- Adventures on Borrowed Time - April 17, 2026
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- Richa Hypercane Gore-Tex gloves - March 19, 2026
Old Bikes, Distant Places
By Nick Adams
Adventures on Borrowed Time. Old bikes, Distant places. By Nick Adams.
This is the second book by Nick Adams I have read. I grabbed it literally last minute before leaving to the airport heading off for my latest ride and chose it mostly based on the title which grabbed my attention.
I previously found Nicks writing very easy reading and this book is the same, very easy flowing writing which I read on my three flights as I never seem to find anything in the onboard entertainment worth watching.
Nick lives close to a region that is on my bucket list to ride. The Ontario Highlands. I follow the pages for the Ride the Highlands tourist organisation.
It was nice to read about some of Nick’s riding in that area and then much further afield to the remote far east side of Canada. Whilst I hope to revisit the west of Canada later this year (long as there is enough aviation fuel) I am less sure about riding the East as there isn’t any motorcycle rentals in that region despite four of Canada’s biggest cities being located there. But I might yet rent in the USA (if things there return to normal) and ride some of the region.
Nick is some years older than me but I sympathise with what he is talking about regarding trying to do as much riding as possible sooner rather than later. Actually it’s something I write about often on this blog. I find it noticeably harder every time I do a moto tour and I already am putting question marks next to things for next year.
But Nick clearly still has much more stamina than me despite being in his 70’s. Riding vintage bikes, in cold wet country, iron butt distances with lots of mud and gravel. Sounds all too hardcore for me.
Nick makes some observations in this book I found myself nodding to but then some that I did not. He says how he was bitten by the motorcycle touring bug and that was it. A great way to describe what happened to me also I think. It bit me hard.
Besides other notes Nick points out riding any two wheel vehicle no matter if a scooter or Gold Wing is a special feeling of experiencing the places you are travelling more closely but also adds riding is this amazing thing of flying along the ground sitting in the air. That’s actually true. We might sometimes forget how incredible riding a motorcycle actually is.
But he admits he suffers from motorcycle tribalism and has a like of certain styles and makes, namely old Moto Guzzi’s and he also clearly has a dislike of riders on new BMW GS ADV bikes in modern rider gear while seeming to always be cold and wet in his leathers and old school rain suit. Sorry Nick but that’s putting form over function.
Regardless this is a good motorcycle travel book. Nick is a skilled writer. I enjoyed all of it and the pages flipped by very fast. Get it on your kindle for just a few dollars.
