Took a long ride

[Red_bike]

I haven’t been on the form in a few weeks because of death in the family and just life going on. But I am back from a long ride and I feel better. I left Georgia and went north then came back south. I hooked up with the Iron and Steel run in NY and it came back to Georgia.

The states I rode in for my ride were:
New York
Pennsylvania
Vermont
New Hampshire
Maine
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New Jersey
Delaware
Maryland
West Virginal
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Alabama
Georgia

Duck

[Moedad]

Wow, good ride! VL or GZ? Pics?

[Water Warrior 2]

Far out ride. Did you get a T-shirt in every state ?? Pics would be great if you have some. How many miles overall did you ride ??

[alanmcorcoran]

Lot of states. No tickets I hope? Back in my day I considered a number of those states (NJ, Penn, Georgia and Conn) part of the original 13 speed traps. Back roads or turnpikes? I never made it as far north as Maine but I hear it is really pretty up there.

[Water Warrior 2]

Maine is one of the prettiest places in Sept with all the secondary winding roads to wander about on. Would love to go back on 2 wheels.

[BusyWeb]

Wow, those are 17 state....
In here california, I could not imagine that many states' of riding.. ha ha ha.
Any photos of memory?
The solo bike riding >> sometimes hepled my soul refreshing too...

[dannylightning]

that's nothing i ride threw all 50 states every day. ok ok its one hell of a ride, after a few hours and i'm ready to call it quits.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by dannylightning

that's nothing i ride threw all 50 states every day. ok ok its one hell of a ride, after a few hours and i'm ready to call it quits.

:lol:

[Red_bike]

Sorry about not getting back sooner but I had to get back to the “normal life” for a while to catch up on things. But here are some of the ride details. I warn you, it's kinda long, but what great ride isn't. :rawk: I live in Georgia and had planned on going up to NY to do the Iron and Steel run that started on Sept 12. I was going to leave on Thursday, Sept 10 and take two days to get there in time for the start of that ride. But we had a death in the family on Sept 4th up in Pennsylvania so we decided to “truck” my VL 800 up there and I left from there. By doing that it gave me more days in the saddle to do the NE area. Once everything was over with up there, I left the family I was staying with at about 6:00 in the morning and the only plan I had at that time was to ride north for awhile then turn east. I left on a 2 lane road and pretty much stayed that way for the next 1450 miles. There were a few times that the road was a 4 lane but it was not an Interstate. By late afternoon on Sept 10, I had worked my way back to Chester NY to spend the night. This had been an amazing few days that were long but enjoyable. The leaves were beginning to change and falling. The mornings were cool but not cold and the days were dry but not hot. The roads were good with lots of curves. At one point I even come upon an eagle that was picking up something in the road as I came around a curve. I came within 30 feet of it before it got out of my sight. I pulled over and took several photos of the trees hoping to get a shot of it. Well that paid off, once I got home and zoomed around in those trees there he was, sitting on a branch watching me. WOW!. At lunch and dinner time I always pulled in for gas and waited on someone that looked like they were from that area and asked them where I could find a place to eat that most of the locals go to. Everyone was nice and the food was wonderful at every stop. I took hundreds of pictures on this section of my ride and some came out and some didn’t. But they are all in my mind.The next section of my trip started on Sept 11 from Chester NY and I needed to get to the Queens section of NY, only about 70 miles away. The last 20 miles or so were the hardest miles I have ever ridden and I have been a biker for about 40 years. Now remember I am from Georgia, and I am now going into NY City. All was fine until I got to the toll booth for the Georgia Washington Bridge. It started raining so hard that the cars had their wipers on high. The wind was so strong that it was blowing large truck over the white lines. I went across the GW at 15 mph and my map that was attached to the inside of my windshield was now soaked and the ink had run. I had studied the mapping and knew (well I was hoping I knew) which roads to take. I had planned my route not thinking of the rain but going so I could see certain things. As I approached the Brooklyn Bridge the weather had gotten worse. A trucker in an 18 wheeler was beside me as we waited in traffic and he gave me thumbs up. This gave me what I needed to keep going. The wind was so bad that as I sat still in that traffic about half way up the ramp on the bridge, my bike almost blew over. There was nowhere to pullover, I had no choice but to keep going. I have never had cross winds so strong. As I got on the bridge part that was over the water, I was only going about 10 – 15 mph at the most and at times only about 5 mph. I could feel my bike being pushed sideways with the tires sliding sideways also. I was in the far right hand lane and the wind was blowing me all over that lane. I could also see the cars being pushed all over the road also. At one time I looked behind me and I saw that big truck that had given me a thumps up right behind me and once again he was giving me the thumbs up. I knew if could just keep it up I would make it. I also knew that if I did drop my bike, he was there to make sure no one ran over me. I tell you, at one point I really was thinking that this was my last living minute and I took the time to thank God for the great life that I had been given to me. I made it off the bridge with only Gods hands holding on to me. Now I had to find the hotel in a town that I knew nothing about and without a map. Well to make the story shorter, I did find the hotel without too many problems and when I arrived I called my wife and told her I was safe in the hotel and had no plans on leaving. During my 40 years of riding I have did my share of riding in the wind and rain. All my biker friends call me Duck and I live up to that name. But that last bit was the worse and I never want to ride in that kind of wind and rain again.The next morning we started the 1063.5 miles back to Ft Benning Ga. That is another story all together.Duck

[Water Warrior 2]

Wow, sounds like the last 20 miles were more than a workout. Glad to hear you had no mishaps. Looking forward to some pics and the rest of the story.