Lois On The Loose!

I spend a lot of time on the Internet.  Less now than I used to, but still a lot of time.   One of the things I thoroughly enjoy is reading blogs, especially if they involve travel on motorcycles. And if the travel is across an international border, I’m in.  But you guys already know that, because I told you all about Dave Barr and Simon Gandolfi several months ago in this blog.   I’ve struck up friendships with both guys through the Internet.  In Dave Barr’s case, I actually rode out to his home in Bodfish, California, and rode around Lake Isabella with him.   Dave was on his round-the-world ’72 Harley, and it was a cool ride.  In Simon’s case, I struck up an Internet friendship that resulted in his flying to Los Angeles and riding a California Scooter all the way down to Cabo San Lucas and back.

Lois Pryce and a matching CSC motorcycle!

What impressed me mightily about Simon and Dave is that they essentially did their world motorcycle travels on their own.   You may remember a few years ago that a couple of rich English dudes went around the world on BMWs, but that didn’t impress me too much.  Those dudes had an army of support staff and vehicles traveling with them, and it just didn’t seem like much of an adventure to me.   They even did a TV show about it.  I think they called it The Expensive, Well Supported, Zero Risk Way Down or something.  Whatever. 

Doing it on your own, however, is much more of an adventure.  Doing it on a small bike (Simon used a 125cc Honda pizza delivery bike) or a beater (Dave Barr did it on an old Harley Superglide that had 100,000 miles on the clock when he started his trip) made those trips even more special to me.   These are guys I call adventurers.

This is a great story

Maybe I’m sexist.   I just think it takes enormous courage to do this…and even more if you’re a woman.   Alone.   Wow!  I bought her book (Lois on the Loose), and it was Wow! all over again.    Lois on the Loose is a great read.  I sent Lois an e-mail after I read it, telling her how much I enjoyed it.  She sent an e-mail thanking me.

So, my good friend J Brandon of American Sahara fame called me the other day and said he had just met Lois Pryce, she was going to be in Los Angeles, and she was interested in seeing the California Scooter Company.  One thing led to another, and sure enough, Lois stopped in to say hi.   She just left a few minutes ago.  Lois looks and sounds just like I imagined she would, and after exchanging introductions, I told her “first things first…”   I asked her to sign my copy of Lois on the Loose.   This was really cool stuff.  Lois checked out our bikes, talked to the folks in the factory, and rode one of our new burgundy CSC motorcycles around the plant (I should have told her we painted it to match her hair!).   What a fun morning!

My own signed copy of Lois On The Loose!