Well I made it back to Rancho Cucamonga from a ride that I would compare as something between "Shermans March to the Sea" (no not Mr Peabody) and the "Bataan Death March".
This was the most grueling, frustrating and depressing ride I've ever done. Anyone that would consider "Run For The Wall" should come see me personally and then find a qualified Shrink.... Day one: A nice cool bright sunny day. We left Victoria Gardens at 7:45 after a short program. It was nice seeing DollarByhl there with the American Legion as flag carriers. Leaving with about 450 motorcycles with various Brands, Makes and Models there were 12 platoons the first 9 being Single bike and Platoon 10 (mine) bikes with trailers and 11 trikes with Trailers and 12 Trikes. We pulled onto the 15 freeway and proceeded towards the first fuel stop at Barstow. The first leg was pretty good, something that was soon to change. At the first fuel stop we were getting ready to pull out, makeing a left turn I was minding the bike/trailer next to me and the flag man in front as I moved into the turn I felt the trailer jerk. Looking into my mirror I say a HD/w trailer down. The guy behind me misjudged the distance between us and clipped my trailer breaking the right tail light reflector. This was only the 1st of several issues I had on this trip. Rolling into needles (minus about 10 HD's that didn't like the 105 degree temps we had lunch then headed out towards kingman.. Oh yeah. there was one pretty significant crash that put the riders in the hospital. Let me explain the riding style of this RUN... Single Bikes riding side by side at between 65-80 mph, with riders of various degress of riding profencey Well I made it back to Rancho Cucamonga from a ride that I would compare as something between "Shermans March to the Sea" (no not Mr Peabody) and the "Batan Death March". This was the most grueling, frustrating and depressing ride I've ever done. Anyone that would consider "Run For The Wall" should come see me personally and then find a qualified Shrink.... Day 1 A nice cool bright sunny day. We left Victoria Gardens at 7:45 after a short program. It was nice seeing DollarByhl there with the American Legion as flag carriers. Leaving with about 450 motorcycles with various Brands, Makes and Models there were 12 platoons the first 9 being Single bike and Platoon 10 (mine) bikes with trailers and 11 trikes with Trailers and 12 Trikes. We pulled onto the 15 freeway and proceeded towards the first fuel stop at Barstow. The first leg was pretty good, something that was soon to change. At the first fuel stop we were getting ready to pull out, makeing a left turn I was minding the bike/trailer next to me and the flag man in front as I moved into the turn I felt the trailer jerk. Looking into my mirror I say a HD/w trailer down. The guy behind me misjudged the distance between us and clipped my trailer breaking the left tail light reflector. This was only the 1st of several issues I had on this trip. Rolling into needles (minus about 10 HD's that didn't like the 105 degree temps we had lunch then headed out towards kingman.. Oh yeah. there was one pretty significant crash that put the riders in the hospital. Let me explain the riding style of this RUN... Single Bikes, riding side by side at between 65-80 mph, with riders of various degrees of riding skills. 2 second intervals between bikes. Bikes with trailers were staggered 2 seconds between bikes (some with 350 pound trailers) running again 65-85 mph. There was no time to look at scenery, no time to do much of anything except clutch/up-downshift and pray. We finally pulled into Willams AZ about 6pm with a parade through town ending up at the local VFW for a nice dinner. After dinner those that were camping went to the local middle school where some camped and others were allowed to sleep in the gym. I chose the gym and it was ok except for the guy that cut a chord of wood snoring. It was my first experience with someone snoring breathing both in and out. Getting up at 5am I walked outside to find that the tent campers had the sprinklers come on at 9pm followed by 12 midnight then 3am.. Nice… Day 2: Heading out the next day from Williams to Gallup NM the day was pretty uneventful with the exception of 8-9 bikes going down in breakdowns or crashes. We ended day 2 in Gallup with a 13 mile parade down Route 66 with hundreds of people mostly native Americans waving flags and cheering us on. We ended at a state park and were treated to a great meal and native American dancers doing a Gourd Dance. I met one of the last remaining Code Talkers form World II. So day 2 ended with us camping out. Maybe the bad stuff had taken its course. Day 3 Woke up at 5am, Packed up and headed out to the staging area about 3 miles away. From the staging area we there were 2 right turns to get on to I40. As I made the first right I noticed I had pushed out a little to wide and pushed the bike next to me out. So, conscious of that, I didn’t want to go wide on the next right