“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
The journey is completed and yet just begun as I come back to a formerly known and familiar world that is now as alien as the regions that have just been explored. A few quick FINAL updates are below, followed by some final thoughts and thank yous. The blog will continue being updated with experiences and tales from the road. Realizing that I’ve left you all in the Florida Keys, your wheels will continue to roll down the road as you’re brought on the full extent of the journey, so please stay tuned.
Final days on the road: 153
Total miles traveled: 23,263
Total miles around U.S. perimeter: 17,744 (estimated by my route)
Pairs of Sunglasses: 5 – it must have been the magic number
States: 36 plus D.C. and Canada
Time Zones Traversed: 5; triple up on the American 4 (Eastern only doubled)
Current Location: Home
Books Read: Genome by Matt Ridley; Black Mass by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neil; Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck (Thank you Crystal); A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (Thank you John) and I finished up at home with A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
The “MOST” places visited: 4 corners of U.S. plus:
• Southernmost point in U.S. – Key West, FL
• Easternmost point in U.S. – Quoddy Head, ME
• Northernmost point in U.S. – Northwest Angle, MN
• Westernmost point in U.S. – Cape Alava, WA
For just over 5 months and 23,000 miles, I was retired at the age of 33. Riding into the first few months of my 34th birthday, America was my home, my office, my passion and my inspiration. It’s difficult to write through bubbles of choking emotion, now that the journey has delivered me safely home to a world left behind and a world of possibility in front of me. I have been free of all constraints and 90 degree prisons. There were no boxed-in apartments, no safety of the caged automobile, no cube to work from, no cornered television to drain my essence. The road was pure passion, wild and free. Life roared through time that remained stagnant. Distance was measured in miles, not minutes while a free soul bellowed triumphantly and tauntingly through oncoming gales.
America has proven to be more beautiful than ever expected, and this trip, as extensive as it was, merely an appetizer to the bountiful feast that is this country called home. These travels have not sated my wanderlust, but fueled it with a raging desire to explore all that has not been seen. I have battled a bear and ducked moose, dodged antelope, hiked with a coyote and fished with a bald eagle. Mother Nature has threatened to end my existence as swiftly as the Mother F@ckers that vomit their poisonous habits onto our roadways. I have feared for my life and basked in the splendor of which it is. Mountains, plains, oceans, volcanoes, islands and rivers have all been a playground and gauntlet at the same time. I have been frozen and baked, exposed to 80 degree temperature shifts on and off the bike that left me layered in ice and caked in salt. This journey has waged a war against fear and indecision while providing peace with inner demons that threatened to possess. The road has provided me with miracles and tragedy, life and death, elation and depression. When once trying to explain my emotions and the volatility of them, not merely day to day, but sometimes hour to hour, a friend told me with raw certainty: “Of course you are. You’re living a full life. Condensed.” It was perhaps the most brilliant reasoning that ever dripped into my ears. There were times when I wanted to give up, throw in the towel and call it a day in fits and screams of rage and fury. But the road, the beckoning miles of asphalt and concrete, kept singing its siren song, leading me further and further down the black and yellow rabbit hole. The trick was to know the tune. To be aware of that allure and see the rocks, steering out of the way at the last minute before crashing into them. Play the sirens’ game and grift the grifter. This trip is one in a lifetime. Not because the adventures are over. Oh no. I have a taste now and restless blood runs thick in these veins. The trip is once in a lifetime because it will never be matched in route, reason or emotion. I could follow the same highways and byways and the outcome will be completely different, even for me. If another soul should attempt the feat, their experience will be different than mine based on their motivations. This journey, my friends, is one in a million. It will never be replicated exactly and for that knowledge, my shit eating grin will never leave my lips.
Some little known facts about the trip:
• Superstition wins. Every time.
