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.

Before Jean considered getting a motorcycle, she’d talk about keeping her two-wheeled pursuits simpler and closer to home on a Vespa. As we approach the fifth anniversary of her earning an M1 class license – and trying four different motorcycles until a 2020 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster became THE ONE – Jean is the proud owner of a 2009 Vespa LX150, purchased from a sweet and gentle 76-year-old handyman named Kenny in Sacramento this past weekend. 

My story posts tend to go long because I think big and dig deep. I blame it on my ever-present curiosity and a need to share, going back to my long narrative magazine feature story days. With a promise to publish at least one MaD story each week – with an itch to do more – I’ve decided to include a new entry called Bite-Sized, a summation of what’s on my mind based on what I’m reading or researching. Inspiration comes from Marc Maron’s weekly email blast for his popular WTF podcast, where the comedian/actor shares plenty in his peeled-back life.

Author Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian, No Country For Old Men, The Road) died on June 13, 2023, five weeks shy of his 90th birthday. The Coen brothers’ film adaptation of No Country (2007) raked in $171 million on a $25 million budget. Of its eight Academy Award nominations, it won four, including Best Picture. The Coen brothers won Achievement in Directing (Best Director) and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Ridley Scott film The Counselor (2013) was McCarthy’s first spec script, and while it didn’t have as much success as No Country, it included motorcycles and drugs.

Here’s an excerpt from the screenplay, first published in The New Yorker on June 3, 2013. The film was released on October 25, 2013, grossing $71 million worldwide on a $25 million budget.

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.

Where does our fascination with motorsports racing come from, and why are so many drawn to the famous Bonneville Salt Flats? Similar to a bicycle time trial, it’s human and machine against the clock, with every technical advantage taken within the spirit of the rules.

The last American to win the MotoGP world championship was Nicky Hayden, and May 22 was the sixth anniversary of his death, age 35, following a road bicycle accident in Italy while Hayden was in the middle of the 2017 season racing World Superbike for the Red Bull Honda team. The Southern gentleman brought a Kentucky-meets-Hollywood charm and charisma to the racing paddock the likes we may not ever see again, but his true colors were reflected by his addiction to speed.

Hayden took his one and only WorldSBK victory in a wet Sepang race in May 2016, regaining the confidence he lost after coming up winless since his world championship season 10 years prior. He raced the MotoGP championship from 2003 - 2015.

Oudenaarde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. For centuries it was known for its tapestry production, and in modern times the Tour of Flanders bicycle road race ends there after several laps up the mighty Koppenberg climb. The youngest team manager to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans – Torsten Robbens – also lives there, and is our second European podcast guest.

Laguna Seca Raceway pop quiz! What do Roger Penske, Bruce McLaren, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, Cal Rayborn, Kenny Roberts, Mario Andretti, Paul Newman, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Freddie Spencer, Randy Mamola, Kevin Schwantz, Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez and Jean-Marie Boulanger have in common?

They’ve all survived the famous hard-left, hard-right combination at Turns 8 and 8A, commonly known among motorsports fans as The Corkscrew.

The old adage that ‘April showers bring May flowers’ still holds true, but in the case of California's record rain between January and March, I’d venture a more apropos statement is ‘biblical rain brings color to the Plain,’ which in this case is the Carrizo Plain in San Luis Obispo County. Travel pal Brian and I rode there and back a couple weekends ago to see the superbloom, taking the scenic route away from major highways every chance we could.

Conversations with lifelong motorcyclists typically begin as others explain how they got into motocross at age three or so, eventually graduating to street bikes in their late teens. Some played ball and stick sports, but many didn’t care for anything but twisting throttles.