turn. Here is where I clipped the curb with the trailer and looking into my mirror I see it up on one wheel at about a 45 degree angle. I pulled it like that for about 40 feet and just as it looked like it would come back down, the bike in front of me stopped, making me stop and the trailer fell on its side. I quickly jumped off and righted the trailer with the help of a spectator, jumped back on the bike and pulled out, I was still inside the platoon so I was ok. The next fuel stop, Albuquerque. I’m sitting in the fuel line and I feel the trailer move and a rider had clipped my right tail light and bent it. WONDERFUL… We finished the day in Angle Fire/Eagles Nest which is just north of Taos NM. Oh yeah, another 4-5 bikes went down with riders. After a nice dinner provided by the local citizens, we found a camp ground and spend a nice, cold night (33 degrees at 5am). Day 4. We had breakfast then headed out again toward Raton. Fueling in Raton, we then had a Armed Forces parade through town heading out the other side toward La Junta Colorado for fuel and lunch then north to Limon Colorado connecting with I70 and headed east towards Goodland Kansas. Arriving in Goodland we did a short parade through town to the National Guard Armory where we had dinner. The skies were looking pretty dark so they opened up the Armory for the campers to sleep in. Making sure I wasn’t in the same room as the snoring machine, we spent a dry night only to be awoken at 5am by a huge clap of thunder and rain blowing sideways Day 5 After breakfast and a Church Service, we headed east towards our next end stop, Junction City Kansas. By now the weather had really turned sour and the last 20 miles we were riding in Hail, Rain, Lightening Strikes on either side of the interstate. Cars were pulling over for shelter as we PRESSED ON. We ended at the JC Nazarene Church where they opened up the church for us to sleep in. (is this starting to sound like a re-occuring theme?) Oh yeah.. by the time breakfast had finished in Goodland, I was not feeling so well, having a mild case of Diarrhea. So at midnight in Junction City I wake up to a serious case of the same. I’m not going to be delicate here when I say I was pee’ing out my butthole but it’s the most apt description of what happened. Day 6 By 5am I was pretty much empty and as we staged, I asked a few people if they were suffering from the same malady that was plaguing me. Almost everyone was. OK.. So its not likely we all got exposed to the flu and now were sick..so the only other conclusion was Food Poisoning. GREAT!!!! The night before one of the riders told me my tail lights were not working so I started looking for a problem and found a blown fuse. Replacing the fuse I again had lights and we pushed on. By the time we had gotten to our lunch stop, the lights were out again. Replacing the fuse again, we pressed on and at the next fuel stop, Columbia Missouri, dropped out of the pack and went to the local HD dealer and had them look at it. They did some rerouting of wires and everything looked like it was fixed. A quarter mile into the catch up phase of my ride, the lights went out again. Not only that but the weather had gone from Ok, to Crappy. When it started raining and hailing, I found refuge under a overpass and waited it out. Now it’s getting dark and and I have no lights and it’s raining. A guy pulled up on a Harley and told me he had flashers and would follow me into Wentzville so I would be safe, to which I thanked him profusely. Getting to Wentzville Mo. In the dark, we separated and trying to find the VFW hall where the group was meeting, I got turned around and ended up on a dead end street. I made an attempt to turn the bike around and was rewarded with getting stuck axle deep in the Mud. So here we are 9pm, lost, bike stuck in the mud, rain coming down sideways in buckets, lightening popping every 15 seconds which caused the street lights to go out. I looked up in the sky and said “REALLY????”. About that time the guy living at the end of the street where I was stuck came out and said “can I give you a hand”.. Words I have cherished since. We unhooked the trailer and he got his pickup and we tied a rope to the bikes trailer hitch and pulled it out butt first. I then started up the bike and found I had NO CLUTCH. Perfect. I looked at the guy and asked him if I could sleep in his garage till morning. He said no but I could sleep in his camper. He brought out a extension chord so I could charge my now DEAD PHONE. After I dried off I laid down and had an exhausted sleep till morning. Day 7 I woke up in the morning, the rain had stopped, and called AAA to come get me. They towed the bike and trailer to the local St Charles MO. Yamaha dealer (largest in the state). Fortunately for me, we have friends in St Charles and I was able to stay there till the bike was fixed. The dealer called about 10am and told me the clutch was toast, probably because I was trying to rock myself out of the mud the night before. They could have