Posted: 22 June 2007 at 1:58pm | IP Logged

Hello everyone- as promised here is my version of my 48Plus. I apologize for it's length up front. I will try to condense all I can but reporting on 10 days and 11,000 + miles is long!

    After planning this trip for 8 months, it was time for the five of us,Brad Ward, Mic Mantel, Max Longley, Greg Pratt and myself to hit the switch, gas up and get going from Harlan Ky. In planning this trip, unlike the rest I had reviewed, we were going to circle the US via Hyder Alaska and return home- including the whole trip into our 48 Plus. Boy was that aggressive!!!!

 Day 1 was to take us from Harlan Ky to Manchester NH via Kittery ME. Total of 1068 miles. Our route took us down Hwy 421 to Hwy 23s to I -81 N in Kingsport Tn. This crooked two lane road was nice but a bit foggy early in the morning. Luckily, no wild life was spotted and we were able to make pretty good time. After a stop in Kingsport for a receipt in was northward bound and lots of miles in Virginia. Both Brad and Mic are with the NC Highway patrol- so we put them at the front for obvious reasons although we hardly ever went more than 8 mph over the posted speeds. After Stopping in Ironto Va for gas we went on the Martinsburg WV and then picked up I-70. Traffic was good to us on this Saturday and things were fine until we got to I-695 around Baltimore- it got busy. Then we hit I-695 and our first of many tolls- $5.00 for the JFK Memorial Highway. It is understandable why the cost of living is so high up here- tolls alone will eat you alive!!!

We continued on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Turnpike stopping as required to pay for the previledge of using these fine roads. By now the temps were getting near 90 and was hot. Then we hit our first traffic jam of the day. NY City was due east, but even on a Saturday afternoon late- traffic was backed up hot a sweaty moving at 3 mph for 1/2 hour was not fun. FINALLY traffic began to pick up- seems we had stopped because everyone was rubbernecking an accident involving 3 croutch rockets in the southbound lanes!

   We finally reached the Tappan Zee Bridge and could just make out the NYC skyline through the evening haze to our right. It was pretty from afar, but no place I wanted to be on a motorcycle. Traveling through Conneticut on I-95 was very uneventful and traffic kept a good pace. We took I-395 North above Old Saybrooke Ct. This would get us around Boston with less traffic. Convenient to 395 is Highway 6 which took us into RI where we found Extra Mart, a C-store just beyond the RI line. After a quick fill up (and 10 miles total), we are back on 395 heading to I-90 East. We picked up I-95 north again along with our first rain of the day. The rain stayed with us the balance of the night- ugh! We got to Kittery- took the first exit we saw that said gas and proceeded to get lost. Even with 5 GPSs we could not find that gas station!

     It was close to midnight, we had been on the road for 18 hours, we still had 50 miles to go to get to bed, and we CANNOT find a station. Finally after wandering the neighborhoods of Kittery, we come upon a 7-Eleven (I was going to say O thank Heaven, but I won't). We gassed up asked for directions to 95 south and headed home for the evening. We took Hwy 101 to Manchester. I was very surprised that the route was mostly all 4 lane road. We arrived at our 4 hour home for the night at 12:50 am.

We booked 13 states and with tolls registered 17 stops

DAY 2-Sunday June 3.  Manchester NH to Morris IL. Total miles 1102.

    It was overcast when we left on 101. It did not take long to pick up curves and fog on this leg. In fact the fog was so bad we could hardly see each other much less other vehicles- we rode approximately 100 miles with our flashers on and barely 35 mph- what a way to start a 1100 mile day! The fog did lift long enough for us to enjoy the town of Bennington Vt. I would love to come back and visit at a slower pace. The town was straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Just looking at the shops and houses lining main street made me want to stop and set on someone's porch to watch the world go by- but too many miles in front of us changed that thought. We picked up Hwy 7 then onto I-87 S to I -90 West. Timewise we were 2 plus hours behind due to fog. Not a good start to the day- but the rest of the roads today were interstate so we knew we could make up some time.

