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FALL 2018 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 03
I am two days into a trip intended to satisfy a few curiosities . Unwitnessed sudden death is not one of them . I ’ d asked BMW to loan me an R 1200 RT to take on a fall adventure . I wanted to spend some saddle time on a classic . I had a new camera that I needed to explore . I wanted to test a barely formed notion about what we see when we ride . I call it the flicker theory — how much do we take in from the corner of the eye , at speed ?
BMW asked if I could pick the bike up in California . Sure , why not ? ( I live near Chicago .) I sketched a route home , with U . S . 50 through Nevada and Utah at the core .
Main : Basin . Range . Basin . Range . And then you ’ re in Utah . And still the Big Lonely leads you on .
Inset : An 8,000-year-old petroglyph hints at the future near Fallon , Nevada . Overhead jet fighters scream past .