The Ride is Over, but The Mission Continues!

Well, it's been over a week now since I returned home and I finally feel as though I am substantially "recovered" both physically and mentally. There is, however, still much to do on the home/personal business front. I never doubted that being away for a month would leave me plenty to do when I got home.
Likewise, there is still much to do in the battle against Pediatric Cancer and the devastation it brings to kids and to their families. The 2 Wheels 4 Kids Ride has already raised over $7000 for The Austin Hatcher Foundation, and we hope to get to $7500 before we are finished. It is not too late to add your donation to the tally.  Would you like to help? Here are two very simple ways to make a donation.

-CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE - This will take you to the Austin Hatcher Foundation Donation Page. Take out your credit card and make a secure donation online. Please remember to put "2W4K" in the comments field so that your donation is correctly credited.  

-TEXT THE WORD "WHEELS" to 501501. A $10 donation to The Austin Hatcher Foundation will be added to your cell phone bill!

Either way, you will get the satisfaction of having done a wonderful thing for others in need. Thank you so much for your support.

Day 28 - May 21, 2012 Wytheville, VA to Malvern, PA. Mission Accomplished!

After a carrying around a feeling of "winding down" for several days, today really was the end of the riding! It didn't go out with a wimper either. 491 miles in the saddle took me from Wytheville, VA to my home in Malvern, PA. And, after all those days (weeks actually...) of nice weather I finally got to ride in the rain again - for quite a while! As has been the case for most of the ride the morning dawned beautifully. I took advantage of both my early start and the nice weather to take a detour through part of Southern West Virginia to do some riding through the mountains. Well worth the time, especially all the scenic beauty just after dawn. Even with the detour, though, I was able to cover 250 miles before noon. That's been a kind of benchmark for me on the longer days. However as I rode northeastward through Virginia, the skies became increasingly ominous. It was no surprise as all the weather forecasts I'd seen said I was in for a bit of the wet stuff. Following I-81 I started to get rained 0on before I got to Winchester, VA and the precif continued, in varying degrees of intensity for about 3 hours until I was well past Harrisburg, PA. At least I got to ride the last 50 miles or so in the dry. A little summary of the ride goes like this. 11,478 miles. 32 States. 4 Time zones. I rode every single day and averaged well over 400 miles per day. High mileage day was 661! I pretty well burned down a set of tires but the only mechanical issue with the bike was that I had to replace a headlamp bulb in Albuquerque. As difficult as the trip was, it just really couldn't have gone much better. Best yet - we raised just under $7000 for the Austin Hatcher Foundation and I have high hopes that we will cross even that threshold in the upcoming days. We are still taking donations and will do so for 30 days or so. YOU CAN DONATE SECURELY ONLINE BY CLICKING HERE. If you donate online, please remember to put 2W4K in the comments field so your donation is properly credited. You can also donate $10.00 immediately by texting the word "wheels" to 501501. The $10 donation will be added to your cell phone bill. This has been an absolutely amazing experience and all the readers , followers, and lurkers here are a great part of what has made it so fun!

Beautiful early morning in the mountains.

New River Valley.

Rain all around.

Nice roostertails. Rode in varying degrees of rain , from moderate to downpour, for about 3-4 hours.

Arrival at home!

Day 27 - May 20, 2012 Chattanooga, TN to Wytheville, VA

So, here I sit in my hotel tonight. 10,988 miles under my belt and just this one more solitary evening on the road. All that remains is the challenge of covering an additional 475 miles or so and the 2 Wheels 4 Kids ride will become part of my history. I am excited to get home but also slightly sad that it's all coming to a close. This has been quite the journey of discovery. The discovery of new places, new faces, and quite a few feelings that, if not quite new, had been latent for too long. Mostly I'll remember the kids and their families and how good it felt to make them laugh if only for an instant. 

We've raised over $6500 dollars for the Austin Hatcher Foundation and are still taking donations. If you can find it within yourself to help please CLICK HERE to make a secure online donation. If you want an even simpler way, just text the word "wheels" to 501501 and a $10 donation to The Austin Hatcher Foundation will be added to your cell phone bill.

Here are a few pics from today top enjoy. I'll be back tomorrow with (hopefully) some details of the final day on the road.

My lodging last evening. The guest cottage at the home of Justin and Angie Prann in Signal Mountain, TN. That's my buddy Kaiser in the pic. He's a BIG boy!

And here's Kaiser with his little sister Ophelia!

Actual twisties coming down the mountain from the Prann home early this morning.

Fireworks. A major Tennessee industry.

