What we're thankful for in 2023

Yes, there were a few bumps along the way, but also a lot of fun times in 2023, and that's always something to be thankful for. We'll start with Jen and Patrick, who seem to have emerged from the year less scathed than many of our colleagues, and found joy riding both close to home and far away.

Jen Dunstan: My turn to ride motorcycles in foreign countries

For 2023, I am grateful to have traveled to three new countries while covering exciting new bike releases. I have spent many years in the motorcycle industry watching fellow colleagues fly out to press launches and have felt every shade of being "green with envy."

This year, it was my turn and my first trip abroad was to faraway India to ride Royal Enfield's Super Meteor 650. I have always been curious about India and cruising around Rajasthan on a Royal Enfield was not a bad introduction. My next trip whisked me away to Italy, where Aprilia put on a star-studded debut of the RS 457. While I was sad not to be able to ride the bike, Aprilia had the clever distraction of the Misano MotoGP race to keep us entertained. Finally, I traveled to Barcelona, Spain to ride a technologically significant machine — the Kawasaki Ninja 7 Hybrid.

As any motorcycle journalist is not shy to point out, this kind of travel isn't all glam. It can be more time in the air than on the ground actually riding the motorcycle, and long nights and plane rides frantically typing and editing to meet media deadlines. Despite all that, I acknowledge I am extremely fortunate to have these opportunities and I hope more are to come in 2024.

Patrick Garvin: Thankful for public lands close to home

I didn't start riding off-road until the summer of 2018 when I moved to South Dakota's Black Hills. My wife scored me a 2008 Kawasaki KLX450R for $500 and I proceeded to put 22,000 miles on it over the next four years. Since then, off-road riding has become the main focus of my time on a motorcycle, and that $500 dirt bike purchase has spun into three more dirt bikes and an adventure bike living in my garage.

But the underlying factor propping up my newfound love for riding in the dirt is public lands. The ability for me to roll out of my garage and take advantage of the 1.2 million acres of the Black Hills National Forest is a privilege I now couldn't imagine living without. Over the last few years, I have also taken advantage of public land riding opportunities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. When it comes to what I am thankful for in motorcycling, access to public land is at the very top of my list. If you have the opportunity to ride on our public lands, I highly encourage you to take advantage of it. It's a privilege not everyone has and one of the great things about our country.

Ari Henning: A belated adoption of a sustainable model

Perhaps it seems off topic or even cliché, but I'm thankful for maturity. You see, Zack, Spenser, and I have been making videos together since 2014, and for years we revved ourselves past redline. Insane travel schedules, all-nighters, danger — it was all accepted and frankly expected as part of a production. Now, two of us are dads and all of us are fed up with being burnt out and/or hurt (it is motorcycling, so injuries still happen, as Zack will attest later, but fewer of them require a visit to the emergency department or the operating room), and with the help of supportive Comoto management, we've learned to function at a more sensible level. That's not to say we don't still swing for the fence with every episode (did you see the India video?!?), but we're finally trying to operate in a sustainable way, if only to make the ride last as long as possible.

Dustin Wheelen: A high-quality helmet and race suit when needed most

Earlier this year, I achieved my very first high-side crash while riding at the track. I learned the hard way that too much lean angle combined with too much gas is one surefire way to get yourself airborne. When I came back down to earth, I landed flat on the left side of my face and shoulder. Thankfully, my helmet and race suit absorbed the majority of the blow. With no concussion symptoms or aches to follow, I was lucky that the only bruising inflicted was on my ego. Thanks to a new helmet and suit, I'm back to enjoying track days (with a little less throttle off the corner).

Zack Courts: The natural power of healing

Sad as it is, this year I'm especially thankful for the magic of healing. In June, I contorted my way off a dirt bike and felt my hamstring give way like a string of silly putty stretched too fast. Just a couple of weeks ago, I slapped myself on the ground (again, using a dirt bike) and felt a bunch of cracks from my torso. Anyone who rides flirts with the dangers of motorcycling, usually with the hope that any damage done can be fixed by our own biology. It doesn't always go that way, but most of the time it does.

Like Dustin, good gear helped me not scrape off too much skin or damage any joints when I landed in Mother Earth's rocky embrace, but of course that's what the guy who works at a gear company would say. It's a remarkable thing that the human body can clot its own blood, instigate swelling, and send an army of blood cells to a damaged area, while we rest or go about our lives assuming we'll be better soon. I think it's worth taking a moment to appreciate that most of us can afford to take risks and feel extremes, believing we'll bounce back.

Spurgeon Dunbar: A chance to pad my résumé

I was thankful for the chance to step in and help out on not one but two CTXP adventures this year: "The Highest Road in the World!" and "Best Beginner Bikes!" Due to my “other” responsibilities, opportunities to stretch my on-screen talents are fewer these days than they used to be, so it’s especially rewarding when I get a chance to keep that particular skill from growing dull. Regarding the India episode specifically, I am thankful to Triumph North America for all of their work in making this episode possible and to RevZilla for funding all of our wild ideas. Most importantly I’m thankful to Spenser Robert, Zack Courts, Ari Henning, and Andrew Gerety (our CTXP camera operator — see the photo below) for trusting me with the responsibility of filling in when Ari couldn’t make it. The weight of which I carried with me and never once took lightly.

Spenser Robert: The friends and families we make along the way

It was either Gandhi or Vin Diesel who once said, "It's all about family." And this year has reminded me to be thankful for the many families we find in the world of motorcycling. Whether it's in a race paddock, out on the open road, during an event, or even right here in the comments section of a motorcycle e-commerce company's news blog, this hobby creates ties and forges relationships in a way almost nothing else in my life does. So cliché as it may be, those hairless heroes have a point. It is all about family and I can't imagine a better family than the one I find on two wheels.