Year in Motion

On the heels of a catastrophic eye injury, multiple eye surgeries, and recovery over several years, on a dark night on the Blue Ridge Parkway, finally back in the saddle of his motorcycle, the author's return to riding grinds to a crashing halt. In an instant, there's a deer in his windscreen. Everything goes black then he wakes up on the pavement. Wrist surgery is followed by more recovery...then another setback. On the eve of his return to riding, the sight in the good remaining eye darkens at the edges--a detached retina. The next day he is in surgery again...and recovery...again. In his mid-sixties, the time left to ride to all the places he'd dreamed about now seemed limited, but he vows to himself he's not done yet. By October of 2021, doctors say he can ride again. Between then and the following October, 24,000 miles roll under the wheels of the new Tiger he'd bought to replace his wrecked Bonneville as he explores the United States. These are the stories of that year in motion.
About the Author: Michael Fitterling was born in northern Indiana in 1957 in Mishawaka and was raised nearby in southern Michigan. He attended Anderson College (now University) in Indiana from 1976 through 1978. In 1979, he took a break from his studies to travel to Central America, which was followed by other journeys around the US, Central America, and Caribbean. He returned to school in 1989, attending the University of South Florida in Tampa, where he graduated with honors from the school of the arts in 1992. After art school, he began work as a graphic designer. In 1997, he was working as cover designer and illustrator for Lost Classics Book Company and later became Managing Editor. He acquired the company in 2010. Finding himself the owner of a publishing company, his natural inclination was to turn to publishing books about what he loved, so in 2011, he started Road Dog Publications, an imprint dedicated to books on motorcycling and adventure travel. In 2013, he became Editor of Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Magazine, the official publication of the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club of North America, where he also currently serves on the Board of Directors. Trips around the US with his family when he was young sparked his interest in travel, and he has continued traveling by one means or another ever since. In the 1980s he became interested in sailing and bought a small sailboat in which he lived and traveled along the coast of the US and eventually through the Bahamas and parts of the Caribbean, while working stints doing boat deliveries. He served as a professional captain aboard a large sailing catamaran in the Cayman Islands during summers while he finished his art degree in Florida during the winter months. After returning from the Cayman Islands to the States, an old interest in motorcycles resurfaced when he found a forgotten and non-running 1968 Honda CB350 in storage. He finished its restoration in 2009, learning about motorcycles as he worked on the project. He traveled much of the eastern US on that first motorcycle. Over the years, he has owned several motorcycles, both vintage and new, including a Suzuki Savage 650, a Honda CL250, a Honda CB500 Twin, a 2011 Triumph Bonneville T100, and his current bikes: a Suzuki GS550e and a 2018 Triumph Tiger 800 XCa. He has travelled over 150,000 miles by motorcycle since 2009 in both the United States and Canada. Michael is also the author of Thoughts on the Road: Riding, Wrenching, and Reflecting and Northeast by Northwest: Two Restorative Journeys. He lives in the small town of Lake Wales in central Florida.