P108
FEATURE I BIG RIDE WITH DAD
My son is getting to the age
where, in a couple of years' time, he
probably won't want to spend any
time at all with his dad. There will be
mates to hang with, girls to chase,
school to (hopefully) not skip,
careers to decide upon, and all the
myriad other things that land at a
child's feet when the teenage years
come rolling in.
I find that last part hard to admit,
as I don't feel I've been the best father
I could have been. Like my father
before me, I am doing this for the first
time, so I'm making it up as I go along,
and hindsight is always 20/20.
After some rough times in the first
half-decade, Harvey and I have hit a
purple patch where we both
really enjoy each other's
company. The conversa
-
tion flows as well as it can
for a 34-year age gap, and I
am proud of the young man
he's becoming. He's a good
kid with a good heart, most
of which comes from the
grace bestowed upon him
by his mother.
But he's still only 9 and
still small enough to hop
on the back of a motor
-
cycle and stare at the back of dad's
helmet for a time, so I'm going to
take this opportunity while I still can.
"We need to go for a big ride, dad,"
Harvey told me a couple of weeks
ago. This was typical of him, as I
was thinking the same thing but was
already a couple of steps ahead of
him. A call the week prior to Jay at
BMW reserved me some time with
the first touring bike I've seen in a
long while, the 2026 BMW R 1300 RT.
About as close to a two-wheeled
spaceship as I've yet ridden, the RT
is one of those bikes that has a real
"boss" presence to it. BMW abso
-
(Top) At 5:50 a.m.,
Harvey is ready to
ride. If only it were this
easy to get him out of
bed most other days.
(Bottom) The first
stop was well-earned,
and the feed at Home
Kitchen of Ojai was
excellent (especially
as Harvey ate for free).
