Introduction

Here it is, my first post. I feel as if I should make some statement as to what this blog is and where it will be going. It’s about living life in the city on two wheels: the beauty of it & sheer frustration that sometimes accompanies it.

I am a Manhattan resident (a native New Yorker) and an avid motorcyclist. I have been riding for over 15 years and have owned three bikes (pictured above if I can figure out how) and have named them all, so let me introduce them to you.

The first is a 1968 Triumph Tiger 650. I named her Penny after James Bond’s Boss’ saucy secretary Moneypenny (only to find out later that the actress Lois Maxwell is Canadian, oh well).

Next was a 1978 Harley Davidson XLCR Café Racer 1000 named Bess. The name for this jet-black bike was inspired from the Billy Bragg, Wilco co-op project of Woody Guthrie’s unrecorded lyrics. From the song The Unwelcomed Guest (…on my good horse I call you my shiny black Bess…) on the album “Mermaid Avenue”.

Last, my current leading lady, Claudia, the 1998 Moto Guzzi Centauro V10. Named after the voluptuous Italian actress Claudia Cardinale from Federico Fellini’s “81/2.”

In the coming days I will write about each bike and my adventures on them, the places I have been and the places I am going. I’ll post photos and videos and share as much of the life as I feel fit. So enjoy.