Back home!

The photos here are Doc, me, and James Jones (JJ) after our arrival in Phoenix. Rich, Doc and I are also pictured with the American Legion National Commander, Marty Conatser, during our check presentation from the Northern Virginia Legion Riders of $3,625 to the Legacy Fund.

The last photo is the group of bikes that made it to the Phoenix Fox News studio on Friday morning for an interview session with the National Commander.

Thank you to everyone for even caring about this effort. Here are a few numbers:

Money raised by American Legion Riders for the Legacy Fund: $515,346.23
Number of days I spent on the bike: 17
Number of miles ridden: 5,310

I got back to the house around 11 am today. There was a different feel to the ride today: many more cars and fewer trucks, lots of families at fuel stops. It definitely looked like a holiday weekend!

No events and a pretty ride home for the last few hundred miles of the trip. I know that I am biased, but Virginia is downright beautiful - particularly the ride up I-81 and the Shenandoah Valley.

Who knows what next year will bring, but the Legacy Ride will take again place - and it will also be a different experience from this year's effort. The National Convention next year is in Louisville, which is only a short ride from the Legion Headquarters in Indianapolis, so there is some planning going on that will offer Legion Riders a longer run that still ends at the National Convention.

Here are some of the other blog links:

Doc Shaw's blog: www.2008legacyrun.blogspot.com
Official Legion blogger: www.legacyrun.blogspot.com
Another blog from a Kansas couple on a Honda Goldwing: http://chrisk153.blogspot.com/

This is the link from the Phoenix local FOX News affiliate morning show that featured the American Legion Riders on their Morning Show:
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=AC43B998D332531D6E89F17C79E7B779?contentId=7265282&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

Thank you again to everyone. I would really like to express my love and appreciation to Maryann for her support and understanding. She undoubtedly had a different plan for how to spend our summer vacation time - and also to Matt, who stayed home with her during this time.

This was a BLAST!

Mike

Virginia!!

Almost made it home tonight. I am in Roanoke, Virginia - about 200 miles from home.

I did about 540 miles today in 10 hours. I was pushing to get home but it got dark and, frankly, I was way uncomfortable in the seat by about 7 pm. ( I also lost the hour crossing into the Eastern Time Zone.)

The Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee were beautiful, and I made a brief lunch stop near Gatlinburg. I was briefly tempted to go visit Dollywood, but the urge soon passed. It was fun to drive through Nashville, but Knoxville is a complete mess with I-40 closed down and a detour that goes around the city. I hit it after rush hour, so it was not much of a delay.

Fortunately, the Weather Channel "experts" proved to be completely wrong and the weather was beautiful all day. How do they keep their jobs?

After passing through 12 states I must say that one of the most beautiful places I've ridden was in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, near Pulaski County and Radford. After all of that, some of the best riding is in your own backyard.

I should be home tomorrow morning!

Mike

Tennessee and just trying to make it home!

Hi to everyone, and thank you for your comments and encouragement.

Tonight I am just outside of Nashville, TN in a small town called Hurricane Mills. Apparently, Loretta Lynn is a big deal around here. Her picture is everywhere.

I did about 500 miles today, most of it through Arkansas. In all fairness I must say that I found Arkansas beautiful. In my experience poor Arkansas has been the butt of jokes about hillbillys and Hill and Bill. (see? I can be clever ....)

The state was all green with many farms, and I was just impressed with the beauty of the place.

It was exciting to once again pass over the mighty Mississippi and see the "Welcome To Tennessee" sign. The ride today was again great, with wonderful weather and much sunshine. There was one brief afternoon shower, but nothing serious.

I did have one incident that was a little more exciting than I prefer. I was passing a cement truck on I-30 in Arkansas. He was doing about 75 and I was going just a bit faster. I passed on his left, and just about as I pulled up to his cab I heard this very loud bang - and I was wearing earplugs. The truck suddenly veered away from me. In my side mirror I could see a large part of his tire in the middle of the right lane, and there was a lot of smoke. He pulled off the road.

I said a quick thank you to God that I was not still behind him and setting up to pass, and that the tire failure happened on his right side and not his left. There was very heavy truck traffic all day, and I was careful to not get caught for any extended periods of time either behind or next to any of them.

I've been watching the ol' Weather Channel tonight (over the past few weeks that has become my favorite channel), and it looks like the honeymoon is over.