• I sang the song (or some variation of) Black Betty every single day I rode her
• Mornings hit on the most brilliant inspiration, but it was also while I was riding
• A good waitress can make your entire day, at breakfast. Consequently, a bitch can completely wreck it
• Most mornings on the bike I talked to myself in just about every accent known to the world. Favorite? Trying to say “grainery” very fast, in Scottish. Most often uttered: "that's great kid, now don't get cocky."
• A song could get stuck in my head for weeks at a time
• Dangerous situations would cause me to scream with absolute glee. Common sense kept me out of most of those
• I watched videos of Pete in my tent just about every night
• Blogging from the road became very stressful
• At a certain point, quite quickly, fear is replaced by a curiosity of outcome
• People CAN be trusted
• There may be a lot of shit talkers among us, but all bikers respect each other
• There is nothing better than the metallic taste of bourbon, clicking on a laptop with the walls of your house flapping around you
• The bond of travelers disappears once summer vacations start
• There is no reason that anyone on this earth cannot achieve their dreams.
• There really is only do or do not. There is no try.
Much appreciation goes out to many people along the trip. Here is my best attempt to capture all the generosity that swerved into my lanes over the past 5 months.
Cast and Crew (In order of appearance)
• My Family. All of you, for without your support and encouragement this trip would NEVER have been possible. I love you all and am forever grateful that you continue to entertain the crazy ways of your son, brother, grandson, nephew and cousin
• Ride Chicago – Chicago, IL - School for motorcycle safety and licensing
• Uke’s Harley-Davidson – Racine, WI. Geno, thanks for getting me on the big bikes
• Suburban Harley-Davidson – Thiensville, WI. Dick and crew – you’re better than eHarmony. In fact, you did so well with the bike, I may just have you pick out my next girlfriend
• Digitas Chicago – for recognizing the importance of an employee’s need to try something a little crazy and having their back the entire time
• Milwaukee Harley-Davidson – Milwaukee, WI – for making Betty’s trip to the west coast a little more comfortable and her home-coming an experience in luxury
• Haul Bikes Motorcycle Shipping – Milwaukee, WI – for getting Betty to L.A. in one piece
• Tim – for selflessly allowing my truck to dominate his garage space while I was gone
• Glendale Harley-Davidson – Glendale, CA – you picked her up, cleaned her up, stored her for free and had an unbelievable staff
• Dylan, Will, Juliette and Jean Patrick -your hospitality and generosity know no limits. Thank you for being Ethan’s friends and now mine. This goes out to the entire L.A. crew that are simply too many to list, but my hope is that you know who you are and that you always have a warm bed in Chicago
• Adam (and Will again) -for putting together one KICK ASS commemorative intro video
• Rustie and Chris – thank you for kicking off the trip with such culture and beauty. San Diego will always have a place in my heart, as will the old man playing saxophone under a street lamp
• Dan, Hilary and Bowie – we go way back and will continue to go way into the future
• Yoonil – follow your dreams cowboy and don’t ever be discouraged
• Joeta’s Leather – Mesa, AZ – your bovine suit of armor kept me safe from all dangers
• Bob and Luann – a long overdue visit and was glad to get to know you better as an adult
• Dave and Roni – cut from similar cloths, I look forward to seeing you soon
• Goe Harley-Davidson – Angleton, TX. You guys helped a traveler, rocked out the service and Dallas, thank you for the intro to REAL Texas BBQ and driving my ass 30 minutes out of your way. TRUE customer service
• Doreen and Gene – as always, your love and hospitality keeps me going
• Cathy, Thomas and Kirstyn – the flowers are bloomin’ in Texas. Love you guys
• Ben and Angie – rain check on that crawfish boil? Bourbon Street wouldn’t have been the same
• Mel and Jane – thank you for everything, it was great to see you…and again…and yet again
• Nick and Janelle – new friends for life that took a chance on a goofy looking biker
• Rachel, Abby, Morgan and Selena – your van, with its non-flapping walls was heaven, you four are amazing...fantastic even?
