My friend Martin and I went out for a couple of hours of riding today. What was supposed to be 100 miles turned into 200. Lessons I learned: 1) Get off the bike, walk around, do some stretching every 50 miles or so; 2) keep hydrated; 3) remain optimistic.
Six days until I roll down the driveway...
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NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST... A guy gets on a motorcycle, and rides around, looking at things, talking with people and (he hopes) learns something about himself in the process.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Getting Ready
Well, with less than two weeks to go, the hard realities of traveling nearly 6000 miles atop a motorcycle are setting in. The RT (BMW R1200RT) is prepared, and I've tested the luggage systems on a trial 1000-mile trip in VT and NY. I've made connections with friends old (the Quinns in Pensacola), and new (Mike Valentin in TX); I've got lodging reservations along the first couple of days of the route. Now it's mostly a matter of rolling down the driveway and heading south and west to Perryton, TX.
For those who are new to my adventure, I'm planning to ride my motorcycle down to NJ, then head south to Front Royal, VA, down the Skyline Drive (Shenandoah National Park) connecting directly to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and end up near Hendersonville, NC.
From there, I'll head west across Tennessee, Arkansas, and into Texas, finally arriving at Perryton, in the Texas Panhandle. This is where my father Oscar grew up. From Perryton, I'll ride down to Canyon, TX where he went to undergraduate college, and then on to Galveston, TX to see an old Boston FBI pal. After Galveston, I'm over to Pensacola, FL where I was in the Navy for a bit. After Pensacola, I'm headed north to Birmingham, AL, Greenville, SC, and Wake Forest, NC to see family there. After Wake Forest, I'm headed to Bethesda, MD to see family, then on to Cherry Hill, NJ for a family birthday party (I'm one of the birthday boys), and then, back to Boston.
I figure that I'll take about a month for the trip. I expect that my BMW RT will need a new rear tire somewhere in Texas. That might slow me down a little.
I've planned to ride about 250 miles most days. I've learned that at about 250 miles a blissful experience becomes painful drudgery. Gosh, I'm retired, and I hope my days of drudgery are behind me!
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