It was a Friday afternoon in March, and sitting across from me on the other side of a large table in a room filled with leather-bound legal books was Neil Robertson—an experienced personal injury and criminal defence lawyer and a veteran motorcyclist.
Forty-seven years ago, Robertson bought his first bike—a single-cylinder Ducati 350. He then moved on to Harleys and went through a long list of them before ending up with his current BMW K1600 GT. In the summer, it’s his daily driver.
“I put far more kilometres on the bike in the summertime than I do on my car,” said Robertson.
Owning a legal practice in Cranbrook, B.C., Robertson often travels to courthouses throughout B.C., and it’s not uncommon for him to show up at a courthouse in full leathers; of course, he changes before entering the courtroom.
Although he hasn’t kept track, Robertson figures he’s probably logged close to 500,000 kilometres. He’s ridden through much of North America, and about half of his long-distance trips have been solo.
Memorable rides
It was hard for Robertson to pick a favourite trip, but one place that stood out was northern New Mexico.
“The Sante Fe and Taos areas have to be right near the top of everyone’s must-ride list,” he said. “New Mexico is like no other place in North America. Its licence plates display the slogan ‘Land of Enchantment’ and that is an accurate description. Not only are the highways, scenery, weather and food outstanding, but the combination of peoples and cultures—old Spanish, Native Indian and Caucasian—and their equal contributions to the enchantment of their state are absolutely unique.”
Robertson also included some routes closer to home—in the East and West Kootenay—in his list of top picks.
“They are a lot of people’s favourites, not just mine,” he said. “You ride in the West Kootenay during the peak motorcycle season and you will run into people from all over Europe and North America.”
Being a bit of a history buff and a true crime hobbyist, Robertson is always looking for places of historical significance. Sometime in the future, he hopes to ride through the area in Louisiana where Huey Long grew up.
“He became governor of Louisiana roughly 90 years ago and I’ve read a number of books on Huey Long, so I’d like to visit his home area,” said Robertson. “Another famous Louisiana area is just east of Shreveport, where Bonnie and Clyde were killed.”
It’s about the journey, not the destination
Planning a long-distance motorcycle trip involves research. Robertson always does his research well in advance, but he said it’s important to be spontaneous on the journey and let the bike take you where it wants to go.
That’s one of the reasons why he’s kept riding for so long.
“For some reason, a bike seems to lead you into places that you wouldn’t otherwise go,” he said. “I feel strongly about that. I’ve been all kinds of places where had I been in the same area with a car, I would never have gone there. My way of describing that is the bike took me there.”
At 69, Robertson has no plans of hanging up his helmet anytime soon. He’ll continue to follow the roads less travelled, wherever his BMW takes him.
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