According to the weather folks, it looks like rain throughout most of Tennessee and all of Virginia tomorrow. Of course they are notorious liars, so maybe I'll luck out!

I am 726 miles from home. That may be a bit much to tackle in one day - and in the rain - but when I finally get back to Virginia I will not want to stop. Right now, I am a little over 4,300 miles.

For those of you folks in the Pentagon, thank you for doing what you do and permitting me this much time free. If I get back and my seat is gone, I'll get the message....

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Mike

We did it! $515,346.23

I just learned that the Legion Riders have a final total.

Our goal was to match last year's $350,000. However, we raised $515,346.23 this year! They announced the final amount at the American Legion convention yesterday.

Thank you to everyone who helped support this effort. When the American Legion pledged to provide this fund, it was estimated that we'd need about $20m to provide college scholarships to all of the children whose parent have died in combat since 9-11. Much of that expenditure was 10 or even 20 years away.

In three years we have raised almost $1.5 million dollars - and it has come from donations as small as $5 from a trucker who asked us at a rest stop what we were doing. He was struggling with the price of diesel, but he asked us to accept $5. We donated it at the next night's stop.

Throughout the year, the Northern Virginia American Legion Riders raise money through the sale of food at various events (Sully Plantation, HOG, and holiday events at the Post). It represents a lot of hard work by some dedicated people. Fortunately, my company - SMS - also made a large conribution that helped us out this year, and it almost doubled what we had worked for all year. Thank you.

Mike

Arkansas!

I am in Hope, Arkansas tonight. I had a little maintenance issue that delayed me most of the day, but I did find a nice dealership in Denton, Texas!

No pictures from today. I was just riding as fast as legally allowed! - and playing games with a lot of trucks today, for some reason.

Arkansas is green and beautiful, but I had to dodge a number of late afternoon thunderstorms - and got hit by two of them - but not too badly.

From my limited perspective of Hope, it is not exactly a thriving kind of town. They are real proud of their link to Bill Clinton, however, with signs everywhere proclaiming that he was born here.

Heading through Arkansas and into Tennessee tomorrow. I am going to get an early start because I have some time to make up. The weather looks pretty good, but whatever it is...it is!

Thanks for your comments!

Mike

Central Texas

We left Midland, TX early this morning and headed east.

The landscape changed dramatically the further we went. There were many oil wells around Midland, and most of the businesses seemed to be involved in oil production and transportation. The land was dry, flat and covered in low brush.

We passed a very large refinery on I-20. The smell reminded me of North Jersey...!

When we reached Sweetwater, Texas there were farms and rolling hills. The most unusual thing, however, was hundreds - maybe thousands - of giant windmills. I don't know if they belong to ol' T. Boone Pickens or what, but they were everywhere. They are also very ugly.

Doc and I spit up and went our own ways around noon.

I took a detour north to avoid the main Dallas - Fort Worth area, and cut up through Eastland, Breckenridge, Graham, and Jacksboro, TX. They are very interesting little towns. There is an old Army Cavalry post just outside of Jacksboro called Fort Richardson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Richardson,_Texas) and I have a few shots of those.

Made it as far as Denton, TX tonight, and will head into Arkansas tomorrow.

Mike

Day 12 - West Texas

Doc and I headed out of Las Cruces early this morning and headed to El Paso to visit Barnett's Harley-Davidson - the largest HD dealer in the world - or so they claim.

It was pretty impressive. While there, Doc noticed that he had lost the main bolt holding on his front engine guard. He got another bolt and nut there, and we fixed it in the parking lot.

The ride from Las Cruces to El Paso was beautiful, and I was surprised by the amount of greenery and farming. There were lots of orchards. The sharp mountains were also impressive.

El Paso was a crowded city and I was not sorry to leave the traffic behind.

Now, West Texas was another matter.

We had been through Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona, and the deserts of both. With all due respect to our Texas friends, West Texas just seems like a waste of space.

We rolled along the Mexico border, then turned towards Pecos and Odessa. We left the mountains behind around Pecos, and then everything got FLAT and DUSTY. We stopped in a small town called Sierra Blanca, which seemed to have died. Every store, gas station, restaurant and hotel in the "main" part of town was closed and boarded and falling apart. There was one gas station/store and small cafe.

