It's a wrap! Boone to Cary, NC

Well, after 7,827 miles and 51 days on the road, I have arrived home!  It has been a wonderful time visiting friends, seeing new places.  Some days I did 400 miles and other days I did 120 miles but mostly I did 250-300 miles.  Weather dictated the ride with heat the prevailing problem.  I only had rain on one day and that was the ride from London to Boone, NC.  I/we put on rain gear a couple of times but it didn't rain.  Other than heat the most difficult issue to address was the serious cross winds.  I returned home with significant pain in my rib cage due to fighting the crosswinds.  I experienced this the last time when I crossed Kansas and it took a couple of weeks to go away.

I have washed Waldo and will wax him in the coming days.  He is also due for an oil/filter change which i will do this week.  Mechanically the bike was solid and the tires seem to have another 7,000 miles left on them.

No, I didn't get attacked by gangs or indians on this trip.  I found all the people that I encountered welcoming and curious about where I was going by my self.  I only had 2 near misses with one being the box truck on I-20 going across Louisiana that ran me off the road.  I saw it coming because I saw a motorcycle on the side of the road to the right with the rider standing there drink from a water bottle.  I knew that most people move away from vehicles on the side of the road so I had scoped out my exit.  I rode a bit on the left side of the rumble strip in the passing lane until the driver realized I was there.  The second near miss was the FedEx truck tire tread that flew by my right shoulder.  That could have been bad because that would have gone through the windshield had it hit me.  But again, all clear.

My thanks to my many friends that took me in and fed me.  My friends have always been very special to me.  I am very lucky to have my health, and energy to do stupid things like this.  I encourage everyone to go out and see this country of ours.  It is so diverse and beautiful. 

I have riden in 46 of the lower 48 States.  It looks like I will have to fly into Las Vegas and rent a motorcycle to ride in California and Nevada.  Then the lower 48 by motorcycle will be complete.  That still leaves Alaska as a teaser.  Will I do it next year?

London to Boone 7/20

 As the crow flies this route was only around 170 miles but allowing for the twisties and detour it was 220 miles.  A fun route that I started on at 7 am since the temperature would be in the high 70’s for most of it.  

A word of warning to those traveling this route through Middlesboro.  A friend of mine got a ticket there passing through the tunnel, east to west, and it was obvious that this was a revenue generator for the town.  As you enter the tunnel from the east it is 45 mph and the second you exit it’s 35 mph.  There were 3 officers surrounding this speed trap, 2 on the west side and one on my route.  I stayed well below the speed limit.

I was originally going to travel the Mount Gilead route coming into Boone from the north but on a beautiful winding road.  Shortly after I entered TN, then VA, my gps said it was rerouting me due to a closed road.  Instead it sent me more southerly to come into NC through the Banner Elk Highway.  I have done both routes so it really didn’t matter to me,  both are fun on a motorcycle and beautiful.

This is my last night on the road.  It will be hot and muggy on the road to Cary so in the morning I will be leaving very early for the short ride home.  I am a little sad the trip is coming to an end but glad to be getting home.