First Leg Stats

Here are some numbers from the trip so far.

Total Miles, including getting lost, going from a motel to get food, etc:    1153 miles (1855 km)
Total travel time including all stops for food, etc:   26hrs  Average speed 44.3 mph (71.3 kph)

Gas mileage: 49.52 mpg (21.048 km pl)
Highest price per gallon(Ohio): $3.74  Lowest price( Missouri): $3.29  Average price: $3.56 (.75 euro pl)

Two motels: $40 in Athens, Ohio and $70 in Flora, Illinois.

First Leg Complete

I have arrived!

Randy, Edna(Pauline's sister), and the Old Geezer.

The final day to Lawrence, Kansas was successful but not without some surprises. The weather report showed no problems until late in the day in Lawrence, and I planned to arrive ahead of those storms; in fact I did by many hours. However one hour after I left Flora in the morning I rode right into a thunderstorm. Once again my preparation was perfect, and though I was  slowed down considerably, I rode out of the storm by the time I reached St Louis. From there the trip became really quick, 75 mph, until just past Columbia, Mo. where I70 had a major accident, shutting the west bound lanes completely. Everything slowed to a crawl as we were detoured using an side access road. It was really hot and my bike started to run really hot, so I cheated a bit and ran down the shoulder for about a mile to the consternation of other drivers. The police were too busy to pay any attention and I saved quite a bit of time. All together I lost about an hour getting around the accident. Even so, I got to Lawrence by a little after four, tired but feeling good about the achievement.

I intend to spend about a week here so I will post some more comments about the this first part before I start on the longer leg to California.

Regards to all; send comments.

Long Second Day

Well, I am safely in Flora, Illinois. I didn't take the Interstate after all and stayed on US 32 and US 50. I got out early to try and get as far as possible before the weather front came through. I almost made Cincinnati, 30 miles short, when the rain started. Luckily there was a Mac's right off the road, and I ducked in to shelter as the skies let loose.

This is my baby in Mac's parking lot.

This is the first time my bike has been wet since I have owned it. I have done some wiring work so I did want to know that everything was properly waterproof. Everything worked perfectly. No problems.

I killed about an hour and then it let up. I got into my rain gear and took off. So the first day's challenge was the the road, the second day's challenge was riding in rain. I did beautifully both times. The ride through Cincinnati was slow, but I was just as glad as I didn't want to go quickly on the wet pavement. My rear wheel did get loose once or twice on highway ramps. It took all my concentration to ride well. The rain lasted until I got all the way through Cincinnati and into Indiana. There it started to dry out. Actually I selected US 50 out of Cincinnati so that I wouldn't have to ride at speed and deal with all the spray from trucks. It proved the right choice.


The remainder of the ride though Indiana and into Illinois was relaxed and easy,  speed's of 55-65 miles an hour and very little traffic. In those conditions my bike is coasting. There were lots of little towns, farms, and the some gently winding roads through woodlands.

The first  day I did, 345 miles(555 km), the second day 394 miles(634 km). That leaves 385(619 km) for tomorrow to Lawrence, Kansas. Since I have seen much of Missouri on previous trips I will take I70 from St Louis to Kansas City. The ride should be much quicker. With fortune on my side tomorrow I complete the first major leg.

Link to route from Flora to Lawrence

First Day

I know everyone expects all sorts of pictures, but that is somewhat awkward to do while riding. I promise to start stopping, but today I just rode. The first part out of Dumfries was uninteresting. I was in Winchester in about 90 minutes and all I did was get lost, I always do in Winchester, and fueled. Actually I know Winchester well, its three major claims to fame are: it was the first location George Washington held public office; It was Stonewall Jackson's headquarters during part of the Shenandoah Campaign; and it was the home town of Patsy Cline. The third is the important one for me.

From there I rode into West Virginia on route US 50. Now that was a ride. Winding through the West Virginia mountains, the road tested my motorcycling skills more than I had expected. I really got a workout. Many repeating turns were 15 to 25 mile an hour switchbacks, along with dramatically changing grades. For those of you who are old enough to remember E ticket rides, this was one! In spite of the road I made good time and reached Clarksville, WV by 3 p.m.

Once in Clarksville the conditions changed to a four lane limited access highway and I took off. I had trouble finding the motels in  Parkersville and wound up continuing on to Athens Ohio. There I also got lost, inadvertently toured the whole of the University of Ohio Campus, but managed to find a motel just the other side of town. That is where I am as I write this.

