Head west young man...

Well, I am far from young but west it is. I left the Flight 93 Memorial bound for Indianapolis on Saturday. Spent about 8 miles in West Virginia!! Part of that was sleeping for an hour at the rest area!

After an overnight in Indy, I took a short trip to the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Then it was off to Moonshine, IL. Population 2! The Moonshine Lunch Run, started by Terry "ACL" Hammond draws hundreds of riders every April. Today, it was just me! Terry was taken from us far too soon but I made the visit to pay tribute to Terry. Yes indeed, I get it!

Now off to St Louis for the night.....

IBR Finish and then...

I was finished with work by mid-day on Thursday and had plenty of time to do the 500 miles to Pittsburgh. The Iron Butt Rally finish was in Cranberry, PA which was just about three miles from where we lived in 2000-2001.

I spent the entire day on Friday watching the arrival of the finishers and then the banquet that evening. It was quite an event and I enjoyed the time spent with so many of those whom I call friend. Read all about it here...
http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2013.cfm

Saturday was a day to travel to the Flight 93 Memorial. I was working in downtown Pittsburgh on September 11 and had to sit tight as the US Steel building was a potential target. We obviously know now that the target was the Capital. Up early and it was off to the memorial.

It was very much overcast and added to the somber mood at the crash site. Here are a few pictures from the access road and the memorial...

Sign at entry to the Memorial

The story of Flight 93

Sign at memorial 

Boulder marking the impact spot

Add caption

Two of the passengers who lead the attack on the terrorists. Each passenger and crew member has their name engraved on the memorial wall.

More 100 Days of Summer...

On July 1 and July 4, I visited a couple of local locations...

Hillsborough County Library - Riverview, FL

Barnes & Noble, St Petersburg, FL

Cape Fear - 100 days of Summer...

The premise is to visit bookstores and libraries over the summer. We get to create our own "Rally Flag" and while the motorcycle is not the required mode of transportation, in this case, it will be!

All pictures must be posted on the Cape Fear Facebook page and the winner gets a paid entry into the 2014 edition of the Cape Fear 1000!!

I started off easy...taking a picture of the Nook with the previously described artwork, i.e. the rally flag.

From there it was off to Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL for a few more shots...

Pensacola, FL

 



Books A Million - Mobile, AL



Mobile, AL

 

Pensacola, FL

Pensacola, FL

 

 

Not bad for a one day trip back to Tampa...

The IBR - July 1 through July 12

Watching the IBR...

It's been a great start to the Iron Butt Rally - 2013. Many friends are riding in this event and its fun to follow their progress.

The riders have finished leg 1 and left Pittsburgh for California, where the next check in is at 10am on July 7, Then it's back across the country for a final check in back in Pittsburgh on July 12 at 10:00am.

Leg 1 tracking - 3500+ miles for the leaders in 82 hours!

I'll be there for the finish and look forward to hearing the stories at the Finisher's Banquet that night.

And the best laid plans...

Work. Can't live without it. Sometimes it gets in the way. So much for this year's Cape Fear1000. :-(

Nearly three years....

August 2010 was the last post made. Life got in the way of lots of things. Riding was not one of them...posting was!

To get caught up... A new bike was added to the stable in September of 2012; a 2004 Gold Wing (ABS). It has been farkled and there is not much left to do other than a custom seat and an aux fuel cell.

James has a Ninja 250 to ride and does so frequently. Unless he wants to ride the VTX. That bike is still going strong and coming up on 100,000 miles!

I've done a few IBA certified rides and next up is the 2013 edition of the Cape Fear 1000 Rally. Look for a ride report right after completion.

Till next time...