Birthdays, Beer, Blue Ridge and Buns of Steel

Last week I had a birthday. Yeah, that day that comes around every year to remind you that you should be a year wiser... I firmly believe in that you are only as old as you allow yourself to be (not as

old as you feel cause if that was the case for me, my body would be knocking on the door to be relieved of the aches and pains and I would be deemed useless - no way!) So I feel like a youngster who enjoys life and adventures! I don't really acknowledge my birthday much but this year I decided to treat myself - by going on a trip on Blackie. That is the best present I can give myself! Because I wanted to be at the IBR (Iron Butt Rally ) check point in Kingsport, TN on Sunday July 5, I decided to make a long weekend trip of it all and set up some nice visits along the day.

First stop was Point Pleasant, NJ to spend the evening with dear friends. It just so happened that my friend Lisa from Maryland was visiting and decided to ride back home so her and I headed out in the morning of my birthday to travel to NJ. But before we could leave town we had to stop at Cup N' Saucer a few miles from my house for a yummy breakfast - thank you Lisa! With happy bellies we rode down to Stamford, CT for a quick visit with my friend Mike (he is my tech and wrenching guru!) so he could help me fix the broken off neutral light wire. Piece of cake for this guy and he had it done in a couple of minutes. In the meantime Lisa and I enjoyed some cold ice tea and a banana. Thank you Mike! Back on the road towards NJ, battled some traffic (after all it was the Thursday prior to 4th of July!) and eventually made it to my friends Penny and Willie. Little did I know that they had arranged for a birthday dinner with authentic Paella, Sangria and ice cream cup cakes and to top it off - a boat ride out on the bay to watch the fireworks. Thank you Penny, Willie, Gus, Eileen and Erin! You guys rock and believe it or not, you didn't scare away Lisa, who had a great time with us :)

Friday morning and an early departure at 5.30 am to head further south. Lisa and I were riding together until we got close to Annapolis, MD where we parted ways. She was going home and I to Hendersonville, NC. Traffic was surprisingly light (thank you government holiday), except for the 30 minute line of people at the Starbucks at the rest stop where we stopped for a quick breakfast. We parted ways and I continued onward. I had a nice ride past Washington DC, through Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and in to North Carolina. Somewhere in Virginia I had a quick

On the road in NC

surprise rain storm out of nowhere, just enough to make me wet, and when the next one came I stopped and put on the rain gear. It rained hard on and off through the mountains of North Carolina and when I was close to Asheville it stopped and got sunny and warm. By the time I pulled in to my friend Laura's I was roasting! I was happy to have arrived after some 700+ miles.

Happy Independence Day America was spent with lovely people - Laura, Matthew, Gwen and Ralph. We went to downtown Hendersonville and watched part of the parade, had a tasty lunch, went to

4th of July Parade

Saint Paul Mountain Winery, enjoyed grilled trout at the house and ended the evening at the Southern Appalachian Brewery with music, beer, fireworks and great time. Thank you to the Freeman's for hosting me! Sunday morning I packed up, said goodbye and headed north to Kingsport, TN and the IBR check point. I took the windy, twisty and scenic roads. It was FANTASTIC! And I was lucky because most of the traffic was coming out and off the mountains as I was heading in and up. I enjoyed every turn and every twist of the road and could not stop smiling! My route had me going on some small roads and then a nice little ride on the Blue

Ridge Parkway with some spectacular views before dipping down and in to Tennessee. It is glorious to ride in this part of the country! I arrived at the Marriott in Kingsport in the middle of the afternoon and as I pulled in to the hotel and up to the check in area I could see how some people for a split second may have thought that I was one of the IBR participants. Sorry folks. Just me. After I checked in, got myself unpacked and showered, I headed down to the lobby

area. Met a bunch of my long distance riding friends who were not rally participants but there either to volunteer or to cheer on the riders - everyone waiting for the rally participants to start arriving. It was electrifying! First rider to arrive was Neil Hejny. He rides a Gold Wing. Check out his license plate.

Neil's license plate

Slowly but surely riders started to trickle in. The first of my long distance riding friends to arrive was Nancy Lefcourt. She is from California and I met her at the IBA meet in Denver last year. She was all smiles. Go Nancy! After that I saw Greg and Pat Blewett. A super nice couple from Kentucky that I have met a few times now and adore. They were smiling as well. Then there was a mass arrival of riders. I was happy to see Kirsten Talken-Spaulding from Virginia, Chris Comly (riding a sportster!!! - crazy guy) from Pennsylvania, Greg Rice from Florida, Gregg Lenentine from Virginia, Tonie Cowen from New York, Chris Rooney from Texas, Jeremy Loveall from Kentucky and most of all my fellow bunny hat brigadier and favorite hamster - Jonathan Hammy Tan. Later on Allen Hatcher arrived on a borrowed bike. His BMW decided not to play fair somewhere in Oklahama and to Allen's rescue came Steve Bracken. He lent Allen his FJR. Steve just - when I say just - I mean like the day of the start of the IBR - finished his 48/10 {all 48 states in no more than 10 days) in Albuquerque and then drove home to Oklahoma. And did I mention that this bike swap took place on July 4th which is

Greg and Pat

Hammy

Steve's birthday! What a guy!!! I can't wait to hear how Allen made out on the borrowed bike. When I saw him at the hotel he was smiling so that is a good sign. It was amazing to be part of the excitement at the check point and to see my long distance riding friends arrive after seven days on the road. The theme of this IBR is National Parks and in order to be a finisher you must visit at least 25 states and at least 50 parks - in 11 days! Holy cow! I know for sure that I could never do this. I am in awe of these riders. It is like someone just said today - it is the SuperBowl of long distance riding!!! Once the riders had their odometers checked they had to go inside and stop the clock and then register for scoring. Once they were registered they had one hour to get their stuff together and present for scoring. I think most of my friends did well on the second leg. After they were scored many just wanted to shower and go to bed. With more than 5,000+ miles in the saddle and some challenging weather I can't blame them. It gives the expression "Buns of Steel" a whole new meaning! I just wanted to mill around and soak up the energy that these riders had brought to the hotel. By midnight I was forcing myself to go to bed as I had a long day ahead of me the next day.

The IBR participants had a riders meeting at 6 am Monday morning and after that some riders got on their bikes right away and headed out. Others went back to their rooms for some routing and maybe some even for more rest. And check out these great photos by Tobie Stevens  from the start of the rally and check points. After saying my goodbyes to everyone I knew I hit the road. With some 800+ miles to get home I settled in for a long day. While I love riding, I must admit that mile after mile on the highway just to get home is not exactly exciting but you do what you got to do in order to maximize the fun times. I was excited to be passed by three rally participants on the highway. I have no idea who they were but they waved. Maybe they recognized that plate backer on Blackie... something about the world's toughest riders.

The IBR spotwalla page

While I finish typing this the Iron Butt Rally is not quite over yet. We won't know until tomorrow evening (July 10) who is crowned the winner of the 2015 edition. I hope all riders still in the game make it back to Albuquerque safe and that they have enough states and parks to qualify as finishers so that all their efforts and investments and miles and miles in the saddle will pay off. You are all amazing and an inspiration and I hope you have enjoyed riding the 2015 Iron Butt Rally as much as I have enjoyed following along on this amazing journey. I know I will be checking in on those moving Spots until the last one has arrived and then I will wait to hear the results. In the meantime I'm reflecting on another great ride with a few thousand miles in saddle and as always I feel blessed that I'm able to ride and do something that makes my soul sing and my heart smile, and my long distance riding circle of friends just keeps on growing.