Well first off traveling across the country in the warmth of a truck is only a bit better than riding across the country in the winter. Yes we have heat but the stress of following other drivers in a snow storm really saps the life out of you. This most recent trip was to retrieve an older Harley Davidson Road King a friend purchased in New Jersey from someone he does business with. Now loading a Harley in anything but a pickup would have been easy but to make our life difficult we found an old loading dock that we could just ride onto the bed of a 4x4 pickup truck. Not too bad but took some time to strap down one of these big iron bikes. Yes, I'm more used to dirt bikes and lighter weight sport bikes than one of these chromed out bikes. While other makers try to loose weight, Harley just add's more heavy chrome. In the New Jersey gloom and rain this bike did not stand out with all its shiny bits. Glad its back in sunny Colorado where it belongs and can really shine, or until my friend decides to sell it off later this year.
Now if you ever head out to the east, you must stop in Gettysburg, PA a great deal of history is to be found and the area is great for riding with the exception of July when its the place to be and roads are very crowded. We stayed in an old hotel where there are reported ghosts, we were too tired to notice anything lurking in our room. Blue & Gray pub in the main traffic circle had great beer and even better burgers at 11pm, the kitchen closes late so its the place to be when you roll into town late.
So driving all day from southern New Jersey to Decatur, IL is about as far as one can get. Although we had two drivers I did all the driving , about 12 hours with this big old Harley strapped down in the bed of a truck. Thank god for the Hemi as it did not notice it was carrying anything extra. The next day it was Decatur to Colorado, 15 hours of driving, don't do this again I said to myself for the next three days it took to recover.
Lesson's learned along the way:
- Its cheaper to have a bike shipped across the country than to pick one up yourself. Food, hotels, gas really add up.
- Don't drive or for that matter ride any more than 10 hours in a given day unless multiple drivers can share the time.
- Coffee in most truck stops suck's, its cheap but you get what you pay for. Blending our own from the 5 flavors made it tolerable to a bit.
- America is an amazing place to cross, in the winter you can see all the silo's that typically hide behind corn in the summer. They also tend to get smaller as you head east.
- Sunglasses are not needed in the winter, after 5 days on the road only had a slight bit of sun one morning.
- Would I do it again, hell yes beats a week in the office anytime.
