My Final Thoughts

This was truly a trip of a lifetime, and for me to try and sum it up in a paragraph or two would be impossible.  The pictures and narrative I posted on this blog are only a small part of the whole story and whole experience of this trip. This is a BIG and BEAUTIFUL country we live in, and I'm sorry I haven't seen more of it until now. I hope in the years to come to see more of this country and meet more of the people in it.  As well as all the things we saw on this trip, it was the people we met from all over this country and all over the world that will leave a lasting impression on me.  Everyone we met was unbelievably nice, friendly and helpful. They loved talking to us and hearing the story of our trip.  Wherever we were, the first question everyone asks is "where are you from."  When we say NJ, the next question is, "did you ride here."  When they hear the story that we rode the LONG way there, everyone is amazed and wants to hear more about our trip.

I discovered that this country is quite the lifetime trip for people from all over the world also. The visitors to the national parks, especially Yosemite and Yellowstone seemed to be more than half people from foreign countries, most notably China and Germany.  Then there were the people doing their bucket list trip from Finland and Denmark on the Old Lincoln Highway tour. You can check them out at www.LH2013.com.

I want to thank my riding partners Jerry James and Joe.  James, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident  about 6 years ago and is still riding, and who's life and riding experiences all over this country and the world I heard about the past 31 days were amazing and inspiring. It was an honor riding with him.  Jerry and I were the only two with communications and we would often talk on the CB during the long rides. Whether it was about traffic, changing lanes, hazards, approaching turns, or checking if our GPS's agreed on a direction of route. (They often didn't agree, and we thought of them as an old married couple that couldn't agree on anything. LOL)  Or we would just chat about the radio stations, songs or scenery.  It seemed to pass the time on those long stretches of road and I was grateful for the conversation with him that passed the time.  And Joe, the man with the iron butt, what more can I say?  His determination to ride to the Pacific Ocean and back seemed to be his only goal of the trip.  Well Joe, you made it!

Thanks to my wife and family for putting up with my absence for the past four and a half weeks while I lived this dream.

I also want to thank those that followed the Blog and commented. Although I know there were difficulties for some trying to leave comments on the blog. That was out of my control. I am looking forward to finding out who followed that I didn't know about, and telling the stories about this trip that are not written here.  I suppose the enormity of this trip will sink as the weeks go by.  It seemed like I was away forever, and it's good to be home.  The trip was very physically demanding and near the end, it seemed like my bike was 500 pounds heavier than when I started.  I've already been asked if I would do this trip again.  That answer is a resounding YES.

Here are some other thoughts about this trip.

Best part of the trip..... Mount Rushmore.  Seeing it gave me goose bumps

Worst part of the trip..... Can't really say there was a bad part at all, but the extreme heat early on was not fun.

Place I'd move to in a heartbeat..... Montana.  Wish I could have fished while I was there.

Biggest disappointment..... Sturgis.  Interesting sights and great for people watching, but just not me.

Best road for riding..... Rt. 89 and 395 from South Lake Tahoe to Mono Lake CA.   Rt. 212, the Beartooth Hwy in WY a close 2nd.  Both had ass puckering moments.

Worst road.... I-70 and I-76  through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. More construction and work zones than I could possibly keep count of.

Most Interesting Road.... US Hwy 50, which in the longest and "Loneliest Highway" in America.  It runs 3073 miles from Ocean City MD to Sacramento CA.  We rode 2594 miles of it from Clarksburg WV to Lake Tahoe CA.  It is true Americana and I wish I could have made more stops along the way.

The trip by the numbers:

8370...... Miles traveled  (Jerry James and Joe had about 167 more miles because of my downtime for the flat, the bike being towed and being at Matt's)

31...... Days of riding

21...... States we rode thru besides NJ  (Indiana, Illinois and Ohio twice)

528...... Most miles in one day

61...... Stops for gas

193.8..... Gallons of gas used

$5.19..... Highest price paid per gallon  (Bridgeport, California)

44.2...... Miles per gallon my bike got

10,947..... Highest elevation we rode (Rt. 212, Beartooth Highway, Wyoming)

3...... # of days over 100 degrees

108...... Highest temperature (Great Basin National Park, Nevada)

3..... # of cell phones I went thru on this trip (1 lost and 1 broken)  Lost a lot of pictures too.

90..... # miles my bike was towed

ANYONE UP FOR A LITTLE RIDE?