Who better to spend my 66th birthday with than Harley novice and old friend, John Tracy. John and his friend, Pastor John Carpenter, both made the trip from Alaska to Mesa, Arizona — ostensibly to ride with me for four days in Arizona’s mountains and deserts.

To learn more about the John twins, visit the My Posse page of this blog.

I rode from La Quinta and met them in Wickenburg, Arizona. From there, we quickly ascended into the mountain towns of Prescott, Jerome and Sedona.

It was the first ride of any significance on my new 2016 Harley Davidson Street Glide Special. The bike performed as advertised.

The Arizona portion of the ride was short, only three days. But it was enough to hook John Tracy on Harley riding and convince him that he should join me on one of my annual “big” rides.

The two Johns both rented Harley Davidson Street Glides, pretty much like mine, from Desert Wind Harley in Mesa.