The Crazy Montrose Home Inspector
Harley Davidson ride!

On Thursday AM I drove to Virginia to spend the night at a life-long friend's house.  We had been talking about doing a 1000-mile motorcycle ride for over a year.  Before making the journey, I changed the tires on my Ultra Classic Electra-Glide, and got the bike it's annual inspection.  All was well!  It was a 300-mile ride to Front Royal, VA.  We gassed up the bikes, packed some goodies for the trip, washed the scoots, and went to bed.  At 3AM the alarm sounded to get up and get rolling.  By 4:15AM we were pulling out of the driveway for our 1000-mile trip.  The trip took us through West Virginia and into Kentucky.  Just past Lexington, at a small town called Georgetown, we turned around for the trip back.

We made it back to his house at about 10 PM.  We rode 1018 miles in under 18 hours.  It was probably the craziest thing I've ever done on two wheels.  The next morning I got up and rode back to Montrose.  I rode 1600 miles in 52 hours time.  Nuts!

During the trip, I thought about why I was doing the ride.  Many missions I sat strapped into my single-seat U-2 for over 13 hours flying combat missions over Afghanistan, but I had a purpose.  What was the bike trip purpose?  To say I did it?  Sure, I'll buy that!  But there was more.  I became really stoked thinking about the next two-wheel trip we'd take when I thought I'd tie it to a benefit ride.  Typically benefit rides are only short-run day trips, but I thought I could make this one different.  Maybe we would get pledges per mile, or per trip, and ride for the Wounded Warriors, the fight against breast cancer, for the Ronald McDonald House, or some other worthy cause. 

We now have two different routes mapped out: a 1000-mile ride, and a 1500 "Saddle Sore" ride.  I'm not sure we will do it this summer, but I'm game for it.

What are your thoughts on a benefit?  Chime in with a reply!

Greg