it fixed the next day, as long as I paid the overnight shipping, which I agreed to. That morning I found out about the Tornado in Storm Oklahoma and my little experience in Wentzville paled to what those people had gone through. Day 8 My stomach was still pretty sensitive and I had to go really easy on any kind of spice in my food. By 5pm the bike was finished. I had also had them look at the bike to see if the wiring was ok. When I got on the bike the lights were working fine and I drove the bike around the block and they seemed to be good to go. Loading up, I decided that I was too far behind to catch the group and decided to head northeast on I70. I got about 150 miles in before I settled down for the night in Montrose Illinois. Oh yeah, 20 miles into my ride, the lights went out again…. Day 8 Getting up early I got knowing I had no tailer lights and decided to press on, figuring that during the daylight hours I’d be ok. I put in about 450 miles and ended up in St Clairsville Oh having gone through Indianapolis, Columbus Oh and stopping just short of Wheeling WV. There was a great BBQ place next to my hotel and I took advantage of that for a good meal. Day 9 Waking up bright and early and with a 300 mile ride from St Clairsville to Manassas Va I started out. 30 degrees met me and I pulled off the next off ramp and put my jacket liner and heated gloves on. There was a light rain and it was cold, but it was bearable and I got down to Manassas before Noon actually beating the group into DC. Greg Ponton (sparky) who had been in Platoon 6 and was going to share the hotel room with me showed up about an hour later and I spend about an hour telling him of my feelings about RFTW, that were much less kind that what your reading here. Day 10 Greg left early to go with the group to Arlington National Cemetery and see the laying of the wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. They only let 200 of the FNG (fine new guys). I knew that expression from Vietnam and it wasn’t FINE and much more debasing to post here. At Noon I rode down to Washington DC to the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Wall for our group picture and to place some patches at a couple of names of people that had died in Vietnam. After that Sparky and I headed over to Herndon VA to attend a SCRC event that I had been invited to by a Delphi Forum member. This was probably the best time we’d had up to this point and it was nice to be among friends enjoying good conversation and food. Day 11 ROLLING THUNDER. Sparking and I decided to ride to Rolling thunder with the SCRC group, they had a police escort right to the pentagon. When we got there, we got into the first parking lot and were about 1/3 of the way from the starting bikes. We sat there for 6 hours in the parking lot. Talking and being asked if we had found Jesus. I finally told one person..”I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for him”. Finally at noon the ride proceeded. Oh yeah.. 500,000 bikes and about 900,000 people were in the 3 full parking lots. To get a prospective on how big this thing was. We were in the first third of the 1st parking lot. The first bikes pulled out at noon.. our bikes didn ‘t move till 1:30pm… Being really excited about this ride, we got going. Well it was more sprinting through the streets of DC. For the first 4 miles then catching up with the groups we slowed down. The parade/demonstration was all of 15 minutes and completely anti-climatic for the length of time we sat in the parking lot. I was pretty disgusted by then and instead of parking and walking about, I headed back to the hotel in Manassas, Va Day 12 Monday, I had already decided to stay and extra day in Manassas. I felt like I had gone through 15-20 washing/drying cycles and was exhausted. I did get over to the local pepboy’s and got a new set of LED trailer lights and changed them out, replaced the fuse and the lights were good to go. Day 13 I headed out Tuesday riding 30 miles to Front Royal Va, to pick up Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Lights on the trailer working nicely. I started to enjoy the views and road. 15 minutes after I got onto Skyline Drive I looked down to see the trailer light were OFF Again. I spent the rest of the day riding skyline and Blue Ridge Parkway, and stopped at Fancy Gap Va for the night. Day 14. I got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed south towards North and South Carolina. The road was beautiful and very enjoyable. Pulling into Greenville SC about 2pm to my friend Bob Kendal’s. I could finally relax. Day 15 I completely unloaded the trailer and starting going over it with a fine tooth comb. Finally finding the problem near one of the running lights inside of the frame was a connection that had lost its connector and was shorting out to the frame. Taking a 10 cent connector, we had fixed a problem that had plagued me for many days. Day 16 I rode the bike without the trailer to Brevard NC about 50 miles to visit my cousin