     New York was uneventful- traffic was good. We  stopped for gas and receipt in Erie Pa. Then we noticed not so nice clouds in front of us. The rains were not far from us- we donned rainsuits again. It was a good thing- it started raining. Then, it hit. We ran straight into a severe thunderstorm, dumping 2 inches per hour (according to the weather band radio) we were able to find an exit and a very nice lady in the toll booth office had pity on us and let us wait out the storm inside, otherwise we would have been pelted by dime size hail and probably drowned! I forgot to get her name, but she was a guardian angel to us at the time. Forget all I have said about hating toll booths-  After a delay of almost 1.5 hours, we trudged on through Ohio, even Cleveland was docile traffic wise but still misting rain,  stopping in Fremont to get a receipt. Then went on into Indiana-We took the Hwy 9 exit which took us to Sturgis MI (easy name and town to remember for motorcycle folks), went 3 miles and stopped at Wal Mart and gassed up, back to Indiana and picked up the turnpike again which cleared us for the Indiana receipt. It was on to Illinois. I-80 went south of Chicago, so traffic on a Sunday night was not bad at all. I guess our planning to hit the major towns on the weekend proved to be a good choice. I was glad to not have to fight the traffic. And glad to get the major towns out of the way.

     We had planned to make Davenport IA today, but were tired and the weather had not been kind so we stopped in Morris Il. Some 120 miles short of our goal. We will do better tomorrow I promise myself.

     End of Day 2 we booked 6 states and registered 13 stops.

DAY 3  Monday June 4. Morris Il. to Bowman ND 1128 miles.

    Nice day to ride for a change! Temps were perfect the sky was blue. I actually felt sorry for anyone who was not me this morning! As I was cruising up I80 to I-380 N to Cedar Rapids IA, I noticed so many people on the way to work on a Monday and I am heading  farther away from work with each passing moment! What a nice thought.

     We picked up Hwy 63 to Hwy 52 N to I-494 around St. Paul MN to I-94. We crossed the river into WI. Stopped at the first exit for Hudson and got gas and receipt. Headed back to I-94 W and headed to ND. Those of you who have ridden 1-94 thru ND know how straight and boring it can be- except for the headwinds. By dark we had gotten to our exit to head south- a straingt two lane road in Belfield ND known as Hwy 85 S. Plenty of deer to keep our attention on this road! We had hoped to get to Spearfish SD before stopping (187 miles) but could not. We found Bowman ND (out in the middle of no where) and was happy that a local pointed us in the direction of  a motel. Bowman was home for a few hours.

End of Day 3 we booked 4 states and registered 9 stops.

DAY 4 - June 5 Bowman ND to Coeur d Alene ID via Harrison NE. 1240 miles

    We decided to get an early jump today since we were still behind schedule. We had been leaving at dawn each day. We left an hour earlier today. This was in spite of the fact we were still on two lane road and deer were still everywhere. We were very keen to the surroundings and the fact deer were everywhere the first couple of hours into our trip. We were focused. Then we hit fog once again. Our 65 mph was quickly reduced to 35mph. This lasted about 30 minutes and then burned off. Happy trails again! The sun was coming up and we could see clearly- a great time to catch up on speed.

    Then we had our close encounter of the ride. We crested the top of a hill only to see the north end of south bound deer in our lane! Greg went right to the shoulder, Brad went left into the oncoming lane- I split the middle aiming straight for the deer hoping he would be gone by the time I got there (which he was thankfully!), I look in my mirror and Max has run down the embankment (approximately 15 feet)  rode throught the ditch and came back up on the road! My hero! He proudly pointed to all the grass he had on the road pegs of his Goldwing!!! At 73, he is the oldest in our group- but he out rode us all that day! At our next gas stop Max did notice he had lost a bag he had on his tour pack. Thankfully  it had mostly dirty clothes in it.

     We did a MUCH better job of staggering the rest of this leg. 

