“So, I’d really like to get together soon to discuss how you can help me out on my Endless Road Tour. Do you want to get together for dinner? Are you local this week or are you at the Rally in Missouri?”
The 40th International Rally was held in Missouri this past week for riders of a particular brand of motorcycle. I’m not going to tell you which brand, but they are probably the only brand where 99% of all the attendees rode from all over the country to the rally, and about 20% had to be towed home; well that’s really not fair to say, only the models with shaft drives need to be towed!
“Not going to the national. In Carlisle this week.”
“Could I interest you in dinner one night this week? I could meet you near Carlisle, what time are you there till?
“I’m in a Days Inn in Horsham, PA tonight and tomorrow.
Wed- Sat I’m in a Residence Inn in Carlisle. We work until 5:30 or so. Dinner would be fine, pick a night.”
So went the emails, and I planned on meeting up with my friend on Thursday after work in Carlisle, Carlisle, MA.
Wednesday night I try to find the hotel in Carlisle where I was to meet up with my friend after work the next day, and I can’t seem to find it. I email him back one last time about 10:00 pm, and he replies,
I’m in Carlisle PENSYLVANNIA!
Ok, so 30 miles after work turned into 500 each way, but what the hell, I’m supposed to be putting on some miles! Thank God I had just downloaded a new CD by a fellow Ironbutt finisher, Dennis Kesseler. His all instrumental album called “Something Left Undone” was just the thing I needed to soothe my brain as I was melting onto the pavement, stopped in traffic, on the George Washington Bridge, watching my low fuel light mock me for twenty minutes. By the time I finally made it to Carlisle PA, I had memorized all the words of every song. I prayed there would be Karaoke at the hotel.
I made it to Carlisle and test rode a Yamaha Super Tenere (pronounced SOUP-ER), a brand new model, 1200cc twin cylinder adventure touring bike. It was a great test ride, we rode about 25 miles or so, and I felt very comfortable aboard. It handled excellent, and had great wind protection. The motor pulled great and shifted very well. Yamahas have been very bullet-proof lately, and sometimes people do shoot at strangers. Hmmm, would it be a great choice for a million miles? Would it be a good choice for me? Very possible!
So we wrap it up at the fairgrounds and go out to dinner. We take the car. I’m glad to sit and talk with two riders, both New England friends who had a lot of advice for me, and offers of help. That was why I rode down to see them. Even though it had been years since I had been part of the Iron butt organization, the bond between riders who have accomplished finishing the IBR is very strong. Thanks Guys!
After dinner we tried to buy a six pack of beer to take back to our room to continue our discussion. In Pennsylvania, It is apparently difficult to purchase beer, and the only place we could buy “take-home beer” was a drive-through distributorship. There was only one in town. We found it, a warehouse, where you literally have to drive your car through the building, and we see two guys tossing cases of beer into cars and trucks in front of us. We were like three kids at a carnival, and excited when our time to order came up.
“A six pack of Stella please”
“Sorry, we only sell cases”
“Really, that’s odd”
“Sir, it’s a Pennsylvania State LAW, we have to sell you a case or more”
My friend then asks if they can open all of them for us, and we all laugh. He then asked if there was a record for the shortest time someone had purchased a case of beer, got back in line, and returned with all the empties for the deposits. They were trying to move us along, we were holding up the guy on the bicycle behind us as well as the line out the back of the building.
They were even less amused when I mentioned as we were driving away with our case of Stella,
“We will be back when we turn 18!”
I rode home the next day in the rain, but it was nice and cool. My home-waterproofed cheap GPS drowned and short circuited, so broke out the spare. I try to carry two of anything I really can not ride without. Unfortunately with short term memory issues, A GPS is not a luxury item for me.
About 2,000 miles so far, lots more to go, lots more to see, lots more to do. Still trying to decide on what bikes to ride, gear to use and roads to travel. The key to learning is education. Here is what I have learned this trip:
Mind your MA’s and PA’s.
Buy in bulk, but drink responsibly.
And It’s ok to leave somethings undone. (Like the 21 cold Stella beers in room 221)
– Longhaulpaul
If you ever feel like coming down to Alabama, Ring me up and I’ll bring you a six pack to your Hotel! When do you think you will be picking out a bike? What is BMW or Honda waiting for? They could have a great story here, do they not think their bikes could go the distance?
I couldn’t believe your GPS routed you over the George Washington Bridge until I Googled the route. Google didn’t even have the sense to use the Tappan Zee Bridge as one of their alternates.
Well, the problem is I am using a Nuvi amateur model dipped in shoe-goo, and it is almost impossible to zoom out and see where I am going. The zoom buttons are too small and tapping them frequently changes the screen to the pan mode. Very frustrating. Also when you zoom out, it automatically starts to zoom back in. Garmin will no longer service my old Streetpilot 2820 model. I really miss it. I rerouted at one point and forgot to put in the detour of Scranton PA, and was rolling along before I realized what I did. I really blame Dennis Kesseler and his hypnotic cd I was enjoying.
I ‘m glad to hear you didn’t head to Carlisle South Carolina!