Pecos was pretty much a disappointment. I am not sure what I expected, but I imagined a thriving cowboy town. Pecos was also dying. On the main intersection in town, all four gas stations were closed. We looked for a 'mom & pop' cafe, but we could only find one Pizza Hut and the Flying J truck stop. All of the other restaurants and cafes were closed and gone. We found a nice museum in Pecos, but we did not have time to stop. I wanted to see something related to Judge Roy Bean, but I found out that his museum is way South in Del Rio and Langtry, TX on the Mexico border.

I really wanted to make a stop in Odessa, TX to see Permian high school, home of the famed "Friday Night Lights" story, movie and TV show. I found the school and spoke with a teacher there, who directed me to the football field. The field is about a mile away in farm fields. It is a huge stadium, bigger than many college fields, with enormous parking lots. I could hear the football team practicing, but I could not enter the lots.

We are now in Midland, TX, which is oil country. This is a large town (as was Odessa, which was also thriving). From my limited perspective, Odessa, Midland and all around here is about the oil business.

Tomorrow, I plan to meet an old Army buddy who is a cattle baron in South Texas. He is delivering cattle near Fort Worth. We have not seen each other in about 25 years. We'll see who is fatter and balder.....

Mike

Days 10 & 11 Phoenix and heading back

I've stopped keeping track of the miles each day. So far, I've done about 3,100. The bike is doing great and the seat is still comfortable!

We started to head back early today (Sunday). We headed south through Tuscon, passing the impressive Picacho Peak just north of Tuscon. Being on a motorcycle makes taking photos as you drive impossible, otherwise I would have definitely taken a shot of this awesome rock formation.

I am heading back with "Doc" for at least one day. We visited Tombstone, AZ today because it is on our way and just south of Tuscon. I've included some pictures here. It was very interesting, and a number of the places (Big Nose Kate saloon and the Boot Hill welcome center) keep showing the Hollywood movie "Tombstone" on a loop.

I've also included a few shots from the ride from Tuscon to Las Cruces, NM. The road is very flat and we averaged about 80mph, but there are mountains all around. There are also a number of very big warning signs for blinding dust storms. Fortunately we did not experience any of these storm. We could see a number of rain storms moving across the land, but we avoided all the rain.

Tonight we are in Las Cruces, and my goal for tomorrow is Odessa, TX.

Mike

Day 8 and 9 - Arrival in Phoenix - 260 miles.

We arrived in Phoenix at about 1:30 pm local time (Arizona does not have Daylight Savings Time) on Thursday following the most beautiful ride of my life (by myself....thus far!) :)

We left Gallup, New Mexico at 5 am on Thursday in the pitch dark and headed into the desert towards Flagstaff on I-40. The picture above taken by someone on an overpass shows the main convoy west of Gallup. According to the map, we passed through the Petrified Forest National Park, but since it was dark I never got the opportunity to enjoy it.

The temperature in Gallup was only 50 degrees, and once we got going on the motorcycles it was definitely cold! I wore everything that I brought with me and I was still very cold.

We turned south at Holbrook, Arizona and headed towards our first fuel stop at Snowflake, Arizona (about 125 miles away.) We were driving across the Painted Desert and as the sun came up to our left, the sunrise appeared behind some mesa formations. It was absolutely beautiful as I snatched careful glimpses as I was driving the motorcycle.

Snowflake was a nice little town, and my responsibility there was to block an intersection. Doc and I worked with the local police, who were great. It was still chilly, so we kept our jackets on and headed towards Globe, AZ and our second fuel stop.

Globe was a lot of fun. First of all it was HOT!

Secondly, the ride from Snowflake to Globe was breathtaking. Snowflake was still up in the High Desert at about 7,000 ft elevation. The whole ride to Globe (about 3500 ft elevation) was downhill and through some incredible scenery. The sun was fully up and the massive rock formations and canyons was everything I had imagined.

I saw something I had never seen before - "beware of Elk" signs! They look just like the deer crossing signs, but they have a picture of an Elk. We passed through dense forests of tall pine trees, which were very beautifuil. Everything was green and pristine. It smelled different... clean.

Some of our riders were crazy enough to snap pictures as we drove, and another rider I know actually pulled over to take photographs. That is how I managed to get some good shots. I've also "borrowed" some from the official American Legion Legacy Run blog at:http://www.legacyrun.blogspot.com/.

