The Ari Henning Run

The Ari Henning Run

The Cycle World and Motorcyclist offices are located at 15215 Alton Parkway, in downtown Irvine, California. According to Google Maps, the quickest route from Baltimore, Maryland to this location is 2,659 miles; roughly 39 continuous hours. Baltimore to LA. This simple idea of a motorcycle road trip has always enamored me and captured my attention at an early age. And I don’t plan on taking the fastest, highway-led route.

Ari Henning purportedly rode a small Honda or the like cross-country, and submitted his story to Motorcyclist, which I’m sure got him the gig he currently enjoys and excels today. However, while I don’t have an Ari Henning body, I’m going to settle for riding the Africa Twin. Or Concours, because my unfortunately large frame just won’t suit a fucking Honda Cub for 3,000 miles… Los Angeles is my destination, but the trip doesn’t end there as I’ll have to make my way back home, so there’s another 3,000 miles. Nope, no way a fucking Honda Cub will work. Anyway, that was Ari’s trip, this is mine. My trip is all about the destination for the story, which is to drop off my resume in person. You kids can keep your internet and e-mail, and even US Postal Service, when there are motorcycles to ride across this pleasantly large and wonderful country of ours. I’ll play my own courier with a 100 hp Pony Express. Imagine the dialects of American I’ll hear in a single day from the East Coast to the Mid-West, the food I’ll consume during this fortnight (will my body reject all that cheese in Wisconsin, I wonder), and the twisty roads I’ll discover (I’ll probably end up on the tree of shame).

As a parts guy, I also look forward to the different dealerships along the way. If I plan this trip right, a rough map of the circumferential outline of the continental United States will plot my course, and I’m sure a set of tires and an oil change or two will be in order. To collect their tees or not to collect. Hell, that’s the least of my worries. Where will I sleep? Will I be forced to camp?--I’ve never camped before! Can I find a tent to fit in the Twin’s panniers? How will I cook my food? There’s always fast food. McDonald’s no longer has a dollar menu?! Do I even know how to start a campfire? Then, all of a sudden, I start to really look forward to this trip… I’ll be a modern wandering cowboy, going town to town, performing odds and ends for meager pay, but it’s to save the damsel in distress that I’m there for, after all - not the money. I’ll roll in town like some fatter Lorenzo Lamas, and, you know what - that’s enough. Back to the planning of the Ari Henning Run.

My apprehension and excitement for this trip is probably palpable in my writing, no? I’ve never quite embarked on an adventure of this magnitude. Sure, I’ve backpacked through England once, for the 2004 British Grand Prix at Donington Park, and was introduced to some of the most incredible people you could dream of meeting. And that has got to be the basest desire for traveling - to meet people, and to have a story to tell once you’ve returned home. At the heart of this entire Parts Dept. project, and my lifelong affinity for motorcycle magazines in general, has to be the stories and the adventures. But you weigh the options. Family vs. (Motorcycle) Adventure. In this case, I’ll be away from home, from my dogs, away from my girlfriend and work for several weeks at best. Perhaps I’ll peel back some of the sanctions and allow a smidgen of technology on this trip and use a lot of FaceTime.

My first priority is making it down to New Orleans - which will wreak havoc on my route plans -  to pick up a fresh can of French Market chicory coffee as payment for a meeting with the legendary leader of the Slimey Crud Motorcycle Gang himself, Peter Egan, before entering his majesty’s township in Wisconsin. Also a bottle of Lagavulin for tribute from any corner liquor store will likewise do. The man has some exquisite taste. But the route looks like a mess on the map now. I may be forced to move this appointment until the return leg of the Ari Henning Run. Unless I head south to start the trip and criss-cross the middle of the country…

So in honor of the man who has become quite the voice of the Industry and the face of Motorcyclist magazine, I dub this ride in his namesake. I'm scared, but I'm more excited than I can contain.