I was U.S. editor of BikeRadar.com, a British cycling website that launched in July 2007. Bicycles were my life, and I was neglecting a BMW R 90/6 in the garage in favor of the 15 or so bicycles hanging from the rafters. It was my job, after all, and my 43-year-old body needed to stay in shape. A few years later I became aware of a new book called “Shop Class As Soulcraft” written by a guy who owned a one-man motorcycle repair shop in Virginia.

Thomas Edward Lawrence — better known as Lawrence of Arabia, made famous by David Lean’s 1962 classic movie of the same name — loved his motorcycles, specifically the spendy and powerful Brough Superior. He owned eight of these beauties.

‘The Road’ is Chapter 16 in Part III of T.E. Lawrence’s book The Mint, written in 1929 but published posthumously 20 years after his death in 1935 (as per his wishes). Lawrence writes about ‘Boanarges’, the name he gave his 1928 Brough Superior SS100, his only earthly indulgence.

Fictional Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire hates motorcycles as much as Indiana Jones hates snakes, but the New York Times bestselling author Craig Johnson loves bikes as much as he loves his horses and Wyoming ranch.

With his 19th novel ‘The Longmire Defense’ set for early September 2023 publication, we spoke with the 62-year-old West Virginia native about his motivation and discipline for writing, how he spent several promotional tours visiting bookstores on his BMW motorcycle, and that time many decades ago when he nearly lost an eye during a motocross race.