A destination is all that is needed for a great bike ride. It’s even better when, for business or personal reasons, you have to be someplace beautiful and a long way away from your safe and warm garage. This past May my son was graduating from Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Orlando, Florida. I live in Connecticut. Connecticut to Florida? A natural.
But how do you begin? How do you plan? Maps, Internet, books with others’ suggestions? I’m not one of those planning types. Call me quirky, but to me a trip is when you pack, get on the bike and go. In this case---South.
For starters, it was grim, cloudy and windy, on the morning I left. Not a comforting beginning---having breakfast at my regular Java joint in Monroe, CT, but grim has been the meteorological norm in New England this year. A short blustery, chilly hop through NYand NJ to spend most of the day in PA, on their gorgeous back roads, this time choosing different roads from the ones previously ridden, but always obeying the cardinal rule: Stop and ask the locals. It's their backyard, and if given an explanation of what you're looking for, they are the best sources of information as to which routes to take. It’s all about the sightseeing, isn’t it? Occasionally, a six-lane Highway, covered with Shopping Malls is their sense of beauty, usually in the younger locals. So, make sure you ask their elders. They have traveled and, to many of them, a giant rest stop with twelve tour buses and a Denny’s is not beautiful. They send you where gorgeous grows.
A trip is a series of images etched on your memory. Glimpses caught between glances from the windy switchbacks ahead---Lancaster, the Amish, admiring how the old rustic beauty mixes with the new. York with it's Motorcycle Industry, Gettysburg with it's Historic past, the ghosts who seem to parade in long ranks every Summer Sunset. Photographs? I respect the Privacy of the Amish, will not photograph a building with a vehicle parked in front that wasn't of the era, and, besides, getting out the camera would have slowed me down considerably. The images are still fresh in my mind, they will suffice for this trip.
A short hop through MD,and WV, with overcast skies and thunderstorms in the background, resting in Winchester, VA.
A new day. A hearty breakfast, and, of course, the usual questions. I reached one of motorcycling's truly great roads, Skyline Drive, and the Blue Ridge Parkway within a few miles.
These have been and probably will continue to be written about for many years to come. A 1997 Honda A.C.E.1100, with far too many miles on its odometer, is more suitable for a nice leisurely ride above the lingering clouds, but during the 76 miles of curves and hills of the southern portion of the Skyline Drive the 1100 shed its cruiser skin and became a twisty little sport bike.
Knowing your bike and your riding capabilities is a must. No room to negotiate on either. Riding solo, and if careless, a minor runoff could be disastrous. Even a simple breakdown, can be exasperating. Fortunately, with over 60,000 miles on this bike, I know it well. Altitudes played havoc with the carburetion, I knew what needed to be done. Do Not attempt a trip of this nature or length if you lack either skill. Cell phone service, forget it----Parts? Repair shops? Not likely for miles.
All done, and only one half hour of rain in three installments. Mother Nature allowed me to reach my old friend’s house in North Carolina. North Carolina rightly boasts breathtaking roads through the mountains, and honey-baked weather while my friend introduced me to the sights---featuring the birthplace of one of America and NASCAR’s most beloved drivers, Dale Earnhardt Sr. Freedom, Friendship, History, Adrenalin, Grease, permeated the air, right along with the local cuisine, and a Java stop. All the reasons, I enjoy riding.
With my son's Graduation looming, I chose to forgo, for now, the beauty, scenery, and history that South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida have to offer, to join my family in Orlando. Arriving tanned, relaxed, and safe, to a family that understands my love of adventure on a motorcycle is something to be cherished, and held on to. Does it it get any better than this? I Love them.