Dave Wilson. It was a very enjoyable day and that afternoon I rode back to Greenville. Day 17 Bob Kendal had gotten passed to go to the Muddy Creek Raceway to watch the Tennessee National Motocross. It was HOT but it was a very enjoyable day and we had a great vantage point to see all the top riders compete. Day 18 Sunday it rained and we spend most of the day sitting around, finally going to see the latest Star Trek Movie. By then I had decided that this wasn’t going to be a trip that would allow me to sight see. So I decided that Monday morning I’d start putting in some serious miles to get back home. Day 19 Saying my farewells to Bob and his wife Kathy, I headed out at 4:30 am and road Southwest to Atlanta then turning west I rode through Birmingham and Jackson MS ending up in Vicksburg MS. Getting a hotel at the same place Bob and I had stayed at last year on my 4 corner ride. About 546 miles from Greenville to Vicksburg. I only got into some light sprinkles that day and was glad for it. Day 20 Again getting up early 4am, I walk to the ice machine, nary a soul was up. As I was walking back to my room, a door opened and out came a guy that Bob and I had met and chatted with last year. I went “HEY I KNOW YOU” and explained who I was and he remembered us. What a small strange world. I headed out from Vicksburg hoping to get to Dallas or further. Riding all day only stopping for Fuel/Food I made 569 miles to Abilene Tx. That night there was a severe thunder/lightening storm just north of Abilene and the light show was awe inspiring. Day 21 Getting up and out of Abilene. There was a pretty stiff south to north wind and I rode in that for about 50 miles till I turned Northwest headed toward Lubbock TX then Albuquerque. After fueling in Lubbock, was heading northwest and right into a Texas sized dust storm. Fighting the wind and dust the visibility was down to about 100 yards. It was a tough, hard ride for 100 miles and when I came out of it at Santa Rosa NM, the bike and I were covered with dust. It was 11:30am in Santa Rosa and I decided to make time westward to see how far I could get. I ended up in Gallup NM, 626 miles from Abilene. Had dinner and crashed (in the bed) at 7pm. Day 22 Getting up at 4 heading to Laughlin. This was because the temps in Needles and the Mojave Desert was between 109-115. I got to Laughlin at noon and check into the Colorado Belle hotel and casino. Spend a cool air conditioned day at the hotel and getting to sleep early.. the plan up at 3am and arcoss the desert before the heat hit. Day 23 3:30am the bike was loaded and I was on the road. Temps in Laughlin 86 degrees. Pretty dang warm considering this was the coolest part of the day. By 8:30 I was home, temps 61 in Rancho. I didn’t even stop to put on my jacket. I fueled in Ludlow and was there for all of 7 minutes. I walked into the house and gave a sigh of relief. The Run For The Wall does some wonderful things. They support MIA/POW’s and it’s a worthy cause to support. That being said, the ride days are more like a cattle drive than anything else. Road Guards constantly herding the riders to get closer and closer. There isn’t much safe about any facet of the ride day. It is impressive to watch the bikes at a fueling stop. 530+ motorcycles fueled in 20 minutes. You really don’t get an idea of how many bikes there are till they all descend like locust on a large truck stop, completely filling every pump and pretty much putting the adjacent road into gridlock. I’m not a rider that is inexperienced in group riding or safely riding a motorcycle and frankly the ride days up to Wentzville I was scared most of the day. I would not recommend to anyone to join the ride itself. I would make strong recommendation that you ride in front of the group or behind the group, but defiantly NOT IN THE GROUP. I think that the mentality of the leadership of RFTW have lost sight of safety and taken on a military attitude of “Acceptable Causalities”. There are still people in the hospital that went down on the ride. Some with serious injuries including broken bones, punchered lungs and the like. There are still people in nursing facilities from last years ride. That is a sorry statement for something that could be fixed with some serious riding style changes. So there you have it. This was not an enjoyable trip. It was Hard and Frustrating and Stressfull. I made it through it, mostly by luck and fortune. I am stronger for it and for that I'm glad.
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This is a very strange Memorial Day Weelemd for me. Usually it would be spent with the family, but this year it was different. Spending it with a bunch Veterans and just visiting. It was very different from my expectation. The people I was with were all in Vietnam about the same time a I was, and though I expected to hear war stories and rememberances, but to my surprise it was just good ol'neighborly talk. Probably because on the Ride here we were way to exhausted to waste in on War Stories.
