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Every year hundreds of thousands of bikers swarm upon the Black Hills in South Dakota for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This year I had the opportunity to do so aboard a ’12 Victory Cross Country Tour, the Cadillac of Polaris’ American motorcycles. Any time I can get out of the city to ride motorcycles without the stress of the SoCal freeways, I’m all for it.

I flew into Park City, Utah, for Victory’s 2012 model presentation, which over the course of a few days turned into more or less a “rolling” press launch. We’d take three days to trek to Sturgis aboard the company’s new touring fleet. I was looking forward to this. I like to ride, and I can’t think of a better way to really analyze a bike than logging more than 1,000 miles in multiple riding conditions. The routes we were to take included one of the most incredibly picturesque stretches of tarmac I’ve ever had the pleasure of traversing, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Located in the north-central region of the state, the park features breathtaking views, wildlife, and more than 60 peaks higher than 12,000 feet. It was freeing being away from my daily grind. I think John Muir said it best, “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountain is going home; that wildness is necessity; that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.” Amen.

Once I descended from the 2-mile-high peak, I felt rejuvenated, ready to drop everything back home (except the wife) and move to Colorado; to live life surrounded by beauty didn’t seem like a bad idea. I was reminded that life doesn’t revolve around gridlock, rude people, crime, and poverty. It was a nice escape, and to do so on a motorcycle can’t be described.

Bye for now…

Jordan