A Christmas Note

A Christmas Note

This is the time of the year when families, friends, and loved ones get together to share old memories and make new ones. Smiles are exchanged around decorated trees, symbolic bushes, and tables laden with holiday cheer. There is no greater gift than shared laughter, and I thank all of my readers and supporters, who are stuffing smiles into stockings and wrapped packages through the purchase of my books Conversations With A Motorcycle, and the delayed Motorcycles Speak...

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“Attacked In My Own Home…”

I would like to thank the folks at Netflix for introducing me to foreign films and television series that rely on English subtitles to explain car chases, gun fights, and explosions. There was something on the other night, a movie made in Lithuania, in which a refinery exploded and the subtitles read, “Sounds of explosions.” Now I understand that subtitles are not only for those who do not speak Lithuanian, but also to assist the hearing impaired. This begs the question,...

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Memories of a Bike, Straight Whiskey, and Father’s Day

Parts of the following Riepe’s Rampage were first run on my former blog — Twisted Roads — in 2008. This has become my standard Father’s Day message, as it evokes powerful memories of my dad, who was a husband, fireman, father, and friend. He was also a driving instructor, a mechanic, a plumber, a philosopher, a cook, and a carpenter. He died when he was 58, some 31 years ago. The most challenging moments I have ever had behind the wheel were when driving with a super...

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Glacial Melt And Ball Drop…

Glacial Melt And Ball Drop…

Standing here on a New Jersey beach, a placid Atlantic Ocean before me, the news is not good. Two of the most relentless forces of nature are robbing me of sleep, reason, and the bonhommery that is my trademark as a moto writer. Those forces are glacial melt and ball drop. The leading experts on glacial melt say the oceans are rising at the rate of 3.2 millimeters per year (approximately .13 inches annually). My testicles are dropping at the rate of .13 inches daily....

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