I made new friends and enjoyed the various converstations I was in. Also spending the Memorial Day in the Nations Capital much more humbling than a patio in Rancho Cucamonga though I wish I was there this evening. Alas Tomorrow I get to start my leasurely meandering south toward South Carolina on a couple of the best motorcycle road in the U.S. Skyline Drive (shennadoah NP) and Blue Ridge Parkway. Last year I rode a small portion of the BRP and am looking forward to some rocking chair curves and use some of my sidewalls rather than the flat spot on the bottom, signifying the National Interstate roads I've traveled to here so far. So this Memorial Day is much more solemn and intospective tonight. LIFE IS GOOD To steal a qoute from Neil Armstong "THE EAGLE HAS LANDED". That exactly the feeling I had when I rolled into Manassas, Virginia and the Quality Inn there. This last 3000 miles have been one of the most frustrating, agravating, intense, emotional, and phyically challenging things inside or outside of motorcycle riding, I've ever done.
Heat (105 in Needles), riding challenges (riding with 550+ bikes in a group), Rain, Hail, Lightening & Thunder instantainiously, Tornado's, 30 degree riding in light rain. Oh yeah FOOD POISONING!!! To be honest there were times I was ready to toss in the towel and head home. It was that refuse to fail mechinism in my genes that kept my head down and press on. So hear I sit unpacked, and relaxing with the thought that I had done what I set out to do. Thinking about the last 10 days and making some notes for a later time when I"m more contained. Your comments and FB posts of encourgement and sympathy really helped me get through this and probably make me a better person for it. A special thanks to Dan McGill in Wentzville Mo for helping me get my bike out of the mud and give me a place to dry and sleep that night. To Mark and Suzie Fenton who opened their home to me in St Charles while my bike was being fixed. So tomorrow I have a few places to go. Lincoln Memorial for a group pictrue and a Southern Cruisers meet who's 1st Officer runs a Royal Star Forum and invited me to come over. Sunday will be the big day "Rolling Thunder" estimated to have 500,000 motorcycles to demostrate for POW/MIA accountability 1200 will be from our Rancho Cucamonga to DC RFTW ride. Think I'll walk over to the City Grill (again) and have a light dinner and relax the rest of the evening. I"m actually considering adding a day here in Manassas to explore a bit. Then head out Tuesday. Another down day wouldn't hurt me either. Got the bike back Wednesday about 5pm and decided to get a few miles in before settling down. Got to Montrose Il (130 miles) found a small (no frills) hotel and slept like a rock.Got up Thursday morning and headed out early hoping to make up some time. The day was pretty uneventfull.. A bit of light rain between Indy and Columbus. Ate lunch on the run at a fuel stop, BeanyWeenies and a Gatorade. Rolled into St Clairsville OH, right on the West Virginia line next to Wheeling, about 5pm and search out a hotel. Got a nice meal and crashed into the pillows. With about 309 miles left to my hotel in Manassas, I can almost see the end of the tunnel. The RFTW will leave Lewisburg this morning headed toward Arlington and I'll meet up with them for the group picture at Lincoln Memorial. then Sunday will be the big Rolling Thunder Demonstation.
I must say riding by myself yesteday as a nice break from the grind of riding in a large, NO, HUGE group. This has been a learning experience in many ways, one I won't forget for a long time. As drama free my 10 week 4 corner ride was last year, this was 10 days of drama both phyically and mentally. I doubt seriously I'll ever do this ride (not rolling thunder) again. I'd like to give a special thanks to Mark and Suzie Fenton who put me up in St Charles while my bike was being fixed and to Dan McGill who helped me pull by motorcycle out of the mud on a night not fit for man or beast. You Hopefully I'll get the bike back today and get a few miles in before settling down.
I've decided that instead of trying to catch up with the group, I'll head east on I70 through Indy, Wheeling then southeast into D.C. I should be able to make some time and meet up by Friday night. I"m still suffering from the Texas Two Steps. This food poisoning SUCKS..Its not bad enough to go to a doctor, so I"m just eating light soft foods for my stomach and taking some Kayopectate to get a little more solid (I know, to much information).. Hoping to get close to INDY by tonight then push on early tomorrow morning and do some serious miles till I settle Thursday night maybe around Wheeling WV. Then press on Friday to Manassas. This has not been a very enjoyable trip but the cause is good and I HATE quitting more than anything. Its just not in my nature to give up. .The ride from Goodland to Junction City was good most of the day, but the last 20 miles we did in rain, hail and wind. kind of hard to get 500+ bikes to pull of so we pressed on and got to Junction City, the local Nazerene Church (host for us) opened up the church for the campers to stayin over night. We had tornado warnings most of the night but didn't see or hear any.
