After a bout with colon cancer, I've come to understand that we all have a finite number of days on this world.  In August, I rode 600 miles from Annapolis to Robbinsville, NC to ride Highway US-129 (known as the Tail of the Dragon) with a bunch of fellow Warrior owners. For those who care, a Warrior is a Yamaha built "muscle cruiser".

The total trip was 1200 miles, with about 400 miles of hard riding on beautiful, but extremely challenging mountain roads. The Dragon's Tail is 318 curves in 11 miles. These gentlemen (and ladies) ride like the very Devil is after them, and soon I was too.

At one of our stops, there is the "Tree of Shame".  Riders who don't take the Dragon seriously, hang pieces of their broken machines from this tree as a warning, and a bit of humble humor to other riders.