“The Ride” was an adventure in every sense of the word. Three great friends traveling more than 5,000 together seeking the spirit of the open road.
Our motorcycles operated without major problems. My turn signals failed in Las Cruces, New Mexico due to a short in a connector. It was repaired by simply bypassing the connector. Vger’s erratic idling problem was solved with a few short twists of a screwdriver. Batman’s issue of bugs running into the back of his jacket has a remedy…roll that throttle! Lol!
The trip was not without its ups and downs, though. We faced all types of weather. There was the searing heat of the southern Arizona desert, the torrential downpours of a tropical storm in northeast Florida, the humidity of the southeast, the gusty winds of north Texas, and the freezing cold of northern Arizona.
At times, we pushed our bodies and abilities to the limits. Most days were ten hours or more in the saddle. When that bitch, Mother Nature rained on our parade and tried to keep us from our intended mission, we fought back and won. Perseverance was the key.
That old saying about the best laid plans is true. You must have a plan, but at the same time, you need to be flexible.
We had our differences in opinion too. Some were more heated than others, but the point is that we are all still the best of friends and look forward to taking another trip together in the future.
Spending 24/7 with someone is the best way to get to know them. I learned a lot about my friends and even more about myself.
If I ever have a chance to take a ride like this again, I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.
So, to Batman and Bailey, Sludge and Vger, thanks for the camaraderie and the great times we have shared. I will never forget them.
Thanks for being my friends.
Vito
p.s. If there is anyone that has questions on how to prepare or what to expect on a ride of this magnitude, please feel free to email me at yellowbullet2@yahoo.com.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Day Eighteen
Kingman, Arizona to Palmdale, California
Mileage: 296
This was the final leg for Sludge and Vger. I received a text from him telling me that he has reached home safely. It was 11:30am.
Mileage: 296
This was the final leg for Sludge and Vger. I received a text from him telling me that he has reached home safely. It was 11:30am.
Day Seventeen
Santa Rosa to Denver, Colorado
Mileage: 392
This was Batman's trip back to Denver.
Since this Best Western's breakfast wasn't much to brag about, we went to the Denny's next door. All of us had a taste for a Grand Slam breakfast. It was going to be a long day for us.
We were saddled up and ready to ride a few minutes after 10am. Our horses were a thirsty, so we stopped at the the "fillin' station" on the way out of town. This is where Sludge and I were going to say our goodbyes to Batman. Batman would be leaving I-40 at the exit for New Mexico State Route 84 north. Hand shaking and bear hugs for all. It was an emotional time for us. We had just ridden 15 days together and it was tough to see the group split up.
A short 16 miles west on I-40 was exit number 256, Batman's exit. Ironically, there was no traffic in sight behind us so I pulled into the left lane and slowed down. Sludge followed my lead and we were able to give Batman and Bailey a last wave. That was difficult.
Just so we know, we agreed to send each other a text message when we reached home. According to the time stamp on his text, Batman arrived at his home in Devner about 7:30pm local time. Sludge and I were 70 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona at that time...hiding from the weather in a highway underpass.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Litchfield Park, Arizona.
Mileage: 592
This was my trip to Litchfield Park.
Sludge and I continued down I-40 toward Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico) was a two-hour drive and we would need fuel on the western outskirts of the city. Good thing that we pulled in for fuel when we did because a group of a dozen motorcyclists arrived mere minutes after we finished filling up. We're not in a hurry, but we've got our homes in sight.
Albuquerque is in a valley and west of the city, I-40 makes a steep climb to above 6, 000 feet and the temperature dropped twenty degrees. We knew of this, so we dressed in our leathers before we left Santa Rosa. The weather was changing too. Ominous clouds were looming in the distance.
Gallup, New Mexico, was 250 miles away and that's where we'd fill the bikes and have lunch. Twenty miles from Gallup, the storm we were watching for the last 30 minutes has caught up with us. Or did we catch up with it? You could feel a couple of drops and then all of a sudden, it sarted coming down. This time, it wasn't all rain. There was tiny raindrop-sized pieces of hail! Let me tell you, with an half helmet, like Batman's and mine, rain can sting your face. But when there is hail in the mix, it feels like shards of glass hitting your face. We were through this event in fifteen minutes, but it felt much longer. Aside from getting pelted with hail, the spray from other vehicles, especially the 18-wheelers, makes for a hairy ride. It's hard to see and the road can become slick. The best thing to do is slow down to a comfortable and safe speed.
After lunch, we continued toward Flagstaff, Arizona. Only 75 miles from Flagstaff, we could see more storms brewing on the horizon. This time, lighting was also included. This was bad. Riding a motorcycle on a flat plain, without much traffic around, made us the highest point. Similar to being on a golf course in lighting, the odds of being struck are slim, but still possible. Just as the rain...and hail started to hit us, I spotted an exit ramp and hoped that there was a place to hide under the interstate. As luck would have it, there was. Lighting is usually on the back side of a storm. We were going to be here for a while. Nearly an hour and a half to be exact. After the lighting passed, there was still a little rain falling. We decided to don our rain gear and make tracks to Flagstaff. It was cold, really cold. This was the coldest part of the ride, but not much more than the panhandle of Florida. I still cannot get a grip on how cold that stretch of ride was. For cyring out loud, it was Florida!
We reached Flagstaff about 6:30pm. This is where Sludge and I would part ways. I was heading down Interstate 17 south for the 150 mile trip to my house. Sludge would continue for another 145 miles to Kingman, Arizona where he'd stop for the night.
It was time to head our own directions. It's been a blast riding with Sludge and Vger. Sludge rode the middle spot and since this was his first ride in a group, did extremely well. We all rode in a staggered formation, with Batman and me on the left side of the lane, and Sludge on the right. I'll miss seeing him in my right mirror. Since it was cold and raining, (I swear the water was turning to ice on my ridng glasses!), we said our goodbyes at a gas station and headed back onto I-40. My exit was two miles down the road and I slowed so that we could wave and give a heart felt "thumbs-up". I was heading into warmer weather, but Sludge still had an hour of cooler temperatures. I'll miss him as well.
I pulled into my driveway about 9pm. After unloading Maleficent, I turned on my cell phone and saw a text message waiting. It was Batman and he was home safe. Minutes later, he called me.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Kingman, Arizona.
Mileage: 582
This is Sludge's trip.
Sludge continued to Kingman, Arizona to rest for the night. Apparently, he had reached Kingman a little later than when I got home. I also sent a text but decided to call him too. Sludge was stuck in stopped traffic after a fatal accident on the interstate. Trucker's offered him coffee and gave him news on what had happened up ahead. Realizing that since he was on a motorcycle, he could sneak up to the head of the traffic using the emergency lane. At the head of the line was a gathering of fellow riders. This is what we (motorcyclists) do, especially if we have air-cooled bikes. He reached Kingman safely an hour later.
Mileage: 392
This was Batman's trip back to Denver.
Since this Best Western's breakfast wasn't much to brag about, we went to the Denny's next door. All of us had a taste for a Grand Slam breakfast. It was going to be a long day for us.
We were saddled up and ready to ride a few minutes after 10am. Our horses were a thirsty, so we stopped at the the "fillin' station" on the way out of town. This is where Sludge and I were going to say our goodbyes to Batman. Batman would be leaving I-40 at the exit for New Mexico State Route 84 north. Hand shaking and bear hugs for all. It was an emotional time for us. We had just ridden 15 days together and it was tough to see the group split up.
A short 16 miles west on I-40 was exit number 256, Batman's exit. Ironically, there was no traffic in sight behind us so I pulled into the left lane and slowed down. Sludge followed my lead and we were able to give Batman and Bailey a last wave. That was difficult.
Just so we know, we agreed to send each other a text message when we reached home. According to the time stamp on his text, Batman arrived at his home in Devner about 7:30pm local time. Sludge and I were 70 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona at that time...hiding from the weather in a highway underpass.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Litchfield Park, Arizona.
Mileage: 592
This was my trip to Litchfield Park.
Sludge and I continued down I-40 toward Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico) was a two-hour drive and we would need fuel on the western outskirts of the city. Good thing that we pulled in for fuel when we did because a group of a dozen motorcyclists arrived mere minutes after we finished filling up. We're not in a hurry, but we've got our homes in sight.
Albuquerque is in a valley and west of the city, I-40 makes a steep climb to above 6, 000 feet and the temperature dropped twenty degrees. We knew of this, so we dressed in our leathers before we left Santa Rosa. The weather was changing too. Ominous clouds were looming in the distance.
Gallup, New Mexico, was 250 miles away and that's where we'd fill the bikes and have lunch. Twenty miles from Gallup, the storm we were watching for the last 30 minutes has caught up with us. Or did we catch up with it? You could feel a couple of drops and then all of a sudden, it sarted coming down. This time, it wasn't all rain. There was tiny raindrop-sized pieces of hail! Let me tell you, with an half helmet, like Batman's and mine, rain can sting your face. But when there is hail in the mix, it feels like shards of glass hitting your face. We were through this event in fifteen minutes, but it felt much longer. Aside from getting pelted with hail, the spray from other vehicles, especially the 18-wheelers, makes for a hairy ride. It's hard to see and the road can become slick. The best thing to do is slow down to a comfortable and safe speed.
After lunch, we continued toward Flagstaff, Arizona. Only 75 miles from Flagstaff, we could see more storms brewing on the horizon. This time, lighting was also included. This was bad. Riding a motorcycle on a flat plain, without much traffic around, made us the highest point. Similar to being on a golf course in lighting, the odds of being struck are slim, but still possible. Just as the rain...and hail started to hit us, I spotted an exit ramp and hoped that there was a place to hide under the interstate. As luck would have it, there was. Lighting is usually on the back side of a storm. We were going to be here for a while. Nearly an hour and a half to be exact. After the lighting passed, there was still a little rain falling. We decided to don our rain gear and make tracks to Flagstaff. It was cold, really cold. This was the coldest part of the ride, but not much more than the panhandle of Florida. I still cannot get a grip on how cold that stretch of ride was. For cyring out loud, it was Florida!
We reached Flagstaff about 6:30pm. This is where Sludge and I would part ways. I was heading down Interstate 17 south for the 150 mile trip to my house. Sludge would continue for another 145 miles to Kingman, Arizona where he'd stop for the night.
It was time to head our own directions. It's been a blast riding with Sludge and Vger. Sludge rode the middle spot and since this was his first ride in a group, did extremely well. We all rode in a staggered formation, with Batman and me on the left side of the lane, and Sludge on the right. I'll miss seeing him in my right mirror. Since it was cold and raining, (I swear the water was turning to ice on my ridng glasses!), we said our goodbyes at a gas station and headed back onto I-40. My exit was two miles down the road and I slowed so that we could wave and give a heart felt "thumbs-up". I was heading into warmer weather, but Sludge still had an hour of cooler temperatures. I'll miss him as well.
I pulled into my driveway about 9pm. After unloading Maleficent, I turned on my cell phone and saw a text message waiting. It was Batman and he was home safe. Minutes later, he called me.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Kingman, Arizona.
Mileage: 582
This is Sludge's trip.
Sludge continued to Kingman, Arizona to rest for the night. Apparently, he had reached Kingman a little later than when I got home. I also sent a text but decided to call him too. Sludge was stuck in stopped traffic after a fatal accident on the interstate. Trucker's offered him coffee and gave him news on what had happened up ahead. Realizing that since he was on a motorcycle, he could sneak up to the head of the traffic using the emergency lane. At the head of the line was a gathering of fellow riders. This is what we (motorcyclists) do, especially if we have air-cooled bikes. He reached Kingman safely an hour later.
Day Sixteen
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Mileage: 423
After breakfast, we rode the three miles over to Harley-Davidson World, just outside Oklahoma City at 9am for the service on Batman's and Sludge's motorcycles. As promised, they had blocked times for us.
The service on Batman's Road King was simply a change of primary chain, engine and clutch fluids. As for Sludge, there was an issue with the way his engine was running. We noticed as far back as Georgetown that something funny was going on with the Night Rod. Sometimes, it would stall at stoplights and while idling, it sounded like the wash cycle of a washing machine. Yea, those water-cooled bikes get complicated. It was no big deal, though. There were a pair of hose clamps that were loose. There is no way to tell if they came loose or was delivered from the factory that way. Personally, I'll go with the latter. Hose clamps don't just come loose on their own. A quick tightening and Vger began to run smoothly again.