We passed through an Apache reservation for about 40 miles. I never saw any people, but I continued to be amazed by the scenery. We then came to the Salt River Canyon, which was unlike anything I had ever seen or imagined. I keep using the word, but it was unbelievable. The road snaked both down into the canyon and then up again. The scale was enormous. It was hard to not gaze around, but I was able to snatch glimpses.

It was a very challenging road to negotiate with our convoy of vehicles and 13 motorcycles. There were many tight "twisties" and grades. We passed some small rest/scenic overlook areas where people were waiting with cameras and news cameras to catch the main body. From one side of the huge canyon you could see the road wind its way down to the bottom and then wind back up the other side.

There was a large crowd of American Legion riders waiting in Globe to join the ride to Phoenix. We all stripped down to just our T-shirts there and then rode down to the floor of the desert and Phoenix. I am told that the police in Globe shut down all the traffic on the main road out of town, and the main body got to use all four lanes to drive South out of town. It supposedly was an awesome sight.

As we got to the floor of the desert, the heat became oppressive. Even while riding at 75mph, I could feel the heat. The sun was very hot and the air seemed super-heated. We drove through Mesa and then into Tempe, where our hotel was located. We later learned that the temperature was about 108 degrees.

We arrived in Tempe and ended our ride at American Legion Post 2, which was about 2 blocks from the Fiesta Resort, where we were staying. The Post had a lot of people waiting, with signs and flags and decorations. The American Legion National Commander and his staff were also there. They also served us lunch and there was some speechifying and check presentations.

On Thurday night Doc and I drove around and had to find a laundry. We managed to find one about 5 miles away next to a tatoo parlor. Very interesting people there at night..! We got to bed late once we returned to the hotel.


Friday, 22 Aug


We got up at 0500 (incredibly enough) and met for a briefing at 0615. The National Commander, Marty Conatser, was scheduled to be interviewed by the local Fox News affilliate at about 7 am, and he had asked for some support from the American Legion Riders.

We had a convoy of about 20 bikes that rode downtown to the Fox studios. The actual interview is at:

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=01AA737A8BB83B2CDEFF7B07912CD2BE?contentId=7265282&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

It was fun!

We returned to the hotel area in Tempe, grabbed breakfast and then joined the parade of bikes back to downtown Phoenix and the convention center. I was flying the American flag all morning on the back of my bike, so at least I had the opportunity to use the thing that I had been dragging around the entire ride.

There was a series of speeches and check presentations on the steps of the Convention Center. Unfortunately, the heat was so oppressive that most people could not just stand out there for over an hour. The good news is that various Posts presented checks that totaled about $48,000 which brought our overall total to date to approximately $280,000!!

Doc and I then went to the Harley-Davidson dealeship in Apache Junction, AZ for oil changes. We have done about 2,700 miles thus far in some very trying situations, so we wanted to protect our bikes. While at the dealership, we learned of a nearby "Ghost Town" and tourist trap called Goldfield. We visited it and it was a quaint old town with a few restaurants and restored church and jail.

From there we went to a place called Tortilla Flats, which was about 12 miles farther, past Goldfield. It was quite a challenging ride with many twists and turns. There is a breathtaking descent down into something called Canyon Lake, and then you arrive at Tortilla Flats - which is mainly a small store/restaurant. Most of the scenic pics of the Arizona landscape were from this side trip.

Good night,

Mike

Day 7 - Gallup, NM - 330 miles

Greetings from the high desert of New Mexico!

Today we made it to Gallup, which is close to the Arizona border, giving us a short ride in the morning to Phoenix.

For some ungodly reason we are leaving at 0500 in the morning, so we need to get up at 0300.

Thus, my contribution tonight will be very short.

The ride today was great and the weather was mostly magnificent. There were a few showers and lightning, but the really cool thing about the desert and all this open country is that you can see forever. Each storm is like its own cloud formation, with rain pouring down and lightning. You can see it moving across the land a long way off. We mostly did not get too wet and we avoided the lightning all together, but just seeing the storms in the setting of this vast expanse was both beautiful and unsettling. It was only unsettling because you really realize how small you are, and how powerful the storms are. You can see them pounding some mountain or small town while you ride in the sunshine.

There are no formal American Legion functions tonight because of the early start, so there are no check presentations. I've heard that the amount is now almost to $230k.

Good night from New Mexico!
Mike

Day 6 - Tucumcari, New Mexico - 370 miles

Wow. Today was a learning experience.