     The rest of the leg to Spearfish was uneventful. I was glad we had stopped on Bowman the night before - I don't think I could have  stood the mental fatigue in looking for deer for another 4 hours.

    We picked up Hwy 14-A, otherwise known as Spearfish Canyon over to Hwy 85. What a ride. This is a favorite destination of motorcyclists going to Sturgis. It is one beautiful road. At 7 am however it is obvious we are some of the first out this morning. The deer give up the road grudgingly. If I had to guess, I would say we saw over 100 deer around the road in this 15 mile span. It was incredible!

We kept on and picked up Hwy 20 and rode the 20 miles into Harrison NE. Picked up our receipt and headed to I-25 N  and on to Billings MT.

     The ride was uneventful until we reached Deer Lodge MT. It started to rain and got cold. We stopped for some supper hoping to wait it out- no luck. It was at this time Max decided he did not feel like he could make it to Hyder Alaska with us. Instead of doing the 48 Plus he was going to shorten to do the 48 in 10 days. To be honest, I thought about the same thing and had I not come up with this ride, I probably would have done the same thing. He would meet us 2 days later in Washington State.

    The remainig 4 Of us took off in the rain and rode all the way to Coeur d Alene in the rain and cold. Yuck! We had hoped to get to Grand Coulee WA before stopping, but once again weather had put us behind. Weather and fatigue stopped us again. We would do better tomorrow (yeah right!)

Well my typing is getting tiring. Will take a break and report back the rest of the trip this weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Guy

Posted: 22 June 2007 at 4:25pm | IP Logged

+1

This is better than a movie. Keep 'em coming.

Posted: 23 June 2007 at 10:39am | IP Logged

OK everyone, here is installment #2 of our 48 plus Ride:

Day 5- Wednesday June 6. Coeur d Alene ID to Smithers BC. 938 miles

    We started this day behind. Because of the time changes ( a recording nightmare) I could not keep up with when to expect dawn. Unfortunately, the desk clerk at the Best Western in Coeur d Alene was wrong and we missed it by 1 hour. This put us in the middle of traffic going to work in Spokane WA. It wasn't too bad, but something we had hoped to avoid. We took I-90 W to Hwy 2. The road was two lane away from the city, but a nice road. We then piced up Hwy 155 in Grand Coulee WA. Grand Coulee was our originally planned stop, but we missed by 115 miles. It is also a beautiful town. The road meanders around the Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia River- what beautiful country! Because of traffic and stop lights it was not a road to make up time, but the beauty at least made the slow speeds enjoyable. We topped off the tanks in Tonasket WA not knowing what Canada held in store for us.

    After all the reading I had done about the border crossing, I didn't know what to expect but we were ready for anything. We all had our passports ready, we had our proof of liability insurance cards as well as our stories ready about where we were going and why. Dang- didn't need any of it at the crossing in Osoyoos. All 5 of us were across the border in less than 7 minutes. The guard asked me one question: Where was I from? Guess we didn't look like much of a threat- we moved on.

  With all do respect to our Canadian neighbors, I had heard horror stories about the roads in Canada. I can say the ones we were on were very good! The reports given do not adequately describe how good they are. My one complaint however were the painted lines. At night and especially in the rain (yes it followed us up north too) they do not reflect. We found this dangerous especially in passing zones, we could not tell when the extra passing zone lane was on our side and when it was not.

Hwy 97 N from the border was a two lane road. It was congested with motor homes and tourist through Oliver, Penticton and Peachland. There is a large lake just to the east of the road which we observed for miles- I assume most of the traffic was heading there for vacation. Soon after Peachland we began to assend to higher elevations. We picked up 97C heading west. Much to my great surprise it was 4 lane highway every bit as good as interstates in the US. And there was no traffic! What luck! We put the hammer down! As we went higher the temperatures dropped. Peachland was a nice 72f twenty miles into 97C and it had dropped to 41f with overcast skies. Time to stop and put on electric stuff. Unfortunately, we had seen the sun for the last time this day.

