News

…or a reasonable facsimile by R. Bruce Thomas A book I read over the winter, and a travel video, made me think a lot of people aren’t prepared for traveling on a motorcycle. Let’s try to put it into relatable terms. While owning a home may seem like a pipe Read more

It’s all relative… by R. Bruce Thomas I recently had a couple conversations that brought home how everything is relative. The first took place in Wainwright last summer when a buddy and I were hunting down locations in the Go East of Edmonton Roadtrip Adventure. While stopped at one spot Read more

Courtesy is called for… by R. Bruce Thomas Here we are with the first AMSS News of 2026 so it seems like a good time to talk about First Contact. Winter is a good time to read and I’ve always enjoyed science fiction books – Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Bradbury, and Read more

Need Love Too… by R. Bruce Thomas A friend who I’d known for over 40 years succumbed to his 6th heart attack in January 2025. He had been a hoarder and I helped his wife clean out their house in the spring. After taking the summer off to go riding Read more

Understanding Visual Cues by R. Bruce Thomas So, there I am watching a MotoGP race recently when one of the riders, and these are the top racers in the world remember, misses a corner. He runs straight off into the gravel but manages to stay upright before maneuvering back to Read more

Not what you’re thinking! by R. Bruce Thomas Well, if you did pass a little it’s OK but that’s not what I’m talking about. Not every day on a bike will feature perfect weather and my usual answer when people encountered me riding in inclement weather was to respond that Read more

So pull your head out… by R. Bruce Thomas It’s often too easy to blame other drivers for not seeing motorcycles and sharing the road, but it is incumbent on riders to also see other vehicles and share the road. My wife and I recently headed down south and had Read more

Keep your head on a swivel… by R. Bruce Thomas It was a lovely day. I was riding some of the great routes in southeastern Ohio when I came out of a nice little forest to these rolling farmland fields, spied a fast-moving threat, and immediately rolled off the throttle. Read more

While writing your own obituary… by R. Bruce Thomas I’ve died at least a million times while riding my motorcycles. Not literally (although one time I very well could have), but by being aware of the dynamic environment I am traveling in and processing observed threats: That could kill me Read more

Tell people!! by R. Bruce Thomas He was sticking needles in my leg as if I was an oversize voodoo doll. And then he froze. He pointed at the wrist bracelet I was wearing. “What does that say?” “Oh, yeah, my cardiologist figured I should start wearing one of these. Read more

Time, Distance and Vision… by R. Bruce Thomas My hand hit the edge, my feet dropped and touched the bottom, I stood up and looked at the clock. I was happy with my time covering that 25 meters. I’m not aiming for Olympic Gold Medal glory, so  Mark Tewksbury can Read more

And we need to focus… by R. Bruce Thomas I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be focused all the time when riding but, when you are in the vicinity of a trailer, you really need to be focused. Think about it. Many of the trailers we see on the road Read more

Where you don’t want to go by R. Bruce Thomas Nope. I haven’t lost it. Conventional wisdom when riding is to look where you want to go. So why have I reversed it here? It’s the beginning of March. Riding season is right around the corner and it wouldn’t surprise Read more

Can be just as much fun coming down by R. Bruce Thomas I recently overheard a couple riders discussing hills. Basically, does one prefer riding up, or down, a hill. I’ve had similar conversations with my riding buddies over the years and, invariably, most riders prefer going up. Especially when Read more

Get Creative! by R. Bruce Thomas It’s that time of year again where the Advent Calendar, in all kinds of iterations, seems to be everywhere. Most are just something to spend money on and have nothing to do with the religious history of Advent. Chocolates, beer, wine, LEGO. I was Read more

Make yourself be seen! by R. Bruce Thomas As I slowed to a stop at a dark T-Intersection recently I noticed a woman crossing the main road. I should say “barely noticed” the woman. She was dressed all in black from head to toe and was nearly invisible. My first Read more

Follow Our Leader by R. Bruce Thomas In August 2023 I had a trip planned that included four days riding a number of the great roads in the Wasatch Mountain Range, a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains, to the east of Salt Lake City, Utah. The riding in the area Read more

Avoiding, & Recovering from, Punctures by R. Bruce Thomas Knowing how to plug/change your tires makes it easier to keep moving if you find yourself where wind turbines outnumber retail shops. When I started seriously touring and putting down big kilometers I got a bit of a rude awakening. Getting Read more

Using power – when appropriate by R. Bruce Thomas On my recent ride down east I was sitting at a red light on the Trans Canada in a small community in Northern Ontario behind a car with a Texas licence plate. When the light turned green, the car didn’t move. Read more

One size fits every bike! by R. Bruce Thomas To start with this month I want to step back a bit to last month and my notes on the Ride for Dad and The Man Van. I’ve long believed every major center should have access to a mobile PSA testing Read more

Telling you were to go… by R. Bruce Thomas Have you been riding yet? I feel a bit like a stuck record asking that every year. And I’m also thinking that saying “a stuck record” may not be a good analogy in this digital age. But, knowing how the kids Read more

Breaking it Down… by R. Bruce Thomas In October 2023 a report commissioned by Moto Canada, the Canadian Quad Council, and the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada was released with the title “Economic Impact Study of On-road Motorcycles and Off-highway Vehicle Recreation in Canada” (Press Release). The study is based on Read more

Read the “Fine” Manual by R. Bruce Thomas Yes, I know. The typical expansion of the acronym at the top of this piece is a little different than what I have used here but that’s because this is a family-friendly organization. At this time of year I find myself thinking Read more

Remember the Fun Moments by R. Bruce Thomas Ahh, March. In like a lion, we can only hope it goes out like a lamb. But, since we can’t do anything about the weather, and it is still technically winter until March 19, there is nothing quite like curling up with Read more

Objects & Calendars by R. Bruce Thomas Saying Happy New Year at the end of January always feels a little weird but this is the first AMSS dispatch of the year so it fits. And so far, 2024 is off to a very Happy start. Of course, we had that Read more