Show Notes
For decades, Highway 17 in West Texas was a road that gave my father equal measures of adventure and anxiety. From desert storms and mountain vistas to long rides beneath the stars, it became a place filled with memories. But one memory stood above all the others—the day his son crashed a motorcycle on the side of Interstate 20 after a ride through the Davis Mountains. In his story, Dad reflects on the strange relationship we develop with places that have shaped our lives. Places that both gi...
More from “Being There: Stories from the Road Where We Keep the Rubber Side Down”
Can we disagree and still remember that we're all on the same team? In this episode of Being There, I read my father's original, unedited version of Silent Night Dad begins in December 1967. He's a college student working nights at Camp Gary outside San Marcos, riding a Triumph Bonneville because it's the only transportation he has, struggling with his grades, and knowing that school may be the only thing standing between him and Vietnam. Then the snow begins to fall. For a few moments, the n...
In this episode of Being There, I read my father's story "They All Went to Mexico." Dad takes us along on his first motorcycle trip deep into Mexico—a 2,800-mile, 16-day adventure through mountain passes, colonial cities, unfamiliar roads, rain, traffic, and a country that seemed to offer something completely new around every corner. But some of his strongest memories weren't about the roads at all. They were about the people. An unexpected invitation from local motorcyclists in Monclova turn...
Episode 27 – The Bobber In this episode of Being There, I read my father's story "The Bobber," a look back at the summer of 1966 when he and a friend decided to build the ultimate motorcycle. They were college kids without much money—and apparently without much concern that they didn't really know what they were doing. They started with the remains of a 1947 Triumph Speed Twin and a vision. What followed was an education in engines, paint, chrome, broken parts, empty wallets, cold beer, good ...
In this episode of Being There, I read "Relativity," one of my father's award-winning stories. Written by Gene McCalmont in 2006 for Ride Texas Magazine, "Relativity" went on to earn an award from the Houston Press Club in 2007. Stranded in the Chihuahuan Desert with a flat tire and daylight slowly disappearing, Dad finds himself with something we rarely seem to have enough of—time. Having recently turned 60 and facing serious physical challenges that once threatened to end his motorcycle rid...
Twenty-five episodes of Being There. For this milestone episode, I read my father's story "West of Sanderson," written about the beginning of his first motorcycle trip to West Texas in 1967. Three young guys, old motorcycles, very little money, and absolutely no idea what was waiting for them down the road. A stop at a small-town bar, a little pool hustling, a narrow escape, freezing temperatures, and miles of dark West Texas highway somehow added up to something my father would remember and ...