The 2024 riding season is looking very different.

I was playing pickle ball with a motorcycle friend when she caught her foot on the court and fell, breaking her wrist and messing up her plans for an upcoming tour through Greece. (She ended up going but as a pillion.)

Another riding buddy just bought a sweet 2022 1250GS and was all set to ship it to Las Vegas this fall and ride to Yosemite NP and back along the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego. The other day while walking into his garage, he got his feet caught up in a hose and fell, breaking both his arms.

Both my friends are healing well but their stories remind me that sometimes “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley” (Robbie Burns, “The best laid plans of mice and men / Can go awry”).

I’m thinking of this in relation to my own summer plans. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I was due to leave July 1 to ride The Blue Ridge Parkway down to West Virginia, then ride the MABDR and NEBDR back to Quebec. The bike was ready; I was ready. Now that’s not going to happen, but for reasons less dramatic than what happened to my friends.

As some of you know, my wife and I rescued a dog in October 2021, near the end of the Covid crisis. He was in a bad situation through the first several years of his life and came to us with some pretty severe trauma. So I didn’t travel that first summer but let him settle into his new home. Last summer, Marilyn and I left him for three weeks while we toured the East Coast and Newfoundland, and ever since then, he’s shown signs of separation anxiety.

Recently while we were on a short trip out of province to visit family, he became severely ill. He lost about 20% of his weight and had to be hospitalized for 24 hours to receive intensive treatment. The official diagnosis was gastro, but I’ve come to learn that gastro is really just a generic term for any kind of digestive issue. The real cause, I’m quite certain, was stress.

The good news is that, physically, he has recovered after a week of antibiotics and gastro food. The bad news is that now his anxiety has worsened to the degree that we can no longer leave him alone, even to run short errands.

So instead of touring through July, I’ll be working with him to desensitize and recondition him, but this is going to take time. If he progresses quickly, there’s an outside chance I might be able to ride just the NEBDR in August. That’s my glimmer of hope. Otherwise, the Blue Ridge Parkway and BDR’s will have to wait another year.

Although disappointed, I can’t complain too loudly about this turn of events. Yes, I was looking forward to the ride after a tough winter, but I don’t have any broken bones, and Montreal’s West Island is very pleasant in the summertime. I’ll still be doing day rides when Marilyn is home, and I’ll still be posting about those rides and writing other content.

Speaking of which, the other day I rode an old favourite, Riviére Rouge up to Brookdale, then back down the 323 to Montebello before returning along the 148. Okay, it’s not The Blue Ridge Parkway, but the Tiger is always fun to ride.

The motto of this blog is “life is an adventure.” You never know what’s around the next corner.

Enjoy the ride, whatever it may bring.