Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Yes I had no idea I would be riding through the snow at the top. It was so hot below and after a thirty minute climb, it was freezing cold!

Thank you, here you go!


Day 12 (May 8, 2014):

I woke up and hit the road around 9 in the morning. It seemed to be a nice and bright day with the sun shining nicely. So I just had my jacket on without the liner. I was in Albuquerque, NM and from here I had to go west. This was a part of the famous Route 66 and I saw quite a lot of bikers on the way. With New Mexico being one of the southernmost states, I expected it to be very hot. But it was getting colder and colder. After a while, it got so cold that my fingers started freezing. So I took the next exit, put on my winter liner, winter gloves and the handlebar muffs. I then went ahead, feeling much better, but only for a while! In less than an hour, it was so cold that all this winter gear combined could not keep my hands warm. I pulled over into an exit and got some hot chocolate in a gas station. I met some bikers here and we were chatting for a while. Even they had pulled over because it had gotten too cold. We were sitting in the warmth of the gas station with the hot drinks thawing our hands when it started snowing outside! WTF! I had to drop my plans of visiting the Grand Canyon. Now I somehow just wanted to make it into Arizona and continue on with the rest of my journey tomorrow.

We sat there for almost an hour, scared to just get out and ride in that cold. But eventually, we had to. Arizona was just an hour away. So far, New Mexico had tortured me in all ways from yesterday with its bad weather. The snow had stopped for a while now. So we head out hoping that Arizona would show some mercy on us with better weather. I hit two more snowstorms before reaching Arizona. It was so difficult to wipe away the snow from the visor because my hands would be inside the handlebar muffs. I would have to pull over every time the visor was covered with snow to wipe it off. Then it would rain for a while if it were not snowing! It was one tiring ride all the way to Arizona. I reached the border in around an hour, sometime in the early afternoon. The weather did not look any better.













I still had around 150 miles to get to my destination. So I thought I would make it there by late evening at this pace and just crash somewhere for the night. That is when the weather Gods showed some mercy on me and the skies cleared up!!!






The pictures of the Grand Canyon flashed in front of me! Now that the weather was good, I could make it if I rode hard. That is what I did for the next few hours! So I kept riding just stopping for fuel and in the next few hours I was entering the Grand Canyon National Park! They gave me a map with the ticket that had directions to different view points. I went to the nearest one, but there were so many cars parked and it seemed to be a little far away from the parking lot so I decided to skip it. I rode to the next viewpoint. On the way there, the road had tall trees on both sides. All of a sudden, the trees on the left side just stopped and the view opened up. That was my first view of the Grand Canyon. I pulled over my bike, got down, took a few steps near that and kept staring at it even without removing my helmet, all with an open mouth!!! That was my reaction when I saw it for the first time. I was dumbstruck! It was something that you cannot capture in pictures and you have to be there to experience it. The depth, the size, everything is impossible to be explained and you have to experience it in person! It was magnificent!














I then rode on to two more viewpoints and then got back to the nearest city, Flagstaff. I took a motel there, had some good food and went to sleep with a really wide grin thinking of what I had seen today!

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

is it me or others too? cause none video is getting open at my end!

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Bro i don't know who you are. But what you are doing is commendable. More than the pictures and video treats you have been providing I am following the Biker that is showing the courage and strength to do this. Trust me, for most of us this is more than a dream to be doing this. Most of us do not get this sort of support from our family and friends. And i wish to vouch every support i can give you. Carry on bro. You are not alone anymore. I know this is the most exciting and amazing event in your life. At the same time i can understand the difficulties involved. Keep the spirit up!!!! We are all with you.
And to the Xbhp Management Team - this guy deserves a big round of applause and recognition. All i can do is only appreciate and support and at the same time be proud being a biker. Please take into consideration the efforts of this Solo Rider. Hope it does not fall on deaf ears.

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

I am able to see all the videos. Are you still not getting them?

Thank you for the kind words bro! This ride would not have been possible without all the support from my family, friends and colleagues.


