August 25th, 2007

I’m home! 

Thanks for being with me on this journey.   Now I have to start thinking about next year….

Here’s a “deleted scene” video of my second night on the trip – over two months ago…. When things were still uncertain as to how long I would be able to hold out on the road.  I thought you would enjoy it.

August 24th, 2007

I had a good ride today as I continued my northbound approach back to New Hampshire.  The ride was a bit out of control as I vacillated between choosing a scenic route or a speed run.  After changing my mind and switching routes about 4 times, the speed run won out.  I blamed the fog and haze for detroying my scenic ride (you really couldn’t see anything up in the mountains) – but truth is, I’m getting more anxious to shorten the distance between me and home.

August 23rd, 2007

I spent the last 2 days trying to burn some miles on my way north.  I was looking for a nice day – where, believe it or not – I could just cruise the interstate.  Yesterday was suppose to be that day – heading from Tupelo, MS to Knoxville, TN.  However, it was so damn hot down here that I fell a few miles short and ended the day in Athens.  The heat totally wipes me out…I’m getting a windshield for my next trip.  Today was much nicer as I headed out of the heat of Tennessee to the relative cool-ness of Virginia.  Next to teleportation, this was the easiest 360 miles I ever had.  A great day touring the scenic highways of the southeast.

Here are some pics and vids:

August 21st, 2007

I left southwestern Louisiana on a northern path up towards New Hampshire (eventually).  I was pretty disappointed with the roads in Louisiana.  Granted, all the interesting stuff seems to be around the Baton Rouge/ New Orleans area, but usually when I program my GPS to get me from A to B without highways, I find some interesting roads.  Not this time.  Over 200 miles of junky roads and very uninteresting scenery.  Louisiana seems to have been hit hard by the corporate mega-stores – there didn’t appear to be any originality remaining.  Crossing over the Mississippi River  into Natchez, MS showed some immediate improvements. 

Today’s ride was a stark contrast to yesterday’s.  I followed the Natchez Trace Parkway which is a 444 mile ancient (as in thousands of years old – “The” Road) road that goes from the Mississippi River in Natchez, MS all the way up to Nashville, TN.  It’s a great cruising road – curvy, but not twisty, with very little traffic (at least on this Tuesday afternoon) and a decent speed limit set at 50 (ish) mph.  Today was a 265 mile ride in the park.

Here are some pictures and videos:

August 19th, 2007

I had a couple good days of riding – leaving Texas and entering southwest Louisiana.  Once outside San Antonio, I got off the highway and did a good job navigating around the storm fronts.  As typical in the south during the summer, a lot of isolated thunder storms pop up – but I was able to stay dry.  The terrain heading east increasing improved and became more and more “normal”…. you know, trees with leaves and green grass and stuff.  At first it starts with only a smattering (nice word) of trees and green grass (looks like a giant golf course) and then it starts to look a lot like back home – only pulled tight so that it’s flat and the roads are straight.  It’s fast travelling because the speed limit on the secondary roads is 70 miles per hour.

Here are some photos:

August 19th, 2007

Today marked two full months on the road.  As I hit the two-month mark, I now enter the begining of the end of my trip.  My plans are to be home before the kids start school on August 29th.  I still have a few miles to go…so I better get riding..

August 17th, 2007

It was a great day today – the storm has passed and things started to dry out.  While my bike was in for service I decided to walk around the downtown area and see some of the sights.  The Alamo (of course) and then the Riverwalk (the riverwalk is this beautiful area – series of canals off the San Antonio river – with shops, restaurants and cafes.  lots of beautiful arched bridges and winding sidewalks.  Very reminiscent of Europe with a Mexican flair).  I really enjoyed San Antonio.

Here are some short videos and some pictures — no explainations required on these

August 16th, 2007

Mother Nature is out to get me…

It’s my fault really.  I got so use to the So. Cal. climate that I haven’t even been checking the weather anymore.  I would get up, get dressed and go riding…. no bad days in southern California.  However, I’m a long way from San Diego now. 

Today I was finishing up my trip east to San Antonio, TX (to get service on my bike tomorrow).  Ironically, I was thinking how neat it was that I haven’t worn my raingear in a month.   I was also just getting out of the desert (after about 1000 miles) – things were good.  Then it happened… at first a few drops of rain on my face – this will blow over…  A few more drops… a little closer together this time – I guess I better get on my gear… Then the storm came in hard. 

As it turned out, I was entering the forward edge of tropical storm Erin and I still had 120 miles to go.  The storm was tracking a northwest course as I was following the same line heading southeast.  The last 30 miles were terrible and navigating into downtown San Antonio (to my reserved hotel) was absolutely terrifying.  The traffic was crazy – only a few feet of visibility – cars off the road or just stalled out in travel lanes and puddles up to my cylinder heads and a true fear of being blown off my bike.  San Antonio’s not a small town.  There were flashing signs: “water in road….” — what the hell am I suppose to do with THAT information.

I said a word of thanks when I finally made it to my motel.

Here are a couple pictures before the rain came

August 14th, 2007

It was a much better ride today.  I planned better and I respected how harsh Mother Nature can be.

It rained like crazy last night – wind and lightning, but no thunder.  At around 7am the rain stopped and I was on my way.  At 80 degrees, the desert is truely a beautiful place.  Peaceful.

The terrain became a little more lush (enough to support cactus) and the cascading boulder fields returned.  It’s still a very harsh environment – well over 500 miles and still going.  For us in New England, that’s the same as if Bar Harbor, ME to Buffalo, NY was a complete desert.  It’s hard to even imagine.

August 13th, 2007 (pm)

After a great start to the day I had to begin my journey east.  I knew I would have to cross the desert AGAIN – making this the third and last time.  I never imagined that this country had so much “waste land” — hundreds of miles of open…nothing-ness.  This was the worst – much worse than Death Valley…. It destroyed me.. chewed me up, spit me out – and left me on the side of the road to rot…

116 to 118 while riding – 120+ when standing still.  It’s not just unpleasant or uncomfortable – it Hurts!!  I had to wear my gloves because my grips and the wind coming across the tops of my hand were too hot to tolerate.