The trip concluded just short of one week ago. It seems like it was months ago, yet I haven't even opened the bags to remove the goods that I carried with me. I've had time to reflect on the trip and have answered countless questions from those who followed along on the blog. Many have asked my opinion on the best part and the worst part. These are very difficult questions. How does one define best? Most beautiful sights? Best ride? Most fun? LIkewise, worst. Most uncomfortable? Most boring? Picking such parameters is hard. You see and experience things from the seat of a motorcycle that you don't when enclosed in a car. To try to address the questions, though, I'd have to say that riding through New England, in particular, Vermont, New Hampshire, and eastern Connecticut, presented the best combination of riding, beauty and just pure enjoyment. Worst part is pretty easy, come to think of it. The hours spent traveling through western Oklahoma were without doubt the least enjoyable part. The temperature was 108 degrees, the wind (hot) was relentless, and the scenery was about as unexciting as it gets. Yet the experience was awesome.
Herm, although having accumulated more dirt than TMZ, came through like a champ. Not a single malfunction, less the necessary tire replacement. I was never uncomfortable despite riding up to 17 hours and up to 800 miles in a day. The Road Glide is a beautiful machine and it made the trip surprisingly easy. The folks at Harley are to be congratulated for giving us such a well designed, reliable machine. I doubt that I'll ever find a better bike.
In sum, it was an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind experience. If someone else (or I) did the exact same route tomorrow the experience would be completely different. I hope that I was able to impart some of my experience to those who followed along on this blog. To those who offered encouragement and thanks and just plain fun comments, I thank you. It meant a lot to me. I hope that others might be encouraged to undertake such a challenge. Thanks for being part of the experience!
The Numbers
Herm, although having accumulated more dirt than TMZ, came through like a champ. Not a single malfunction, less the necessary tire replacement. I was never uncomfortable despite riding up to 17 hours and up to 800 miles in a day. The Road Glide is a beautiful machine and it made the trip surprisingly easy. The folks at Harley are to be congratulated for giving us such a well designed, reliable machine. I doubt that I'll ever find a better bike.
In sum, it was an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind experience. If someone else (or I) did the exact same route tomorrow the experience would be completely different. I hope that I was able to impart some of my experience to those who followed along on this blog. To those who offered encouragement and thanks and just plain fun comments, I thank you. It meant a lot to me. I hope that others might be encouraged to undertake such a challenge. Thanks for being part of the experience!
The Numbers
- Miles traveled: 10,482
- Crashes seen: 5
- Fuel stops: 72
- Signs reading "Left Lane Closed 1/2 Mile Ahead": 87
- Bugs killed: 569,243 (I counted them all)
- Layers of skin peeled off of nose: 9
- Deer spotted: 27
- Live deer spotted: 3
- Rainbows seen: 4
- Great experiences: infinite
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