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

I liked the expression bro!!!

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

The initial plan was to sell it off after the ride. But there has been a change of plans and she is staying! So I am currently juggling between two jobs to help manage both of us. I work for almost twelve hours every day so the trip logs will be a little slow. But I will make sure that you guys get an update everyday.

For sure! I hit all kinds of weather one can imagine of. It was super cold in many of the northern states, severe storms in the east, burning hot weather in the south, heavy gusts of winds with sand storms in New Mexico and a few snow storms there too! It was one hell of a ride!

I was not able to ride much on the salts because it was still moist. I just rode a little and took a picture.





I also wanted to include one of the GoPro videos in the teaser, but forgot. Here you go! It is my downhill ride on the Pike's Peak Highway in Colorado. I'd say its the best ride in my life so far!

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


Pre Ride Stuff – Continued…

Ok now that the bike was ready, I was kind of set for the journey with three weeks to go. Oh wait, I had to get my motorcycle license! I got my temporary license a few days back. With that I could not ride at night and I could not ride on the Interstates. So I called up my local BMV and they had only one slot a week from then. The next slot was in May but I had to take off on my ride on the 27^th of April. I asked them to book that slot right away. The motorcycle license test is pretty simple here. If you rode a bike in the streets in India, you can easily clear the test! You have to do the same thing in a closed circuit here.

I could just do a few rides in the city because I had a lot of course work to be completed since it was almost towards the end of the semester. A week before the ride started, I went on a 100-mile ride with a riding friend here. This was all the riding I did before taking off on the journey of a lifetime.

Oh yes! I had a small photo shoot too with the help of a friend.


















The 13-year-old tires needed to be replaced before the ride, but it had only 3500 miles on it! Oh wait, we can do some burnouts and donuts then!












Time to replace the tires now!







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

Enough of the boring stories, lets start the trip log now!


The Gear:


Tank Bag:

All the valuable stuff like my cell phone, some cash, a credit card, hard disk, GoPro, snacks, etc, etc went in this.


Saddle Bags:

Got my trustworthy saddlebags from India. They are unbranded ones bought for around Rs.1500 in the army store near Commercial Street, Bangalore. Holds a hell lot of stuff and very, very, very durable! One side will hold clothes and the other side will hold my laptop and the bike stuff (tools, puncture repair kit, air pump, fuses, spare clutch cable, etc).

I would be wearing the Olympia Motoquest riding suit on the outside with the Kabuto Kamui helmet and leather work boots. The Motoquest suit comes with a winter liner and a separate rain suit as well. These were tied on to the pillion seat using a cargo net.




I also had a Teknic Gauntlet gloves for when it was warm and a cheap Chinese winter glove for when it is cold. I also bought a pair of handlebar muffs and without this it would have been impossible to ride in the cold places. This was the best $20 I ever spent!




On the inside, I wore a moisture wicking t-shirt and moisture wicking compression shorts. I had learnt that these helped during long rides and they dry quickly too. So I carried a pair of these and washed them every day when I took a shower. Oh yes I carried a box of this too and it helped tremendously!!!

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

Wow! Gowtham ! This is surely an unforgettable adventure, so happy for you that you could do it ! Hats off to your determination and grit!

Take Care & Ride Safe

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

Oh yes, I am really jealous a SBK in $2000, why not I born in US...

Those handlebar muffs are superb in winter riding, though I never seen anyone yet riding with them and yes I also need that monkey bottle for my butt ....

What the height of hill from sea level, where you are riding downhill, sky is looking just on the head?

Superb starting, keep them coming...

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

Mind blowing! And that Bonneville salt flats pic, is to-be-framed-and-hanged-in-the-drawing-room stuff!

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

Nice Gauntlets. Are any "anti friction power with calamine" available in India?

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

Brilliant ride Gowtham.
And absolutely mind blowing determination there you got to pull off something like this in the middle of your studies & given the limited budget. In addition to the very noble cause of charity, your ride is a serious inspiration to lots & lots of riders that "It can bloody well be DONE, if you are determined".

Thanks for sharing and I am tuned in. Great ride again.

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

Wonderful mate! I have just gone through your website and I must admit that your passion towards your cause is matchless. 'was an extraordinary feat of endurance that you showcased; made us Indians proud! Beautifully executed, and I am hooked for more uploads.

Attractive & soothing photography as well, and I am sure the bandit was superlative in its delivery.

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

Thank you for the kind words sir, means a lot.

The height on the peak was 14,110 feet. The landscape and everything just totally changes in around 20 miles!



Thanks mate. All these pics are from my cell phone camera. Wish I had taken a DSLR camera but I'm still not into that stuff.

I have not seen any. The first time I saw this I just laughed my a** off! Just couldn't believe that something like this existed and it does work!

Thank you so much for the kind words sir! Yes the determination was there but I got a great amount of support too from so many people here. Without them this would not have happened.

Thanks for the kind words! I have always been giving back in a small way but this was the first attempt in a little bigger scale. Glad it happened! Oh yes the Bandit was simply amazing throughout! Zero issues with the bike during the ride! Everyone's prayers were with me throughout.


I will put up Day 0 Log in a while.