While waiting at the dealership, the three of us drooled on some of the 2009 motorcycles in the showroom. For months, I have been eyeballing a Road King Classic for my next bike, but became fond of the Street Glide. Sure the Road King Classic has great lines, attractive colors, and a nostalgic look with the leather bags, but the Street Glide has a fairing instead of a windshield, a radio and locking hard bags. I hope that for the 2010 line, the Street Glide will come with more colors. There are only a few colors I like, but black always works. (When Henry Ford was asked about vehicle colors, he said, "Sure, you can have any color so long that it's black".)
Batman decided that his next Harley-Davidson would be a big cruiser. Probably the Electra-Glide Classic, the top of the Harley-Davidson food chain. This monster has everything. With a price tag near $30,000, it should!
The rest of our time was spent talking with other HD owners and I bought a clutch part for Maleficent. The clutch had always been on the stiff side, but all pre-2004 models were that way. I bought a kit that is designed to change the mechanical advantage of the clutch system so that it will squeeze more easily. Since my clutch handle was sticking, obviously from all the salt spray in Daytona Beach, I was going to purchase a new clutch cable too, but the package was too big to strap to my bike for the ride home. I'll get one from my dealer at home.
Service was complete by 11:15am and we made our way back to the hotel to load up our gear.
It was a warm and sunny day. It's a real bummer that the sun decided to show like this when our ride is almost over. We had sun in Georgetown, but was partly cloudy too. Today, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We'd pay for that later.
We're off and running by 12:30pm. Batman had made a plan to head north on Texas State Route 287 once we reached Amarillo, Texas. On our fuel stop 40 miles outside Amarillo, we talked and looked at the map. Sludge and I were going to try and make it to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. I could make it home from there in one shot and Sludge could stop in Kingman, Arizona the next day before the trip to the west coast.
After looking at the map, I explained to Batman that there was a state route just past Santa Rosa that would hook him up with Interstate 25 north. It was a better route that his original plan where he'd have to take numerous routes through small towns. Certainly, that would take longer. He agreed. I believe that he wanted spend one more day with his buddies.
As it usually does, the wind picked up once we reached Amarillo. I've been through here many times and it has always been windy. Last September, I was returning from a job in Baltimore and the winds in Amarillo were insane. I was pulling a 6 foot by 12 foot trailer with my truck into a 40 mph headwind. The aerodynamics of my truck is similar to a brick and pulling a brick behind me didn't help either. My mpg was down to 6.9! Even worse is that this is when fuel was near $4 per gallon!
Anyway, we fought the wind and the bright sun for a few hours. At a fuel stop, I recommended that we visit the Dairy Queen next door for an ice cream to help cool off. There were no arguments from the other two. The sun was setting and it made the ride tough. Batman and I received a bit of sunburn, while Sludge, with his full face helmet faired much better.
The sun was nearly down when we finally reached Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We checked into another Best Western and went to a small Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Santa Rosa is an interesting town. Santa Rosa is a town in Guadalupe County, NM. The population was 2,744 at the 2000 census. It is a small town between Albuquerque and Tucumcari, situated on the Pecos River.
The first European settlement in the area was Aqua Negra Chiquita, "Little Black Water" in Spanish, in 1865. The name was changed in 1890 to Santa Rosa (Spanish for "Holy Rose") referring to a chapel that Don Celso Baca (the founder of the town) built and named after both his mother Rosa and Saint Rose of Lima. The "Rosa" may also refer to the roses in the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and is indicative of the Catholicism of the Spanish colonizers who settled in the area.
Santa Rosa's stretch of U.S. Route 66 is part of film history. When John Steinbeck's epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was made into a movie, director John Ford used Santa Rosa for the memorable train scene. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge, into the sunset.
Santa Rosa has many natural lakes, an anomaly in the dry Desert climate surrounding it. These are sinkholes that form in the limestone bedrock of the area and fill with water, and thus the lakes are connected by a network of underground, water-filled tunnels. The most famous of these is Blue Hole, a popular spot for diving, where frigid 64°F (18°C) water forms a lake over 81 ft (25 m) deep. http://www.santarosanm.org/scubadiving.htm
Tourism and it's location for travelers on Route 66 and Interstate 40 keep this city alive. If a stopping point is needed for your travel, this is good place for it. There isn't much 50 miles in either direction.
Mileage: 423
After breakfast, we rode the three miles over to Harley-Davidson World, just outside Oklahoma City at 9am for the service on Batman's and Sludge's motorcycles. As promised, they had blocked times for us.
The service on Batman's Road King was simply a change of primary chain, engine and clutch fluids. As for Sludge, there was an issue with the way his engine was running. We noticed as far back as Georgetown that something funny was going on with the Night Rod. Sometimes, it would stall at stoplights and while idling, it sounded like the wash cycle of a washing machine. Yea, those water-cooled bikes get complicated. It was no big deal, though. There were a pair of hose clamps that were loose. There is no way to tell if they came loose or was delivered from the factory that way. Personally, I'll go with the latter. Hose clamps don't just come loose on their own. A quick tightening and Vger began to run smoothly again.
While waiting at the dealership, the three of us drooled on some of the 2009 motorcycles in the showroom. For months, I have been eyeballing a Road King Classic for my next bike, but became fond of the Street Glide. Sure the Road King Classic has great lines, attractive colors, and a nostalgic look with the leather bags, but the Street Glide has a fairing instead of a windshield, a radio and locking hard bags. I hope that for the 2010 line, the Street Glide will come with more colors. There are only a few colors I like, but black always works. (When Henry Ford was asked about vehicle colors, he said, "Sure, you can have any color so long that it's black".)
Batman decided that his next Harley-Davidson would be a big cruiser. Probably the Electra-Glide Classic, the top of the Harley-Davidson food chain. This monster has everything. With a price tag near $30,000, it should!
The rest of our time was spent talking with other HD owners and I bought a clutch part for Maleficent. The clutch had always been on the stiff side, but all pre-2004 models were that way. I bought a kit that is designed to change the mechanical advantage of the clutch system so that it will squeeze more easily. Since my clutch handle was sticking, obviously from all the salt spray in Daytona Beach, I was going to purchase a new clutch cable too, but the package was too big to strap to my bike for the ride home. I'll get one from my dealer at home.
Service was complete by 11:15am and we made our way back to the hotel to load up our gear.
It was a warm and sunny day. It's a real bummer that the sun decided to show like this when our ride is almost over. We had sun in Georgetown, but was partly cloudy too. Today, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We'd pay for that later.
We're off and running by 12:30pm. Batman had made a plan to head north on Texas State Route 287 once we reached Amarillo, Texas. On our fuel stop 40 miles outside Amarillo, we talked and looked at the map. Sludge and I were going to try and make it to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. I could make it home from there in one shot and Sludge could stop in Kingman, Arizona the next day before the trip to the west coast.
After looking at the map, I explained to Batman that there was a state route just past Santa Rosa that would hook him up with Interstate 25 north. It was a better route that his original plan where he'd have to take numerous routes through small towns. Certainly, that would take longer. He agreed. I believe that he wanted spend one more day with his buddies.
As it usually does, the wind picked up once we reached Amarillo. I've been through here many times and it has always been windy. Last September, I was returning from a job in Baltimore and the winds in Amarillo were insane. I was pulling a 6 foot by 12 foot trailer with my truck into a 40 mph headwind. The aerodynamics of my truck is similar to a brick and pulling a brick behind me didn't help either. My mpg was down to 6.9! Even worse is that this is when fuel was near $4 per gallon!
Anyway, we fought the wind and the bright sun for a few hours. At a fuel stop, I recommended that we visit the Dairy Queen next door for an ice cream to help cool off. There were no arguments from the other two. The sun was setting and it made the ride tough. Batman and I received a bit of sunburn, while Sludge, with his full face helmet faired much better.
The sun was nearly down when we finally reached Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We checked into another Best Western and went to a small Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Santa Rosa is an interesting town. Santa Rosa is a town in Guadalupe County, NM. The population was 2,744 at the 2000 census. It is a small town between Albuquerque and Tucumcari, situated on the Pecos River.
The first European settlement in the area was Aqua Negra Chiquita, "Little Black Water" in Spanish, in 1865. The name was changed in 1890 to Santa Rosa (Spanish for "Holy Rose") referring to a chapel that Don Celso Baca (the founder of the town) built and named after both his mother Rosa and Saint Rose of Lima. The "Rosa" may also refer to the roses in the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and is indicative of the Catholicism of the Spanish colonizers who settled in the area.
Santa Rosa's stretch of U.S. Route 66 is part of film history. When John Steinbeck's epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was made into a movie, director John Ford used Santa Rosa for the memorable train scene. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge, into the sunset.
Santa Rosa has many natural lakes, an anomaly in the dry Desert climate surrounding it. These are sinkholes that form in the limestone bedrock of the area and fill with water, and thus the lakes are connected by a network of underground, water-filled tunnels. The most famous of these is Blue Hole, a popular spot for diving, where frigid 64°F (18°C) water forms a lake over 81 ft (25 m) deep. http://www.santarosanm.org/scubadiving.htm
Tourism and it's location for travelers on Route 66 and Interstate 40 keep this city alive. If a stopping point is needed for your travel, this is good place for it. There isn't much 50 miles in either direction.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Day Fifteen
Memphis, Tennessee to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mileage: 470
Today was a long day but a good ride. When we left the hotel at 9:30am, it was overcast and 66 degrees with light winds. We rode over to Graceland Harley-Davidson. This is only a store, but Sludge an I wanted a tee shirt with some sort of Elvis picture or logo. I found one that had Elvis on his motorcycles printed on the back. Just a souvenir to add to my collection of HD tee shirts.
From the store, we pulled onto Interstate 55 that lead us to Interstate 40 for the direct line to Oklahoma City. Last month, I drove down I-40 west and found that the last few miles of this route in Tennessee was under construction. I made a mental note to change the route so we don't get stuck in this traffic on the ride. That's why we were on Interstate 55. On the way up I-55, what do we see? Construction traffic! Now what idiot decided to perform construction on two major routes on the same side of the city? I couldn't believe it. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes before we reached our exit onto I-40. The interstate was very clear from there until we reached Little Rock, Arkansas, where we sat in traffic for nearly an hour. Some guy in a pickup truck jack-knifed with his trailer and hit another car. The left two lanes were closed. Wonderful.
After passing through Little Rock, it was smooth sailing all the way to Oklahoma City. We rolled into the hotel parking lot about 10pm.
Tomorrow, Batman and Sludge will have their bikes serviced. Our appointment is for 9am. We were assured that all service will be done by noon. Mainly, it will be oil changes. I was also scheduled, but with the truck ride from Daytona Beach to Washington, D.C., my bike has 800 miles less that originally calculated. I can skip this service and have it done when I reach home. It's about 1150 miles from here to Litchfield Park. I'm at 3900 for the ride so far, so the 5000 mile service is almost right on the number.
It was a long riding day and we're all crashing hard tonight. Tomorrow will be a busy day too.
Mileage: 470
Today was a long day but a good ride. When we left the hotel at 9:30am, it was overcast and 66 degrees with light winds. We rode over to Graceland Harley-Davidson. This is only a store, but Sludge an I wanted a tee shirt with some sort of Elvis picture or logo. I found one that had Elvis on his motorcycles printed on the back. Just a souvenir to add to my collection of HD tee shirts.
From the store, we pulled onto Interstate 55 that lead us to Interstate 40 for the direct line to Oklahoma City. Last month, I drove down I-40 west and found that the last few miles of this route in Tennessee was under construction. I made a mental note to change the route so we don't get stuck in this traffic on the ride. That's why we were on Interstate 55. On the way up I-55, what do we see? Construction traffic! Now what idiot decided to perform construction on two major routes on the same side of the city? I couldn't believe it. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes before we reached our exit onto I-40. The interstate was very clear from there until we reached Little Rock, Arkansas, where we sat in traffic for nearly an hour. Some guy in a pickup truck jack-knifed with his trailer and hit another car. The left two lanes were closed. Wonderful.
After passing through Little Rock, it was smooth sailing all the way to Oklahoma City. We rolled into the hotel parking lot about 10pm.
