Tell us about your riding experience. How long have you been riding, and how many bikes have you owned? How did you first become interested in riding?
Oh man…this could be a long answer. I started riding in secret in 2008, when I purchased my first bike (a 2006 Suzuki Savage 650cc), unbeknownst to my parents. That steed taught me 2 very important things:
1) my love of life on two wheels and
2) always check your oil
When I bought it, I had to have a friend ride the bike back from the dealer because I didn’t know how to ride, yet. After some quick reading online of how to operate a manual transmission and a couple hours practicing behind an abandoned warehouse in Athens, GA, I figured I was ready to take to the open road.
I’m known for just dipping a toe in when it comes to new ventures, so starting small, I made the 600+ mile trip to Washington DC to visit my college girlfriend. It took 13 hours- The last 3 hours were spent shivering and wincing at every bump in the road. I guess I learned another valuable lesson on that ride…always pack rain gear ☔️…
On the return trip to Athens, the lesson about oil was learned. About 40 miles north of Charlotte, the engine seized, only 2 weeks into owning the bike (I still had 2 years of payments remaining). If it weren’t for my good friend @willlovelett, I might still be standing there, cursing the day I bought the damn thing.
Long story short, after trailering the bike back to Athens, I discovered the cost of repairs exceeded the value of the bike, so I left it with the shop and hung my head.
Being the stubborn/dumb 23 year old that I was, I went to the dealer and decided, this time, I would buy a new bike…I overextended and bought a 2008 Honda Shadow 750. Never having negotiated a sale like this, I later realized that the salesman on the floor must have been frothing at the mouth to close on the terms we agreed to. Whatever, I had a working bike.
The Shadow and I got on famously until I tried to jump it one day. Maybe lesson 4 was “Cruisers aren’t meant to be jumped” followed closely by lesson 5: Don’t jump cruisers in board shorts, tank tops, and flip flops…”
As time wore on, I graduated college and moved to Park City, Utah, leaving the Shadow to collect dust in my parents’ garage (I’d been discovered by this point), until it sold. It would be several years before I’d ride again, but I always knew it was just a matter of time.
Since then, I've been fortunate to add 3 more bikes to my stable: A fully restored 1972 BMW R75/5 (RIP), a 2010 Triumph Tiger 1050, and a 2009 BMW F800GS
Have you taken any long moto trips? Tell us about them - where did you go, where did you stay, who did you ride with?
In 2016, I took my first long moto-tour with my best friend and roommate at the time. We had matching Triumph Tigers and pointed toward Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and California for a 3-week excursion. The most memorable parts of that trip were the stretches between Telluride and Zion; Southern Colorado and the Rockies offer some of the best riding I've found in the United States.
In 2018, I took my first international tour. A 6-week exploration of Vietnam, from South to North on a 100cc Honda Win. I was amazed at the reliability that $250 can buy, even if you have to change the oil every 500 km.
Far from what I would consider a vacation, this tour was particularly tough, thanks to the vast differences in culture and language. In additional to inconsistent road conditions, lack of traffic patterns, and stray herds of cattle around every turn, GPS and cell service are intermittent at best—making it even more difficult to navigate situations when things go wrong, as they often did.
In 2019, I embarked on my biggest tour to date. Launching from Austin, TX, I rode to Deadhorse (the most northern point in Alaska), then flipped a U-turn and began the southbound journey to Patagonia. Over the course of a year, I traversed North, Central, and South America. The tour ended prematurely (by a week), due to the COVID pandemic. I fell a little short of the finish line, but my bike (Angeline) is stored in Chile. Together, we'll reach Ushuaia (southern most point in South America) when the borders reopen.
Tell us some more about you - where do you live? What kind of work do you do?
Based in Austin, TX, I've been a corporate monkey for 8 years, slinging software for a few different companies. Concurrent to that career, I began investing in real estate and accidentally created a vacation property management company that is based on the Airbnb platform. Through some good luck and making the most of opportunities that came my way, the business scaled to a point that I was able to leave my corporate role and focus on some areas of personal growth—this involved travel, photography, and enrolling in a language school to hone my Spanish skills. Having spent 2 years traveling non-stop, I got some of those wild hairs resolved and am excited to have re-entered the corporate world with a business analytics company.
What are your hobbies - what do you enjoy doing when you're not riding?
When I'm not on the moto, I spend my time hiking, running, mountain biking, skiing/snowboarding. If I'm not engaged in an activity, then you can find me laying in a field, nose buried in some sort of sci-fi thriller or fantasy novel.
Tell us about your experiences with Twisted Road - as either an owner, as a rider, or both. What do you enjoy most about being part of our community?
Until recently, I had only experienced Twisted Road from the owner perspective and have had only great experiences. The riders I have rented to have all been great to interact with and always come back with some cool experience or route that they want to share. I'm happy to be able to share these types of experiences with my fellow riders, and that they have the opportunity to check out the great terrain that Central Texas has to offer!
In April 2020, I had my first experience as a renter and took a chance on a bike that is typically pretty far from anything you'd ever find in my own collection; I absolutely loved it! The owner and I shared the same enthusiasm for helping others create experiences and memories. The love he had for his own bike was contagious and we felt that energy in the bike for the duration of our ride. Being unable to wipe the grins off our faces, as we exchanged stories at the end of the day, really completed the circle of understanding on how this community works.
What are your favorite rides near your hometown?
Central Texas has lots of great roads. It's a bit of a haul from Austin, and requires a dual-sport bike, but the park road that cuts through Big Bend NP is incredible. Closer to home, The Twisted Sisters ride, near the Frio River, makes for a long but rewarding day of riding.
Last question - where do you hope to ride one day?
Iceland. I traveled there during the winter and toured the ring road by camper van. There are a ton of roads that go into the interior or out to the fjords called F-roads that are only accessible in the Summer months. Touring on those F-roads would be like taking a trip through a mini-Patagonia.
