Hay, Russ, did we ever tell you about a guy named Michel Arama?
I can't find him on Google, and haven't heard from him for a year or two, so
maybe he's disappeared from the face of the earth.
Anyway, a couple of years ago I had listed an '83 Gold Wing for sale on some
Internet list. This guy (Arama) contacted me. He was planning on re-riding
Pirsig's journey. He's a Brit, and had planned to come over here with his
15-year-old son and rent a bike, but the rental firms wouldn't let him carry
a youngster. So he decided to buy a bike on the cheap in the Chicago/St.
Paul area and ride it to San Francisco where he'd sell it. I offered,
instead, that he simply borrow our '83 and, since he'd been willing to sell
it quick (and therefore potentially at a loss compared to what he'd paid for
it), spend the money to buy tickets for Nancy and me to fly out to SF to
pick up the bike. We then would get to ride it home.
Hell, it was a free cross-country trip for us! We had a fine time, spent a
day or two riding around SF, and then home. We took US 50 (The loneliest
road) through Nevada and then other nice two-laners back to Marquette. We'd
already driven across the northern tier of states on the '87 Gold Wing that
year, so this was frosting on the long-distance touring cake for us.
He had planned to not only re-ride the Pirsig route, but to then write a
story-narrative about the trip -- after he got home to the UK. I heard from
him a couple of times after he got back, but nothing in the last year or
two. His email doesn't seem to do anything anymore -- but I'll try again,
now that you've put him back in the fore-portion of my mind.
If'n he does have a book -- I'll let you know so you can read it, too. He
reported after the trip that he had met a good number of the folks from the
original story, stayed in same towns, saw same sights, even had some
mechanical "concerns" with the bike. (Hell, I never promised that it was in
PERFECT condition). He said he had some sponsors, too, and some grants or
something to defray the cost of taking the time to write the book.
I admit -- I never got very far into "Zen and the Art...", like about 90% of
the rest of those that tried. Nancy did slog through, just so one of us
would have some idea of what Arama had running through his mind.
Thanks for the memories, and to Keith for bringing up the subject so you
could mention the book so I could remember this cool experience.
Jon
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