Day 13 (May 9, 2014):

I had tightened the drive chain just two days back in Iowa. It was running super loose again since last evening. Luckily, there is one bike shop right next to the motel I’m staying in. He doesn’t open until ten in the morning though. Also, I thought I would change the oil since I had ridden almost 3000 miles on this. I woke up and got an oil change done in a Wal-Mart parking lot. It was the Shell Rotella T6 again. I then got back to the motel, got ready, packed up everything and then went to the bike shop. He inspected my chain and told that a few links were rusted. So it would be much more safe to replace the whole drive chain itself. Since the bike was thirteen years old and it had ridden 10,000 miles till now, I too asked him to go ahead and replace the chain.




It was almost noon by the time I hit the road. Today’s destination was Los Angeles, CA. It was just a few hours drive if I went there directly, but I was planning to ride through Las Vegas just to see it, so it would take a little more time. So I was on the road, taking very short breaks and heading west towards Vegas. In a few hours, I hit Nevada. It was again super hot here!










The Hoover Dam was on this road and I had always wanted to see that. It is one huge dam that was featured in the Transformers movie too. So I did a small visit there.














I then went on to Las Vegas, rode through the famous strip with all the casinos. Here you go!




I just rode through the strip and then headed towards Los Angeles. This might have been the shortest visit to Vegas in the history of all visits! I did not eat anything too since morning so I was starting to get exhausted. I finally stopped for a long break in a gas station. I fuelled up and had a lunch date with a few pigeons!






It was early evening now. I had moved into the Pacific Time Zone and had an extra hour to ride today. So in spite of me starting a little late today, I could reach Los Angeles around 10 in the night. After an hour, I was into California.




From here, it was pretty much an uneventful ride all the way to Los Angeles. The traffic in California was a little aggressive with all of them speeding most of the time. Everyone on the road was doing at least 10 miles over the speed limit and at some places they were even doing 20-30 miles above! I finally reached my friend’s place around 10, ate something and slept! Tomorrow I would be riding the Pacific Coast Highway!

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Day 14 (May 10, 2014):

I stayed last night with a junior and friend from school who I was seeing after 5-6 years.




Today was another buffer day! The plan was to ride north to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway. I thought it was going to be an easy ride all the way up. My friend suggested that I stop by the Griffith Observatory in LA, the place where they have the famous Hollywood sign. So I thought I would go and see that before heading north. Wrong move! I had to fight through a lot of traffic to get there!




From there I had to fight through even more traffic to get on to the Pacific Coast Highway. It was one beautiful road though. It is a beautiful two-lane road that runs all the way from Los Angeles to San Francisco right next to the Pacific Ocean.















Since it was a two-lane road, the speed limits were less, traffic was dense and there were quite a few stoplights. So I could not cover much distance. I had to do around 400 miles to get to San Francisco from Los Angeles. Around 4pm, I had just done around 150 miles and so I decided to move over to the interstate. I would be missing out on all the views from here but at least I could get there on time. I was satisfied too because I got to taste it. Now I could go back some other time to ride the full road. From here, it was an uneventful ride all the way to San Francisco with a few breaks. A former colleague hosted me there. They took me out for an awesome South Indian dinner too! I was feeling rested because of the comparably short ride today and the really good food. Tomorrow is going to be a really long day of riding. I would have to do around 700 miles again! There would also be a time zone change since I’m heading east and I would be losing an hour. Would I make it? I hope I do!

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Hoover dam..omg..nice clicks on entire ride:thumbup:

Sent from my GT-I8262 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Thanks to the HTC One!


Day 15 (May 11, 2014):

I thought I would start around 7 in the morning but my host wouldn’t let me go without yummy hot pongal for breakfast and some good tea. Oh yes there was the Horlicks too as soon as I woke up in the morning. The hospitality of all the people during the ride just blew me away, it was one of the things that kept me going. So after all this I hit the road around 9 finally. My destination for the day was Salt Lake City, UT. It was a little over 700 miles away and I was not sure if I would make it since I had started this late. Nevertheless, I decided to keep riding just taking short breaks for fuel. In a few hours, I entered back into Nevada after riding through some more of the Californian beauty.


















