Friday, May 20, 2011
Gallup to Angel Fire NM (RFTW as a training Aid for protection of the President)
We left Gallup under partly cloudy skies, and very cool, but not cold air. Bikes were dry for the first time this run, except for a little morning dew. There were almost 500 of us leaving Gallup, and 1 Vespa Scooter. I am not joking there is a gal on the Run riding a Vespa Scooter, the has a spare tire tied to the front end above the headlamp, and she can ride and keep up with us as long as we are not on any real grades, and if the grades slow her down we slow down with her, period. NO ONE gets left behind by this group. She did have to jump off the road today because her rain cover started to come off one of her bags. Admittedly when the wind hits those bags they tend to deploy like the Air Brake on an F-16 but she is keeping up really well.
We had Jackie McKinney, the newly elected Mayor of Gallup riding with us today. Last night I was talking to a businessman (owns a towing company in Gallup) who said that since elected Jackie has done more for the people of Gallup than the last Mayor ever did. That is Cool, Jackie is a good man and a good friend. My Sister-In-Law Sage Owl Talley told me tonight that after redoing their wedding vows some one gave he and Shore Party a free room with a Fire Place for the night. Great thing to have happen, and those two are awesome and deserved it.
I only talked to West Bound Trucks today, because the State Police were running a rolling road block. There was one guy who was upset that the City of Albuquerque and State was spending all that money on us. He state that we were breaking the law and that we should only travel in packs of ten bikes. Not a bad idea, then we would be disrupting traffic in fifty mile stretches instead of 5 mile stretches. All in all though the truckers were supportive of us and our mission. I hardly had a chance to say who we were and where we were going or why because the truckers know. Thanks to Reed Black from the Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association and Land Line Now, and Glenn Jones from Sirius/XM Road Dog Channel,
888-8 Road dog (drop the g if on a cell phone) They have talked extensively about our mission. They are great.
Will post pictures from Williams and Gallup now. Our gas today was provided by Thunder bird Harley, and the Route 66 Casino on I-40 exit 140, awesome restaurant and casino. Lunch was provided by another Casino, I will post the name tomorrow because I cannot remember it right now.
Dinner was at Eagles Nest New Mexico, and it was all home made, every thing from turkey to Lasagna, Chili, and way more food and deserts than the 500 hundred of us could ever eat (But we tried).
Spidey, my fellow blogger who is making a documentary of the Run asked me a few very tough questions today. The first one was why is the Angel Fire memorial so special to me. He has about 115 minutes of a 55 year old man crying. It is a very emotional place, and one of the reasons that I do the Run. I do it because like my oldest Daughter says "It's your mission Dad." and it truly is. I do this because I love the people involved in it. I do it because it is good to see a side of America that the 6 O'clock news will never show, ever.
OK will close this out. Wait almost forgot. No trucks were damaged or injured on Angel Fire Mountain today. I was tempted because one did come at us, but I refrained because Clyde decide it was just not wise.
Thanks to everyone for reading this. Do not forget to read Spideys "The View From Here" the link is below, and the Motorcycle Muse, and Jens Blog. All three of them are much better writers than I am, and all three have different opinions and perspectives on the run than I do.
Bounce
We had Jackie McKinney, the newly elected Mayor of Gallup riding with us today. Last night I was talking to a businessman (owns a towing company in Gallup) who said that since elected Jackie has done more for the people of Gallup than the last Mayor ever did. That is Cool, Jackie is a good man and a good friend. My Sister-In-Law Sage Owl Talley told me tonight that after redoing their wedding vows some one gave he and Shore Party a free room with a Fire Place for the night. Great thing to have happen, and those two are awesome and deserved it.
I only talked to West Bound Trucks today, because the State Police were running a rolling road block. There was one guy who was upset that the City of Albuquerque and State was spending all that money on us. He state that we were breaking the law and that we should only travel in packs of ten bikes. Not a bad idea, then we would be disrupting traffic in fifty mile stretches instead of 5 mile stretches. All in all though the truckers were supportive of us and our mission. I hardly had a chance to say who we were and where we were going or why because the truckers know. Thanks to Reed Black from the Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association and Land Line Now, and Glenn Jones from Sirius/XM Road Dog Channel,
888-8 Road dog (drop the g if on a cell phone) They have talked extensively about our mission. They are great.
Will post pictures from Williams and Gallup now. Our gas today was provided by Thunder bird Harley, and the Route 66 Casino on I-40 exit 140, awesome restaurant and casino. Lunch was provided by another Casino, I will post the name tomorrow because I cannot remember it right now.
Dinner was at Eagles Nest New Mexico, and it was all home made, every thing from turkey to Lasagna, Chili, and way more food and deserts than the 500 hundred of us could ever eat (But we tried).
