After all the planning and preparation, I'm finally on the road and not a moment too soon. At 5am, after one final safety check, I straddled the Mothership and thumbed the big six cylinder to life. Usually my bike likes a little choke in the morning until it warms up and smooth out but not today. She lit right up at a touch of the starter and settled into a smooth grumbling idle as if to say "Forget the choke, forget warming up. I'm ready, let's do this." I concurred completely. Clutch in, down into first and we were off. Before 6am, the L.A. freeway system is actually functional. I found myself cruising along in light traffic at about 75 mph, a feat that is unachievable from the hours of 6AM to 11PM most days. http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/pp67/msapers/IMG_20170619_044835717_zpsw ... read more

Greetings from Los Angeles! I'm home, I'm safe and I have a few things to say in order to wrap this adventure up. 3 weeks ago, I kissed my wife goodbye, fired up the Mothership's big six cylinder engine and pointed her front wheel east. I had a rough idea of the high points that I'd hit along the way, the overall destinations and the friends I'd visit but it became so much more than that. The road is like that. It surprises you and changes your priorities. It reminds you that there is so much more than what you see every day. It lets/makes you be yourself. The road never lies, nor does it accept lies. It will make you honest. Honest with yourself, your machine and honest with the world around you. My Mother-in-law ... read more

Greetings from Baton Rouge, LA! 484 extremely hot miles today. I left Fort Payne, AL at 3:00am and arrived in Baton Rouge, LA at about 3:00pm. It's great to see my old friends again and for the next two days, I will be here in Baton Rouge catching up. As for the trip home: Currently, a large part of the country is experiencing a major heat wave. Specifically, the areas that I will be riding through fro the remainder of the trip will be dangerously hot. Some of there desert areas will be in excess of 120 degrees. This is the point where it stops being about the ride, stops being about having fun and starts being a death march. Additionally, I have to remove a majority of my protective gear in order to survive heat ... read more

Final greetings from Morgantown, WV. No pics or video today as I spent the day prepping for tomorrow's departure. I changed seats on the Mothership in order to eliminate some of the pain I was experiencing on the way here. That required a bar adjustment to get my riding geometry where I wanted it. I also did a general safety check on the bike (all is well), fueled up and packed up all of my gear. InZane was a great time and I had a lot of fun meeting and talking with all of the folks here. The VRCC staff did an excellent job with all of the preparations that had to be done in order to pull off an event of this size. Great Great time!!! I'm planning for an earthly departure in order to ... read more

Hello from InZane 2016 in Morgantown, WV! Today was the official kickoff with lots of folks still arriving. Everyone that I've met has been extremely welcoming and most are very different from the way that I pictured them on the VRCC board. I'm sure they feel the same way about me. The main difference that I see here versus other motorcycle events that I have attended is a complete lack of posturing and strutting. No one has anything to prove and everyone is happy to talk about themselves, their bikes and the ride here. AThese people are not afraid to laugh at themselves. I also met riders from Germany and Poland today. Great folks! No riding for me today as my backside needed a break after the mad dash from L.A. It actually felt weird to ... read more