• Radar – keep living the life that is envied by all
• Nimrods – for the much needed boys weekend in Miami. Enough said.
• Mary Anne, Greg, Tony and Kelly – great to get some one-on-one with ya’ll
• The town of Taintsville – for existing
• Becky and Kelly – Savannah wouldn’t have been the same
• Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – Black Betty appreciated the spa treatment and you people just kick ass
• Zac, Jake and Josh – good, ole fashioned’ country fun, USMC style. Semper Fi, gentlemen
• The Royalty of Assateague Island
• Christine and Trevor – strangers to acquaintances to friends, thank you for opening your home
• Atlantic County Harley Davidson – Absecon, New Jersey – unexpected, in and out, you take care of your own
• Dave – for helping to make my birthday painful and completely unforgettable
• Tasha and Ahren (and Nando) – Brooklyn style, baby! For letting me be a last-minute guest and being phenomenal tour guides
• Mandy – always
• The NYPD Officer at Lady Liberty – you and I know why. I salute you.
• Tim and Caitlyn – your hospitality kept me full, your coffee kept me awake and your soap kept me clean (when I used it)
• Angela – for guiding me around John Harvard’s polished foot with an outlook that will never tarnish
• Wolverine H-D and A.B.C. H-D – esp Dan in service - Betty needed a new pair a shoes and you found her glass slippers
• Hodag Honda – my lid fell apart and you fixed my brain-case for free – keep on rockin’
• All you campers that gave me that little taste of home for a much needed boost in motivation as well as exhaustion
• Wausau Harley-Davidson – Rothschild, WI – hometown service, hometown attitude
• Jacyn and Brian – for humoring the guest that wouldn’t leave and caring just as much for Betty as I do. You two knock life around in style
• Devil Mountain Harley-Davidson – Pittsburg, CA – you guys had the BEST service out of all the shops that I called home. ALL dealerships visited were exceptional. You were just that much better
• The Nelson Sisters – Cali style
• Big Bear Cabin Crew – Will, Marie, Carl, Carolyn, Paul, Joe, Sarah, Tammy and Pablo – for inviting me to share your holiday with you and for your incredible strengths in courage, humanity, caring and maturity in the face of tragedy. Lucy will be missed
• Tim – for your newly formed friendship, constant encouragement and everlasting humility. Retire already and enjoy that Dyna!
• The men and women of our armed forces and those that protect our borders, for doing what you do every day to make dreams like this possible. And for showing me real machine guns and educating me on the finer points of specific situations.
• All of you supporting and commenting on the blog, offering words of encouragement, advice and warning
• My fellow brethren, bikers and travelers from all corners of the globe. You offered me places to see. You offered me places to eat. You offered me soft beds, warm campfires and even warmer spirits. You came from Switzerland, Deer Isle, Phoenix, Illinois, Wisconsin, Germany, Napa, Canada, Mexico, Alaska to form one world, the road. Most importantly, I thank you for your trust, companionship and having the balls to do what you do
• Every man or woman that gears-up onto a Harley Davidson and any biker that keeps pushing and stretching their borders
• The BEST friends a guy could have. You know who you are. You talked to me on the trip, kept me sane in the darkest, loneliest hours, made me laugh on Facebook and kept me human when a feral side threatened. You are the ones I continue to talk with and text, the ones that share experiences, movies, dinners and beverages. If not for you. This could have not been done.
• Pete – for not holding a grudge and your unconditional, furry, drooling love
With words that can never express, I thank Ethan Willoughby and F. Roger Rutter for showing me how real men live life and providing the truest forms of inspiration ever to be felt and learned from. You rode on my shoulders and kept me far from peril. It is known fact that I came through unscathed because of your presence and protection.
"The bike didn't break me. The road didn't take me. I will forever be alive knowing that I followed the road paved by my heart."
Brilliant!
ReplyDelete