C. Jane Taylor is the author of Spirit Traffic: A Mother’s Journey of Self-Discovery and Letting Go, a memoir about a 10,000-mile cross-country motorcycle journey with her husband, John, and their son Emmett. We ran an excerpt from Spirit Traffic, a chapter called “Isaac and Eli” about two curious young boys they met in Indiana, in the April 2022 issue of Rider. We also interviewed Jane for the Rider Magazine Insider Podcast.
In May, Jane and John packed up their BMW F 650 GS bikes, said goodbye to their home in Vermont (and their dog Dewey), and hit the road on a book tour. First, they rode east to Maine, then they rode west to Chicago, where they were hosted by Steven Goode, who wrote “The Great American Deli Schlep” feature published in the December 2021 issue of Rider.
They rode south to Springfield, Missouri, where they attended the BMWMOA national rally. Along the way, Jane gave readings in people’s homes, at coffee shops, and in motorcycle dealerships. John was her riding partner, tour manager, and cheerleader.
After battling fierce winds in Kansas, traversing the Rockies in Colorado, and enduring blast furnace heat in Tucson, Arizona, and Palm Desert, California, they found cool respite in the coastal town of Ventura, where Jane and John were hosted by Rider Editor-in-Chief Greg Drevenstedt and his wife Carrie.
On Sunday, July 10, Jane gave a reading at Timbre Books, a local independent bookstore in Ventura. In attendance were long-time Rider contributor Bill Stermer, several members of the Ventura County chapter of STAR Touring & Riding, and other local riders and residents. One motorcyclist who could not attend sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his absence. After the reading, a small group joined Jane and John at a local Mexican restaurant for dinner and conversation.
The next day, Jane and John repacked their gear and fired up their BMWs. Attached to the large drybags perched on their rear seats are placards that say “National Book Tour” and feature large QR codes that direct curious people to Jane’s website. They spent a few hours riding Highway 33 – one of the best motorcycling roads in Southern California – and then headed north along the coast, bound for Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast.
Jane has readings scheduled in the Bay Area, an interview with the Motorcycles & Misfits Podcast in Santa Cruz, and many more stops over the next five weeks in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Montana. Jane and John will ride at least another 5,000 miles before they return to Vermont.
Check out the book tour schedule and see if Jane and John will be in your area. (Please note that some readings require an invitation, so inquire via the website.) If you can, attend a reading and show your support – buy a book and have Jane sign it. Whether or not you can attend a reading, please support their efforts by buying a book. Better yet, buy two or more and give copies to friends. Spirit Traffic is also available as an ebook or an audio book.
For more information, visit cjanetaylor.com.