Tomorrow, Batman and Sludge will have their bikes serviced. Our appointment is for 9am. We were assured that all service will be done by noon. Mainly, it will be oil changes. I was also scheduled, but with the truck ride from Daytona Beach to Washington, D.C., my bike has 800 miles less that originally calculated. I can skip this service and have it done when I reach home. It's about 1150 miles from here to Litchfield Park. I'm at 3900 for the ride so far, so the 5000 mile service is almost right on the number.
It was a long riding day and we're all crashing hard tonight. Tomorrow will be a busy day too.
Day Fourteen
Knoxville, Tennessee to Memphis, Tennessee
Mileage: 405
The day started out dark and overcast. For a change the weather forecasters were right. Less than 70 miles into the ride, it began to rain...and rain...and rain. The sun was not out for a minute the entire day.
There were two occassions that the rain came down so hard that we couldn't see at all. Traffic on Interstate 40 had slowed down to 50 mph. I found an overpass to hide under and ducked in. I overshot it by about 20 feet because I was concerned whether the other two guys could stop quick enough. When I realized that they did, I walked my bike backwards to get out of the rain. We waited there for 30 minutes or so and ventured back out into the weather when it calmed down.
We drove into and out of rain for the most of the day. Two hours from Memphis, we got hammered again. Lucky for us, there was a rest stop one mile away. When we pulled into the rest area and I made a "bee-line" for one of the covered picnic areas. Once underneath, I pulled to the left, Sludge to the right and Batman parked his big Road King down the middle between two of the picnic tables. It was really raining. I used my helmet as a pillow and took a 20 minute cat nap.
The rain let up and we made a final dash to Memphis. Dark menacing clouds were on the horizon, but I-40 took us around it. Ten miles from our downtown hotel, gusts came out of nowhere and we had to lean hard to the left to stay in the lanes.
We arrived at the hotel about 7:0pm. With all of the stops and dodgeing the rain, it took us more than 10 hours to get here. The hotel was very nice and located only six blocks from the famous Beale Street. This is the home of "The Blues", my favorite music. In 1994, I saw B.B. King perform a live unscheduled concert of five songs. What a blast.
Beale Street hasn't changed much since then. Except that now, Wednesday night is bike night. Due to the weather, it wasn't very crowded, but there was a nice turnout anyway. We decided to have dinner at the famous "Blue City Cafe". The TV shows, Travel Channel and the Food Network have given this restaurant high marks. The food was great and the service was prompt.
We walked around Beale Street and listened to the Blues artists until about 11pm and returned to the hotel.
Mileage: 405
The day started out dark and overcast. For a change the weather forecasters were right. Less than 70 miles into the ride, it began to rain...and rain...and rain. The sun was not out for a minute the entire day.
There were two occassions that the rain came down so hard that we couldn't see at all. Traffic on Interstate 40 had slowed down to 50 mph. I found an overpass to hide under and ducked in. I overshot it by about 20 feet because I was concerned whether the other two guys could stop quick enough. When I realized that they did, I walked my bike backwards to get out of the rain. We waited there for 30 minutes or so and ventured back out into the weather when it calmed down.
We drove into and out of rain for the most of the day. Two hours from Memphis, we got hammered again. Lucky for us, there was a rest stop one mile away. When we pulled into the rest area and I made a "bee-line" for one of the covered picnic areas. Once underneath, I pulled to the left, Sludge to the right and Batman parked his big Road King down the middle between two of the picnic tables. It was really raining. I used my helmet as a pillow and took a 20 minute cat nap.
The rain let up and we made a final dash to Memphis. Dark menacing clouds were on the horizon, but I-40 took us around it. Ten miles from our downtown hotel, gusts came out of nowhere and we had to lean hard to the left to stay in the lanes.
We arrived at the hotel about 7:0pm. With all of the stops and dodgeing the rain, it took us more than 10 hours to get here. The hotel was very nice and located only six blocks from the famous Beale Street. This is the home of "The Blues", my favorite music. In 1994, I saw B.B. King perform a live unscheduled concert of five songs. What a blast.
Beale Street hasn't changed much since then. Except that now, Wednesday night is bike night. Due to the weather, it wasn't very crowded, but there was a nice turnout anyway. We decided to have dinner at the famous "Blue City Cafe". The TV shows, Travel Channel and the Food Network have given this restaurant high marks. The food was great and the service was prompt.
We walked around Beale Street and listened to the Blues artists until about 11pm and returned to the hotel.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Day Thirteen
Burlington, North Carolina to Knoxville, Tennessee
Mileage: 309
As we feared, it was raining this morning. The uniform of the day will be rainsuits. It's one thing getting caught in the rain, but having to start a ride in the rain is the pits.
Today's leg was from Burlington, NC to Asheville, NC. The distance to Asheville is 192 miles and we rode in the rain for the first 150 of them. At times it rained hard, but for the most part, it was a the constant face-stinging type. Even during a drizzle, when you're traveling 60 mph or more, the rain stings as it hits your face. That's why I generally wear a full-face mask made of polyethelene. The same thing scuba gear is made of.
About 30 minutes outside of Asheville, I looked in my mirror and as usual, could see Sludge, but not Batman. When it rains, Batman tends to slow down a little, but he was nowhere in sight. At the first available overpass, Sludge and I pulled over to wait. We waited and waited. Five minutes went by and decided to see if he had called. Just as I began to dig for my phone in the saddlebag, Sludge told me that he could see a motorcycle coming. It turns out that that cheap rainsuit he bought came apart. Well, the pants did anyway. He didn't even know it. A passing motorist told him about it! He had to stop and don his leather chaps.
When stopped in Asheville to have lunch and look at the maps. Months before the trip, while scheduling the stops, I thought it would be a fun ride to go through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. There are a few great winding roads through the park. The views are spectacular.
After lunch, we drove the 30 miles to the exit that will lead us south to Waynesville, North Carolina on State Route 74. We wanted to stop at the local dealership, Ghost Town Harley-Davidson for a souvenir tee shirt. Another $30 bucks to the HD man!
The skies were sunny as we left the dealership. It didn't last long. Twenty miles down route 74, the rain was waiting for us. It was a torrential downpour and along with the traffic, we slowed to 30 mph. That may give you an idea of how hard it was raining. Our riding glasses were fogging up and our leather gloves were cold and soggy. As the rain let up, we found a fuel station and pulled in under the canopy.
The park was about ten miles away and the clouds were beginning to part. The sun decided to make an appearance. Thank you! Most of the way through the park, it was sunny, but the roads were still wet. We took our time and enjoyed the views. A few pics are attached. I hope that you enjoy them too.
As we exited the park and entered Gatlinburg, Tennessee, it was bright, sunny and warm. We realized that we had way too much clothing on. The rainsuits are made of a thick nylon that doesn't breathe. When it's warm and humid and you're sitting on a hot motorcycle, it feels like a sauna. If you want to shed a few pounds, wear one of these things on a hot day! I know that I have!
I had no idea that Gatlinburg was such a tourist trap. It reminded me of Wildwood Beach, New Jersey or Coney Island, New York. There were shops, game rooms and restaurants lined up for a couple of miles. North of Gatlinburg is Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the home of "Dollywood", the theme park created by country singer Dolly Parton. She has not returned my calls. We stopped at a TGI Friday's in the north side of town about 7pm for dinner.
The hotel was another 41 miles and it looked like rain again. It was just a scare. The clouds were dark, but spared us the hassle. Right after we parked the bikes in the registration area, it began to rain again. As a side note, most of the hotels in this chain has allowed us to park right outside the registration desk under the canopy of the hotel entryway. Thanks to them.
We will be heading west again tomorrow. More rain predicted. Again, the rainsuits will be the uniform of the day. Great.
Mileage: 309
As we feared, it was raining this morning. The uniform of the day will be rainsuits. It's one thing getting caught in the rain, but having to start a ride in the rain is the pits.
Today's leg was from Burlington, NC to Asheville, NC. The distance to Asheville is 192 miles and we rode in the rain for the first 150 of them. At times it rained hard, but for the most part, it was a the constant face-stinging type. Even during a drizzle, when you're traveling 60 mph or more, the rain stings as it hits your face. That's why I generally wear a full-face mask made of polyethelene. The same thing scuba gear is made of.
About 30 minutes outside of Asheville, I looked in my mirror and as usual, could see Sludge, but not Batman. When it rains, Batman tends to slow down a little, but he was nowhere in sight. At the first available overpass, Sludge and I pulled over to wait. We waited and waited. Five minutes went by and decided to see if he had called. Just as I began to dig for my phone in the saddlebag, Sludge told me that he could see a motorcycle coming. It turns out that that cheap rainsuit he bought came apart. Well, the pants did anyway. He didn't even know it. A passing motorist told him about it! He had to stop and don his leather chaps.
When stopped in Asheville to have lunch and look at the maps. Months before the trip, while scheduling the stops, I thought it would be a fun ride to go through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. There are a few great winding roads through the park. The views are spectacular.
After lunch, we drove the 30 miles to the exit that will lead us south to Waynesville, North Carolina on State Route 74. We wanted to stop at the local dealership, Ghost Town Harley-Davidson for a souvenir tee shirt. Another $30 bucks to the HD man!
The skies were sunny as we left the dealership. It didn't last long. Twenty miles down route 74, the rain was waiting for us. It was a torrential downpour and along with the traffic, we slowed to 30 mph. That may give you an idea of how hard it was raining. Our riding glasses were fogging up and our leather gloves were cold and soggy. As the rain let up, we found a fuel station and pulled in under the canopy.
The park was about ten miles away and the clouds were beginning to part. The sun decided to make an appearance. Thank you! Most of the way through the park, it was sunny, but the roads were still wet. We took our time and enjoyed the views. A few pics are attached. I hope that you enjoy them too.
As we exited the park and entered Gatlinburg, Tennessee, it was bright, sunny and warm. We realized that we had way too much clothing on. The rainsuits are made of a thick nylon that doesn't breathe. When it's warm and humid and you're sitting on a hot motorcycle, it feels like a sauna. If you want to shed a few pounds, wear one of these things on a hot day! I know that I have!
I had no idea that Gatlinburg was such a tourist trap. It reminded me of Wildwood Beach, New Jersey or Coney Island, New York. There were shops, game rooms and restaurants lined up for a couple of miles. North of Gatlinburg is Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the home of "Dollywood", the theme park created by country singer Dolly Parton. She has not returned my calls. We stopped at a TGI Friday's in the north side of town about 7pm for dinner.
The hotel was another 41 miles and it looked like rain again. It was just a scare. The clouds were dark, but spared us the hassle. Right after we parked the bikes in the registration area, it began to rain again. As a side note, most of the hotels in this chain has allowed us to park right outside the registration desk under the canopy of the hotel entryway. Thanks to them.
We will be heading west again tomorrow. More rain predicted. Again, the rainsuits will be the uniform of the day. Great.
Day Twelve
Georgetown, Washington D.C. to Burlington, North Carolina
Mileage: 312
Waking up, per the weather forecast, we expected to see rain, but the skies were partly sunny. We started out at about 9am, one of the earliest we have begun any leg of this trip. As we merged onto Interstate 66 east, a throng of motorcyclists were passing by. Just like us, many of the RTR particpants were on their journey home. At the RTR, I looked around, but didn't notice any license plates from CA, AZ or CO at the RTR.
News reports estimated that there were approximately 250,000 motorcycles in attendance for the Rolling Thunder Ride!
When we reached Manassas, Virginia, we exited onto State Route 29 southbound. I've been on this road a few times in the past and it's a relaxing drive throught the countryside. There are a few stops lights at first in Warrenton, Virginia but from there to Lynchburg, Virginia, it's a smooth and comfortable 65 mph.
The weather was fine until we could see dark clouds just before our exit onto State Route 87 at Reidsville, North Carolina. In minutes, drops started to fall. Then the clouds opened up. I wanted to pull in under one of the overpasses only to see a dozen bikes hiding there and gearing up in rainsuits. Luckily, there was another a few miles further. We pulled off the highway and put on our rainsuits. Just as we were all dressed and ready to go, the sun came back out. Instead of taking them back off, we got back on the highway. Good thing because a minute later, as we were exiting onto route 87, the skies opened up again. This time it was really coming down. I once heard an analogy of this type of downpour. "It was was raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock!" That pretty much sums it up. It was coming down so hard that we almost couldn't see the road. We came upon a small gas station/store and hid under the canopy for 30 minutes or so. It let up enough that we could proprerly see the road so we continued on. The hotel was another 20 minute ride.
