The Grand Tour

The movie The Bucket List  with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nickolson came out in 2007.  It was about a couple of old guys who were diagnosed with a terminal illness and then decided to make a list of things they wanted to do before they "kicked the bucket".  Well, I have not been diagnosed with a terminal illness, but I did turn 70 this year and I definitely have some symptoms of old age.  So, I've come up with my own bucket list, and top of the list is a motorcycle ride across the country.  There are some famous roads that I have read about, i.e., "Good Roads", in Tennessee and North Carolina that I want to experience and compare with the really good roads available on the West Coast.   Turning 70,  it really hit home that there is a limited time left to "get 'er done", because the physical capability to ride day after day for thousands of miles is waining.  For some of my friends it is already gone, and I'm not positive that I can do it either.

But I'm going to try, and I expect to have a lot of fun. 

On Sunday Sept 25th, I'm leaving for a month-long, 8,000 miles ride to the East Coast area and back.  The ride has some breaks in it; I will be visiting family in St. Louis, and attending Carolyn's mother's 90th birthday in Tennessee (Carolyn is flying back).  Still, there should be about 22 days of riding of between 300 and 500 miles per day.  That may not sound like a lot of miles for those of you used to traveling on freeways in heated and air-conditioned cars, but on a bike, in all kinds of weather with wind buffeting all day long and nobody to spell you for awhile in the driving, it can feel like a lot of miles.  Also, I will be looking for the Good Roads, which do not included freeways, so the average speed is usually quite a bit slower.  One advantage, though, is that even though I may get tired, I don't ever have a problem staying awake.

There will be some advantages to going at this time of the year.  The major heat waves should be over, summer vacation traffic should be done with, highway repairs will be winding down, and hopefully Indian summer will mean lots of dry days.  There are some disadvantages also; mainly short days and looking into a low sun during east/west travel.  I don't ride at night, so I will have to get the miles in during about 12 hours maximum.  Also, I expect it to be cold in the mornings, especially heading north toward home in late October. 

I plan to keep up this blog during the trip.  In fact, the blog was set up by my daughter Karen, just so that I could keep family and friends informed of my progress.  Karen was also kind enough to give me a small netbook computer that she no longer used, and the posts I have made so far were meant to be  practice for the trip in using the computer, posting pictures and videos, and writing the blog.  Turns out, I've had a lot of fun doing it.  I hope others are having some fun reading it.