Aug. 17, 2012: The guy at the hotel that morning in Kalispell, Montana, after watching me pull the cover off the motorcycle and check the oil and tire pressure, finally comes over to talk about bikes.

He says he had a BSA a long time ago but gave it up. He mentions the Virginia plate on Endurance and the dealer plate frame from Nevada and asks me lots of questions about riding – where I’d been, what I’d done, what I’d seen.

His handsome wife comes out of the hotel, gives me and the BMW a disapproving look, cold as congealed grease, and they get into a minivan and drive away. The only thing I can think is, you makes your choices.