Pre-trip Thoughts
It’s 0445 in the morning and I am excited about this trip. I can’t tell you how many time I hear people that ride motorcycles talk about how they would love to take off for a month or two, live off their bike and ride all over the country. Well, I am going to do just that…starting today. A few months ago my brother, Bert, said he was going to be coming home from Israel and wanted to criss-cross the country on his bike. One of his sons, Johnny, is graduating from high school in Connecticut and this would be his graduation present. Bert planned giving the Ultra Classic that he has now to Johnny and buying another bike. With him going to be in Israel for a few more years, I thought that was crazy. The bike would only be ridden once a year when he came home on vacation. My Dad, Albert, said he was going to go with them and how great it would be if I could go as well. OH I agreed, but both of us were worried about whether my wrists could hold up to a 10,000 to 12,000 mile, 45 day trip.
For those that don’t know, November 19, 2008 I fell off the top of my loaded flatbed and shattered both of my wrists. That fall ended a 20 year truck driving career. I had pins and external fixators in both arms for 10 weeks. It took me 6 1/2 months to be able to get back on my bike and that was after I added a clutch assist. For months I would walk out to my bike and see if I could pull the clutch lever. I figured when I could pull it back and hold it a few seconds, then I could try to get back to riding it. Five months after the fall I was beginning to wonder if I would ever be ab;e to ride my bike again, did some research and found the clutch assist. By Memorial Day weekend of 2009, I had it on the bike and rode to Gulfport for the All Harley Gulfport Blowout Rally. It was painful but I was happy to be back on my bike. (The old saying where there’s a will, there’s way is one of my favorites.)
In August 2009, I rode to Sturgis, SD for the big bike rally there with my trucker/biker group that I co-founded, Road Dogs on Hogs. By the time I made it to Nebraska and met the main part of the group, I was popping pain pills like they we candy an in tears by nightfall from the pain in my wrists. I put my bike on one of the guys trailer for part of the last day into Sturgis and rode behind other people almost all week there. When the rally ended I only made it about 300 miles out of Sturgis when I decided that I was in to much pain and taking to many pain pills to be safe. I called my Dad and he hooked to a trailer and came to get me. It broke my heart to put my bike on a trailer and realize that I could not do what I had done just a year before.
When Dad talked about Bert’s plans for this trip and everything that he was doing, I really wanted to go. He asked me if I really thought I could do those kind to miles in that many days. I told him I could. “My wrist have healed a lot since last year. I will be fine,” I said. In the back of my mind I really wasn’t sure. Then I got to thinking. Johnny would be getting his motorcycle endorsement in May, and this would be his first big trip. I wonder if Bert would be open to the idea of him, Johnny and me teaming up to keep the two Harley’s going. It would save him from having to buy another bike, give my wrists a break and not put so much pressure on Johnny who is a new rider. Dad talked to him about it and he liked the idea.
So here we are, a couple of months later and will be leaving out on this once in a life time motorcycle trip in a couple hours. It has not been easy getting here. I am going to college at the University on Southern Mississippi and my boyfriend lives 500 miles away in Dover, AR. I had to finish the semester, get to Arkansas to see Danny, the boyfriend, get the bike looked over, got a cat sitter, help Dad get Bert’s bike and all the trailers ready for the long trip and be ready to roll by today. This has not been an easy task. Bert’s bike would not stay running and we took it to the shop. After finals, I rode mine to Dover, AR and put it in the shop there to have a 50, 000 mile service done. One thing after another happened and things were found on my bike that needed to be fixed before this kind of a trip was made on the bike. I got it out of the shop and in less than 24 hours later, laid it down. Luckily, the shop I had it in are great people and they had me back on the rode with a new custom paint job and a bunch of bling in a week and a half.
Dad had picked up Bert’s bike while I was gone. We decided to take it fro a ride and it had problems, the idle was to high. I called the shop it had been in and he told me some thing to look for. I could not find anything wrong with just a look over, but we decided that we would take it back to him on Thursday. I washed and polished my bike and thought I would do the same on Bert’s bike. It has been sitting for a year and really looked like crap. When I went to pull it out of the garage, it wouldn’t stay running. Dad and I loaded in on the trailer and took it to the shop. That was this last Tuesday, we got it back on Thursday and it seems to be running great now.
Bert flew in from Israel yesterday and the 3 of us got the new trailer he bought to pull behind his bike re-wired. We did the last minuet checks and started packing. I think, after we get the last minuet packing and arranging done, we will be ready to roll. I will be blogging as much as I can from the road and taking pictures. We will have cameras and a cam-corder with us. So check back often to see how the trip is going and to share in the ride!
Tags: Cindy Morgan, Freewheelin, Gold Wing, Harley, Honda, Motorcycles, road dogs on hogs, Road King, Ultra Classic, USM
