Epilogue

When I was a young and naïve man, I was inspired to travel across the United States on a motorcycle. The movie Easy Rider got the bug in my head. This idea seemed absurd to some people. The realization that I love two wheeling, the open road and new places made the idea seem like a great adventure that I someday needed to do.

The first steps in my dream to go across the country on a motorcycle were find a riding partner and pick a timeframe. My friend Tom, who I’ve done many other smaller road trips with, was up for the adventure. We agreed on the departure date for the beginning of the summer. I couldn’t have asked for a better riding partner. We road 21 days together and were in synch every day. When I was tired, so was he. And when I wanted to keep riding, so did he. Tom was the lead navigator. He did an excellent job of finding some of the best motorcycling roads I ever been on. Thanks for sharing my dream with me.

We did our planning and then one day, D-Day was here. My bike was loaded up with all the gear I thought I would need and the tools for emergencies. I had a new digital camera and compact laptop to chronicle the journey. I had a road atlas strapped to the bags and a GPS installed on the bike. We knew we weren’t getting lost but if we did, who cared. We were off.

The rest, as they say, is history. Or more correctly, it's the contents of this blog. 10,000 miles through 21 states. Weather ranging from desert heat to the mountain cold and freezing rain. Amazing days and moments when I couldn't have felt more alive. Hours when I thought I could ride forever and instances when I just wanted to be in the comforts of my home. Some mornings when the old bones ached so that I wasn’t sure I could swing a leg over the saddle and other mornings when the road and sky beckoned and the bike flew like it was built for touring. There were nights when I wanted to sit up all night watching the stars and nights I was so exhausted I just wanted a comfortable bed.

I saw the most beautiful skies and the most colorful sunsets. I met the friendliest people who wanted to talk to the guys on the motorcycles from so far away. I learned that fear is best when I am aware of it and happy it's there but don't let it overwhelm me. I learned that we really don't need much to live on, but that good toys in their place are wonderful to have. I learned to love this country and its history and the pride of its people. I learned to love the road and appreciate the yearning for home.

I learned the importance of good gear. My riding suits for protection from the elements. A comfortable helmet that I wore for 12 hours a day. Gloves that kept my hands warm and dry. I learned that every time you drop your sunglasses, they will land on the lenses. I learned the importance of a good rain proof tent, its fly cover and my sleeping bag. And mostly I learned the importance of a tire patch kit. I’ve been carrying it for 15 years and never needed it till this trip.

I learned that it's good to have people who care about you. The emails, phone calls and comments to the blog meant so much to me while I was on the road, so thank you to those people.

After all that I have seen, there is still a certain longing for the things I missed. The cities I didn't see, the lakes I didn't swim in, the beers I didn't try and the people I didn't meet. But I could spend a thousand lifetimes exploring my world and still have the world to see. That just means there's always more road to ride. The people who tell me this is a "once in a lifetime experience" befuddle me: it will be very sad indeed if I don’t do this again. There will be many more journeys to come. I am the traveler and the road, and the journey is wherever I go.

And the most important thing I learned is that cancer has changed my life for the better. I realized life is finite and we all have an expiration date. A friend told me it’s the universe giving us a pinch to remind us life isn’t forever. I think it’s more like a punch. But don’t let it knock you down and out. Keep a good attitude and remember the big “C” stands for CURE. Enjoy life today. And remember……

Life is good.

Day 21 Home Sweet Home

Bike's in the garage and I'm in the recliner.
Please stop back one more time for the conclusion.
Life is good.


Total miles: 490 Butt factor: 2

Day 20 The Rhythm

We were up early and I had the bike packed by 7:00 AM. Before we left I decided to call home and talk to my wife for the daily status call. Her first question of each phone call the past 3 weeks has always been “How do you feel”. She worries about me. I understand why. She has a lot of care and emotion invested in me this past year. For the first time on the entire trip I told her I felt tired. I told her it was probably due to us heading home and the fact that the excitement of touring new places had worn off. At that moment I was actually dreading another long day with my skinny ass in the saddle. Soon after I hung up the phone we were on the road. It didn’t take long for the peace of mind feeling to come back again. You can't put a price on it. The rhythm of the road returned and I was scooting down the road, putting the miles behind me and feeling charged. One thing I’ve learned is that any day on a motorcycle is a good day.
We continued on interstate 90 through Wisconsin into Illinois. When we got to Rockford, IL we made the decision to take 39 south to interstate 80. We calculated it would be the longer way but it would bypass the Chicago area. We stayed on 80 into Indiana and then finished the day in Sandusky,Ohio.
The day started at about 64 degrees and cloudy. It remained cloudy all day but slowly climbed to about 75. As we approached the bottom of Lake Michigan in the vicinity of Gary, IN the temps started dropping again because of the winds off the lake. We drove most of the day in mid 60’s temperatures which helped make the riding very comfortable.
Tomorrow is the final ride of the journey. We’ve got about 500 miles to Delaware. The homecoming will be bitter sweet. It will be nice to be in the comforts of home but these 3 weeks went by way to fast.
Life is good.

