PAGE 139
FALL 2018 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 03
Exhaust Note
BY JENNY SMITH
Oh , the Places You ’ ll Go !
THERE ’ S A RATHER WELL-KNOWN children ’ s book by a man named Theodor Seuss Geisel — a . k . a . Dr . Seuss — that is often given to graduates , called “ Oh , the Places You ’ ll Go !” While its message addresses the universal journey of life and its challenges , I want to thrust it into the hands of every motorcyclist I meet and implore them , “ This !”
“ Oh ! The places you ’ ll go !”
You ’ ll outrun a thunderstorm in the western Utah desert , hail pounding the asphalt behind you . You ’ ll feel the first pink kiss of the sun as it rises over a cornfield in Indiana , and drink the best sweet tea of your life on a humid summer afternoon in North Carolina . When the temperature drops to 19 degrees on Loveland Pass in Colorado , you ’ ll brake with wooden fingers , easing to a stop behind another group of equally frozen riders … but even as your fingers tingle and burn you ’ ll all laugh at your shared foolhardiness before returning to your respective adventures , scattering into the snowy peaks .
“ Wherever you fly , you ’ ll be best of the best . Wherever you go , you will top all the rest .
Except when you don ’ t . Because , sometimes … you won ’ t .”