We left Oklahoma City at 0700 in the dark and in a driving rainstorm. It had rained all night and the forecast for all of Oklahoma was more continued rain. Fortunately, the advance team was able to load in front of the hotel and under the portico, so we were at least able to get the bikes loaded out of the rain - unlike hundreds of other people.

Each night I have to completely unpack the bike because it is not safe (or smart) to leave anything on the vehicle. I have to remove the large bag (secured by 4 wide velcro straps to the passenger backrest), the barrel bag - which attaches to the top of the large bag, remove the flag pole (which I have mounted on the back), remove the extra helmet and bike cover (held in place on the luggage rack with a cargo net), undo the GPS and remove it, take off the tank bag, and remove the seat cushion and some stuff from the side hard cases. I then cover the bike with the full cover.

Everyone does this to some extent, and that is just the way it is. You have to lug all of that stuff into the hotel room and then reattach it all in the dark in the morning.

So... this morning we left in the rain. There were 12 bikes in the advance party this morning, because they needed more fuel handlers. Us Virginians were joined by a group of riders from Nebraska who had ridden down to Oklahoma City during the night.

The rain and road spray were considerable, and we drove out of the city at about 40 mph. We were able to maintain about 60mph once the light came up, but it was still very challenging.

We ride in a staggered formation, meaning there is normally a 2-second space between bikes front and rear, and a one-second space between the off-set bike. I could barely see the bike in front of me, and we increased our spacing to 3-4 seconds. Everyone was wearing every ounce of rain gear we carried.

The rain continued through Clinton, OK (our first fuel stop), Shamrock TX (our second stop) and then Amarillo, TX (our third fuel stop). Once we reached New Mexico it cleared up.

The folks in Shamrock were unbelievably nice. They used the town civic center to host a catered lunch - pork and barbecued ribs and all the fixin's.

We reached Tucumcari about 4 pm (local time). It is on the famous and historic Route 66. Once upon a time it was a famous stop, but now the town is pretty much dead and sort of an art deco showplace. We ran into a Legion Rider who owns a hotel in town (the Safari Motel) which he has restored to it's heydey. He took his bike and led us on a tour of the town. They have amazing old murals and some unique buildings.

The pics above are all from Tucumcari.

There is another blog being done by a professional who is riding with our group (he is in a van...). It is located at www.legacyrun.blogspot.com. There are some good pics there, including one of me trying to convince a bunch of bikers to do go in a certain direction at the fuel stop in Joplin, Missouri.

One last item - the American Legion National Commander, who is also traveling with our group, announced tonight that the current total for this year's American Legion Legacy Fund is $220,000 that has been raised by this ride. Every night there are people who contribute amounts from $25 to $21,000 (a combined amount by the American Legion Riders from the state of Kansas.)



Good night!
Mike

Day 5 - Oklahoma City, OK - 384 miles

Today was our second day of the actual Legacy Run. We made fuel stops in Branson, Joplin and Tulsa, Oklahoma before arriving in Oklahoma City. Our last 100 miles were in the rain, so that was different. It is supposed to rain for three days here in Oklahoma City, so we'll leave in the rain but be passing through the Texas Panhandle and into New Mexico by afternoon tomorrow.

It was fun to drive near Branson and see all the billboards for the acts that are there. One billboard had Roy Rogers and Dale Evans! Are they still alive??

One interesting part of the run was that we were able to ride part of Route 66 today in Oklahoma. Frankly, there was nothing remarkable about it and most of the 30 or so miles we spent on it were just like the last 1000 miles. We got off of I-44 in Vinita, OK and that was a neat little town - old buildings and very "cowboy" looking.

We then passed through Claremore, OK on old route 66. It must be the birthplace of Will Rogers or something because everything is named after him - Will Rogers High School, a bunch of roads and the library, etc. It was just a part of Americana that I've never seen.

The fuel stops today went pretty well. We completely closed down a truck stop and - unfortunately - overwhelmed the very nice folks in Springfield, MO near Branson.

Tonight we had dinner courtesy of a local American Legion Post. All of the Posts along the way have been great. At both fuel stops today there were people waiting for us - to volunteer and just to say hello. At the truck stop, there was a line of about 15 bikes with huge American flags all lined up just to welcome us.

Tomorrow we wind up in Tucumcari, New Mexico. I didn't have a clue where that is, either, so don't feel bad!

