Good to be home…

After 20.5 hours of traveling time spanning two days, it sure is good to be back home in California.   I had a good time in Turkey, but it seems like this summer has just been nonstop travel, with just a little more to come later this month at the Horizons Unlimited event in Mariposa.   CSC and yours truly will be there with demo bikes, and copies of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM, Moto Colombia!, and Riding China.

Much of that nonstop travel found its way into print over the last year, as in nearly a thousand pages and close to a quarter of a million words in the three books you see above.   And this blog entry is the 1,912th one I’ve written on the CSC blog…but hey, who’s counting?

Turkey was great and I enjoyed my time there.  Security was tighter than usual, undoubtedly because of the situation in the Middle East and Turkey’s recent coup attempt, but it was not intrusive and it was actually less than I had anticipated.  I enjoyed meeting Burak, Caner, and Enes and seeing their RX3s (all three ride white bikes, and they explained to me that white is the fastest color).   I learned there’s a Turkish RX3 Facebook page, and it lit up with the photos of our dinner that evening.  It would be cool if we could do some kind of ride across Turkey, although I think I have done enough riding for a little while.  Nah, I was just kidding.  I’m going to fire up the RX3 and get out on it this afternoon.  The weather in So Cal is perfect for motorcycle riding today.

The only casualty of the China ride was the circular polarizer I use on a couple of my Nikon lenses.  It started getting these weird squiggly lines (I first noticed it in China) and then those lines continued to grow (and more of them appeared).   I took the polarizer to the camera store, and the camera store guy told Steve and me that the thing had fungus.   That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me, but it rained so often (and it was so hot and humid) in China I guess I should have known that was the problem.  But I was still surprised when I heard the diagnosis.  I tossed the polarizer and ordered a new one online while I was in Turkey, and it was waiting for me when I returned home last night.   I’m going to snap a few photos today to see how it works.

We’ve had more cool photos come to us from you (our readers and riders) in the last few days.  We love getting them, so please keep the photos and emails coming.  Our good buddy Gabe wrote to us with these cool photos of his customized TT250.   Check out the front fender Gabe installed on his bike…

The subject line in Gabe’s email was “I Love My TT250” and I thought that pretty much says it all.   We know the TT250 is a great bike, and it has been wonderful seeing how well it has been received here in America.   Steve and Maureen did a great job specifying the features CSC wanted on it.  I feel a little guilty I haven’t put that many miles on mine, but I just haven’t been home that much this summer.

We received a fresh batch of photos from Chuck and his wife showing sand dunes in Nevada, the Bonneville salt flats, and the Big Horn mountains.  You’ll remember that Chuck and his wife flew to California, bought two new RX3s, and rode their motorcycles across America to return to their home in Wisconsin.

More good inputs…our good buddy Reuben, who rode with us on the inaugural CSC Baja ride, is currently doing a Four Corners ride around the US.  I’ve been following Reuben’s adventures on his Facebook page.  Reuben is an awesome man, and his Four Corners photos and narrative have been a real treasure.

This thing we are doing (we being CSC and you, our riders) is magnificent.  The RX3 has been a worldwide success story, and Zonghen’s CG-based motorcycles are similarly found all over the globe.  Bringing the bikes to America and making high quality, right-sized, and affordable motorcycles available in this country has been an incredible ride for all of us.   We sure are having fun.

So that’s it for now, folks.   I’m still a little jet-lagged.  I think I’ll take a nap and then go for a ride.   I’ll talk to you later, my friends.