 About
Moto-Charlie
I first learned to ride a motorcycle in 1973 on the Greek island of Rhodes.
It was a rental bike with a 5 speed, 50cc two-stroke that always fouled
the plug. Rhodes was part of a 6 month European odyssey that started as
a backpacking, hitch hiking trek. After Rhodes I rented other 50cc bikes
on Crete and Corfu. At the start of month 4, based on a limited budget,
I purchased a 50cc, 5-speed Spanish built Ducati in Granada Spain.
Back then there was no Internet and very limited telephone service. A
phone call meant either going to the telephone company office and calling
from there or having the hotel operator place the call and then waiting
20 - 30 minutes for the operator to make a connection to the public phone
in the lobby of the hotel. Either way 5 minutes would cost thirty dollars
or more. So I used to skip the telephone and write home to my folks. I
would sign the letters "Moto-Charlie". Hence, the inspiration
for the name of my tour company.
I spent the last 3 months of my trip riding my 50cc bike up through Seville,
Madrid, and Barcelona, on through Switzerland, Austria, and Germany to
Munich and from there to Paris, Normandy, and London. I swore that someday
I would come back to the Alps on a big bore motorcycle.
During the next ten years I went to college to become a CPA, thinking
that I could make good money during the tax season (i.e. winter), which
would leave me time and funding to ride during the summer.
From 1974 to 1982 I went on numerous North American motorcycle journeys.
One 3-month trip included coast to coast from Halifax to Vancouver, coast
to coast from Acapulco to Cancun, and a lot of travel in between. Those
same years saw 2 more coast-to-coast trips from New England to the west
coast, 2 trips to the Rocky mountains and back, and 2 trips down south
to Virginia, Tennessee, etc.
In 1983 I finally got to go back to Europe for 5 weeks as part of a Beach's
tour (see the FAQ service section for more on Beach's). I went back in
1985 for 5 more weeks, 3 of which were with Beach's. Since 1985 I have
been back 19 times on a motorcycle, including the last 13 years straight
(sometimes 2 - 3 times per year), on my own or with friends. I've also
gone through the Alps two more times by car with my wife but that's another
story.
When I take friends I make all the rental, hotel, and route arrangements,
which is where the idea for MOTO-CHARLIE came from.
My wife has accompanied me in a car while I ride a motorcycle. Some of
my friends have also brought their wives and girlfriends, utilizing cars
and motorcycles on the trips. That is why I know that motorcycle and car
combos can work well together.
Over the years I have owned an assortment of motorcycles including a
Honda 350, 500, 750, Goldwing, a BMW 750 (a twin and a triple), an airhead
RS, a Yamaha FJ1200, a Moto Guzzi CX-100, a 1993 Ducati 900SS with a 944
kit and numerous other performance modifications, a classic 1977 Moto
Guzzi LeMans 1 and my current Honda Blackbird.
I work as a founding partner in a consulting firm that provides management
services to financially distressed businesses. I have 2 young children
so my domestic riding is limited to an occasional day ride in the New
Hampshire and Vermont mountains, 3 to 6 track days a year at NH International
Raceway (Loudon), and my trips to Europe.
I added up all my Alpine saddle time and it is the equivalent of riding
every day from 9AM to 5PM, 7 days a week for more than 11 months straight
in an area the size of Minnesota or Kansas. I go to Europe for the riding,
which I consider the best of anywhere I have been. Everyplace has some
good riding but the Alps have lots of outstanding riding, and fantastic
scenery, everyday doing a different route, for days, even weeks, without
repeating yourself. That is what makes the riding experience so great.
My style is generally to ride a full day, rain or shine, at a sport touring
pace with the emphasis on sport. I err on the side of caution when it
is raining but even then, the scenery and the roads can be very enjoyable,
plus there is still the food, the coffee, the deserts, etc.
I like to do the big passes, with their height and grandeur but I am
particularly fond of the little one lane twisty passes that you find marked
as little red lines on the maps with aspect ratios of 1:250000. That may
be why I am slightly partial to the Italian Alps and the area around Cortina
although, Stelvio generates some adrenaline, Andermatt keeps me awake
at night with anticipation, the Grossglockner is Alpine heaven. Oh-Oh,
where are those air tickets? Sorry, got to go.
If you want to know anything else about me please feel free to e-mail
or telephone.
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