The pongal kept me filled until evening, that was when I stopped to eat something along with the fuel. It was straight interstates too with almost no traffic so I kept riding at around 10 miles over the speed limit. It was a very uneventful ride otherwise. It started to get a little dark around 8 and I had around 150 miles to get to my destination. I had ridden around 550 miles in ten hours. That was some pretty decent distance covered! I could see ice capped mountains little away and it was starting to get cold. I pulled over and wore all the cold gear that I had.


I thought I could push towards my destination. I was not tired and if I went in this pace, I could reach there somewhere around 11. But the weather kept getting colder and around 830-9, I was freezing. I slowed down my speeds and even that did not help much. I realized that I would not make it to my destination and decided to take a motel at the next town. It took almost 20 more miles in the freezing cold to get me to the next town.




It was a very small town called Wells in Nevada. I was relieved when I saw a few motels there. I went into one, but it was a little too expensive. Then too more motels were full! Finally, there was another really small motel inside the town. I stopped the bike outside and a small puppy was barking at me from inside the motel office. An old lady came out and took him in. She then opened the door for me. I told her I was looking for a place to stay for the night and she had one room. The price was decent too. So I started filling up the form and she was asking where I’m from. I told her where I was from, about the ride and why I was doing it. Then I took out my wallet to pay for the room and the next thing that she told just blew me away. She told that she has got the room and I need not pay for it. I was like WHAAT?!! She told what I was doing was really impressive and this was just her way of helping. I asked her if she was sure and she told yes because she owns the place. I was dumbstruck and just out of words for a few minutes. There are times like this when you realize just how good some people are in this world. She then showed me to my room. I changed, came back to the office and was chatting with her for a while before getting to bed.

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Sorry guys! I was a little busy with work the past few days, back to the log now!


Day 16 (May 12, 2014):

I hit the road around 9 in the morning, not before thanking the sweet lady and he pup who had let me stay in their motel the previous night.




The plan for the day was to head east into Utah, then into Wyoming, backtrack from there and head northwest to hit Idaho where I would be staying for the night. The distance was around 400 miles and I thought I should be an easy ride. In less than an hour, I was into Utah!










I had planned my route to see the Bonneville Salt Flats during the ride. After seeing the movie ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’, I have wanted to ride on the salts someday. I got there and there was a crew filming an ad for a new Hyundai car. I took some pictures near the signboard. The salts are filled with water half of the year. During the summer, all the water evaporates after which the land speed records are set. Since it was just early summer, the salt was moist in most of the places. I still picked a spot where the salt was not too wet and did a small ride on it. One more thing to be scratched off that bucket list!!










After that ride, I got back on the highway. It was just a straight road and the speed limit increased to 80 mph. I was in all smiles and I was cruising constantly in around 90 mph. Utah was the only state I saw with a speed limit of 80 mph. Otherwise, many other states had up to 75 mph. During the ride, the top speed I hit was almost 110 mph. I did that twice and both the times it was almost accidently. I wouldn’t realize it and I would climb all the way up there. Then I would see the speedo and slow down immediately. Luckily, cops were not around both the times. The views were beautiful all around and in a few hours, I was in Salt Lake City.










It started raining here and it was also getting cold. So I wore all the cold gear and the rain gear on top of it. From Salt Lake City, it took an hour to get to Wyoming. The ride was beautiful through tall mountains covered with snow.




I had some food in a KFC in Wyoming. I then turned back and headed in the same direction I came from. I had to ride for around 30 miles on the same road and then head north from there. After another fun ride at around 90 mph with all the nice views, I hit Idaho.












My destination was another two hours away. I still had more than an hour of sunlight left. So it should be an easy ride from here. I stopped at a gas station to fuel up and they had a good offer on the chicken wings. I bought that to eat later and went ahead. When I was almost near my destination, I pulled over into an exit to eat the packed food. I was standing there for like around 15 minutes and at least 4 cars stopped there asking if the bike was ok and if I needed some help. This kind of care from random people on the road was just overwhelming throughout the journey!

