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Four years ago, I read a motorcycle review of several sport touring bikes. The reviewers, rather than doing a simple review that consisted of puttering around town, coupled with a quick trip to the hills for a weekend, and topped off with a visit to a track, grabbed the bikes and spent thirty full days riding from coast to coast.

Their trip inspired me, and made me want to do it. I also decided that I didn't want to go just from coast to coast, and I certainly didn't want to do it on a cruiser or a sport touring bike, as they had done. So I started planning what I called the "Shuttle Chase". I'd ship my Hooligan touring machine to Florida, watch the shuttle launch, and then ride back to California trying to visit as many of the major and historically significant space program related sights as possible along my route.

Originally my plan was to chase the Atlantis as it preformed mission STS-112, but losing my job, coupled with a motorcycle accident put a halt to that attempt. My fall back trip was chase the Columbia on STS-107. As I had just started a new job and was still having some major issues with my left hand left over from the accident I scrubbed that attempt as well. In a way, I'm glad that I did, I'm not sure how I could reflect upon the trip of a life time that would have ended with the Columbia tragedy.

I resolved then, that when the shuttle returned to flight, I would chase it.

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