The throttle bug bit me again in late December 2013, and I picked up a 2004 Moto Guzzi California Stone for $3,400 off Craigslist in San Francisco, about 40 miles north of our house in Mountain View. I knew of CityBike because of Maynard’s longtime contributor status, but hadn’t read a copy in years. My boss mentioned a fella named Gabe Ets-Hokin, who I emailed in September 2014 about possibly writing a column for Bicycle Times, the magazine I edit. We spoke a few times, and finally met at Alice’s Restaurant for lunch in late January.

Recently, Gabe texted to ask if I was interested in driving the `15 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited (featured on the April cover) down to the Harley Fleet Center in Carson, then driving a new Triumph Tiger 800 XcX back to Oakland for Editor Surj. I said yes without hesitation, despite never having ridden to Los Angeles and back, let alone ridden a Harley. I was confident saying yes because my Goose is a fairly big cruiser, and I’ve driven it 8,000 miles all over the Bay Area.

Nearly five years ago, Henri and I rolled up to the Buffalo Chip at the Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota, our first. As we flicked our Harley kickstands down, I noticed a familiar face doing the same a few bikes over. He was easy to spot with long, raven black hair cascading down his shoulders, the man I knew from his role as Officer Mathias on the television series Longmire that Jean and I watched the year before on Netflix. A few minutes after Zahn McClarnon got off his borrowed Indian Chieftain, I sauntered over and introduced myself.