Spidey, my fellow blogger who is making a documentary of the Run asked me a few very tough questions today. The first one was why is the Angel Fire memorial so special to me. He has about 115 minutes of a 55 year old man crying. It is a very emotional place, and one of the reasons that I do the Run. I do it because like my oldest Daughter says "It's your mission Dad." and it truly is. I do this because I love the people involved in it. I do it because it is good to see a side of America that the 6 O'clock news will never show, ever.
OK will close this out. Wait almost forgot. No trucks were damaged or injured on Angel Fire Mountain today. I was tempted because one did come at us, but I refrained because Clyde decide it was just not wise.
Thanks to everyone for reading this. Do not forget to read Spideys "The View From Here" the link is below, and the Motorcycle Muse, and Jens Blog. All three of them are much better writers than I am, and all three have different opinions and perspectives on the run than I do.
Bounce
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Day Two in the Books
Today we departed Williams Arizona for Gallup New Mexico. (some of you already know it snowed a little before we arrived at Williams, then after everyone was safely in for the night it snowed a lot). Last night I missed dinner in order to go out with one of the chase trucks to pick up a bike (actually a home made Trike with a VW engine- very heavy and very low ground clearance) off the highway. He actually gave the chase folks a thumbs up so they went on, then he broke down. But we got to him before he got too cold. Once there we found that we could not get his trike on the trailer. So we called AAA to come get him. Any way I did not get back to Clyde until way after midnight, and he was buried under over 6 inches of very wet snow, we could not have gotten him on the trailer either so I left him to guard the street in front of the VFW.
This morning by the time we departed (1 hour delay) all the snow was melted. I was going to have the trailer tow me out to cleaner streets, but by the time I got back to Clyde, the sun and 40 degree air temps had done the job I could not do at 0500.
We added about 100 riders today and almost all of them are FNG's and some are younger vets too. This is good the future of this run is in their hands, all of us are getting older.
The ride to day was OK. There are a few glitches with the Platoons, but fine tuning should solve them, and tomorrow I really do not have a job, we will be under Police Escort for the next two days.
We arrived at Holbrook AZ about an hour late, but lunch was great, as were the young Marines that entertained us with a sort of shouting match. They took turns telling us who was the loudest, and they were pretty good too. Then of course the usual hand out of plaques took place, and everyone was talking, Dave Gladwell stood up and shouted "At Ease", and turned the heads of all those young Marines who had just told us they were the loudest....Well they are in Holbrook, cause Dave only visits there once a year.
Gallup was wonderful, as usual the New Mexico State Police started their escort 25 or so miles inside of Arizona, and Jackie Mckinney, the Mayor of Gallup introduced my brother Shore Party and his wife of 35 years Sage Owl, and then they redid their original wedding vows... I have pictures and will try to get them posted here and on face book either in the morning or tomorrow night. We also heard a speech from a WWII MOH recipient, and from one of four surviving Navajo Code Talkers. Jackie announced that Dinner would not be much, the best he could do was steak. It was great, we love Gallup and Gallup loves the run.
I met two Airmen today in the laundry mat, well a Chief Master Sgt and a MSgt that were doing their laundry, and also to recently honorably discharged Army guys that are on the run with us. They are so young, and have seen so much. One has a purple heart, a bronze star, and has been in both Iraq and Afghanistan. They are enjoying the run immensely, and will be back again.
I know this post is long, but a lot has happened to old Clyde and me in the last two days, and 700 miles. He is running great, the CB is working awesome, the truckers for the most part have been very supportive, and I have taken their concerns on bumper diving, and lane changing to the leadership, and they will be addressed before we roll in the morning.
Pictures tomorrow, it has been a long day and I am tired. Thanks for reading this, and be sure to look at Jen's blog and Spidey's too. They write much better than I do, and they have pictures too cause they unlike me are computer savvy and not lazy either.
Bounce
This morning by the time we departed (1 hour delay) all the snow was melted. I was going to have the trailer tow me out to cleaner streets, but by the time I got back to Clyde, the sun and 40 degree air temps had done the job I could not do at 0500.
We added about 100 riders today and almost all of them are FNG's and some are younger vets too. This is good the future of this run is in their hands, all of us are getting older.
The ride to day was OK. There are a few glitches with the Platoons, but fine tuning should solve them, and tomorrow I really do not have a job, we will be under Police Escort for the next two days.
We arrived at Holbrook AZ about an hour late, but lunch was great, as were the young Marines that entertained us with a sort of shouting match. They took turns telling us who was the loudest, and they were pretty good too. Then of course the usual hand out of plaques took place, and everyone was talking, Dave Gladwell stood up and shouted "At Ease", and turned the heads of all those young Marines who had just told us they were the loudest....Well they are in Holbrook, cause Dave only visits there once a year.