We arrived at the hotel about 6pm and unloaded the bikes. We were in a bit of a hurry because the plan was to meet Sludge's father and sister for dinner and his home is nearly an hour ride. We got to Sludge Senior's home near 8pm and was greeted by his sister and her friendly, 10-month old, 90-pound, German Shepard puppy. Yes, I did say puppy. He's the biggest Shepard I have ever seen.
It was a pleasure to meet Sludge's father and sister. An hour or so of good conversation lead to dinner. Ms. "K" grilled steaks for us and since we were such good little bikers, served ice cream as dessert! Great dinner! Thanks again. It really hit the spot.
Another hour of talk and we had to head back to the hotel. It was already after 11pm and we had a long drive to the hotel on winding roads in the dark. Good thing Sludge knew the roads! Too bad he didn't stay longer. I know that he would have like to do so. I also want to mention that after meeting some of Sludge's family, it's apparent that this is a family of geniuses. All of then are well very educated. His father and older sister have doctorates, his younger sister has a Master's. Sludge and his late mother have Bachelor's degrees. Wow, so much intelligence in one family! The thing is, of the people in his family, you'd never know of their education. Along with Sludge, they're all very down to earth and genuine people. It really was a pleasure to meet both Sludge Senior and Ms. K.
I watched the weather for the Burlington, NC area for the next morning. Again, the forecasters call for rain.
Mileage: 312
Waking up, per the weather forecast, we expected to see rain, but the skies were partly sunny. We started out at about 9am, one of the earliest we have begun any leg of this trip. As we merged onto Interstate 66 east, a throng of motorcyclists were passing by. Just like us, many of the RTR particpants were on their journey home. At the RTR, I looked around, but didn't notice any license plates from CA, AZ or CO at the RTR.
News reports estimated that there were approximately 250,000 motorcycles in attendance for the Rolling Thunder Ride!
When we reached Manassas, Virginia, we exited onto State Route 29 southbound. I've been on this road a few times in the past and it's a relaxing drive throught the countryside. There are a few stops lights at first in Warrenton, Virginia but from there to Lynchburg, Virginia, it's a smooth and comfortable 65 mph.
The weather was fine until we could see dark clouds just before our exit onto State Route 87 at Reidsville, North Carolina. In minutes, drops started to fall. Then the clouds opened up. I wanted to pull in under one of the overpasses only to see a dozen bikes hiding there and gearing up in rainsuits. Luckily, there was another a few miles further. We pulled off the highway and put on our rainsuits. Just as we were all dressed and ready to go, the sun came back out. Instead of taking them back off, we got back on the highway. Good thing because a minute later, as we were exiting onto route 87, the skies opened up again. This time it was really coming down. I once heard an analogy of this type of downpour. "It was was raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock!" That pretty much sums it up. It was coming down so hard that we almost couldn't see the road. We came upon a small gas station/store and hid under the canopy for 30 minutes or so. It let up enough that we could proprerly see the road so we continued on. The hotel was another 20 minute ride.
We arrived at the hotel about 6pm and unloaded the bikes. We were in a bit of a hurry because the plan was to meet Sludge's father and sister for dinner and his home is nearly an hour ride. We got to Sludge Senior's home near 8pm and was greeted by his sister and her friendly, 10-month old, 90-pound, German Shepard puppy. Yes, I did say puppy. He's the biggest Shepard I have ever seen.
It was a pleasure to meet Sludge's father and sister. An hour or so of good conversation lead to dinner. Ms. "K" grilled steaks for us and since we were such good little bikers, served ice cream as dessert! Great dinner! Thanks again. It really hit the spot.
Another hour of talk and we had to head back to the hotel. It was already after 11pm and we had a long drive to the hotel on winding roads in the dark. Good thing Sludge knew the roads! Too bad he didn't stay longer. I know that he would have like to do so. I also want to mention that after meeting some of Sludge's family, it's apparent that this is a family of geniuses. All of then are well very educated. His father and older sister have doctorates, his younger sister has a Master's. Sludge and his late mother have Bachelor's degrees. Wow, so much intelligence in one family! The thing is, of the people in his family, you'd never know of their education. Along with Sludge, they're all very down to earth and genuine people. It really was a pleasure to meet both Sludge Senior and Ms. K.
I watched the weather for the Burlington, NC area for the next morning. Again, the forecasters call for rain.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Day Eleven
This is the day! The secondary reason why we took on this adventure.
We had breakfast by 7:30am and were at one of the four staging areas at the Pentagon before 9am. Last year, 9am was the perfect time to arrive, but not this year. There were more than 1,000 bikes already there! Here's an idea of how many bikes were there before us. We parked in line at 8:45am. The procession began promptly at noon. It was 2:10pm before we even started our bikes! That's more than 5 hours! During our wait, we walked around the Pentagon, talked with many other riders and I even took a nap.
Last September 11th, the Memorial for those that died when terrorists flew a plane into the Pentagon was opened. It was a well planned site. There were monuments for each person that died that day in D.C. The ramps facing away from the Pentagon displayed names for those that died in the Pentagon and the ramps facing the Pentagon displayed names of the people that died on the airplane. The presentation stone said that a total of 184 people died here that day. The youngest was 3 years old. He was on the plane with his 9-year old sister and his 35-year old father. Can you inagine losing your son, daughter and Husband in the same attack? It's horrible. The oldest was a 71-year old retired Air Force Officer. The memorial was well thought out and serene.
As I said, the ride started in rows promptly at noon. When we finally started moving, it was already after 2pm. The ride route took us by the American History Museum, The White House and countless other famous buldings. People were standin behind crowd barriers on both sides of the street waving American flags and holding signs thanking veterans for their service. In some areas, people were standing on the side of the street asking for "high-fives" or to rev up our motors. I was great to see so many people cheering us on.
The procession ended at one of the many War Memorial parks. Literally thousands of motorcycles were in attendance. We walked across the park to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, or "The Wall" as it's known, and then on see the WWII Memorial. "The Wall" is one of the more emotionally moving places I ahve ever been. To see Vietnam Veterans standing with their hand over the name of one of their lost buddies can bring a tear to even the toughest of people. Friends and relatives leave flowers, pictures, notes and even the departed veteran's favorite pack of cigarettes. At each end of this memorial are books that show all of the names and which block they can be found according to birthdates, hometowns, duty station or company. Then you can take a special cut of paper provided, along with a pencil, and transfer the name of the person onto this paper by rubbing the pencil lead back and forth over the name. That's a very nice touch to provide another form of remembrance for friends and family. There are also Wall volunteers that will provide this service, especially if the name is too high to reach.
This was an extremely moving experience for all.
We were back at the hotel by about 5pm to do some laundry and get packed. We plan to get on the road 10am.
The weather forecast here is for thunderstorms all day for Washington D.C. and scattered thunderstorms for most of the way southbound. It looks to be a rough start for our trek back home.
I'll write more when I can.
We had breakfast by 7:30am and were at one of the four staging areas at the Pentagon before 9am. Last year, 9am was the perfect time to arrive, but not this year. There were more than 1,000 bikes already there! Here's an idea of how many bikes were there before us. We parked in line at 8:45am. The procession began promptly at noon. It was 2:10pm before we even started our bikes! That's more than 5 hours! During our wait, we walked around the Pentagon, talked with many other riders and I even took a nap.
Last September 11th, the Memorial for those that died when terrorists flew a plane into the Pentagon was opened. It was a well planned site. There were monuments for each person that died that day in D.C. The ramps facing away from the Pentagon displayed names for those that died in the Pentagon and the ramps facing the Pentagon displayed names of the people that died on the airplane. The presentation stone said that a total of 184 people died here that day. The youngest was 3 years old. He was on the plane with his 9-year old sister and his 35-year old father. Can you inagine losing your son, daughter and Husband in the same attack? It's horrible. The oldest was a 71-year old retired Air Force Officer. The memorial was well thought out and serene.
As I said, the ride started in rows promptly at noon. When we finally started moving, it was already after 2pm. The ride route took us by the American History Museum, The White House and countless other famous buldings. People were standin behind crowd barriers on both sides of the street waving American flags and holding signs thanking veterans for their service. In some areas, people were standing on the side of the street asking for "high-fives" or to rev up our motors. I was great to see so many people cheering us on.
The procession ended at one of the many War Memorial parks. Literally thousands of motorcycles were in attendance. We walked across the park to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, or "The Wall" as it's known, and then on see the WWII Memorial. "The Wall" is one of the more emotionally moving places I ahve ever been. To see Vietnam Veterans standing with their hand over the name of one of their lost buddies can bring a tear to even the toughest of people. Friends and relatives leave flowers, pictures, notes and even the departed veteran's favorite pack of cigarettes. At each end of this memorial are books that show all of the names and which block they can be found according to birthdates, hometowns, duty station or company. Then you can take a special cut of paper provided, along with a pencil, and transfer the name of the person onto this paper by rubbing the pencil lead back and forth over the name. That's a very nice touch to provide another form of remembrance for friends and family. There are also Wall volunteers that will provide this service, especially if the name is too high to reach.
This was an extremely moving experience for all.
We were back at the hotel by about 5pm to do some laundry and get packed. We plan to get on the road 10am.
The weather forecast here is for thunderstorms all day for Washington D.C. and scattered thunderstorms for most of the way southbound. It looks to be a rough start for our trek back home.
I'll write more when I can.
Day Ten
So here we are in Georgetown. It's a sunny day and we've agreed to do a little sightseeing. We passed the White House, the Treasury building and FBI Headquarters. I wanted to visit the Navy Memorial because a few months ago, a plaque commemorating the submarine I served aboard was added to one of the display walls inside.
There was a Memorial Day speech given by Commander Kirk Lippold of the USS Cole. He was serving as the Commander in October of 2000 when it was attacked by suicide bombers in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed. He honored those sailors and his speech was very moving.
After his speech, we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol and then north to Union Station where we stopped at the Harley-Davidson store for a tee shirt and then lunch. Sludge made a comment that he wanted to go to the Harley-Davidson store we visited the day before because he wanted to buy cleaning products for his oxidized wheels. When we arrived, there were hundreds of motorcycles parked everywhere! There were a dozen vendors selling everything from patchs to leathers to chrome parts. We bought our supplies and went back to the hotel, cleaned up the bikes and got ready for dinner.
For dinner, we decided on Bertucci's Italian restaurant. The food is pretty good and the price is reasonable. After dinner, we walked around the area and found a local bar that had close to 30 flat screen televisions tuned to an array of sports from basketball to UFC fights.
We were back at the hotel by midnight to get rested for the huge Rolling Thunder Ride the next morning.
There was a Memorial Day speech given by Commander Kirk Lippold of the USS Cole. He was serving as the Commander in October of 2000 when it was attacked by suicide bombers in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed. He honored those sailors and his speech was very moving.
After his speech, we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol and then north to Union Station where we stopped at the Harley-Davidson store for a tee shirt and then lunch. Sludge made a comment that he wanted to go to the Harley-Davidson store we visited the day before because he wanted to buy cleaning products for his oxidized wheels. When we arrived, there were hundreds of motorcycles parked everywhere! There were a dozen vendors selling everything from patchs to leathers to chrome parts. We bought our supplies and went back to the hotel, cleaned up the bikes and got ready for dinner.
For dinner, we decided on Bertucci's Italian restaurant. The food is pretty good and the price is reasonable. After dinner, we walked around the area and found a local bar that had close to 30 flat screen televisions tuned to an array of sports from basketball to UFC fights.
We were back at the hotel by midnight to get rested for the huge Rolling Thunder Ride the next morning.
Day Nine
Fayetteville, North Carolina to Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Mileage: 325 miles (in a Budget Truck)
We got an early start on the trip to Washington. By 8am, we're on the road. We arrived at the Budget rental return located near Crystal City near 2pm.