The bike performed beautifully. This is a good omen, and I hope the performance continues. Mileage appears to be close to 50 mpg, about five better than I had used for planning. It is difficult to explain to those of you who don't ride what it feels like to be on the open road on a bike. It is as close to flying as land bound creatures can get, truly a high.

So that was my first day. Tomorrow the weather report is not as favorable, with a lot of thunderstorms possible. I should be riding through them so if I am lucky and get far enough West early enough I might be able to dodge them. I can hope.

Tentatively here is my route for tomorrow. I won't make St Louis, but once on Interstate 70, I can stop whenever I feel like it.

 Athens to St Louis.

Go west young man!

Well, the weather is good and tomorrow morning I start to follow the the sun. 

My first stop is tentatively Parkersburg, West Virginia. There could be a few thunderstorms, so I might be delayed a bit. I am estimating that I can do 300 miles a day, just under 500 kilometers. Of course that will depend on weather, the sights, and adventures along the way.

On the Road

I left home today and will go up to Dumfries, Virginia, to a friend's house who in the last months has been supportive and helped me to plan this journey.

So, next stop, West Virginia.

 Link to MapQuest Route

An explanation.

It seems that the weather is going to let me begin my trip on Monday, Memorial Day. I thought this might be a good time to talk about why this trip, and why now.

I commented that I am in search of the new me. Well, that is not quite accurate. I am sort of in search of the old me, a young man who existed a long time ago. For most of the time I was in college, in the late 50's and early 60's I rode a series of motorcycles. It was the only transportation I could afford, after the couple of cars I had disintegrated. I first owned a Honda 50 Sport that proved far too limited, so I stepped up to a Honda Benly 150, and finally to my beloved Honda Superhawk 305. That was one fantastic bike and I started to plan a cross-country trip to New York City to visit my mother and my younger brother. I anticipated that it was going to be an Easy Rider life changing experience. I began to acquire gear, route plans, etc.

However destiny intervened and I met Pauline. The motorcycle was a significant part of my appeal as her father had as a young man been a avid motorcyclist in England and she was predisposed to like bikers, but my cross-country plans were put on hold. One thing led to another and we got married. Pauline graduated and started teaching and I began my Masters program. Neither one of us had two dimes to rub together, and since we wanted to go to New York for our honeymoon, the bike was sold to finance a cross-country road trip in Pauline's Rambler American. Years later I was to find out that Pauline had always felt that selling my beloved bike was the ultimate gesture of love.

I did own two other bikes, a Honda 450 and a Kawasaki 450, but more as temporary toys than serious touring bikes. However, Pauline apparently always felt she owed me that trip, and used to go to motorcycle shops thinking of buying a bike as a birthday gift. I never knew that, but after we finished our world cruising adventures and settled here in Virginia she apparently started to get serious, though she always got cold feet because she didn't really know what I would want.

When she was diagnosed with the cancer that was to kill her she fessed up to how she had felt about the motorcycle trip that had been exchanged for love and insisted that we start to really look for a bike. I had always admired Honda Pacific Coast 800's, ever since I had seen one in 1989 when they were first produced, so our search concentrated on PC's. We bid on a couple on e-Bay without success. Then, Pauline's disease finally started to overwhelm her and that became the only reality of our lives. She died in April of 2011 and I started an existence for which I was totally unprepared. I first took Pauline's ashes to California and the Pacific Ocean she had so loved, and then planned a trip to my brother Mike and his wife Debra in Italy. That trip was to include Poland to celebrate my cousin Andrzej's 80th birthday.

During the flight to Italy I had a couple of hours to kill at the Atlanta airport and did it by surfing on the web. I saw a PC800 for sale and without even knowing why I placed a rock-bottom bid. I still don't know why. I forgot all about it once I got into the visit in Como. Then, a couple of days later, while reading my e-mails I was astonished to find that I was the proud owner of a PC800 in Southern Pennsylvania. After I got over the shock I contacted the seller, explained that I was in Europe, and that I would not be able to do anything until I got back several weeks later. He had no problems with that and I arranged that I would complete the purchase when I got back and that I would ride the bike down to Virginia. So in August of 2011 I acquired the motorcycle Pauline had always wanted me to have.

And that is how I came to be the owner of a 1991, dark red, Honda Pacific Coast 800. Now, I have had a year to prepare the bike for the Easy Rider trip I planned over fifty years ago. Wish me good fortune.

Starting Plans.

I plan to use this blog as a way of keeping in touch with all my friends and family as I travel this summer and perhaps into the future. This summer I plan to tour the United States on my Honda PC800. The plan is to start sometime right after Memorial Day and go wherever and whenever the spirit moves me. I will try to blog consistently and include pictures as much as possible.