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

Day 0 (Apr 26, 2014):

I just got done with all my exams and work two days back. The new tires were on the bike. All that is left now is the last minute stuff on the bike and the packing. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and Kentucky is just 10 minutes from here. So I wanted to do a fully loaded trial run there to just see how it handles before I take off tomorrow. I woke up a little early and went down to the bike. Some of the things I got done were:
- Oil and oil filter changed
- Air filter changed
- Blind spot mirrors, very useful stuff!
- Fixed a Vista Cruise Control system for the bike, again very useful for a ride like this. Made the ride much more comfortable!
- An additional LED brake light to increase visibility





This took a couple of hours and it was already late afternoon. I still had to get the bike washed and stick the decals of the sponsors. Took it to a nearby car wash and got it washed down completely. Came back home and gave it a good wax too.







Now it was decal time! It is indeed a good feeling to put up decals on your bike when you know they are actually sponsoring you.








After this I just went up and started packing for the big ride. It took a few hours and we also had a few friends over for a send off party. I finished all the last minute packing, kept everything ready for the next morning and hit the sack around 1 a.m. I was very excited but I needed to get some sleep!

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

Excellent stuff... and indeed a great cause to ride for!!!
glued to your thread.... awaiting for rest of the story and pictures whatever you've shot!
Helmet off to all your efforts!

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

Simply great. . Hats off: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 guys!


Day 1 (Apr 27, 2014):


The day I was waiting for almost 8 months was here finally! I woke up around 6 a.m. That was all the sleep I could get due to the excitement. The plan was to take of at 11 a.m. I usually start my rides early in the morning but this time we had a small send off event in my college so I was going to start a little late. The plan was to get to my college around 9 a.m., where some people were coming to see me off and then take off from there at 11 sharp. I got ready and was in the college at 9 in the morning. I had my college associate dean, director, a few professors, fellow students, a few local bikers and my friends there to see me off.








I finally took off at 11 a.m. sharp. This moment was surreal! The moment I was dreaming of for such a long time was here and it was actually happening. I hit the road with all the cheering and the bikers following me. I could not have had a better send off; I got kind of emotional inside the helmet! Thank you all! The bikers rode behind me till I hit the freeway. I waved to them, took the Interstate 71 and headed north from there. These moments have been etched in my memory forever!






After lunch and a ten-minute rest, in continued the journey. The wind noise here is too much! Even after wearing a noise cancellation headphone, I was able to hear 70% wind noise and 30% music. This was how it was for the next 22 days, I kind of got used to this. I was just thinking how it would be if I did not have these headphones and then the unthinkable happened! I had stopped for a fuel break and the headphones were dangling down. I did not notice that and I accidently stepped on one of them. All I heard was a crushing sound and I lost one earphone! I cursed myself, looked around for a place to buy a new pair but could not find any. I tried to go ahead but I had to break in just another five minutes! I was looking in my bag for something to help but I could not find anything at all. I then took one of my socks and stuffed it in between my ear and the helmet. This was how I was riding till I got a new pair of earbuds the next day, earphone in one ear and a sock stuffed into the other! It was a little funny but I did not have an option. After a while, it started getting cold. I stopped once for putting on the liner, once for putting on the winter gloves, after a while my hands were freezing so I stopped once for putting on the handlebar muffs. I wasted a lot of time this way, since for each of these stops I was exiting the freeway and then getting back on. As the ride progressed, I just started pulling over to the shoulder for these quick breaks. This helped me save a lot of time. After a pretty long ride I crossed my first border and got into Pennsylvania. I stopped, took a picture and updated it on Facebook. I had promised to share my journey with all the people who were following my page on Facebook so I made sure I kept them updated about my progress.




It started getting a little dark now and I had around 150 miles to go. Here is another fun fact about this part of the world that I got to know just after moving here. Sunlight is around till around 9 p.m. in the summers here, so that is kind of nice as you have longer riding days. So now it was 9 p.m. and I had around 150 miles to go. I stopped for fuel in a gas station and fuelled up. Most of the pumps here are automatic; you just put your card in, take the nozzle out and fuel by yourself. There are a few places where you will have to pay inside. The gas station where I stopped now was to be paid inside. I fuelled up and went in to pay. I could not find my wallet! I freaked out! I had left it last in my pant pocket. I stripped down and looked everywhere. All the pockets in the pant, jacket. Threw everything out of the tank bag, but still could not find it. Usually I have a backup card placed in a different location but since I had just taken off that morning, I did not rearrange my stuff. All my cards and cash were in my wallet. I went into a serious panic mode and was freaking out because I was stopped on the first day some 350 miles away from home. I did not have friends too in any nearby cities. I kind of zoned out! I just sat down for a while and then I felt something heavy in my pant a little above my right foot. What had happened was instead of putting the wallet in my right pocket, I had opened the vent zipper on the pant and put the wallet in there. That went all the way down and I did not know that the vent went so far down. That was when I regained my senses. I thanked God, cursed myself and Olympia Moto Sports too!




I spoke to them later on and the reason why the vent opening was so low was for it to not bunch up at the knee. I had to figure it out the hard way! I got something to drink and eat; it had gotten dark by now. I rode on to reach New York in a while.

VIDEOS:

Cincinnati to Columbus Timelapse

.


Columbus to Cleveland Timelapse

.

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

Excellent Brother... Very Nice Pics .. Bandit is looking damn cool..... keep the pics coming for hungry souls like me...