Getting into some decent views in the middle Appalachians.

More good mountain views.

And yet another.

I-81. Famous for delays. Here a traffic stoppage for construction near Marion, VA.

Day 26 - May 19, 2012 Smyrna, TN to Chattanooga, TN

Short riding day today - just about 150 miles in all but a very productive day. My early morning destination was Pandora's European Motorsports in Chattanooga.

Early morning arrival at Pandora's

Pandora's has been an incredibly supportive sponsor of the 2 Wheels 4 Kids ride and today they just went over the top with their support. Aside from providing their showroom as a forum to talk with others about my ride and it's objectives, they did a major service on the bike, including the installation of new tires. Their open house went well and I met some new friends, and got some additional donations - the total is now over $6500. I also got to spend time with the founders of the Austin Hatcher Foundation, Jim and Amy Jo Osborn and I also got to meet Mackenzie who designed my helmet for the ride

That's Mackenzie who won the contest to design my helmet!

All in all just a great day hanging out at a bike shop. I'm overnighting here in Tennessee at the home of Justin Prann, the owner of the Pandora's dealership.

With Justin Prann, dealer principal at Pandora's European Motorsports.

I guess today really marks the end of all the scheduled activities for the trip. All that remains now is the approximately 800 mile ride home over the next 2 days. With a fresh tune up on the bike, and new tires, that trip should go smoothly. I'm going to try for a great night's sleep tonight and not even set an alarm. We'll see how that goes. The plan is to ride into Virginia tomorrow and to finish up Monday. Stay tuned. Not quite finished yet!

Day 25 - May 18, 2012 O'Fallon, MO to Smyrna, TN

Though this journey is in it's waning stages, today felt like nothing of the sort. Long day. Hard day. But rewarding, just like all the others. I enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in just a tiny bit. I could do so because the first item on my agenda today was a visit to the offices of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMW MOA) in Ellisville, MO.

I met primarily with Deputy Editor Becca Clark to work on some details about a story idea for the MOA magazine. Good meeting - I think we have a plan. I also coerced Becca into posing for yet another "stick your tongue out" to Fight Cancer picture with the now famous helmet. You can enjoy the result of that photo session below.

Meeting at MOA was great but did make for a late start in covering today's mileage. It was after 10 when I left Ellisville so I really needed to make some good time today. I left the St Louis area via southbound I-55 toward Arkansas. Why a detour in that direction you aks? Simple. When I left home on April 24th there were 8 states in the continental 48 in which I had not ridden a motorcycle. I got 7 of them out of the way on my westbound trip (FL, AL, MS, LA, TX, OK, & NM) but Arkansas was just sorta hanging there as the lone holdout. At about 2PM this afternoon I fixed that problem with a quick trip in, and out, of the state near Blytheville on I-55.

Mission accomplished. From there it was across the Mississippi River near Dyersburg, TN, into the state of Tennessee

and on up the remaining 130 miles or so to my overnight in Smyrna, TN near Nashville. Finally the roads and scenery are getting better again. Green trees. Hills. Curves. All better!

I am currently staged just over 100 miles from my destination for tomorrow - Pandora's European Motorsports in Chattanooga. We're having a fun open house there for the benefit of the Austin Hatcher Foundation (naturally!) If you're anywhere in the area come on by and say hi. I'll be there all day!

Since we are on the subject of the Austin Hatcher Foundation, take note: IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO MAKE A DONATION! Please consider doing so. You can CLICK HERE in order to donate securely online using your credit card. Please note 2W4K in the comments field so that your donation is correctly credited to the ride total! Thanks again. Join us tomorrow at Pandora's, either by following on line or by actually coming by! Either way, it's all good.

Day 24 - May 17, 2012 Salina, KS to O'Fallon, MO

This was a day with several highlights. The first came quite early in the morning when, shortly after 6:00AM some old cowboy in a Chevy pickup came whistling past me northbound in the southbound lanes of I-135 just South of Salina, KS. Talk about surrealistic! I saw him coming from some distance - driving along as if he were just on some two lane road. I slowed a bit and kept well right, flashed my lights but he just cruised on by. Fascinating. And kinda freaky. First destination today was Wichita where I was treated to a coffee break by friend Lori and also got to spend some time with my favorite Kansas girlfriend, her dog Heidi. After a too brief visit I was back underway eastbound first through Kansas City then on into Missouri toward St. Louis. Later came a crossing of the Missouri River near Columbia, MO and shortly afterward the odometer turned over 10,000 miles for the trip! 10,000+ miles in 24 riding days - as advertised! No weather issues today and the projection is for it to stay dry and nice through at least my arrival in Chattanooga on Saturday morning. That's good news because I don't like the idea of riding in the rain on my tires which are rapidly approaching the status of "slicks." With just 500-600 miles to go, they'll make it to the end but will be throwaways when I get there. Tomorrow begins with a morning meeting with some folks from the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America in nearby Ballwin, MO. Afterward I'll be off again with the goal of getting to the Nashville area tomorrow evening. Then Saturday it's the remaining short ride into Chattanooga and the Open House at Pandora's European Motorsports. Can't believe the Chattanooga celebration is that close. After that, of course, there's still the not-inconsiderable task of riding home to Pennsylvania. That'll probably happen over Sunday and Monday but stay tuned for details.