All of the gear and the bikes were unloaded in under an hour. Sludge's bike was quite easy to back down the ramp. Similar to what you would do in a gym, Batman and I "spotted" Sludge down. My bike was fairly easy too, but it was a bit unnerving coming down backwards with the front brake on and depending on your friends should anything go wrong with a 700-pound motorcycle! Batman's bike was the most difficult. Besides the fact that a Road King weighs in the vicinity of 850 pounds, the bike was too wide for Batman to reach the edges of the ramp. So, Batman stood in front of his bike holding the front brake lever while Sludge and I balanced the big Road King with a slight bias to the right side. We wanted to make sure that the weight was on the side of the front brake and to make sure that it didn't tip over to the other side. One quarter of the way down the ramp, Batman temporarily handed the control of the brake to Sludge so that Batman could step down from the floor of the truck. All this time, I am at the back of Road King making sure that it doesn't roll down the ramp. I don't know what I was thinking, I'm 162 pounds and if that bike decided to roll, it would have mowed me down! With all of the motorcycles safely off the truck and on the ground, we loaded our gear and headed for the hotel.
The traffic on I-395 in D.C. was horrible. There we were, right at 3pm on a holiday weekend Friday, trying to go somewhere in this town. It was bumper to bumper for close to an hour. Remember, Batman and I have air-cooled scooters and when there is no air passing the engine fins, they tend to get very hot. The air temp was in the mid 80's and we're sitting on hot concrete on top of a cooking motorcycle. We gave new definition to sweating!
We arrived at the hotel in Georgetown just after 4pm. We unloaded the bikes and took them over to the available underground parking. The website said nothing about the additional $20 per night per motorcycle! They got us for $180 in parking alone! There's very little parking available in this city and the parking fines are very expensive, so, we had to deal with it.
I was fairly outspoken about how I wanted to wash Maleficent (my Deuce). I don't like riding a dirty bike. I went online and found a few self-serve car washes in the area. Well, the closest one was more than 15 miles away and near a Harley-Davidson dealership. So, after unpacking and setting up, we left for the car wash at about 6pm. The three of us pulled our bikes into one stall and shared the expense. Washed and scrubed, we dryed them off and detailed them the best we could as the sun went down. The salt spray from parking at the hotel near the beach took a toll on the wheels of Sludge's and Batman's bikes. They are aluminum and began to show signs of corrosion...after only two days! I had a few spots where the chrome was beginning to show rust. After cleaning them off the best we could, Sludge asked if I wanted to hit a small bucket of balls at the golf driving range next door. Well, it's been six weeks since I swung a club and three since I saw the Doc. Ah, what the hell. It was a small bucket of maybe 30 golf balls. I put on a little exhibition. The range depth was almost 250 yards to the trees and I was reaching that with the old 3-wood the range had for rental.
We had dinner nearby and headed back to the hotel for the evening.
Mileage: 325 miles (in a Budget Truck)
We got an early start on the trip to Washington. By 8am, we're on the road. We arrived at the Budget rental return located near Crystal City near 2pm.
All of the gear and the bikes were unloaded in under an hour. Sludge's bike was quite easy to back down the ramp. Similar to what you would do in a gym, Batman and I "spotted" Sludge down. My bike was fairly easy too, but it was a bit unnerving coming down backwards with the front brake on and depending on your friends should anything go wrong with a 700-pound motorcycle! Batman's bike was the most difficult. Besides the fact that a Road King weighs in the vicinity of 850 pounds, the bike was too wide for Batman to reach the edges of the ramp. So, Batman stood in front of his bike holding the front brake lever while Sludge and I balanced the big Road King with a slight bias to the right side. We wanted to make sure that the weight was on the side of the front brake and to make sure that it didn't tip over to the other side. One quarter of the way down the ramp, Batman temporarily handed the control of the brake to Sludge so that Batman could step down from the floor of the truck. All this time, I am at the back of Road King making sure that it doesn't roll down the ramp. I don't know what I was thinking, I'm 162 pounds and if that bike decided to roll, it would have mowed me down! With all of the motorcycles safely off the truck and on the ground, we loaded our gear and headed for the hotel.
The traffic on I-395 in D.C. was horrible. There we were, right at 3pm on a holiday weekend Friday, trying to go somewhere in this town. It was bumper to bumper for close to an hour. Remember, Batman and I have air-cooled scooters and when there is no air passing the engine fins, they tend to get very hot. The air temp was in the mid 80's and we're sitting on hot concrete on top of a cooking motorcycle. We gave new definition to sweating!
We arrived at the hotel in Georgetown just after 4pm. We unloaded the bikes and took them over to the available underground parking. The website said nothing about the additional $20 per night per motorcycle! They got us for $180 in parking alone! There's very little parking available in this city and the parking fines are very expensive, so, we had to deal with it.
I was fairly outspoken about how I wanted to wash Maleficent (my Deuce). I don't like riding a dirty bike. I went online and found a few self-serve car washes in the area. Well, the closest one was more than 15 miles away and near a Harley-Davidson dealership. So, after unpacking and setting up, we left for the car wash at about 6pm. The three of us pulled our bikes into one stall and shared the expense. Washed and scrubed, we dryed them off and detailed them the best we could as the sun went down. The salt spray from parking at the hotel near the beach took a toll on the wheels of Sludge's and Batman's bikes. They are aluminum and began to show signs of corrosion...after only two days! I had a few spots where the chrome was beginning to show rust. After cleaning them off the best we could, Sludge asked if I wanted to hit a small bucket of balls at the golf driving range next door. Well, it's been six weeks since I swung a club and three since I saw the Doc. Ah, what the hell. It was a small bucket of maybe 30 golf balls. I put on a little exhibition. The range depth was almost 250 yards to the trees and I was reaching that with the old 3-wood the range had for rental.
We had dinner nearby and headed back to the hotel for the evening.
Day Eight
Daytona Beach, Florida to Fayetteville, North Carolina
Mileage: 485 (in a Budget Truck)
We left soggy Daytona Beach at about 10am Thursday and arrived in Fayetteville, North Carolina about 9pm. There was road construction in Georgia that really slowed us down. US Interstate 95 went from three lanes to one! Simple insanity. The traffic crawled for more than an hour.
There was torrential downpours in both Georgia and South Carolina. It was a good idea to rent the truck.
Mileage: 485 (in a Budget Truck)
We left soggy Daytona Beach at about 10am Thursday and arrived in Fayetteville, North Carolina about 9pm. There was road construction in Georgia that really slowed us down. US Interstate 95 went from three lanes to one! Simple insanity. The traffic crawled for more than an hour.
There was torrential downpours in both Georgia and South Carolina. It was a good idea to rent the truck.
Day Seven
Daytona Beach, Florida
After two nights, we're still in Daytona Beach, but we have made a new plan and it's to leave tomorrow morning.
I have cancelled our hotel reservations in some of our other scheduled stops before the Rolling Thunder Ride in Washington. Those stops were Charleston, SC, Morehead City, NC and Virginia Beach, VA. I've also cancelled the tickets for our ferry ride from Cedar Island, NC to Ocracoke, NC. The plan was to visit the Wright Brothers Monument in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Since we're aerospace guys and in the neighborhood, a visit to pay homage to our business forefathers was in order.
We have rented a 16-foot Budget box truck with a ramp. After taking a cab from the hotel to Budget, we drove the new rig to Home Depot to purchase tie-down straps. From there we went to Daytona Beach Harley-Davidson, where Sludge and I bought new pair Gortex riding gloves and the mandatory HD tee shirt. A part that Sludge was looking for wasn't available there so we drove over to Destination Harley-Davidson in Ormond Beach, Florida to pick it up. We had a late lunch and went to visit another dealership in the same campus. This dealer sold Triumph, Ducati and Buell motorcycles. Very nice stuff. We sat on them, inspected the designs (as engineers would be expected to do!) and talked specs with a very knowledgable salesman.
Then we drove back to the hotel to load the bikes into the truck box. Naturally, as soon as we moved the bikes near he truck, the wind and rain started again. Eventually, it was blowing sideways, accompanied with thunder and lightning! It was an unnerving experience to ride my bike up the ramp, but with both the others helping to balance the bike, all three bikes were soon in the box. It took about an hour or so, but the motorcycles have been covered with furnitue pads and properly strapped down for the 800-miles trip to Washington D.C.The secondary purpose of this ride was to participate in the RTR and we plan to get there any way we can. If this is what it takes, then so be it.The weekend weather in D.C. calls for 84 degree temperatures and plenty of sun. I have reserved an extra night at our hotel, so instead of two nights there, it will be three. After the RTR, hopefully we can get back on schedule.Thanks for your concerns. We're all doing fine and are now well rested for our trip north.I will write more from Washington, D.C.
After two nights, we're still in Daytona Beach, but we have made a new plan and it's to leave tomorrow morning.
I have cancelled our hotel reservations in some of our other scheduled stops before the Rolling Thunder Ride in Washington. Those stops were Charleston, SC, Morehead City, NC and Virginia Beach, VA. I've also cancelled the tickets for our ferry ride from Cedar Island, NC to Ocracoke, NC. The plan was to visit the Wright Brothers Monument in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Since we're aerospace guys and in the neighborhood, a visit to pay homage to our business forefathers was in order.
We have rented a 16-foot Budget box truck with a ramp. After taking a cab from the hotel to Budget, we drove the new rig to Home Depot to purchase tie-down straps. From there we went to Daytona Beach Harley-Davidson, where Sludge and I bought new pair Gortex riding gloves and the mandatory HD tee shirt. A part that Sludge was looking for wasn't available there so we drove over to Destination Harley-Davidson in Ormond Beach, Florida to pick it up. We had a late lunch and went to visit another dealership in the same campus. This dealer sold Triumph, Ducati and Buell motorcycles. Very nice stuff. We sat on them, inspected the designs (as engineers would be expected to do!) and talked specs with a very knowledgable salesman.
Then we drove back to the hotel to load the bikes into the truck box. Naturally, as soon as we moved the bikes near he truck, the wind and rain started again. Eventually, it was blowing sideways, accompanied with thunder and lightning! It was an unnerving experience to ride my bike up the ramp, but with both the others helping to balance the bike, all three bikes were soon in the box. It took about an hour or so, but the motorcycles have been covered with furnitue pads and properly strapped down for the 800-miles trip to Washington D.C.The secondary purpose of this ride was to participate in the RTR and we plan to get there any way we can. If this is what it takes, then so be it.The weekend weather in D.C. calls for 84 degree temperatures and plenty of sun. I have reserved an extra night at our hotel, so instead of two nights there, it will be three. After the RTR, hopefully we can get back on schedule.Thanks for your concerns. We're all doing fine and are now well rested for our trip north.I will write more from Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Day Five and Six
New Orleans, Louisiana to Daytona Beach, Florida
Mileage: 636
Total mileage to date: 2322 (from Litchfield Park)
Batman's cousin, Donald showed up at our hotel in New Orleans about 10am. We were just finishing breakfast and needed to load up the bikes for the trip to Daytona Beach. Donald would be heading back to Houston on his own. For his first long distance ride, he did very well, but his body was unhappy the next morning. Long distance riding is not for everyone and your body needs to be conditioned for it. It' not just physically challenging, but mentally as well.
Again, it was right at noon when we left the hotel in New Orleans. We're heading to Daytona Beach, Florida, but first, we wanted to make a stop at Hurricane HD on the West Bank in Harvey, Louisiana. I wanted yet another Harley-Davidson tee shirt and Batman wanted to buy a "Guardian Bell" for Donald.
A Guardian Bell is a small stainless steel bell with some sort of design on it. You are not allowed to buy a Guardian bell for yourself. It must be a gift. It's a good luck charm for riders. (I'm not superstitious, but believe me, they work!) The one we chipped in to buy for Donald has a cross on it. Very nice. After the presentation, we had him hang it on his bike. When we met Batman in Las Cruces, New Mexico, he presented Sludge and me with Guardian Bells. Sludge and I already have them but another won't hurt. Thanks again, Batman!
We left the dealership close to 2:00pm. I was getting a bit worried because this leg of the ride was nearly 640 miles. Our minimum travel time was going to be 12 hours. "Geez", I thought, "Another 3:00 am arrival!" (Remember, the time zone changes again.) That was clearly not to be the case.
As we left New Orleans, I suggested that Sludge take the Road Captain position beause he was the most familiar with the roads in town. Along the way was the facility where we worked together on the U.S. Space Station, "Freedom", back in 1987. We wanted to stop and see it on the way to Biloxi, Mississippi.
