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Gnome on the Range: Dean Bourne Completes Epic Bike Trek
Phil Bourne, founding dean of the University of Virginia School of Data Science, has returned from his annual summer motorcycle expedition, a 3,150-mile journey across deserts, canyons, high-altitude passes, and historic roads. His ever-present travel companion? None other than the School’s stalwart and numerically inclined mascot, Boo Bi-Gnomial.
This year’s adventure—covering 14 days, four states, and altitudes from sea level to over 12,000 feet—marked another chapter in what has become a celebrated tradition of exploration, camaraderie, and curiosity. Alongside Bourne and Boo rode a rotating cast of companions, including close friend and meticulous travel planner Rob Stansfield, and, for the first time, UVA Batten School Dean Ian Solomon, who joined the ride as a member of the “Hells Administrators.”
“We call ourselves that partly in jest,” Bourne said. “But let’s face it—there’s something appropriately rebellious about two deans roaring across the Rockies on motorcycles, dodging elk, rainstorms, and mediocre tacos.”
Starting in Poway, California, and looping through Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, the group’s mission was simple: visit Rocky Mountain National Park and ride some of the most scenic and challenging backroads in the American West. But as Bourne notes in his travel blog, the journey is always more meaningful than the destination.
“There’s something meditative about motorcycling,” Bourne wrote. “It occupies your entire mind. You feel every curve in the road, smell the changing pines, and notice the smallest shifts in air and altitude. Riding through the Rockies in the rain or watching the clouds lift from Bear Lake—that’s what stays with you.”
Highlights from the Road: From Hairpin Turns to Alien Shops, Rainstorms to Roadside Philosophy
The ride was packed with moments both awe-inspiring and absurd—reflecting the full range of America’s natural beauty and its cultural quirks.
At Joshua Tree, Dean Bourne and Boo kicked off the trip with a walk-through surreal desert landscapes and a stop at a quirky alien-themed gift shop where, as Bourne put it, “You can buy shampoo and a flying saucer in the same aisle.” Boo, ever the skeptic, asked which tree was the Joshua tree.
They passed through the ghost-town-turned-tourist-attraction Oatman, Arizona, where wild burros roam the streets and bikers trade stories on stoops. When a lemonade vendor threatened to call a tow truck, Bourne noted the irony: “Miles from anywhere, blocking no one, and the guy wants to tow the only lemonade-drinking biker in town.”
From coffee-shop chats in Collbran and late-night ghost stories at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, to the Navajo monuments in Canyon de Chelly and historic relics like the Hanging Flume—an abandoned 19th-century aqueduct clinging to red cliffs—the trip blended wilderness with living history.
Nature also put on a dazzling and sometimes punishing show. The riders passed through Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, and climbed over 12,000 feet above sea level on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Boo got to play in snowbanks towering three feet high. “We were sunburnt one day, freezing the next,” Bourne said. “Motorcycling does not allow you to ignore the weather.”
Rainstorms struck without warning in the San Juan Mountains, visibility dropped in canyon switchbacks outside Telluride, and the temperature soared above 105°F in the Mojave Desert. “I’m not a big water drinker,” Bourne admitted, “but that stretch turned me into one.”
Unexpected encounters added humanity to the ride: a vet named Brandi at a bar in Collbran who shared small-town gossip and local updates over beers; a woman in Twentynine Palms who, upon hearing Bourne’s Australian accent, sparked a conversation about Indigenous communities and the Chemehuevi Native American tribe; and a friendly roadside stranger at the Palm Desert overlook, who traded motorcycle stories as the sun dropped behind the mountains.
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Through it all, data science mascot Boo remained the star attraction. “Kids waved, people asked for selfies, and even the park rangers wanted to know what kind of gnome he was,” said Bourne. “A Bi-Gnomial, of course.”
One of the most poignant stops came in Lake Arrowhead, where Bourne revisited a beloved vacation spot from his California years—now transformed, like him, by time. “The bark beetle blight was gone, the trees had returned. And I stood there, with Boo, trying to find our old cabin in a sea of change.”
Deans and Data Meet the Wild
Rob Stansfield, a longtime friend Bourne met while a postdoc decades ago, served as chief navigator and camping strategist. “Rob plans everything down to the ounce,” Bourne said. “He even weighs his sleeping bag.”
The journey wasn’t without drama. Bourne recounted how Dean Ian Solomon, joining for a leg of the trip through the Rockies, took on the challenge with humor and grace—even when his Harley began spewing water at Bear Lake.
“It turned out to be normal Harley behavior,” Bourne noted, “but in the moment, it definitely looked like trouble.”
The mechanical issues didn’t dampen the experience. Bourne said the time on the road with Ian—mapping routes, sharing meals, and riding through high-altitude storms—was a rare opportunity for connections beyond UVA’s walls.
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“It was great to see how naturally Ian and Rob clicked. We might come from different disciplines, but there’s something universal about getting soaked at 10,000 feet with a bunch of other riders and laughing through it anyway.”
“The Colorado landscape is breathtaking, turn after turn, peak after peak,” Solomon said. “And our national park system is a treasure of foresight and public policy. I was grateful for this unforgettable adventure and all the twists and turns, learning something new about myself and about America each and every day.”
Solomon was not to be outdone by Boo and brought his own travel companion, a stuffed giraffe roughly the same size as the gnome. Named “Spirit,” Solomon explained giraffes are special and courageous. “They stick their necks out,” he said. “They are the land mammal with the largest heart, a good symbol for compassionate leadership.”
Over the course of the trip, the group weathered freezing nights at Vega State Park, dizzying altitudes near Trail Ridge Road, triple-digit heat in the desert, and a final white-knuckle ride through Los Angeles on Friday the 13th.
According to Bourne’s odometer, the group:
- Logged 3,150 miles in 14 days
- Camped at altitudes up to 7,500 feet
- Hit 10 national parks and landmarks
- Crossed 4 states
- Endured 5+ major rainstorms
- Consumed countless cups of gas station coffee
- And survived one mechanical mystery per Harley
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Through it all, Boo kept spirits high—posing for selfies in Monument Valley, chatting with locals in Rico, Colorado, and narrowly avoiding a dunk in the Blue Mesa Reservoir. He may have looked a bit worse for wear by the end with dirt smeared across his nose and a gnarly beard, but the gnome was an ideal travel companion. As Bourne commented, “Quiet, mathematically brilliant, and endlessly photogenic.”
As Bourne reflected, “These trips remind me why I love this country—its landscapes, its people, its stories. But I also love coming back to UVA, recharged and ready to keep building something meaningful. And yes, Boo’s ready for his next photo shoot.”
When asked where the road will lead next summer, Bourne smiled. “One question remains,” he said. “Where to next?”