Gallup was wonderful, as usual the New Mexico State Police started their escort 25 or so miles inside of Arizona, and Jackie Mckinney, the Mayor of Gallup introduced my brother Shore Party and his wife of 35 years Sage Owl, and then they redid their original wedding vows... I have pictures and will try to get them posted here and on face book either in the morning or tomorrow night. We also heard a speech from a WWII MOH recipient, and from one of four surviving Navajo Code Talkers. Jackie announced that Dinner would not be much, the best he could do was steak. It was great, we love Gallup and Gallup loves the run.
I met two Airmen today in the laundry mat, well a Chief Master Sgt and a MSgt that were doing their laundry, and also to recently honorably discharged Army guys that are on the run with us. They are so young, and have seen so much. One has a purple heart, a bronze star, and has been in both Iraq and Afghanistan. They are enjoying the run immensely, and will be back again.
I know this post is long, but a lot has happened to old Clyde and me in the last two days, and 700 miles. He is running great, the CB is working awesome, the truckers for the most part have been very supportive, and I have taken their concerns on bumper diving, and lane changing to the leadership, and they will be addressed before we roll in the morning.
Pictures tomorrow, it has been a long day and I am tired. Thanks for reading this, and be sure to look at Jen's blog and Spidey's too. They write much better than I do, and they have pictures too cause they unlike me are computer savvy and not lazy either.
Bounce
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tomorrow We Roll for those who Can't
Tomorrow is the day. I am filled with words, attended the Road Guard meeting today, and those guys really appreciate what Krazy and I do. I never realized that the Road Guards even cared about what we do. Then I went to the FNG meeting. First off welcome to all of them, and there were a lot of them. I hope I did not scare folks when I started the first time, but I bet I did. Having so many FNG's this early is good, by the time we get to Kansas we will have a lot of seasoned riders, seems most of the FNG's starting here are going all the way with us.
Tomorrow I get to start talking to trucks again, I hope I do well.
I once posted why I do the run. But my Oldest Daughter is the one who told me "It is a no brainer why you do this Dad, it is your mission." When she was growing up I always talked about riding a motorcycle from Coast to Coast. This will be the 6th time I have fulfilled that dream. I also always talked of growing a pony tail. Glad I only did that one time, and proud to do this ride and live this dream as much as I can. Thanks to the riders that let me ride with them. I really am not a good enough rider to be doing this, but they will help me get through it.
Bounce
Tomorrow I get to start talking to trucks again, I hope I do well.
I once posted why I do the run. But my Oldest Daughter is the one who told me "It is a no brainer why you do this Dad, it is your mission." When she was growing up I always talked about riding a motorcycle from Coast to Coast. This will be the 6th time I have fulfilled that dream. I also always talked of growing a pony tail. Glad I only did that one time, and proud to do this ride and live this dream as much as I can. Thanks to the riders that let me ride with them. I really am not a good enough rider to be doing this, but they will help me get through it.
Some Pictures from my Run to the Run
As promised pictures, the blue Harley belongs to a friend that rode out to Rancho from Colorado with Shore Party and me, the last one is me, Stoney and Grizz right after I registered today. Plenty more pictures to come. Lots of friends that I know were there today, most had worked pretty much all day, and all were tired. We arrived in Rancho Cucamunga around 1730 or 5:30 P.M. for you non military, non European, or non truck drivers. We rode for about 9 hours today, and had warm weather, clear skies, and some wind until we arrived in San Bernidino County, then the temp dropped about 20 degrees, and the wind really picked up. I met a couple of riders from the NVAR. (Northern Veterans Awareness Ride) and yes the know what those initials used to represent, that is why they use them. These two guys had ridden almost non stop from Alabama where they attended a burial of the remains of an MIA that had been brought back and identified from Vietnam.
All in all it was a great two days. I have meetings tomorrow and will be taking the camera with me too. Oh last thing the military motorcycle pictured above is from the Military Vehicle Museum in Lexington Nebraska. This is a great place with well over 100 military vehicles on display. The motorcycle is a BSA and does not run, one of only three vehicles in the museum that doesn't run. The other two are a Huey Chopper, and a truck, and the truck will be running as soon as they finish rebuilding the engine. The BSA is hard to find parts for or it would run too.
Thanks for reading. I will be updating this blog with pictures everyday, and information on the Run too.
Now for the technical information, good old Clyde ran wonderfully on this trip, he got an average of about 43 MPG, and an average speed of 63 MPH. High wind, rain, snow, icy spots on the road, none of it even made the old scoot flinch (I was a little nervous in the snow) and he is doing great.
Bounce
Bounce
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Day one of second leg is done
My Brother, Shore Party, and another rider named Mike made it to Richfield UT tonight. It was a long day. We had every sort of weather except thunder storms, and I am not too sure that we did not run through one or two of those. We were snowed on between Denver and Idahoe Springs, then we ran through Fog and rain and the blue skys. It got a lot warmer as we headed west through Colorado. By the time we got to Green River UT the wind was blowing so hard it was almost impossible to keep any speed. But we made it here safely. I will post some pictures tomorrow. Thanks for reading
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