About MotoCanuck

I am an avid motorcycle and photography enthusiast.

My life long journey into this two wheeled world began on Christmas morning 1974 when I received my first motorcycle. It was a somewhat Frankensteined together Honda 125 and on that machine I learned a lot about riding and many life lessons as well. Riding in the dirt is unlike any other riding one can do and many of the things I learned at 12 years old about the physics of riding a motorcycle continue to serve me to this day. Jump ahead 41 (gulp!) yes 41 years,  I am still riding and just as excited as that 12 year old boy every time I go out.

My first long tour was a solo act when I was about 20 years old. Recovering for knee surgery that had not entirely gone to plan I was feeling a bit bummed out and although I really wouldn’t fully understand the therapeutic value of motorcycling until much later I think I intuitively knew that it was exactly what I needed. I rode west across the US and Canada to BC where I visited relatives fir a few days before turning south along the coast to San Fran and Woodland California, more relatives. Then the ride back east and home. 3 weeks and a little over 11,000 km. (more on this later in a post)

I was an instructor with the Canada Safety Council – Motorcycle Rider Training Program for about 7 years. I have owned a reasonable yet respectable number of motorcycles over the years. I have never really stopped to calculate how far I have ridden on two wheels in my lifetime but in 2009/2010 alone I toured around 45,000km.

Although I have been riding just north of 40 years, it was only on a recent (2009) tour of the U.S. that the seed of a notion for a touring blog was sewn. That notion has grown into this project at the encouragement of a neighbour and a couple friends who don’t do longer tours at this time but like reading about them.

It seemed that more often than not on rides with friends I found myself planning, mapping and leading these outings. I rather like this role and it has afforded me the opportunity to accumulate trip routes both long and short as well as video, photos and journals (of the longer trips). I would often have my riding partners ask me how I found the routes we took. I felt it was time to share the roads less traveled.

It is my hope that there will be something here for everyone, whether you stop by to look at photos, videos or read about the tours I’ve taken. My hope is that the content of this blog serves as a catalyst for your own adventures.

Its a great big beautiful world out there. In my humble opinion there is no better way to see it than from the seat of a motorcycle but failing that the most important thing is to see it.

“…….I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Robert Frost