Total miles: 649 Butt factor: 3

Day 19 The Road

The road map was first created soon after the invention of the automobile. Motorists were anxious to tour the country without frequently stopping for directions. I remember when maps were promotional give aways by the big oil and gas companies. Some state and local governments still give maps of their own to tourists, using them to promote the scenic wonders of the state, and perhaps enticing visitors to remain a few more days. We didn’t need a map today to get where we wanted to go. We made a right hand turn this morning onto interstate 90, drove 600 miles through South Dakota and Minnesota and stopped for the night when we crossed over the Mississippi River into Wisconsin.
We were on the road at 7:30 AM. The skies were over casts with some dark clouds mixed in with blue sky. Temperature was 64. The wind was gusting and blowing the bike around like a kite. I knew it was going to be a long day if I was going to have to muscle the 900 pound motorcycle around for 600 miles. Fortunately the sun came out after about an hour and burned the clouds off. The wind finally stopped and we had great weather the rest of the day.
I wish the roads were as good as the weather. There was too much construction going on in both South Dakota and Minnesota. I kept having second thoughts about turning around and not heading home yet. We reached La Crosse, Wisconsin and pulled into a Super 8 motel around 7:00PM.
Life is good.

Total miles: 602 Butt factor: 4

Day 18 The Rock

The sun was shining again when we woke up at 6:30. We’ve been very lucky with the weather while we’ve been riding for the past two and a half weeks. We’ve watched the weather reports on the news, it helps us to decide which way to go each day, and it seems it’s been raining everywhere in the country except over top of us. As we’ve been traveling we’ve seen huge dark clouds in the distance. The storms look right next to you but in reality are probably 50 miles away. Something you just can’t see on the east coast. We raced lightning and thunderstorms storms that were traveling along a mountain range as we rode along the valley floors. In Nebraska we saw the formation of a funnel cloud in a storm that was traveling parallel to our north. We even saw one weather phenomenon that we’ve never seen before. It appeared only a mile from us while we were in Nevada and it looked like an upside down funnel where the rain appeared to be flowing up instead of down. When I asked Tom “what was that?” He said I don’t know but I don’t like it. Let’s get out of here. When you ride you need to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. The weather gods have been good to us.
We left out of Douglas, WY this morning at 8:00 AM. It was 72 degrees and looked like it would warm quickly. Since I knew we were not riding into any elevations I decided to wear my Olympia Air Glide jacket and pants. Good choice. It stayed cool most of the morning and rose to 88 later in the afternoon.
We headed north on 58 out of Douglas. The 100 mile stretch was fast and straight. We rode past mile after mile of farmland used for raising horses, steer, goats and sheep. There were also a lot of wildlife along the route like deer and antelope. The road paralleled train tracks where we raced trains that carried coal and were as long as you could see.
When we reached the town of Gillette on interstate 90 were stopped for a quick breakfast and some gas. After a short ride on 90 we took 24 north towards the Black Hills National Forest.
We soon reached the most photographed piece of rock, the Devil’s Tower National Monument. What an impressive sight it was as we crested a hill and saw the rock for the first time. We stopped and took the one and a third mile walk around the rock as we snapped about a hundred pictures between us.
We continued north on 24 into Sturgis, SD were we then picked up interstate 90 east again to Rapid City. We followed 16 south to Mt. Rushmore. We were both a bit disappointed when we arrived and they wanted to charge a parking few even though we had purchased an annual national park pass. We decided to just drive through without parking and take some picture from some of the turnouts around the mountain. At one pull off we met the first people on the trip from Delaware. We sat for about 45 minutes and talked to the retired couple now living in Arizona. How ironic it was that we met them then because this was our last sight to see before heading east to Delaware.
We left Rushmore and headed back to 90 east. We stopped in Wall, SD for the night, home of Wall Drugs. For those who have never traveled in this area, Wall Drugs is the South of the Border of the west. There are billboards everywhere advertising the store.
Tomorrow we hope to be up early and supper slab it back east. Hoping to make it to Wisconsin by tomorrow night.
Life is good.

Total miles: 405 Butt factor: 3