Another pre-dawn departure.

Sunrise beginning. I-135 between Salina and Wichita.

He's still following me.

Amber waves of grain. Or something like that.

My favorite Kansas girlfriend, Heidi.

Across the Missouri River near Columbia, MO.

Nutritious road lunch.

Day 22 - May 16, 2012 Thornton, CO to Salina, KS

Tack another 446 miles on the clock to bring the trip total over 9500 miles so far. Whew. An early start once again today, though not so early as yesterday. Nonetheless I was on the road just after 6:30. The ride out the Denver area was a bit depressing. The spectacular scenery I had enjoyed for the last few days was now at an end. With the snow capped Rockies in my rear view mirror I headed East in I-70 to that phase of the transcontinental trip I call the "big flat." From Eastern Colorado until nearly the Mississippi River is the great expanse that makes up the heart of America. And that's where I spent today (and will do so again tomorrow too.) I due course I arrived in Kansas, the 28th state I've visited. Found time to make a very short stop at the boyhood home of Walter P. Chrysler who founded the firm where I worked for many years. Tomorrow I'll continue eastward into Missouri with the hope of stopping in the St Louis area. Only a couple of days now until I arrive at the big open house at Pandora's European Motorsports in Chattanooga. Still enjoying the ride!

The morning make-ready process. Every morning.

Rocky Mountains in my rear view mirror. Sad.

Flat. Straight. Long.Yup, that's the plains.

Still flat!

Welcome to Kansas!

In front of the Boyhood Home of Walter P. Chrysler in Ellis, KS.

OK. It isn't perfectly flet. Sometimes there's a tree. Or even a windmill. Or a whole wind farm!Add caption

Day 22 - May 15, 2012 Orem, UT to Thornton, CO

Today was a fascinating day of contrasts. Desert/mountains. Hot/Cold. I made the trip's earliest departure yet by rolling out of the hotel parking lot before 6:00 AM. Why you say? Two reasons basically. First, I had a lot of miles to cover today. Secondly, I moving East quickly and crossing time zones (Pacific > Mountain yesterday, Mountain > Central tomorrow) and I'm actually trying to get myself advance prepped to be back in my home-eastern time zone in a few days. Can we prep for this stuff? Who knows. We'll see. Anyway the day started out with a treat. Crossing the Wasatch Mountains outside Orem, the the pre-sunrise temperatures went as low as the mid twenties! I was dressed for slightly warmer but layered up in two stages as the elevation climbed. It was a pleasant treat to go through the highest passes on US6 and subsequently start down to lower elevations just about the time the sun actually got around to warming things up. In fact, by the time I got to the Denver area this afternoon temps were in the 80s. Hot/Cold indeed. Also of course, much of Utah and Colorado are high desert and I spent my time there today. As yesterday when the highway spent much of it's time following  the Snake River, today it was I-70 following the Colorado River. Then, after Grand Junction, Colorado the highway elevation begins to rise and most of the rest of the trip is spent passing directly through the Rockies. Glenwood Springs (a favorite of mine), Eagle, Vail, Frisco, Dillon and the rest. On through the mountains we rode, crossing both the Vail and Eisenhower Passes - both over 10,000 feet! The day ended with the descent into the Denver metro area where I'll spend the night. No such interesting roads nor scenery await me tomorrow and the next day. Flat old Kansas and Western  Missouri beckon! Thanks for riding along!

It was still pretty dark when I rode out this morning.

Mountain shadows kept the valleys quite chilly.

Not my best pic. Maybe my hand was shaking. The temp reads 25 degrees!

Finally into the warmer sunlight.

Thanks for the welcome. Glad to be here!

Near Grand Junction, CO.

Nice day for a ride so other bikes were out and about.

Approaching Glenwood Springs, CO.