     One other thing that took some getting use to were the different road signs especially the speed limits and distance markers- all of which is in kilometers. What little I learned in grade school about this was long since gone. I was glad my BMW LT had kilometers on the speedometer. This proved very helpful.

     97C ended and we picked up Hwy 8 and rain. It rained on us for the next 8 hours straight. We then picked up Hwy 1 and back to 97 in Cache Creek. Good curves but not fun in the rain. The roads are mostly nice wide two lane with passing zones that come out of nowhere. To take advantage of passing you had to be ready, otherwise you miss the opportunity. we stopped in Williams Lake for fuel and to access our time. It was 4:30 pm. We had originally planned (haha) to spend the night in Hyder AK that night. After quick math calculations we decided too many miles in the rain- time to use plan B. I called a motel in Smithers BC (approximately 210 short of Hyder). The Aspen Motor Inn would be home for the evening it was still over 400 miles away- two lane road and raining- it was to be a long ride!

    After stopping in Merritt, we picked up fuel and Hwy 16 West in Prince George, a very nice and large town. Gas mileage was great because of the lower speeds and overall we found gas stations in just about every town we came to. The markings on the roads were so bad our only salvation to staying on the highway was to follow traffic. We did this all the way to Smithers- I was glad to see this town.

    This is where we had another scare and the ride almost was aborted. As we checked into the motel, the clerk asked us where we were going in this bad weather. We told her. She looked at us with concern. Seems there had been a mudslide which covered approximately 1 mile of highway 16 two weeks earlier- it had closed the highway. She just couldn't remember if it was before or after the Highway 37 intersection! The only way into Hyder!!!! So we tried to sleep for a few hours not knowing if we could make it or not.

End of Day 5. We booked 1 state and  registered 7 stops.

Day 6 June 7. Smithers BC to Hyder Ak  to Cache Creek BC. Total miles 891.

The drama continues for the day. While it was sunny, local weather reports indicated a warning of flooding of Hwy 16 due to the Fraizer river. As we moved west we kept a weary eye on her and sure enough we passed several areas where the authorities were adding large rocks to the side of the road to keep it from washing out. We knew we had to get to Hyder and get back (retrace our steps back to Cache Creek ) as soon as possible. We got to Hwy 37 and the road was blocked on the other side!!!!! YES We COULD MAKE IT TO HYDER!!!.

    37 was beautiful! We saw lots of wildlife near the roads. Instead or worrying about deer it was black bear and moose. We saw lots of both and an occasional wolf. As we turned onto 37a we saw two bears sitting in the road. We approached cautiously. They were not eager to move, but did so as we got closer. I had expected them to run off but they just went to the shoulder and stood there watching us! We decided to give them plenty of room and get away from there quickly. We looked at them- they looked at us. I thought this was strange, so I watched them in my mirror-they went back out and sat back down on the road. I guess we interrupted their morning butt warming from the sun! We all had a laugh at that!

     The gourge into Stewart BC and Hyder was breathtaking. We pulled through Stewart and saw the familiar signs welcoming us to Hyder- we did what everyone does- took pictures. When we pulled into Hyder it reminded me of Dodge City in the Gunsmoke series (yes I am pretty old), muddy dirt streets, wood framed buildings ( not more than a dozen), none of were open at 8:30 in the morning. We went on to the Sealaska Inn. our original stop. Not a soul was anywhere around!!!! Now how in the heck are we going to get a receipt?!!! Greg rode back down looking for someone who might give us a hand.  As we waited we saw a truck pull out from behind the Inn. It was Gary Benedict on his way to scrape the road. He had pity on us- opened the bar at the Sealaska and allowed us to purchase bumper stickers for a receipt and the hallowed proof we had been to Hyder. We took some more photos in front of the Inn and headed for home!!

