Epilogue

Many of you were introduced to my sister Mary, "the pretty one" in her comment postings, and her husband Ken as they joined me on the ride from their home in Redmond, Washington to Blaine and back to Redmond. A couple of months ago Ken and Mary were badly injured when their Harley high-sided on Washington state road 20. Both were hospitalized with significant injuries. Fortunately I am able to report that both are on the mend. Ken is back at work performing magic in metal with cars that have been banged, scraped and dented. Mary's recovery has been slower, but she has been able to resume her bookkeeping business from home. It was frustrating being on the other side of the country and unable to provide any assistance, but the kids all pitched in to help manage the home front.

Ken is a committed rider, and with his father is enclosing the carport so that they will have a place out of the weather to begin making repairs to the bike. I hope they soon will be,as my friend Gary Galloway says, "In the wind."

Mary and Ken help provide a framework for responding to the question asked in a recent comment about what sort of gear to wear. Ken and Mary were wearing helmets and leathers, without which I am confident this posting would have been about a much sadder subject. So, wear a helmet, full-face is better. I used to wear leathers, having worn them when I raced, but I think for touring you are much better off with a breathable, synthetic riding suit with protective padding. The advantage of wearing a waterproof riding suit beyond the protection is that you don't have to stop to put on rain gear when a storm threatens. Or worse, try to stop beside the highway to get into a rain suit as the storm arrives. You'll get wet and might get clipped by a car or truck whose driver's vision is obscured by the weather.

Mary and Ken were planning to ride from Washington to New Mexico next summer for a Bender family reunion in celebration of Mary's numerically significant (divisible by five) birthday. I hope that will happen. I Mary, Ken and I would rather ride a motorcycle across the country through rain, fog or heat than stand in line barefooted to go through airport screening. There are risks on the road, but the annoyance factor is much lower. Did I tell you that Mary and Ken had several hundred dollars worth of Harley shirts and gadgets stolen out of their suitcase when traveling from Austin to Seattle. The Transportation Security Administration said, "It couldn't have been our people." The airline said, "It couldn't have been our people." Right.