Twenty minutes into the ride, we were crossing a large bridge called "The Industrial Canal High Rise. It's a very steep ride up and down the other side. I was riding in position #2 in the right lane and Batman was the Tail Gunner. I was keeping an eye on the small pickup truck in front of me when a digging shovel began to float in the air! I thought that it was going to blow out and seconds later it did! It was bouncing end over end and I was quickly catching up. As soon as I tapped the brakes, the shovel settled down to a slide against the inside ledge of the bridge. Squeezing over to the left side of the lane, I was not able to notify Batman of the shovel. He also saw it and had moved over. We couldn't go too far left due to the other traffic. When I had a chance, I went around the pickup and back to the right lane. I looked in my mirror and couldn't see Batman. I pulled over as quickly and safely as I could to wait for him. I waited for five minutes, but still no Batman! Has he laided the bike down? Was he in an accident with another car? There was no place to turn round. I would have to drive a mile to the next exit and come back. I decided to head up the highway on the emergency lane into oncoming traffic. Just as I turned my bike around, I could see Batman coming. I cranked on the throttle and he caught up to me just as I was coming off the emergency lane. Our exit was two miles down. At the first stoplight, I asked him what happened. Apparently, there was also a white bucket in the back of the pickup that blew out and Batman ran into it! There was no damage to his scooter, but the bucket didn't survive. Take a look at the picture of his front tire. The white spot is where he hit the bucket. It's amazing that these idiots just throw things into their truck beds with no idea of what can and will likely happen.
It was 3:00pm when we left the plant and continued on Route 90 toward the beaches in Mississippi. As we entered the Mississippi coastal area, we noticed that even four years post Hurricane Katrina, the devastation was still clearly visible. There were many lots with concrete pads still in place. The only clue that a house was once there. Many of the buildings have been rebuilt or are brand new, some were still in need or repair. It was a sad state of affairs, but overall, much progress has been made.
The beach road was extremely windy and there was a great deal of sand on the streets. Between Mother Nature and the vehicles around us, we were getting sand-blasted. After an hour on this road, we agreed that is was time for lunch. We pulled into a mall with a Subway sandwich shop and the owner stopped to talk with us about our bikes and the adventure we were on. All along this ride, people have been very curious and have wished us well.
Buy the time we reached Interstate Route 10, it was close to 5:00pm and we still had 550 miles to ride. It was windy, but the sun was still shining. As the sun started to set, the wind picked up and the temperature began to drop...quickly.
It took us seven hours to cover the 320 miles to Tallahassee, Florida. It became so cold that we pulled over to change into our winter gloves and face covers at a rest area half way between Biloxi and Tallahassee. Batman and I wear half-helmets and our faces are exposed to the elements. He knew that it would be cold on this ride, but not in Florida! Maybe in Oklahoma or the mountains of Tennessee. The temperature was in the low 50's again and the wind chill was approximately 38 degrees. We fueled the bikes and had dinner at an IHOP restaurant in Tallahassee around midnight.
We're back on I-10 an hour later and it was even colder. Jacksonville, Florida was 165 miles away and the temperature was dropping. We estimated that it was in the high 40's. That would make the wind chill closer to freezing. We agreed to stop every hour to try and warm up at the rest areas or at the end of an exit ramp. At about 3:30 am, we were passing through Jacksonville, Florida and were only 75 miles from Daytona Beach, Florida. It smelled like rain in the air. I was right. A few miles south of Jacksonville, it started to rain. Then the skies opened up and it poured. We had to slow down to 45 mph and put on our 4-way flashers so that we could be seen. We never had a chance to stop and don our rain gear. By the time we reached a rest area thirty miles south of Jacksonville, we realize that we were soaked to the skin and decided to continue on. Our bodies were working hard to battle the elements and we're all fighting sleep, but we had to continue on. We reached exit 193, Route 1 south, about 5:30am and pulled into a gas station to hide under the canopy.
The gas station had a sitting area and we figured that we would wait for the rain to stop or let up enough for us to make a run to the hotel. An hour after torrential downpours, the rain decreased to a shower, so we scurried to our bikes and headed south on A1A to the hotel. Again the rain picked up and the closer we drove to the shoreline, the higher the wind speeds were. At one point, Batman and I were blown from the left lane to the right lane! It was 7:00am when we cut off our engines in the hotel parking lot. We had not slept for 24 hours!
We must have looked like drowned rats when we reached the hotel. What were the first words I heard from the check-in manager? "You were supposed to check in last night!" I held my tongue, but did manage to ask if she had noticed the weather outside. Minutes after we unloaded in the room, Sludge was off to do laundry. Batman and I lie on our beds talking about what we had just accomplished and I heard him begin to snore. He was out in mid sentence! I passed out soon after. Four hours later I woke up due to an extreme cramp in my left calf, the gear-shifting leg. Sludge had suffered the same discomfort that night. Two days later, both of mine are still sore! My back is doing well, but my right shoulder is still bothering me. (I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon two weeks before the ride. Apparently, I have a rotator cuff injury. I believe that this was due to some strength training exercises at the gym. I was working out hard for the ride and it didn't do me any good.)
As I soon found out, the off shore storm I was watching online from my laptop had tuned into a tropical depression on our way through the panhandle of Florida. Bad luck.
We have been glued to the television watching the weather channel for a break in the weather. Apparently it's not going to happen soon. This storm has dumped 15 inches of rain in the Daytona Beach area and the forecast is rain for the next 6-8 days! There is flooding everywhere. We've seen sandbagging and knee-deep water on some streets.
Yesterday afternoon, I asked the guys to sit down and discuss our options. Certainly, we cannot saddle up and ride north. The winds are still near 40mph and the rain is still coming down in buckets. The southeast coast, all the way up to the Carolinas, is forecasting rain.
On Wednesday, we basically, we sat around, did laundry and ate. This weather sucks.
More later...
Mileage: 636
Total mileage to date: 2322 (from Litchfield Park)
Batman's cousin, Donald showed up at our hotel in New Orleans about 10am. We were just finishing breakfast and needed to load up the bikes for the trip to Daytona Beach. Donald would be heading back to Houston on his own. For his first long distance ride, he did very well, but his body was unhappy the next morning. Long distance riding is not for everyone and your body needs to be conditioned for it. It' not just physically challenging, but mentally as well.
Again, it was right at noon when we left the hotel in New Orleans. We're heading to Daytona Beach, Florida, but first, we wanted to make a stop at Hurricane HD on the West Bank in Harvey, Louisiana. I wanted yet another Harley-Davidson tee shirt and Batman wanted to buy a "Guardian Bell" for Donald.
A Guardian Bell is a small stainless steel bell with some sort of design on it. You are not allowed to buy a Guardian bell for yourself. It must be a gift. It's a good luck charm for riders. (I'm not superstitious, but believe me, they work!) The one we chipped in to buy for Donald has a cross on it. Very nice. After the presentation, we had him hang it on his bike. When we met Batman in Las Cruces, New Mexico, he presented Sludge and me with Guardian Bells. Sludge and I already have them but another won't hurt. Thanks again, Batman!
We left the dealership close to 2:00pm. I was getting a bit worried because this leg of the ride was nearly 640 miles. Our minimum travel time was going to be 12 hours. "Geez", I thought, "Another 3:00 am arrival!" (Remember, the time zone changes again.) That was clearly not to be the case.
As we left New Orleans, I suggested that Sludge take the Road Captain position beause he was the most familiar with the roads in town. Along the way was the facility where we worked together on the U.S. Space Station, "Freedom", back in 1987. We wanted to stop and see it on the way to Biloxi, Mississippi.
Twenty minutes into the ride, we were crossing a large bridge called "The Industrial Canal High Rise. It's a very steep ride up and down the other side. I was riding in position #2 in the right lane and Batman was the Tail Gunner. I was keeping an eye on the small pickup truck in front of me when a digging shovel began to float in the air! I thought that it was going to blow out and seconds later it did! It was bouncing end over end and I was quickly catching up. As soon as I tapped the brakes, the shovel settled down to a slide against the inside ledge of the bridge. Squeezing over to the left side of the lane, I was not able to notify Batman of the shovel. He also saw it and had moved over. We couldn't go too far left due to the other traffic. When I had a chance, I went around the pickup and back to the right lane. I looked in my mirror and couldn't see Batman. I pulled over as quickly and safely as I could to wait for him. I waited for five minutes, but still no Batman! Has he laided the bike down? Was he in an accident with another car? There was no place to turn round. I would have to drive a mile to the next exit and come back. I decided to head up the highway on the emergency lane into oncoming traffic. Just as I turned my bike around, I could see Batman coming. I cranked on the throttle and he caught up to me just as I was coming off the emergency lane. Our exit was two miles down. At the first stoplight, I asked him what happened. Apparently, there was also a white bucket in the back of the pickup that blew out and Batman ran into it! There was no damage to his scooter, but the bucket didn't survive. Take a look at the picture of his front tire. The white spot is where he hit the bucket. It's amazing that these idiots just throw things into their truck beds with no idea of what can and will likely happen.
It was 3:00pm when we left the plant and continued on Route 90 toward the beaches in Mississippi. As we entered the Mississippi coastal area, we noticed that even four years post Hurricane Katrina, the devastation was still clearly visible. There were many lots with concrete pads still in place. The only clue that a house was once there. Many of the buildings have been rebuilt or are brand new, some were still in need or repair. It was a sad state of affairs, but overall, much progress has been made.
The beach road was extremely windy and there was a great deal of sand on the streets. Between Mother Nature and the vehicles around us, we were getting sand-blasted. After an hour on this road, we agreed that is was time for lunch. We pulled into a mall with a Subway sandwich shop and the owner stopped to talk with us about our bikes and the adventure we were on. All along this ride, people have been very curious and have wished us well.
Buy the time we reached Interstate Route 10, it was close to 5:00pm and we still had 550 miles to ride. It was windy, but the sun was still shining. As the sun started to set, the wind picked up and the temperature began to drop...quickly.
It took us seven hours to cover the 320 miles to Tallahassee, Florida. It became so cold that we pulled over to change into our winter gloves and face covers at a rest area half way between Biloxi and Tallahassee. Batman and I wear half-helmets and our faces are exposed to the elements. He knew that it would be cold on this ride, but not in Florida! Maybe in Oklahoma or the mountains of Tennessee. The temperature was in the low 50's again and the wind chill was approximately 38 degrees. We fueled the bikes and had dinner at an IHOP restaurant in Tallahassee around midnight.
We're back on I-10 an hour later and it was even colder. Jacksonville, Florida was 165 miles away and the temperature was dropping. We estimated that it was in the high 40's. That would make the wind chill closer to freezing. We agreed to stop every hour to try and warm up at the rest areas or at the end of an exit ramp. At about 3:30 am, we were passing through Jacksonville, Florida and were only 75 miles from Daytona Beach, Florida. It smelled like rain in the air. I was right. A few miles south of Jacksonville, it started to rain. Then the skies opened up and it poured. We had to slow down to 45 mph and put on our 4-way flashers so that we could be seen. We never had a chance to stop and don our rain gear. By the time we reached a rest area thirty miles south of Jacksonville, we realize that we were soaked to the skin and decided to continue on. Our bodies were working hard to battle the elements and we're all fighting sleep, but we had to continue on. We reached exit 193, Route 1 south, about 5:30am and pulled into a gas station to hide under the canopy.
The gas station had a sitting area and we figured that we would wait for the rain to stop or let up enough for us to make a run to the hotel. An hour after torrential downpours, the rain decreased to a shower, so we scurried to our bikes and headed south on A1A to the hotel. Again the rain picked up and the closer we drove to the shoreline, the higher the wind speeds were. At one point, Batman and I were blown from the left lane to the right lane! It was 7:00am when we cut off our engines in the hotel parking lot. We had not slept for 24 hours!