    We fueled up in Stewart and headed south as hard as we could. When we got back to Smithers, we gassed again and headed east. Just as we got out of town there were several emergency crews along with TV trucks up ahead. There were over 20 people feverishly filling and placing sand bags around the road- the Frazier was coming and I am not sure these bags were going to help. We scooted across knowing had we been a few hours longer, we may have had an extended stay in Smithers and our ride would have been over.

    The rest of the day was uneventful except Greg got sick. We had to stop a few times for him to throw up. As eveyone can attest, being sick on the stomach in no fun. Being sick and having to ride a motorcycle is impossible. We finally had to stop in Cache Creek BC. We had 4 more days and we needed to make up 400 miles

Piece of cake! We had this ride just where we wanted it!

End of Day 6. Logged 1 state and registered 6 stops.

Day 7- June 8. Cache Creek BC to Fallon NV 1129 miles.

   Greg was feeling better- we hit the road at daybreak. Straight shot down Hwy 1 to Hwy 11/9 to the border crossing in Sumas WA. Road was beautiful and scenery was great. The border crossing was again quick and it was good to get away from gas costs in Canada (average of $5.65 per gallon -US!) I will not gripe about our prices again!

    We made our way to I-5 south. It was good to get on interstate again. I had been in contact with Max by phone- he had gotten ansy and went on to Las Vegas our next stop (haha). The good thing was- Max could let us know of road conditions. He turned out to be our scout. We booked it on down the highway. Seattle and Olympia WA were fine- traffic was bad but nothing like back east. We picked up Hwy 89  in Ca Mt Shasta. What a wonderful sight with the snow still packed on top. It was hard to watch the road for looking at the mountain!. The road was nice except of a two mile section that was under repair. They had completely torn out the road and we were riding on soft dirt- off roading had nothing on us for this stretch. We plugged on to Susansville CA and then to Reno.

     We stopped for gas in Reno, then headed down Hwy 95 towards Vegas. We decided to stop in Fallon NV for 3 hours of rest. We had cut 100 miles off of our 400 mile shortage.

End of day 7. Logged 3 states and registered 6 stops.

Day 8- June 9.  Fallon NV to Santa Rosa NM. 1265 miles.

    The adrenalin is gone. This morning was my worst. I don't know if it was the blinding sun, the fatigue or a combination of it all. I had enough. As we continued on towards Vegas on 95 I was going to quit. Why beat myself up more? Even if I had to eat crow with my buddie- I could be in Vegas with 3 free nights at the Venetian -in roughly 4 hours and be done with this mess. I told my friends at our gas stop in Tonopah NV that I would ride with them to Vegas- then I was gone. They understood.

Funny thing is- the closer I got to Vegas- the better I felt. By the time we stopped in Vegas for fuel- I had changed my mind. Of course that got a big chuckle from everyone and we hit I-15 heading to Hurricane Utah. We jumped off on Hwy 9 to Hwy 59 to Hwy 389 to 11 and 89 in Page AZ. The  dam and lake in Page were very pretty with plenty of folks enjoying themselves in the 90+ degree heat. We kept moving to Towaoc Co off of HWy 160. Here is where we had our next scary encounter.

    The heat of the day was generating a big storm. We stayed just on the leading edged of it which meant we did not get wet, BUT we had tremendous cross winds! I would guess between 30-40 mph at times. This is not good on two lane roads, especially with no guard rails and some very deep drops and to top if off, being on two wheels. It was all we could do not to get blown into oncoming traffic and off the road. I had hoped when we turned north that this would subside, it only got worst. I was more scared of this than any deer in ND. I figured a deer of the front of my bike was better than me on the front of a Buick! We finally made it to Towaoc CO -and waited for the storm to go by. It did so and we were back on the road heading south to I-40.

    A quick call to Max and he is now in Texas- Dang - we will never catch him! I-40 was, well, boring. Which is not good when you are tired. There was little to keep you awake. We stopped, got sour candy, something to drink but those last 123 miles from Albequerque to Santa Rosa were miserable. I was so glad to see Santa Rosa- We died for 3 hours.