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Day 17 (May 13, 2014):

I hit the road before 9 today. The destination for the day was Portland in the sate of Oregon. This was way off the route and was not part of the initial plan. A contact I know there told me that he would arrange a fundraising event in his place that evening and so I added it to my route. The fundraiser was in the evening and I had to get there by 6-7 in the evening. That was around 500 miles away too! So I just took very short breaks for eating and fuelling up, otherwise I was riding pretty hard. Also the speed limit was at 55 mph in most parts of Oregon! The roads had no traffic at all too. It was so boring to ride there and also I could not cover much distance. However, I kept riding and made it right in time for the fundraiser. Quite a few people had turned up, I explained to them what I was doing along with the purpose of it. I showed them the route I had taken so far with the live tracker. The response and encouragement from all the people there was great! From there I went over to another friend’s house to spend the night. Since I was riding most of the time today to get to the fundraiser, there are not many pictures. I will make sure to treat you tomorrow with pictures, videos and an interesting story involving cops!

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Great stuff Gowtham, what a fantastic feeling it must be to ride and help the society - kudos to such a "Noble Ride"

Visited your website and it seems like a single-man effort, which has panned out brilliantly

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

It is indeed a good feeling strider! Thanks for the kind words.



Day 18 (May 14, 2014):

The ride was nearing its end. I had hit all the states in the east, south, middle and I was in the northwestern corner of the country now. I had been through 37 states in the past 17 days. I had to just go east for the next few days riding through the remaining 11 states.

After a good night’s sleep, I woke up and got ready to leave. My host and a close friend Naren asked me to stick around for breakfast. He could not sit with the saddlebags on so we removed that, kept it at his home and went out breakfast. There was a place a few miles away from his house and we were to go there. We were happily riding to get there, Naren sitting behind me giving directions. We reached a traffic signal in a few minutes from his place. The conversation went like this:

Me: Machi I forgot my wallet in your house da!
Naren: Don’t worry dude! My city, my treat!
Me: Dae my license is in my wallet! Ok hope we don’t get into any trouble till we get there.
Naren: Ya it’s very close by, shouldn’t be a problem.

Then we go further and come to another traffic signal. There is this cop car standing on the road perpendicular to us. He is constantly staring in our direction. The conversation continues.

Me: Dae look at that cop staring at us!
Naren: I think he likes your bike.
Me: Dude, in Oregon, should the pillion also wear a helmet?
Naren: How am I supposed to know??

I was wearing a helmet but Naren wasn’t. Here the traffic rules change from one state to the next. In Ohio, it is not compulsory for the rider to wear a helmet. A really lame rule! In some states the rider should wear a helmet. I read somewhere that in some states the pillion should wear one too. I started suspecting if Oregon was one of those states.

So the light turns green, we slowly go ahead. There is a car behind us. I keep watching on the rear view mirror to see if the cop car is following us. The conversation then:

Me: Dae the cop car did not turn.
2 seconds later
Me: Oh shit, the cop car turned!!!
Me: The cop car turned his lights on!
Naren: Maybe its for the car behind us.
The cop quickly overtook the other car and was following us.
Me: Dae the light is for us! We are finished today! No helmet, no license!

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

I pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the cop to come over. He came and asked me to explain why the gentleman sitting behind was not wearing a helmet. I explained to him that I am from Ohio and I was just visiting. I did not know that the pillion too should wear a helmet in Oregon. He was kind of convinced but then he asked me for my license. Oops! I told him that I had left it behind. He then asked my friend where he lives all that. He then got my details and went back to his car. We were just sitting there on the bike for around five minutes and then the cop came back. He was able to pull out my license using the details that I gave him. But he told he could arrest me if he wants for riding without the license. He told he would just let us go with a warning this time but Naren had to walk home, I had to ride back straight to his apartment and wait for him. Phew! Lucky us! We apologized to him again and Naren started walking home. I caught him on the way, got his wallet, got us something to eat on the way and went to his place. After this adventure in the morning and a really good breakfast, I got back on the road. Me and Naren, just before I took off!




The plan was to ride back some 200 miles on the same road I had come on yesterday, then go a little north from there into Washington. From there I had to ride east and get into Montana where I had a friend’s aunt hosting me for the night. The road I was riding through was running parallel to the Columbia River for almost 150 miles. This was an interstate with the four lane roads. I met some bikers yesterday who told me of a state highway on the other side of the river. It went in the same direction, but the ride was much more beautiful with curvy two lane roads. Since I had to get quickly to the fundraiser, I stuck to the interstate yesterday. I somehow wanted to get onto the other road today. I was riding on the interstate when I saw a detour saying ‘Historic Columbia River Highway’. I took it! It was a beautiful road running parallel to the interstate with nice views and waterfalls on the way.