The ride from Junction City to Wentzville Missouri was (personally) a little more harrowing. I was having issues all day keeping the trailer lights working, kept blowing a fuse (under the seat) and finally stopped at Columbia and had a HD dealer take a look. They told me it was fixed and I proceeded to try to catch up with the group in Wentzville. 10 minutes out the lights died again, the skies started to darken and it stated to hail. I pulled of under underpasses a couple times and finally got to Wentzville.. GPS missed some newly made roads and pushed me down a deadend street. As I was trying to get turned around, I got the bike burried to the balls in mud, THEN, the skies opened up and between the torents, lightening and wind I was STUCK.I was about to toss in the towel when. suddenly a guy walked out from his home and asked me if I could use a hand. BOY HOWDY!!!!... Well we unhooked the trailer, then, he tied a line to my trailer hitch and pulled me out of the mud. Thats when I found I could'nt get the cl utch to engage. I managed to get into nutreal. Well the rain was comming down even harder and I asked him if I could use is garage to sleep the night.. He said NO, he didn't have a garage, then offered me his motorhome to sleep in that night. Best night sleep I have had in 5 days. Next morning I got up and grabbed my coffee maker and made a cup.. and called AAA to get a tow truck to take me into St Charles. The Dealer at ST Charles Motorsports as very accomodating and told me he'd get the bike back up an running. He just called me a few minutes ago and it should be done tomorrow noonish.. He also found the issue with the trailer lights and fixed that. I'm hopefull. That being said, I'll press on tomorrow into Indiana find a place to light (hotel I'm sure) and then get and early start and either catch up to the group or get to Manassas and get my hotel (reservations already made).. I'm telling you that the good samaritan that helped me out in a very wet and disguesting few hours, saved my bacon. Thanks Dan McGill.. You made a new friend. I"m staying at a freinds in St Charles tonight and will play each day as it comes. As bad a it was for me, I learned this morning about the Torando in Oklahoma and that pales my experience considerably. I came out of that mess in Wentzville with only a clutch issue and they lost so many lives. I guess all those good things I've done in the past was my payback last night.... For everyone that was sending me texts, mail, and Facebook post, thanks... Your prayers were appreciat 24 hours to go!!!!! Bike is packed, Trailer is packed and I registered with RFTW getting my rider package yesterday. Seems like every hotel in the Rancho Cucamogna and Ontario Area are packed with motorcycles. Nearly 200 bikes were at the host hotel yesterday getting in on the early registration. So today just a quck oil and filter change. Then the RFTW & FNG (fine new guys) rider orentation at 2PM and BBQ that starts at 5:30.
I'll probably spend a sleepless night (just like last year) before heading to Victoria Gardens to line up in our riding platoons and a 7:45AM start time for the Run For The Wall. We will end the day tomorrow in Williams Arizona camping at the Williams Middle School. I know like last year once we get on the road the butterflies will subside and the adventure will start. One week today, the RFTW check in and breifings will start.. Everything is pretty much packed and the bike and trailer are ready. As usual the week before Run For The Wall begins is hectic with a lot of last minute check lists. Packing Clothes, Making sure everything is in the trailer, tent, sleeping bag, and cooking stuff. Loading some snacks to much on. Freezing Water bottles. Dual purpose keeps cooler cold and a source of cold water to drink. No bit of space is wasted for a trip this size. Those usual stomach flutters are present that keep me pacing during the day. Not nearly as much as last years Adventure, what with having more knowledge about long days riding. Yesterday we got rain here in So Cal, so I took that oppertunity to get the rain gear on and take a spin to make sure it works well. Fortunatetly it worked great. After Tuesdays 5/14 registration and breifing/bbq I'll be headed back home with a fellow SCRC'r Greg Ponton. Greg will spend the night at my house so he doesn't have to ride from the South Bay at 0'Dark'30 wednesday morning. Wednesday morning we'll head over to Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga meeting up with our Platoons and getting our final instructions. Leaving Victoria Gardens, first the Central Route (the one I'm in) headed up I-15 towards the first fuel stop, Barstow, then East toward Airzona. Forcasted weather in Needles 99 degrees. The Southern Route will head east on I-10 towards Phoenix passing through Blythe Ca where the temps are estimated to be 102. Both Hot