Having no sense of direction, the idea of my taking a solo cross-country ride remains just that, an idea.

The second week of this month, Peter decided to get on his bike and "go". Anywhere. Probably south because it is winter. No plan, just a map, and an agreement that he would be home by noon Christmas day as dinner would be served at 3pm.

Mountain View, CA to Paso Robles, CA, to Tuscon, AZ, to El Paso, TX, to East Houston, TX, to New Orleans, LA. Each stop was a one-day trip. In the morning he would watch the weather channel and decide where to go next. He admits asking himself, "what the hell am I doing?" leaving El Paso headed towards New Orleans. He spent two days in New Orleans, thought about going to Florida, decided "not", then came home. He returned with four days to spare which meant that he could roast the Christmas turkey on the BBQ.

The whole trip was damn cold. To keep his head from freezing, he wore a polypropylene shirt as a hood, with his face appearing from where his neck would normally be. At the gas station, when he removed his helmet, mothers would draw their small children close and look at Peter askance. On the return trip he taped his visor shut to keep the instream of cold air from tearing up his face. Even with the heated vest, he was wearing every piece of clothing item he had brought along, including three layers of socks. The fact that he was getting on his bike at sunrise and riding three hours before breakfast may have been a contributing factor to the degree of cold he was experiencing.

Screaming red motorcycles that are packed front and back attract a lot of attention. People would come over to look at the bike and start talking to Peter, who is far from a social animal. He learned where the good restaurants and speed traps were. Most evenings the bike slept in the motel room with Peter, which may have been why he had to get an early start each morning.

Having navigated 4700 miles of wind and sometimes rain he is a different rider than when he left. He learned to lean into the wind and steer into the wind. When there was no wind he would completely relax his upper body on the tank and let his forearms hang from the handlebar grips. His tires have a flat ribbon on their surface attesting to long hours at respectable speeds. No speeding tickets this trip; his radar is much improved over the last nine months.

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A note on the hand guards on my BMW - they may have prevented frozen fingertips in November but they aren't helping a bit in December, so they aren't going to make a whit of difference in January or February when it really matters. I'll try changing the angle on them, I may have directed the airflow right onto my fingers instead of over the tops.

This month the single most important thing that happened was John showing me how to fix my heater vest's cable. The vest does not generate heat if there is no connection to the bike's juice. If you forget you are connected to bike's accessory port when you dismount, you're likely to pull and then snap the cable, which isn't good for those little copper wires inside, although it is entertaining for people watching you.

Happy New Year, folks!