacturer’s website
• Best new motorcycle
• Best new scooter
• Most environmentally friendly motorcycle
• Object of lust
• Thumbs up
• Wish we’d thought of that
• Women riders booster of the year
• Most disappointing new motorcycle
• Thumbs down
• What were they thinking?
• Worst manufacturer’s website

Nominate your favorite (or least favorite) here.