End of day 8, logged 4 states and registered 8 stops.

Day 9- June 10. Santa Rosa NM to Shreveport LA 1051 miles.

We left a daybreak heading east on I-40. Made good time all the way through Texas. As we passed the Big Tex Steakhouse in Amarillo, my tummy growled and my mouth watered. When I planned this ride I actually thought we might get to eat there- how silly of me to think we would eat much of anything! In fact when I got back, I had lost 8 lbs!

We presed on into OK. We jumped on the OKLA Turnpike heading toward Tulsa- the severe storms were upon us- I didn't care- it had been so hot that the rain actually felt good. I was not going to put on rain gear- BAD IDEA. The rain did not stop. I could not get relief until we stopped in Baxter Springs KS. Put on rain gear and headed for Joplin MO  less than 12 miles away. We jumped on Hwy 71 south  which was 4 lanes with traffic and stop lights for awhile before turning into two lane ( not good for this late in the day. Max called and said he was in Monroe LA and had a couple of rooms reserved for us. I thought that was fantastic. However , with the slow traffic and two lanes I was not optimistic. By the time we got to Mansfield AR we discussed our situation. We were 157 miles from Texarkana and another 100 or so miles to Shreveport and another 100 miles or so to Monroe with the miles to Shreveport most all two lane. It was 10:00 pm- no way we would make that motel tonight.

   Highway 71 to Texarkana is probably a beautiful ride in the day time. Riding it at night, in the rain was a dumb choice I made some 6 months earlier. It is very narrow in places very curvy. Rand McNally shows it to be a scenic ride for good reason- you cannot go fast! After 800 miles for the day and rain- I was not looking forward to this. But we got through it. Next time I will jump on I-40 in Fort Smith go to Little Rock- pick up I-30 west and go to Texarkana. More miles but less taxing on a fatigued mind!

     We stopped at a C-store whose pumps were open but the store was closed in Shreveport LA. It was 4 am. We decided to use their sidewalks as an IBA Hotel for a few minutes. We died for 20 minutes. In my subconscious I could hear something that sounded like a two way radio. I opened one eye to see a deputy sheriff looking at the bikes and looking at us.

    I said hello. He saw the trip planner Mic had on his tank bag and asked if we were really doing 49 states in 10 days. I said yes sir. I told him our wives thought we were crazy and he responded that most times he sides with the guys, but in this case, he thought our wives were right. He didn't hassle us, but we knew it was time to move on.

End of day 9. Logged 6 states and registered 11 stops including 4 toll booths.

Day 10 Going HOME!!!!  Shreveport La to Gastonia NC. 978 miles

At the stop in Shreveport we decided that Greg, Mic and Brad would go on when I stopped to meet Max in Monroe. They each had to be at work the next day and wanted to get home as soon as they could. I was going to try and get a couple hours sleep in Max's room and then we would hit the road around 9-10 and have plenty of time to make it.

    At Monroe La exit I waved good bye to them and pulled off. I got there right at 6 am- banged on the door and Max let me in. I felt great and ready to get home- I told Max to get dressed we were going home. I jumped in the shower, and after loading the bikes we headed to Cracker Barrel next door for breakfast. With my first set down meal in 10 days I felt like a new man. We took off heading to Mobile AL. We took Hwy 49 in Jackson MS- a nice 4 lane road. And hit I-59 S to Hwy 98 E to I-65 N in Mobile. It got hot in a hurry. Because 98 E does not have a from I-59 S it required us to go down to the next exit and turn aound- this seemed strange but was one of those moments when you have to completely trust the GPS- I did and it worked out.

    Because we had gotten on the road early I figured the others couldn't be too far ahead of us- It was now 11 am and I called Greg. Boy did I get a surprise! They had decided to get off in Hattiesburg MS and rest. They had just gotten up. We were ahead of them! After a good bit of ragging them on my part Max and I pulled into Walnut Hill FL at the Piggly Wiggly for some refreshments and the prized receipt for Florida- we went back up Hwy 113 and got gas in Atmore Al. Two states in less than 2 miles- I like that!