Good night!
Mike

Day 4 - St. Robert, MO - 378 miles

I now know that my bike can cruise at 90 - 95 mph without struggling.

Today was our first day of the Legacy Run! After an early morning breakfast at Post 64 in Indianapolis, our Advance Party of 6 bikes left at 0700. The main body of about 200 bikes followed at 0730.

Our job was to serve as part of the fuel team at the fuel stops. The process of fueling 200 motorcycles in less than 30 minutes is a science that has been developed over the past few years as the American Legion has done this ride.

The problem was that we had to complete the fueling, then rush to the next stop - usually about 100 - 120 miles away. At one point the lead truck left without us, and we had to rush to catch up with them - hence the 90 mph+ cruising. It was not all that fun, and we talked about it tonight so that we avoid that tomorrow.

Most of the ride was absolutely beautiful. We left before dawn and the full moon was still up. We rode West, with the moon in front of us and the sunrise to our backs. As the sun came up there were light blankets of fog just floating above the cornfields, which seemed to stretch to the horizon of southern Indiana.

The land was flat as a pancake, and there was nothing but farms and green fields. We cruised mostly at 75 to 80 mph, which was pretty much the standard Interstate speed. We had no motorcycle incidents.

One neat thing was approaching St. Louis. From far away we could see the Gateway Arch just over the horizon. Then we neared the city and actually drove through the Interstate across the Mississippi River and past the Arch. It was awe-inspring to see it up close.

Just after St. Louis the land became rolling hills, and by the time we entered Missouri there were low hills and steeper roads. We reached St. Robert, MO at about 4 pm. The American Legion Post 331 here was ready for us. They had a lot of people and children with flags for our arrival. There were already about a hundred bikes there waiting.

They had a nice ceremony, where the Missouri Legion Riders presented the National Commander with their donations for the Legacy Fund. Missouri gave over $17,000 to the fund. There was also a great dinner that they served us for no cost.

One of the speakers at the small ceremony was a lady whose husband was killed last year in Afghanistan. She had her three small daughters with her, and she thanked the American Legion and the AL Riders, in particular, for this charitable ride. She said that the Legacy Fund has provided her some measure of comfort that her children will be provided a good education. It was quite a simple and moving talk, and it reinforced for us the meaning of this effort.

We spend the night tonight in St. Robert, then we are off early tomorrow morning. We drive through the rest of Missouri and wind up tomorrow night in Oklahoma City, OK.




There are two pictures for this post. One shows the fuel stop at Eureka, MO, where the local American Legion posts did an outstanding job! They had all the fuel pumps already manned, and a large tent with sandwiches and fried chicken. They were wonderful people and fueled and fed almost 300 riders in about an hour.

The second picture is a shot of all the bikes at the Post 331 in St Robert, MO. They were also extremely well organized.


Mike

Day 3 - The Gathering in Indianapolis

Well, today was the day when all the Legion riders met in Indianapolis to get the briefing and get ready for the ride tomorrow.

It would have been a great day to sleep in a little bit, but I had some concern about the brakes on my Harley and I went over to a local HD dealer. It was first come - first served and the service department opened at 8 am. I was there at 7 and I was the third bike in a line that was about 20+ bikes by 8 am. It turned out to be nothing (or so they say now), and I basically paid for them to clean my bike... which it needed badly.


Doc's bike also had problems, with one of his fuses blowing, so we had to fool with that for a while - but everything eventually worked out ok, and we all met over at the local Post 64 here in southwest Indianapolis.

There were about 200 riders and bikes at Post 64 this evening. They served dinner and there was some speechifying. One young lady made a presentation to the American Legion with a check for $1,000 to the Legacy Fund. She was 13 and her siblings and friends had raised the money all year doing car washes.

There is certainly quite a cross-section of Americana and the biker world in this group. There are everything from hard-core biker types to the family cruiser types with the Honda Gold Wings....

There were a number of reminders that the purpose of this ride is to highlight the worthy charitable purpose it serves: to provide a fund that permits the children of soldiers slain in combat to attend the school of their choice. Last year we raised about $350,000, and we hope to break $400,000 this year. If we do so, the American Legion Riders will have raised over a million dollars in three years for this scholarship.




Doc and I have volunteered to help with the Advance Team for the ride, which means that I get to be a scout again! We are going to leave at 0700 in the morning, and the main body of about 250 bikes will leave at 0730.


