Greetings from somewhere over Colorado or maybe Utah. It's hard for me to know because I'm suffering from the whims of United's in-flight Wi-Fi offerings. No connectivity means no positional updates, but it does mean I can get down to the business of writing, which as ever, is what it's all about for me.

I was out west this week checking out Mercedes-Benz's latest improvements in driver assistance technology, but I can’t talk further about that just yet. More to come soon. Until then, here's what I can.

When it comes to motoring, I'm typically a function-before-form kind of guy with my cars. I've spent good money on Subarus that I thought were positively ugly (hello, 2002 bugeye WRX), simply because they were good to drive in the ways and places I wanted to drive them.

But when it comes to my love for motorcycles, it's all about what tugs on my heartstrings. When I first saw Project Ares, it was a pretty substantial pull. I mean, just look at that thing.

I was lucky to ride it a few weeks back, when the company’s co-founder brought a freshly minted prototype (bike number 04, “Ghost”) up to my door for a day in the saddle. It was a chilly, lovely fall day, one where you need an extra layer of three before heading out to find the foliage. But it was worth the chill, blasting down to Hudson and back and stopping to charge along the way.

It was a great day on a great bike that had some real surprises in store. I won’t spoil ‘em.

My journey as a baggage blogger continues to unfold. This week it's my review of Peak Design's new Lite Carry-On, the smallest in a new series of suitcases from a company that's made a name for itself with high-quality camera gear.

The Lite series is rather less photog-focused and more general-purpose travel stuff, but that doesn't mean it isn't impressive. I took one on a few extended trips for testing's sake and really liked it, and while its $449 is hardly cheap, it is quite a bit more affordable than its predecessor, the Roller Pro.

Between Chevrolet's Silverado, Ford's F-150, and GMC's Sierra, you're talking about something like 10 percent of all American new vehicle sales. That’s a lot of trucks, and it makes the release of a new-generation Silverado a massive deal, one that I wanted to sample firsthand. So, I headed out to Tucson a few weeks back for a go in a variety of flavors of 1500.

They really impressed me for the most part. Chevrolet's improved multi-camera towing system makes it easier to keep an eye on what you've got behind you. At the same time, the new tech experience adds capability without ditching support for smartphone projection.

But it's not perfect. I found that interface occasionally clumsy to use, especially when it came to finding where to toggle various features in the truck. The bigger issue, though, was when Super Cruise tried to change lanes directly on top of a Harley-Davidson. I've spent thousands of miles on Super Cruise and never seen anything like that before, so I'm hoping Chevrolet can figure out what happened there.

When it comes to the usual updates of more power, more torque, and more towing, the Silverado has it where it counts. There's nothing wrong here that a few software updates can't fix.

I also spent plenty of time behind the wheel of a 2027 Silverado HD, and while the updates here are more subtle, if anything, they're more substantial. Gone is the aged, characteristically vague recirculating-ball steering setup, replaced by an electronic power-steering system. Add on a better, electronic brake booster, and you have a big ol' truck that drives like a... well, it drives like a slightly smaller truck, anyway.

Big trucks, futuristic motorcycles, and a carbon-fiber-handled suitcase, too. Not a bad week. Thanks as ever for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic rest of your weekend.