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Old July 2nd, 2014, 09:05 PM   #3
NevadaWolf
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Name: Teri
Location: 39°52'40.7"N 118°23'53.8"W (Northern NV)
Join Date: Jun 2012

Motorcycle(s): 2012 Ninja 250, 102k+ miles -- 2014 CB500X, 42k+ miles

Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 16
MOTM Jul '13, Jul '14
Monday June 16 2014: Eastbound Day 1

Mileage: 1173 miles
Time: 20:43 (4:35am-1:18am PDT)
Moving: 17:19
Stopped: 3:23

Moving Average: 68 mph


Day one! Here we go!

Woke up in time to pack the bike up, check everything one last time, and then wait as my witness rolled in at 4:30. I was given an escort to the beach where I collected my sand and water samples from the Pacific Ocean. It's not required but it's tradition. The spirit of the ride is to go from coast to coast, so get out in the water!


-Photo by David Stoler

5 o'clock in the morning (PDT), found me at the gas station, thanking my ride witness and soon the receipt was in hand! I had 50 hours before I needed to be in Jacksonville, FL. The road leading to I-8 suddenly seemed very large.

Luckily, there was no traffic and soon my escort peeled off to head back home. He gave a friendly wave as I continued out of San Diego and towards Arizona. The nice thing about this section of road is I had done it before a few times as one of my customers is in El Centro. I was familiar enough that it wasn't setting off into the unknown right out of the gate. And of course the twisty section coming down into Ocotillo I had to take at full speed! WOW! I think I have a new section of favorite road. Once into Imperial Valley, the road leveled off and it became a normal interstate.

Pulling into Arizona in the early morning meant that there was little traffic in Yuma and I was able to slip through easily. I passed a different type of desert than I am used to, surrounded by Saguaro cacti that were standing like sentinels along the highway. They do look oddly like weird people with their arms held upward towards the sun. Made it to Tucson before I decided to grab lunch to try to beat the heat that was suddenly getting to me. I knew I would be riding through the hottest part of the day here so was bundled up against the heat with my ice water readily available and the LD Comfort sleeves kept soaked. I also got my H-D vest wet to try to help keep me cool and after I left town, I was cool and comfortable.

BTW Arizona, it would be really nice to let travelers know that one can turn on a red from the inside lane - rather than me getting beeped at by about 15 angry drivers.

The bike was running well as I pulled into New Mexico. The only trouble spots was the intense wind that was ripping through the region and threatening to unleash the huge haboobs that plague this area. I was constantly watching flags to see which way the wind was blowing and scanning the horizon in hopes of being alerted to the storm before it blanketed the interstate. All the traffic alerts were being broadcast on AM and I only have an FM radio. Hummm. Seems though that this storm was to let me by with no issues and I found myself filling up in Deming with no troubles.

Ah, now I enter Texas. Just one thing to say here - HOLY SMOKES THIS STATE IS HUGE! :sings: This is the state that never ends! It goes on and on my friends. LOL

I arrived in El Paso just as traffic was building. Concerned as to what was going on, I glanced at my clock and realized the time zone had changed and I was right in the middle of rush hour. Ah well. This would be the first time I got stuck in traffic on this ride. It was moving along slowly, but we were moving. I kept sucking down the water I had with me and took advantage of hiding in the shade of semi trucks when I came along side them. Survived my first real rush hour experience and it was back on the road and up to speed for me.... *sputter... sputter...die* ACK!! WTH?!?! Pulled into a gas station immediately and filled up, but only put in two gallons. OMG THE DAMN CA EMISSIONS CANISTER IS FULL OF GAS AGAIN! *growl* This suddenly put a damper on my range, as instead of being able to comfortably make the 160 mile avg, I was now down to about 80-100 miles before the bike would sputter and die along side the road. She'd start up again, maybe, but I did not feel like pushing it. I continued along, adjusting my scheduled stops to the new routine, and watched as Texas rolled by with the day starting to wind down. I made it as far as Junction before I got to sleepy to continue and pulled into their Motel 6. Hey, wow, another IBA rider was just leaving as I was checking it. Cool!



I didn't make it as far as planned but relooking at the schedule, I made it a good distance for the first day.