We must have looked like drowned rats when we reached the hotel. What were the first words I heard from the check-in manager? "You were supposed to check in last night!" I held my tongue, but did manage to ask if she had noticed the weather outside. Minutes after we unloaded in the room, Sludge was off to do laundry. Batman and I lie on our beds talking about what we had just accomplished and I heard him begin to snore. He was out in mid sentence! I passed out soon after. Four hours later I woke up due to an extreme cramp in my left calf, the gear-shifting leg. Sludge had suffered the same discomfort that night. Two days later, both of mine are still sore! My back is doing well, but my right shoulder is still bothering me. (I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon two weeks before the ride. Apparently, I have a rotator cuff injury. I believe that this was due to some strength training exercises at the gym. I was working out hard for the ride and it didn't do me any good.)
As I soon found out, the off shore storm I was watching online from my laptop had tuned into a tropical depression on our way through the panhandle of Florida. Bad luck.
We have been glued to the television watching the weather channel for a break in the weather. Apparently it's not going to happen soon. This storm has dumped 15 inches of rain in the Daytona Beach area and the forecast is rain for the next 6-8 days! There is flooding everywhere. We've seen sandbagging and knee-deep water on some streets.
Yesterday afternoon, I asked the guys to sit down and discuss our options. Certainly, we cannot saddle up and ride north. The winds are still near 40mph and the rain is still coming down in buckets. The southeast coast, all the way up to the Carolinas, is forecasting rain.
On Wednesday, we basically, we sat around, did laundry and ate. This weather sucks.
More later...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Day Four
Houston, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana
Mileage: 365
The next morning, Donald showed up at our hotel ready to go. Even though he rides a "non-Harley", we'll let him tag along anyway. lol! Batman had gone to visit his granddaughter for a couple of hours so we kept him entertained. I explained to him that since he was new to riding, he'd have to ride in the back of the pack. Why? I told him that just in case he lays it down, we won't run over him. He looked at me like I was crazy and we both started to laugh. Actually he rode in the "#3" spot.
Number one spot in line is the Road Captain and one of his duties are to, among many, lead the group to its destination and back in a well-organized, disciplined, and safe manner. The last in line is the "Tail Gunner". He keeps an eye on the group from the back.
Batman finally returned ten minutes before hotel checkout. As usual, we finally got back on the road just after high noon. It was sunny and warm, but leathers were still the uniform of the day. All was going well until just before the Louisiana border we it became cloudy again and the temperatures dipped at least 10 degrees. We stopped every couple of hours for fuel and to warm up. We were suprised to see theses low temperatures in May. We stopped at the Cajun Harley-Davidson dealership in Scott, Louisiana to visit with another one of Batman's many friends. She brought her camera and took pictures of us while on the road. As soon as she sends them, they will be posted. You know who you are. Thank you! Sludge did get a picture of me in my cold weather ride garb. I've scared little kids too. They smile and wave as they go by and as soon as I look at them with my skull mask, the smile turns to fear. It's funny. We arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana about 8:30pm.
Donald's friend, Jen, met us at the hotel. What a sweetheart. It was nearly 10pm by the time we got our gear stored and needed to have dinner. Jen made a few calls to find a restaurant that was still serving. She found a place that would be open and we piled into her little car for the trip there. After dinner, Batman, Sludge and I wanted to visit the place of our old stomping grounds, Bourbon Street, and she dropped us off at Harrah's Casino in downtown.
Jen is a total hottie with a great sense of humor. Oh yea, she's smart too! Donald, if things don't work out, put a good word in for me! The age difference is not a problem for me, but we're on other sides of the political spectrum. That could be an issue. lol!
So here we are in Harrah's Casino. Nothing but slots. So I walk up to one, throw in a $5 bill and on the second pull, I hit $9! I take the payout ticket and look for the guys. There's Sludge on a slot machine and he just hit $24! What the hell? I wanted to find Blackjack tables, but the only ones were in the high limit area. I wasn't up to play $100 hands. There was plenty of fuel still left to purchase for the ride!
After 30 minutes or so in the Casino, we walked the five blocks over to Bourbon Street. Suprisingly, the French Quarter looked the same as it did prior to Katrina. We did one lap and haded back to the hotel. It's 1am! We've got a 640-mile ride to Daytona Beach, Florida the next day.
Mileage: 365
The next morning, Donald showed up at our hotel ready to go. Even though he rides a "non-Harley", we'll let him tag along anyway. lol! Batman had gone to visit his granddaughter for a couple of hours so we kept him entertained. I explained to him that since he was new to riding, he'd have to ride in the back of the pack. Why? I told him that just in case he lays it down, we won't run over him. He looked at me like I was crazy and we both started to laugh. Actually he rode in the "#3" spot.
Number one spot in line is the Road Captain and one of his duties are to, among many, lead the group to its destination and back in a well-organized, disciplined, and safe manner. The last in line is the "Tail Gunner". He keeps an eye on the group from the back.
Batman finally returned ten minutes before hotel checkout. As usual, we finally got back on the road just after high noon. It was sunny and warm, but leathers were still the uniform of the day. All was going well until just before the Louisiana border we it became cloudy again and the temperatures dipped at least 10 degrees. We stopped every couple of hours for fuel and to warm up. We were suprised to see theses low temperatures in May. We stopped at the Cajun Harley-Davidson dealership in Scott, Louisiana to visit with another one of Batman's many friends. She brought her camera and took pictures of us while on the road. As soon as she sends them, they will be posted. You know who you are. Thank you! Sludge did get a picture of me in my cold weather ride garb. I've scared little kids too. They smile and wave as they go by and as soon as I look at them with my skull mask, the smile turns to fear. It's funny. We arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana about 8:30pm.
Donald's friend, Jen, met us at the hotel. What a sweetheart. It was nearly 10pm by the time we got our gear stored and needed to have dinner. Jen made a few calls to find a restaurant that was still serving. She found a place that would be open and we piled into her little car for the trip there. After dinner, Batman, Sludge and I wanted to visit the place of our old stomping grounds, Bourbon Street, and she dropped us off at Harrah's Casino in downtown.
Jen is a total hottie with a great sense of humor. Oh yea, she's smart too! Donald, if things don't work out, put a good word in for me! The age difference is not a problem for me, but we're on other sides of the political spectrum. That could be an issue. lol!
So here we are in Harrah's Casino. Nothing but slots. So I walk up to one, throw in a $5 bill and on the second pull, I hit $9! I take the payout ticket and look for the guys. There's Sludge on a slot machine and he just hit $24! What the hell? I wanted to find Blackjack tables, but the only ones were in the high limit area. I wasn't up to play $100 hands. There was plenty of fuel still left to purchase for the ride!
After 30 minutes or so in the Casino, we walked the five blocks over to Bourbon Street. Suprisingly, the French Quarter looked the same as it did prior to Katrina. We did one lap and haded back to the hotel. It's 1am! We've got a 640-mile ride to Daytona Beach, Florida the next day.
Day Three
Fort Stockton, Texas to Houston, Texas
Mileage: 500
Since we arrived in Fort Stockton at 2:30am local time, the idea of starting the next day bright and early was non-existent. After checking in and unloading the bikes, it was closer to 4am when we finally crashed.
We got up about 10am and strolled over to the restaurant to enjoyed our free breakfast buffet. The skies were gray and a bit chilly. By the time we were loaded up and ready to ride, it was noon. We had 500 miles of south central Texas to cover and the weather forecast was calling for rain. Great.
Even though we were wearing our leathers, it was still a cool ride. After 10 minutes on the road, we encountered drizzle that lasted about half an hour, but could see the dark clouds off in the distance. This was a storm that we would follow all day. This leg of the ride was fairly uneventful until we reached San Antonio, Texas, where we finally caught up with the storm. The roads were wet from a recent downpour and with the water spraying from the car tires, the road conditions were less than perfect for us. We rode through San Antonio to about fifteen minutes outside of town, when we pulled over to have dinner BBQ restaurant. The food wasn't great, but it was a good place to stop and relax for a while. Maybe the weather would get far enough ahead of us that we could ride in drier conditions again.
We arrived at the hotel in Houston around 10:30pm. The hotel was in a safe area and the manager still allowed us to park in a line right in front of a camera mounted just outside the lobby. Our suite had two queen beds and a sofa that folded out to a bed.
Houston is where Batman grew up and most of his family and friends live in the area. Later that evening he brought his son by to visit with Sludge and me. He's a good-looking kid. Obviously from his Mother's side!
Batman has a cousin named Donald and he is going to join us for the next leg of the ride to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he plans to visit a friend. The following day, he will ride back to Houston on his own. He's a newbie with motorcycles, so this should be interesting.
Mileage: 500
Since we arrived in Fort Stockton at 2:30am local time, the idea of starting the next day bright and early was non-existent. After checking in and unloading the bikes, it was closer to 4am when we finally crashed.
We got up about 10am and strolled over to the restaurant to enjoyed our free breakfast buffet. The skies were gray and a bit chilly. By the time we were loaded up and ready to ride, it was noon. We had 500 miles of south central Texas to cover and the weather forecast was calling for rain. Great.
Even though we were wearing our leathers, it was still a cool ride. After 10 minutes on the road, we encountered drizzle that lasted about half an hour, but could see the dark clouds off in the distance. This was a storm that we would follow all day. This leg of the ride was fairly uneventful until we reached San Antonio, Texas, where we finally caught up with the storm. The roads were wet from a recent downpour and with the water spraying from the car tires, the road conditions were less than perfect for us. We rode through San Antonio to about fifteen minutes outside of town, when we pulled over to have dinner BBQ restaurant. The food wasn't great, but it was a good place to stop and relax for a while. Maybe the weather would get far enough ahead of us that we could ride in drier conditions again.
We arrived at the hotel in Houston around 10:30pm. The hotel was in a safe area and the manager still allowed us to park in a line right in front of a camera mounted just outside the lobby. Our suite had two queen beds and a sofa that folded out to a bed.
Houston is where Batman grew up and most of his family and friends live in the area. Later that evening he brought his son by to visit with Sludge and me. He's a good-looking kid. Obviously from his Mother's side!
Batman has a cousin named Donald and he is going to join us for the next leg of the ride to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he plans to visit a friend. The following day, he will ride back to Houston on his own. He's a newbie with motorcycles, so this should be interesting.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Day Two
Litchfield Park, Arizona to Fort Stockton, Texas
Mileage: 677
Even though the movie ended after 11pm, I was awake by 6am and could hear that Sludge was already awake in the guest room. Obviously it was anticipation of the day's events.
The plan for today is to leave my home in Litchfield Park, Arizona and head to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where we will meet up with Batman at the Harley-Davidson dealership in town. It's about a 400-mile trip for Sludge and me and we plan to be there by 6pm.
Since he has a 667-mile ride to Las Cruces, Batman was planning to leave by 5am to arrive in Las Cruces by 6pm. When I got out of bed, the first thing I did was to check my phone messages. There was a text from Batman with a timestamp of 4:48am, saying, "I'm on my way."
Sludge and I went out for breakfast and when we returned delivered my cat, "Harley" to his vet for boarding while I am gone.
After completing all of the last minute details around the house and final checks on the motorcycles, we were ready to hit the highway a little after 10am.
We made a stop at Tucson Harley-Davidson for souvenirs and few miles later, we stopped for fuel and lunch.
Sidenote: We are able to safely travel approximately 140 miles on a full tank. That means a fuel stop every 2 to 2.5 hours. After calculating the distance and fuel mileage, it appears that we will stop for fuel at least 43 times!
We reached Las Cruces, New Mexico about 6:30pm and Batman was already there waiting for us. After half an hour of reminiscing, we got back on the machines and headed for Fort Stockton, New Mexico.
The 140-mile stretch of road between El Paso, Texas and Van Horn, Texas is nothing but desert and mountains with many elevation changes. Temperatures drop quickly in the desert after the sun sets. After an hour or so, we decided to stop and don our leather jackets and by the time we reached Van Horn, we were putting on "UnderArmor" and chaps!
From Van Horn to Fort Stockton, Texas is much the same, but the altitude changes were greater and the temperatures fell even lower. The air temperature was in the low 50's and traveling at 70 mph sends the wind chill down to 38F. We rode for nearly two hours in this condition.
Needless to say, when we finally arrived in Fort Stockton, at 2am local time, we were exhausted. Batman had a very long day and used all he had to make it to our destination. On this day, he has ridden over 950 miles! He started in Denver's near freezing temperatures through the New Mexico deserts at high noon, and again to near freezing temps at the end. He is Da Man! I don't believe I could do it!
