needles
Well-known member
One thing I’ve been putting more time into this year is building my motorcycle storytelling muscle. I’ve spent years enjoying the rides, photos, and stories people share here. I want to get better at the craft as I get older.
I want to work on writing, storytelling and good photography along the way. Sometimes that’s pulling out the SLR instead of grabbing a quick phone shot. Sometimes it’s sitting down afterward and figuring out why a conversation at a gas station stayed with me longer than the road did. I’d like this to be one of my contributions to the sport and the culture we all get so much out of.
This latest series is called Postcards to Dad.
My dad’s birthday was coming, and he doesn’t need more widgets off Amazon at 83. He loved the book I wrote about crossing the country twenty years ago called Follow Me East, so I decided to bring him along on this trip: morning check-ins, evening check-outs, wandering paths along little known roads, and postcards from each state, matched to the Appalachian Trail stamps. Each post card shared a memory, thank you, shout out about my father.
Five weeks and 4,711 miles later, I’d ridden from Savannah to Maine and crisscrossed through the Appalachians. I finally rode the Dragon, understood why everyone talks up the Cherohala Skyway, and found some spectacular fall color. Finding postcards was occasionally harder than finding good roads.
There were also lonely days, weather that wore me down, and a point where I had to admit I wasn’t having fun anymore. I’ve tried to give those parts as much in my storytelling muscles honesty as the good riding. They’re part of taking a long trip by yourself, too.
I’ve collected all 26 stories here, with a map and reading order:
dashedyellowline.com
I’d love to hear what connects with you—as riders, readers, and people who have your own stories from the road.
I want to work on writing, storytelling and good photography along the way. Sometimes that’s pulling out the SLR instead of grabbing a quick phone shot. Sometimes it’s sitting down afterward and figuring out why a conversation at a gas station stayed with me longer than the road did. I’d like this to be one of my contributions to the sport and the culture we all get so much out of.
This latest series is called Postcards to Dad.
My dad’s birthday was coming, and he doesn’t need more widgets off Amazon at 83. He loved the book I wrote about crossing the country twenty years ago called Follow Me East, so I decided to bring him along on this trip: morning check-ins, evening check-outs, wandering paths along little known roads, and postcards from each state, matched to the Appalachian Trail stamps. Each post card shared a memory, thank you, shout out about my father.
Five weeks and 4,711 miles later, I’d ridden from Savannah to Maine and crisscrossed through the Appalachians. I finally rode the Dragon, understood why everyone talks up the Cherohala Skyway, and found some spectacular fall color. Finding postcards was occasionally harder than finding good roads.
There were also lonely days, weather that wore me down, and a point where I had to admit I wasn’t having fun anymore. I’ve tried to give those parts as much in my storytelling muscles honesty as the good riding. They’re part of taking a long trip by yourself, too.
I’ve collected all 26 stories here, with a map and reading order:
Postcards to Dad
Dashed Yellow Line / Series Postcards to Dad Savannah to Maine and back: five weeks, 4,711 miles, and postcards home from the road A birthday present, delivered one state at a time. This whole trip…
dashedyellowline.com
I’d love to hear what connects with you—as riders, readers, and people who have your own stories from the road.
