Close, but no cigar

Granddaughter Lisa checks out the view from the seat of my K1200GT in her garage in Las Vegas.

This being New Year’s Eve, it’s time to record the odometer readings from our two BMW motorcycles.

I knew it was a better-than-usual riding year, what with my three-week ride to Oregon, California and Nevada and other lesser travels, but I had no idea I would end up with 9,343 miles – just 657 miles short of the 10,000 to qualify for the Indianapolis BMW Club’s 10,000-mile award. The last time I earned a 10k award was in 2004, which was my 13th consecutive 10k award.

If I’d realized how close I was to the magic 1ok number, I would have ridden more. In fact, I’m fighting the temptation to saddle up and ride to Valdosta, Ga. to get the needed mileage. Of course that would be completely insane, given the fact that I’d be racing a cold front that spawned tornadoes this morning and killed three people in northwest Arkansas. And I’d be stuck in Georgia for several days while I waited for a warmup in the Mid-South. I’d have to find something to occupy my time, like maybe a ride down to Key West, which would give me a headstart on my 2011 mileage total. Hmmmm.

But it’s 11:30 a.m. already and there is no way I could ride 657 miles before midnight, especially since I’d lose an hour crossing into the Eastern Time Zone. So there it is. A mathematical impossibility.

But even so, 2010 was the best year for riding that I’ve had since 2004. I started keeping track of my BMW mileage in 1986 when I did my first ride to the West Coast with Tim and Linda Balough. Here’s the record so far:

Personal BMW Mileage
2009 - 8,522
2008 - 6,212
2007 - 6,432
2006 - 6,093
2005 - 6,476
2004 - 10,163
2003 - 10,003
2002 - 10,849
2001 - 13,548
2000 - 11,593
1999 - 11,912
1998 - 13,115
1997 - 13,122
1996 - 13,862
1995 - 11,378
1994 - 19,621
1993 - 21,928
1986 -15,735