After a while, it joined back on the interstate. In just a few miles, I saw a sign reading ‘Bridge of the Gods’. I took that as well! It was a bridge running over the Columbia River. After paying a small toll, I was allowed to ride on top of the bridge. It was a bridge of the Gods indeed! It was just made of criss-cross metal. If you stood on top of the bridge and looked down, you could see the water flowing down. Wow! It was scary, but fun. On the other side, I was into Washington state and the road that I wanted to get onto.














This ride through the Highway 14 in Washington was beautiful. I just stopped for fuel and pictures. Otherwise, I was enjoying the ride throughout. There is a timelapse video at the end of this post. Here are some pictures.


















I got back onto the interstate at the end of the 150 miles. I finally stopped for a long break and to get something to eat. I stopped in a fast food chain, DQ. I had discovered this place during the ride and I had become a huge fan of their Chili Cheese Hot Dog.




After the nice meal, I kept riding only stopping for fuel. I lost an hour because I was heading east. I could get into Montana, but I was doubtful if I could get to my host’s place because it was a little far away. Anyways I decided to ride until 11 pm. I finally reach Montana after the darkness hits, around 9 pm.




There is not much traffic here and this interstate is through forests for the next 100 miles. I saw in Google maps this evening and there were not many towns too in between. So I fuelled up and was riding all by myself into the night. Once in a few minutes, I would see some truck coming in the opposite direction. It was pitch dark too, only the bike light illuminating the space in front of me. There was no network on my cell phone too! All this made it super creepy, but I kept going on. All of a sudden, I saw the carcass of a deer on the road in front of me. It was just dead a while back I believe and the whole road was covered with its blood! The whole road was red in color! I dodged it, but my heart skipped a few beats just seeing that. I had seen a few deer carcasses on the road till now but all those were on the side of the road and there was no blood. Seeing something like this just FREAKED me out! I kind of panicked, slowed down and waited for some other vehicle to come by. Another passenger car came in a few minutes. For almost the next 70 miles, I followed him/her until I reached the next big town. You stranger in the car, I might have creeped you out by following you for more than an hour, but thank you for giving me company that night because without you I would have just freaked out that night! I finally took a motel and crashed for the night around 12 a.m. What a day!!

VIDEO:

Highway 14 in Washington next to the Columbia River

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Gowtham I have been following your thread since the start and I must say that I see myself in you! I too started biking with xbhp, have an ZMA and will be going off abroad soon for higher studies! Let's hope I write a similar thread in the years to come! Happy riding!

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

This is surely the best travelogue I've ever read. Carry on.
As I've mentioned earlier, my expectations are going higher with each log. I've even recommended my friends(not from xBHP - some of them don't even have any idea regarding biking) to go through this log.

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

Good luck to you Harish! PM me in case you have any questions at all.

Thanks again for the kind words Krishna. I was a little held up at work the past two weeks. I still have to write the log for the last 5 days of the ride. I will try to finish it off in the next few days.

Re: 48 States of the USA, 11,500 miles (18,500 km), 23 days, a Solo Fundraising Bike

[MENTION=38495]MAXzma[/MENTION], what a beautiful treat to the eyes you have given us!!! The fabulous open vistas of the USA, all laid out here for us to feast our eyes on. Wonderful log, well-chosen words and bags of pictures - just the right brew for a memorable log.

Please post a larger image of the route chart to enable me to understand your trip better.

Also, I will send the link of this log to my cousins in the USA and tell them to get a life. Your endeavour tells me that contrary to what I have experienced with my overseas (esp USA) family members, not all of them are intent on stocking up on greenbacks. When I tell these guys that they are in the Mecca of motorcycling - flat plains, canyon carvings, snowy peaks and inexpensive fuel - they shrug me off as an adrenaline junkie and dismiss motorcycling as very dangerous.

I hope you will post many, many more fotos and tantalise us further. BTW, I am sending this link to my wife too so that she can pester me better for that long-promised holiday to the US.

Ride safe, live strong and blessings for your effort.