Our job is to get to the rest areas and refueling stops and to provide traffic control and to help with the refuel teams. The refueling teams are mostly pre-planned with volunteers along the way from various American Legion Posts. I guess we'll see how it works out. Our small advanced party consists of about 12 bikes. The refuel teams meet there by car.

The whole thing is well-planned with medical and maintenance support along the way.

Our goal is to make it to St. Robert, MO by tomorrow evening. This Legion Post is right outside of Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and I think they have something planned for tomorrow night.

We are getting up at 0430 in the morning and meeting for breakfast at Post 64 at 0530.

That's it for now!
Mike

Day 2 - Indianapolis, IN - 314 miles

It was an absolutely beautiful ride today! We stayed mostly off the Interstates and followed Route 50 and Route 35 across southern Ohio and Indiana.

There were many farms and often just corn as far as you could see. We also drove through a number of small towns - with old buildings and well-cared for old homes.

It was really inspiring because we saw so many American flags and homes decorated with red, white and blue bunting. There was one farm with a huge flag stretched between trees. It was as large as the side of a house!

There was one close call where we came across a log in the middle of the road. We approached it from the end - it had apparently fallen from a logging truck - and it was difficult to see what it was until we were upon it. We motioned to our other riders - and I think we actually helped a car that was following us, because it had to swerve to avoid the obstacle.

The Interstate riding was not all that great, mostly because it was just flat-out running. The five of us were rocketing along at 75mph, and there were many trucks.

We made one stop at a place called Washington Court House in Ohio. There was a sign that said it was founded by Virginia veterans from the Revolutionary War. A picture of us at that rest stop is above.

Tomorrow is a full day at Indianapolis - the Headquarters for the American Legion. We get a few hours in the morning, then there is a full day of programs. Fortunately, we managed to get some laundry done at the hotel tonight.

That is it for today!
Mike

Day 1. Parkersburg, WV. 302 miles

We left Chantilly at about 10:15 am this morning. This pic was taken at the Sheetz station near Chantilly.

The bad news was that after about two hours we were lost and had to buy a map. The good news was that now we had a map!

Somehow we managed to drive through Winchester, VA and get on the wrong road. It was beautiful, nonetheless, and we were in the backwoods of West Virginia and rocketing towards Pittsburgh before Doc realized that the drive was different from what he had done last year.

We sorted things out and doubled back to Route 50. We followed that route all the way to Parkersburg. It rained pretty hard for about 20 minutes and we just kept riding. We got soaked, but dried out once it cleared. The drive was really nice - and interesting. It beat the Interstate!

Thanks to Jim Hassen, who let me borrow his GPS, I managed to at least find the hotel in Parkersburg ok. Necessity being the mother of invention.. I just kept pushing buttons until the thing started talking to me.

Once in Parkersburg, we met up with four other Legion Riders from the Richmond area.
We plan to leave at 8 in the morning and get to Indianapolis some time in the mid-afternoon. It is about another 300 miles.

If anyone wants to comment, please feel free. Thanks for your support!

Mike

Ready to GO!

Doc, Little John and I are meeting at 10 tomorrow near Chantilly, Va and heading West! The bike is packed, the air pressure is checked, and I am excited to get going!

Organizing info

There are five of us from American Legion Post 177 headed to Indy, and then to Phoenix. However, just "Doc" and I will make the trip together to Indy on Thursday and Friday. The other guys have their own plans they need to follow.

We'll all link up in Indianapolis for the main ride to Phoenix. The American Legion has posted the "flights", which specify who is riding together. My group (B2) of 20 riders includes mostly riders from Virginia. Everything seems pretty organized. We will go no matter what the weather, so that should be interesting.

Arlington funeral for PFC Pietrek 1 Jul 2008

This was a Patriot Guard mission at Arlington Cemetery on 1 Jul. PFC Pietrek was a Polish national, age 21, who was killed in Iraq. He was given US Citizenship posthumously prior to his funeral.

Getting the bike ready

Today I purchased a Harley Sundowner cruiser seat and rider backrest. I spent about two hours tonight trying to figure out how to install the bracket for the backrest, which mounts under the seat. Finally got it done and it looks good with the seat. I need to test-drive it.

I also purchased highway peg mounts and pegs. That install is for another night. Everything Harley is expensive.