Mileage Totals:
Sludge = 1132
Batman = 952
Vito = 677
After today, the mileages will be posted as daily amount.
Mileage: 677
Even though the movie ended after 11pm, I was awake by 6am and could hear that Sludge was already awake in the guest room. Obviously it was anticipation of the day's events.
The plan for today is to leave my home in Litchfield Park, Arizona and head to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where we will meet up with Batman at the Harley-Davidson dealership in town. It's about a 400-mile trip for Sludge and me and we plan to be there by 6pm.
Since he has a 667-mile ride to Las Cruces, Batman was planning to leave by 5am to arrive in Las Cruces by 6pm. When I got out of bed, the first thing I did was to check my phone messages. There was a text from Batman with a timestamp of 4:48am, saying, "I'm on my way."
Sludge and I went out for breakfast and when we returned delivered my cat, "Harley" to his vet for boarding while I am gone.
After completing all of the last minute details around the house and final checks on the motorcycles, we were ready to hit the highway a little after 10am.
We made a stop at Tucson Harley-Davidson for souvenirs and few miles later, we stopped for fuel and lunch.
Sidenote: We are able to safely travel approximately 140 miles on a full tank. That means a fuel stop every 2 to 2.5 hours. After calculating the distance and fuel mileage, it appears that we will stop for fuel at least 43 times!
We reached Las Cruces, New Mexico about 6:30pm and Batman was already there waiting for us. After half an hour of reminiscing, we got back on the machines and headed for Fort Stockton, New Mexico.
The 140-mile stretch of road between El Paso, Texas and Van Horn, Texas is nothing but desert and mountains with many elevation changes. Temperatures drop quickly in the desert after the sun sets. After an hour or so, we decided to stop and don our leather jackets and by the time we reached Van Horn, we were putting on "UnderArmor" and chaps!
From Van Horn to Fort Stockton, Texas is much the same, but the altitude changes were greater and the temperatures fell even lower. The air temperature was in the low 50's and traveling at 70 mph sends the wind chill down to 38F. We rode for nearly two hours in this condition.
Needless to say, when we finally arrived in Fort Stockton, at 2am local time, we were exhausted. Batman had a very long day and used all he had to make it to our destination. On this day, he has ridden over 950 miles! He started in Denver's near freezing temperatures through the New Mexico deserts at high noon, and again to near freezing temps at the end. He is Da Man! I don't believe I could do it!
Mileage Totals:
Sludge = 1132
Batman = 952
Vito = 677
After today, the mileages will be posted as daily amount.
Day One
Santa Monica, California to Litchfield Park, Arizona
Mileage: 452
Sludge arrived in Litchfield Park about 5pm today. He commented that it was almost chilly when he left Santa Monica that morning. The temperature was in the mid 60's. By the time he reached Palm Springs, California, the temperature was near 100 and when he arrived in Litchfield Park, it was 103 degrees! This kind of heat is tough on a person's body, even moreso when you're dressed in riding gear.
We had a fairly uneventful evening. After Sludge cleaned up, we went out to have a steak dinner and talked about the trip. We wanted to pack in some protein for the next day's ride. After dinner, we went back to my house and then we watched the movie, "Wild Hogs."
Mileage: 452
Sludge arrived in Litchfield Park about 5pm today. He commented that it was almost chilly when he left Santa Monica that morning. The temperature was in the mid 60's. By the time he reached Palm Springs, California, the temperature was near 100 and when he arrived in Litchfield Park, it was 103 degrees! This kind of heat is tough on a person's body, even moreso when you're dressed in riding gear.
We had a fairly uneventful evening. After Sludge cleaned up, we went out to have a steak dinner and talked about the trip. We wanted to pack in some protein for the next day's ride. After dinner, we went back to my house and then we watched the movie, "Wild Hogs."
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Welcome to our blog!
This blog is about the day-to-day adventures of three long-term friends riding cross-country on American made V-Twin iron--the Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Before I continue, I'd like to give you a bit of history and introduce the players. We've known each other for 25 years and are the same age. Nicknames have been used to protect the innocent. Our itinerary has us riding over 6,000 miles in 15 days. This adventure will certainly test our friendship which, hopefully, that will still be intact at the end the ride!
From Denver, Colorado, there's "Batman" who will be riding a black 2004 Road King named "Bailey". Batman named her after his favorite British singer, Corinne Bailey Rae. Bailey has low mileage...really low mileage. As a matter of fact, there's just over 5,000 miles on the odometer. Batman's dealership has threatened to repossess "Bailey" if he doesn't put more miles on her! This trip should help with that. Batman is a single guy with two grown children and is a mechanical engineer in the aerospace business.
Next is "Sludge", who hails from the Los Angeles, California area. He's also a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry. This guy is the genius of the group. If it's not his photographic memory, it's his computer-like mind and bar none, he's one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. Nearly two months into planning "The Ride", I told Sludge about the idea. Now, Sludge is not really a Harley-Davidson kind of guy, nor is he an air-cooled fan like Batman and me, but that has changed in part. Only days after being informed about the planned trip, he went out and bought a water-cooled 2008 Night Rod on the last day of the year! "Vger" (yea, Sludge is a bit of a Star Trek fan), was originally red denim in color, but two weeks after purchase, was torn down and repainted black to resemble Sludge's dreambike, a 1957 Vincent. "Vger" is starting this ride with fewer than 1,000 miles on the odometer. Sludge is married to a wonderful woman who was cool with him going on this ride of a lifetime. What a lucky guy, huh? (I believe, she has a sister!)
Finally, there's me, Vito, the cruise director, hailing from Litchfield Park, Arizona. I too, am in the aerospace business as a mechanical design engineer. I'll be riding a black 2003 100th Anniversary Softail Deuce. She's got just over 17,000 miles on the odometer, so she's the more experienced of the group. Her name is "Maleficent". That's right, the evil witch from "Sleeping Beauty". She's dark and has plenty of attitude, lots of chrome, a bump of performance, and just enough exhaust tone to make her noticeable. She's just the way I like my women, long, lean and fast. I was married once when I was 21 and single by 22. I've been close a few times, but have managed to dodge the bullet ever since. I'm terminally single.
Back in late October, after numerous months of fighting a critical illness, Batman's girlfriend of many years passed away. I felt that he needed to get away for a change of scenery. That's when I suggested a road trip. At first, it was just a trip for me to meet him in Denver to spend a few days riding through the Rockies. Then an epiphany: how about going to The Rolling Thunder Ride (RTR) in Washington D.C.? I'm a Vietnam Era Veteran having served in the U.S. Submarine Service during the Cold War years. It's a no-brainer what this ride means to me. After attending the 2008 RTR, I was so moved that I want to participate as often as possible. Reports state that there were over 200,000 people in attendance last year!
The Rolling Thunder Ride is in remembrance of and a united ride for the cause to bring full accountability for POWs and MIAs of all wars. See http://www.rollingthunder1.com/
Batman was really up for the trip, so I started planning. Six months later, it's finally becoming a reality. The original plan was for all of us to meet at my home outside Phoenix. Due to schedule conflicts, Batman couldn't get away until a day later. In light of this change, Sludge and I will meet up with him on Interstate 10 near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Batman will have to ride almost 700 miles on his own, but the upside is that when we reach Albuquerque, New Mexico, near the end of the trip, he can simply head north on Interstate 25 for his ride home of about 450 miles.
Sludge is still on schedule to meet me at my house. He'll stay overnight so that we can leave fresh the next morning. He has the longest ride of us all. It's nearly 400 miles from Los Angeles to Phoenix. Sludge has added a bit of a twist too: he's decided to ride the length of Interstate 10 from Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida. Since he's coming from the west coast, his total mileage for the trip may be over 7,000 miles! What a man!
The hotel rooms have been reserved, service stops have been scheduled, mileage has been calculated and motorcycle accessories have been purchased. As Batman and Sludge have let me know by email, their vehicles have been moved to the launch pads, checkouts are 98% complete, the vehicles are awaiting propellant loading, the radioisotope thermal generators are on line and the final course is being uploaded. We are a go!
More later.......
This blog is about the day-to-day adventures of three long-term friends riding cross-country on American made V-Twin iron--the Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Before I continue, I'd like to give you a bit of history and introduce the players. We've known each other for 25 years and are the same age. Nicknames have been used to protect the innocent. Our itinerary has us riding over 6,000 miles in 15 days. This adventure will certainly test our friendship which, hopefully, that will still be intact at the end the ride!
From Denver, Colorado, there's "Batman" who will be riding a black 2004 Road King named "Bailey". Batman named her after his favorite British singer, Corinne Bailey Rae. Bailey has low mileage...really low mileage. As a matter of fact, there's just over 5,000 miles on the odometer. Batman's dealership has threatened to repossess "Bailey" if he doesn't put more miles on her! This trip should help with that. Batman is a single guy with two grown children and is a mechanical engineer in the aerospace business.
Next is "Sludge", who hails from the Los Angeles, California area. He's also a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry. This guy is the genius of the group. If it's not his photographic memory, it's his computer-like mind and bar none, he's one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. Nearly two months into planning "The Ride", I told Sludge about the idea. Now, Sludge is not really a Harley-Davidson kind of guy, nor is he an air-cooled fan like Batman and me, but that has changed in part. Only days after being informed about the planned trip, he went out and bought a water-cooled 2008 Night Rod on the last day of the year! "Vger" (yea, Sludge is a bit of a Star Trek fan), was originally red denim in color, but two weeks after purchase, was torn down and repainted black to resemble Sludge's dreambike, a 1957 Vincent. "Vger" is starting this ride with fewer than 1,000 miles on the odometer. Sludge is married to a wonderful woman who was cool with him going on this ride of a lifetime. What a lucky guy, huh? (I believe, she has a sister!)
Finally, there's me, Vito, the cruise director, hailing from Litchfield Park, Arizona. I too, am in the aerospace business as a mechanical design engineer. I'll be riding a black 2003 100th Anniversary Softail Deuce. She's got just over 17,000 miles on the odometer, so she's the more experienced of the group. Her name is "Maleficent". That's right, the evil witch from "Sleeping Beauty". She's dark and has plenty of attitude, lots of chrome, a bump of performance, and just enough exhaust tone to make her noticeable. She's just the way I like my women, long, lean and fast. I was married once when I was 21 and single by 22. I've been close a few times, but have managed to dodge the bullet ever since. I'm terminally single.
Back in late October, after numerous months of fighting a critical illness, Batman's girlfriend of many years passed away. I felt that he needed to get away for a change of scenery. That's when I suggested a road trip. At first, it was just a trip for me to meet him in Denver to spend a few days riding through the Rockies. Then an epiphany: how about going to The Rolling Thunder Ride (RTR) in Washington D.C.? I'm a Vietnam Era Veteran having served in the U.S. Submarine Service during the Cold War years. It's a no-brainer what this ride means to me. After attending the 2008 RTR, I was so moved that I want to participate as often as possible. Reports state that there were over 200,000 people in attendance last year!
The Rolling Thunder Ride is in remembrance of and a united ride for the cause to bring full accountability for POWs and MIAs of all wars. See http://www.rollingthunder1.com/
Batman was really up for the trip, so I started planning. Six months later, it's finally becoming a reality. The original plan was for all of us to meet at my home outside Phoenix. Due to schedule conflicts, Batman couldn't get away until a day later. In light of this change, Sludge and I will meet up with him on Interstate 10 near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Batman will have to ride almost 700 miles on his own, but the upside is that when we reach Albuquerque, New Mexico, near the end of the trip, he can simply head north on Interstate 25 for his ride home of about 450 miles.
Sludge is still on schedule to meet me at my house. He'll stay overnight so that we can leave fresh the next morning. He has the longest ride of us all. It's nearly 400 miles from Los Angeles to Phoenix. Sludge has added a bit of a twist too: he's decided to ride the length of Interstate 10 from Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida. Since he's coming from the west coast, his total mileage for the trip may be over 7,000 miles! What a man!
The hotel rooms have been reserved, service stops have been scheduled, mileage has been calculated and motorcycle accessories have been purchased. As Batman and Sludge have let me know by email, their vehicles have been moved to the launch pads, checkouts are 98% complete, the vehicles are awaiting propellant loading, the radioisotope thermal generators are on line and the final course is being uploaded. We are a go!
More later.......
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