Out of his element, 1500 miles from home, Dom Chang, author of Redleg’s Rides and inveterate motorcyle rider and URAL evangelist pauses to make a photograph in Black Moshannon State Park. Dom stopped to say hello during a trip from Colorado that would eventually take him to Virginia.
It wasn’t the first time we met. Several years ago while at a conference in Denver, I had posted a photograph made from my hotel room of the Denver skyline and a few hours later an email message arrived from Dom saying we needed to meet. A day or so later we were riding in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Throughout a life you meet many people. As the collection of faces grows and interactions merge into an amalgam of words and stories it’s often hard to keep track of them all. Perhaps the human brain in it’s mystical workings does this to protect us from the frightening task of keeping every experience cataloged and clear. Amidst the flow of experience and interactions, of conversations and discussions, a rare event takes place where a person stands apart from the collection, illuminated and magnified by the native gifts they possess and the passion with which they apply them to living.
Dom Chang is one of those people.
Scarlett (the name of the URAL rig) arrived on a trailer hauled across America to explore a few of the backroads of Pennsylvania — a marked departure from rides in the West.
Dom entered my consciousness long before I actually met him. His writing and photography offered a glimpse of the mental workings of another rider who appeared indifferent to the movement of the herd and listened to a drum only he could hear. Looking back at my early musings on his ride stories laid the groundwork for the Chang Effect to take hold.
The Chang Effect is what takes shape as a result of being exposed to his writing, or the response to conversations in person.
I suspect Dom would recoil at any suggestion that he has an effect on anything save for the apparatus of his professional life, the machinations of his personal life, or the tricks he causes his riding machines to perform. But I believe the path on which Mr. Chang walks (or rather rides) is unique and offers lessons for those already questioning their own path and on a close read of his work can sense a kindred spirit. His descriptions of repairing a broken machine in the snow along a highway heading towards Alaska, or winds in the Rockies strong enough that sticking to the roadway might prove difficult stick in my head. What has continued to resonate was the dogged determination reflected in the stories he chooses to share.
Before dinner, a ride was in order. Through the Nittany Valley, over Bald Eagle Ridge and up onto the Allegheny Plateau and Black Moshannon State Park offered a varied view of part of the central Pennsylvania landscape. Had we more time I would have guided Dom northward into the more remote areas of the state. But time and circumstance often limit what we do.
Dom offered more than one hint about me needing a URAL. I’ve almost become immune to such suggestions. But other discussions of riding and life were pointed. One in particular, something consistent with my theory of the Chang Effect, relates to a conversation about retirement and when a person knows it’s time to make the leap. His words have power.
It was dark by the time we left Duffy’s Tavern in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. In addition to a standout dessert called “Death by Chocolate” I had a great evening talking with Dom and he left me with a lot to think about.
Just a bit of exposure to The Chang Effect.
