Today is the twelfth anniversary of the day Apple co-founder and figurehead Steve Jobs passed away, age 56. Thirty years prior, he was photographed riding his 1966 BMW R 60/2 near the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, just a few miles south of our home in Mountain View. What he accomplished in those 30 years was nothing short of miraculous.

I ride my bicycle through Los Altos several times a week, passing the Alto Mesa Memorial Park where he’s buried, which recently reminded me of a chance ride I had with Jobs associate and friend John Doerr two months after Jobs died.

Spending my 2023 Fourth of July on a 245-mile lunch adventure up to Sonoma County with pal Brian, while a 2023 BMW CE-04 electric scooter awaits a week of testing in my garage in Mountain View.

Henri Boulanger’s first Quail Motorcycle Gathering experience was in May 2016, meeting Keanu Reeves in the Arch Motorcycles booth after chatting up Mert Lawwill on the green minutes before. After riding through the Mojave desert to watch Travis Pastrana don a cape and jump over the Caesars Palace fountain in early July 2018, Henri rode across the country with Gary, stopping to watch flat track racing at Sturgis before spending two days on the salt during Bonneville Speed Week in August 2018.

For this special 2023 Quail Motorcycle Gathering podcast episode, Henri stitched together two-minute conversations with 20 attendees, including custom builder Hugo Eccles, Quail Motorsports Director Gordon McCall, museum curator Robb Talbott, 4-time GP world champion Eddie Lawson, lead judge Somer Hooker, and MC Paul d’Orléans, among others.