and Dry first days. Wednesday Night we will land in Williams Az, where we will camp at the local Middle School, I'll try to post as frequently as I can on this blog... Thanks for following my second great adventure. Tim Well its been awhile since I posted to my webpage. After my 13494 mile trip and a nice 2012 of relaxing short rides, I've gotten the bug to get back out on the road for another adventure. This time I will be joining a large contingent of Veterans riding from Rancho Cucamonga California to Washington D.C. to participate in "Rolling Thunder" on Memorial Day weekend. I'll be posting as the May 15th departure date nears. I hope that you will enjoy my next adventure. http://rftw.org Thursday Morning and my last day on the road. Leaving San Simeon headed south down Highway 1, the Pacific Ocean on my right, waves rolling into the beach. A light morning fog covering the coast. I rode down Hwy 1 to Morro Bay then inland to San Luis Obispo. Picking up 101 again and my trek homeward. My head was swimming with images of where I had been and what I had accomplished. I kept hearing my friends voice in my head "You know it will be hard" and he was right. Yeah the first 8 weeks were a breeze with fair weather and following winds making the trip a delight. The last 2 weeks though had their hurdles. Rain, Heat and Cold all usually combined with Wind or Humidity. Those days tested my metal so to speak. Was I really up for the challenge of the elements coming back west. Those days filled with long miles and lonely spaces, but also filled with magnificent views of the Rocky Mountains and Cascades. I can only imagine what the pioneers felt when they saw these mountain ranges as I did from 100 miles away with there snow capped peaks in the middle of June. I topped of my tank in Simi California and rode the last 80 miles home. Pulling into my driveway with both relief and regret that the adventure was complete. I thought about all the people I had met along the way. Ed Skvor my riding buddy who rode to Blythe the first day and told me "You Know It Will Be Hard" and I could tell it was killing him that he couldn't go along. My friend Bob Kendall who rode parts of the route with me and showed me a great time in South Carolina who made me laugh more than once,and also kicked me in the ass when the rain started falling in North Carolina and got me to overcome my fears of weather and stop being a fair weather rider. Johnny Compton and his wife Sharon in Hammond La. The last time I saw Johnny was when I left Vietnam and it was nice to reconnect. Gary Sanders in Alabama who rode down to Dauphin Island to camp with us and showed me the gulf coast and provided me with much needed info on riding the South. Mike Marrion in Richmond who drove in the rain to Fredericksburg just to meet up with me. Mike was getting ready to start out on his own adventure. Bill Jones who took me on some roads in New Jersey and New York along the Delaware River where we got caught in a rain storm. Jeff Prince who showed me around Massachusetts, including buying me dinner, then rode up to Maine with me. Ken Gansel who took me on a tour through the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and the surrounding area. Sites I could have never found on my own. All my co-workers in Brecksville Oh, Indianapolis In, Hoffman Estates, Il , St Louis, Mo and San Ramon Ca, that I had talked to for years on the phone but never met face to face. Jeramy Foltz and Robin Lively, Joe Mrotzek who provided a soft bed to sleep in. My N-Laws who put up with me for 10 days in New Jersey where the rain and heat and humidity almost drove me crazy. The Cousins I met on the road David, Cyndie, Dennis. My friend Ed Aguilar who I dedicated this ride to. All the people that sent me email with encouragement and offers of places to stop and ride that I never got to or had to miss because of weather. To those strangers I met along the road at Attractions, Gas Stations, Rest Stops, Campgrounds, Hotels and Restaurants who provided an insight to the area I was in and people in general. The Weather Channel that was my constant evening companion as I check on the conditions ahead. To all those people that I passed, most of whom didn't even know I was there, who let me see a little bit of what life was like in the West, South, SouthEast, NorthEast, Midwest and NorthWest. All those friends on Facebook that gave me encouragement and moral support. Especially my wife Nancy who understood what this trip was about and supported me, though she wasn't with me. I know I've missed someone somewhere, there was so many but to all of you that crossed my path and helped me laugh and cry and helped me realize just how great a life I've had and the adventures I am looking forward to having.... THANK YOU |
AuthorTim Stubbe AKA Archives
June 2013
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