    I called back to Greg to advise him of the Piggly Wiggly which would save some time. They had not left yet! But for the right reasons. They had loaded their bikes and during the pre- ride inspection- Mic noticed his back tire had worn through to the cords- they were lucky and found a place to change it out for them. This put them 2.5 hours behind us. They would have time to finish the ride, but could not afford any more delays.

We kept moving north. Nothing like the heat and humidity of the south to make you look hard for a Dairy Queen. With the bike registering 98 degrees, a blizzard from DQ was calling. We answered the call in Hope Hull Al off of I-65 south of Montgomery. It was good and what we needed to recharge for the trip through Atlanta. We picked up I 85 N in Montgomery- this would lead us all the way to NC (HOME!) It was exciting!!!!!! We had expected a rough time with traffic in Atlanta, but it was not. It was busy but moving at posted speed or better all the way thru. Plus we were able to time our gas stops so we only needed one in GA and one in SC.

    Max and I split up after our gas stop in Greenville SC- he was only 1.5 hours from his home in Canton NC from there. I still had 4 hours to mine in Summerfield NC. Just before we left Greenville, guess what? It started raining again!!! After being rained on all the way to the state line and listening to weather reports I decided to end my ride in Gastonia NC and get a motel room.

    I stopped at the Petro Express on N. Chester RD in Gastonia. Got my receipt which stated 12:01 am. I thought the marching band and the mayor would come out to welcome me from my long trip! It didn't happen. As I looked at my receipt for all the correct data- It hit me that I was finally finished! A proud but bitterweet moment.

     I had started this trip with 4 friends- I ended it by myself. The battery on my phone had died and I couldn't even call anyone to share in my joy and relief to be finished.
    I proceeded to check in the Holiday Inn Express and called my wife who had been worrying since my cell had quit. I also called Greg and found out they should arrive in NC around 4:30 am with 1.5 hours to spare. I offered them to room with me- but they decided to move on.

End of Day 10 logged 6 states and registered 8 stops- not  a stinking one of them was for a toll !!!

Total trip Logged 49 states plus Canada,

registered 94 stops (including all tolls)

And officially per odometer went 10,790 miles- Harlan KY to Gastonia NC.(From my house and back I went 11,124 miles)

Total time: 9 days 18 hours and 4 minutes.

Things I learned and would do differently.

1. Including out and back(a round trip is hard especially with so much two lane road). I definately would hit the Interstate in Vermont and Arkansas sooner even if it means more miles. The mental fatigue of weather and night time riding curvy roads is not worth the shorter way.

    Plus keep in mind this in not a pleasure- look at the sights kind of ride.

2. Stay focused. The longer your gas stops- the less sleep time you have. We got better at this about the 3rd day.

3 Communication- my CB went out during the first day- it was terrible in that while the route was in the GPS's I had the route in my head and as events dictated I was not able to pass along or receive info from the others- that hurt us. Plus there are times when chatter back and forth really helps keep you awake.

There are others I am sure I will remember and add to this. Also if any of you have any thoughts in making a 48 plus more "doable" please add them.

    In closing let me say I am proud of the 5 of us doing this ride.So many had said a group this large cannot get it done- we did. The sense of accomplishment  is wonderful. I thank my family for putting up with me while planning this thing and my friends and family for their prayers whiled we were riding- I am sure those prayers got us through some "unique situations". We made memories to last a lifetime- our friendships were bonded even tighter by doing this ride. I know you folks,  IBA family,  understand what I am talking about. There is nothing like it.

Thanks for reading this- sorry for the spelling errors and the length. I appreciate any feedback you give.

A 48 Plus FINISHER!

Guy

Posted: 23 June 2007 at 11:04am | IP Logged

+2

I don't know what to say other that I am in AWE!! What an accomplishment; you and friends have every right to be proud.

Excellent writeup as well.