Update

Even though it has been a while since I have posted here, things have been moving along nicely in my planning. I have ordered so many things on line that I now have my credit card number, expiration date and three digit verification code memorized. Among my purchases are a new mesh riding suit for hot weather riding, new riding boots, a new camera with tripod, new storage bags, and evaporative cooling vest, new riding gloves, special sleeping gear even though I am planning on staying in motels, a small, high efficiency cooler and numerous small gizmos and gadgets. I have been loading audio books on my iPod and mini disc player and I have been to AAA three times for maps. I have an appointment to take the bike into the dealership next week for new tires and maintenance to make sure everything is in good working order. I even printed up “business cards” with a copy of the route, my blog site and my email address.

My major challenge now is to pack everything to fit on the bike. This is not as easy as just throwing it in the trunk of a car or back of an SUV. I have to think about keeping things dry as well as packing efficiently.

I am planning on starting the trip after work on Friday, June 13th and riding to Homestead, Florida that evening, visiting the two national parks within 30 miles of there the next day and heading north. After Florida, the first National Park I encounter is Smokey Mountains. I have several friends and clients in that area I would like to visit before heading to Shenandoah National Park and then Washington, DC. After DC it’s on to Acadia National Park in Maine and then down to Northern Ohio and Cuyahoga National Park. My next stop will be Brookville Indiana, the small town I grew up in. They will be celebrating their Bicentennial this year and I planned my trip to be there during the high point of the Celebration. In Brookville I will be visiting with family and friends and enjoying my favorite fried chicken anywhere.

I am very much looking forward to the journey, but I also know the challenges I face. Riding the desert in the summer, rain, wind, boredom, potential mechanical problems, finding places to stay in the evenings, and road closings and construction are just a few. With each challenge comes an opportunity to learn and an experience to remember. In typical accountant fashion I have designed a spreadsheet to estimate the dates I will be at all of my stops. I have designed it so that if I change my daily average mileage, the dates will be revised. My conservative estimate is that I will average 350 miles per day. This should be easy to do if there are no obstacles to keep me from riding every day. This will not happen. I am certain there will be days I can’t ride for one reason or another. I also think on many days I will be able to ride 500 to 600 miles. Hopefully these will average out.

Join me on my journey and feel free to post your comments and thoughts here. One of my partners gave me a quote that I plan on being my theme. “If you aren’t living on the edge you are taking up too much space.”

My Motorcycle

Above is a photo of the type of motorcycle I will be riding for the trip. It is a BMW R1200RT. I used a file photo I downloaded from the Internet because it looks so much cooler. My bike is actually a charcoal grey. I have added a backrest, a custom seat for those long miles and it will have several additional bags attached when I am fully loaded for the trip. I will post a picture of it when I have time to photograph it in a better location than my garage.

Tweaking the route

I have revised the route map to reflect the stops needed to do the Iron Butt. Upon reviewing the Iron Butt site I find that I qualify for the "National Parks Ride Silver" award. This is awarded to someone who is not only crazy enough to visit 25 states and 50 parks but also crazy enough to include Florida, Maine, California and Washington State in the destinations. The good news is Washington DC and the Canadian Provinces count as states. I wonder if you have to pass some kind of sanity test to cross the border into Canada?

I belong to a board where BMW riders discuss things like long distance touring and I have learned that a major theme with BMW riders is riding your motorcycle to your destination. One of the members had a sticker made up and pasted on his bike stating "If you see this bike on a trailer, it has been stolen". This pretty much sums up the prevailing attitude. The board has already given me numerous great ideas and cost me a substantial sum of money. Also, when I posted my intentions, I received numerous invitations to stop by for a cup of coffee. I'm thinking if this had been a Harley board, the invitation would have been for beer.

A little over five weeks and my 39th tax season will be under my belt...which is always a little tighter after three months of sitting behind a desk and eating everything I can get my hands on.

What's in a name?

Well it looks like I committed my first fauxpas by naming my Blog DicksLongRide. At least one of the people I gave the information to did a Google search using the words and was directed to numerous porno sites. She is now afraid of loosing her job if the network administrator at her place of employment sees where she has been. I wonder how many sites she visited before she realized they were not about my motorcycle trip.

I am posting a couple of pictures of previous motorcycle rides just to get me in the mood for the rest of tax season.

As a clarification the motorcycle I am sitting on with the side car is not mine. My friend Ted and I were riding in Southern Arizona when we came across this couple, both in their late 70s, that were traveling on this bike. We spent a hour just talking to them about their adventures. I had to have a photo of me on the bike.

Am I crazy or what?

For several years now I have had in mind doing an "epic" motorcycle trip. Several thoughts came to mind. Each of the lower 48 states, each of the lower 48 capitals, the perimeter of the US etc, but I thought that going to all of the national parks, historic sites etc sounded like fun until I found out there are over 300 of them. That's when I decided to limit it just to the national parks. Then, I decided to post my ideas on a motorcycle touring board to which I subscribe and one of the members reminded me that the Iron Butt Association http://www.ironbutt.com/ has a ride similar to the one that I was planning that will allow you membership. All you have to do is visit 50 national parks and monuments in at least 25 states in one year. Well what insane mileage junkie wouldn't want the honor and privilege of being a member of the Iron Butt Association? I added a few more parks, another country and my plans were complete.

I plan on leaving Florida around the middle of June in time to be in Brookville, Indiana for their bicentennial celebration the last week of June. After that, while the route is somewhat set, my schedule is flexible. My plan is to post daily while I am on the road, but I know that will never happen, so my hope is to post once every two or three days. I hope to have pictures, some short video and narrative of my exploits.

Since it is now smack dab in the middle of tax season, I still have a while to go before the beginning of my "excellent adventure" but having something to look forward to always makes tax season a little more bearable.

I will post more as time permits and additonal plans take shape.

The above map was prepared before I decided to add the Iron Butt ride. There will be a few more destinations added when I redo the route.