Tuesday June 17 2014: Eastbound Day 2

Mileage 1238 miles
Time: 22:45 (5:45am-4:30am PDT)
Moving: 19:09
Stopped: 3:35

Moving Average: 65 mph

Alright, day two. Rested, fueled up, and ready to go! I had to get through San Antonio without trouble and then hope that I could make it through Houston without too much delay. San Antonio turned out to be easier than expected thanks massively to two LD helpers who gave me the fast route through the city. Take I-10 straight in to I-35, then turn north till I-410, head south again to I-10. That was fantastically easy and I only got stupidly lost due to following a sign that read HOUSTON ST vs just plain ol HOUSTON. oops. Continued my way east, admiring the landscape, and doing my best to just continue moving. Looking at my clock, I thought I would make Houston while the HOV lanes were open to me, but then once again realized the time difference and entered around noon. Thankfully the traffic was moving steadily and I never really got hung up through the city. Before long, I found myself rolling into Louisiana. Whoo hoo!

I did manage to see my first real armadillo, two in fact. Sadly they were upside down roadkill.

I have realized I watched way to many episodes of Supernatural as when I pulled into Crowley, LA, my brain had a wicked time making up fanfic for the show. My LD mentor, helper, friend (much more on him later) called just around Lafayette to check in and see how things were going. He knew what the second day was like and the mental state that comes along with questioning whether or not this ride is possible. His pep talk really helped cheer me up as I had begun to doubt if I would make it in time. I ended up talking to him all through the city and completely forgot that I needed to get fuel! Oops... where's the next gas station? I described what I was seeing, a long straight bridge surrounded by trees and a river in between the east and west bound lanes. He found me a little station up ahead where I squeaked in just in time and filled up a hungry bike. I was admiring the landscape out here, enjoying seeing something different than I am used to. Lots of water, lakes, and rivers, with a massive amount of greenery around. It was surreal. However, I also began noticing an alarming increase in traffic. It backed up quickly and soon I was at a dead stop outside Baton Rouge. My plan had been to take I-12 to cut off the distance/time of going to New Orleans, and it was appearing as if everyone else had the same idea. Though soon, as I sat and watched the locals, I began to see a method to the madness of jumping out into the outside lane. They were all sneaking ahead of the pack and cutting into the exit at the last minute. Well heck, I can do that. I built some confidence by watching them for awhile before attempting similar moves and gained a whole new level of appreciation for the nimble little bike. BWHAHAHA I pass all you cagers! And quickly found the cause of the back up, a major accident just after the on ramp.

Once past that bottleneck, I had clear sailing all the way to Mississippi and Alabama. It was now night so didn't see too much of MS, but entering Mobile was a beautiful sight with the buildings all lit up with different colors. I followed a detour off I-10 to locate gas and ended up winding all over the city by mistake, eventually making it out onto a bridge that was not the interstate. I did have a fantastic view of the USS Alabama shining brightly in the dark.

The fun part of this trip was I had also done this stretch before thanks to a conference in Florida. I knew the road, I knew where to go, and I went. I passed signs for Ponce de Leon Springs and the Florida Caverns and recalled my prior trips to those state parks. I was now three hours ahead of those calling to check in with me and my friend had called in to see how things were going. Since it was dark, I would describe what I could see and he would tell me what I was passing that I would have been able to see in the day. Time passed and we just kept on chatting as I rode on. Suddenly I noticed that the tops of the trees were a bit more visible than they had been. Checking the clock, at first I assumed that the city was lighting up the sky. But it was blue, not orange. I was entering Jacksonville as the dawn was beginning to color the sky. I immediately had a new goal - get to the beach by sun rise! Navigating my way through town following the instructions given to me by my local witness, I rode out to the 24 hour station and got my ending receipt. But with the sun rising I had no time to stall. Wrote down the necessary info and I was off. The roads were empty as I pulled into 16th Ave and grabbed my camera - just in time for the sun to break through the clouds and illuminate the Atlantic Ocean.












I had done it. 46 hours after I left San Diego I was now standing on the beach and collecting my little sample of sand and water. WHOO HOOO!



Link to original page on YouTube.

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