Day 46 – Leaving the rally, headed to VA

Date: 07/17/2016 Sunday
Starting Location: Depew, NY
Ending Location: Uniontown, PA
Starting Odometer: 14,264
Ending Odometer: 14,534
Mileage Driven (days):  270 Miles
Mileage Total:  7680 miles
Today’s MPG:  40 mpg
Total Average MPG:  41 mpg
States Visited: CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO, UT, WY, ID, WY, MT, WY, SD, MN, WI, MI, WI, IL, IN, OH, PA, NY, CT, MA, VT, NH, MA, CT, NY, PA (22 States so far)

Will there be rain?

Yesterday evening, I checked the weather and it looked like it was going to rain in Depew, NY for most of the morning.  But, as I got up this morning, I found the NY skies to be clear, and there was virtually no threat of rain.  So, I packed the bike, hauled myself up onto the bike, and headed toward PA.

You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a BMW

With the total attendance at the rally measured at about 6300 folks, on a Sunday morning after the rally all of those BMWs started to head home at about the same time.  So, as I got on the Interstate, I found one BMW after the next.  All of them riding away from Hamburg, NY, towards their point of origin.

I couldn’t help but make an observation or two as I looked at all of these bikes.  First and foremost, every BMW rider was wearing all of the protective gear that you’d expect.  Less than 1 out of 10 of the Harleys that I passed were wearing protective gear.  A few of them had leather jackets, but most wore T-Shirts, and some even wore shorts.

As I look at this, I can’t help but wonder what it is that makes Harley riders take things in such a cavalier way?  I don’t want to judge, but it really does seem stupid to me to ride on the Interstates, without the proper level of gear.  ‘Nuff said.

All Interstates, all the time

I’m usually a nut about setting the route in my GPS so that it avoids interstates.  For this leg of the journey, I was a bit lax, and entered only two waypoints, one for the starting hotel, and one for the ending hotel.  In this case, the GPS routed me for at least 220 of the 270 miles over Interstates.

Usually, when I get a chance to drive on secondary roads, it’s ta pleasure.  I mean, comparing the secondary roads to the Interstates, it’s always more fun to ride over curvy roads, rather than the straight and boring Interstates.  Not in this case…

It seems that Rt 51 is like trying to drive on Rt 1 in Connecticut, or on El Camino Real in California.  The road is littered with stoplights, doesn’t have many turns, and can get pretty damn annoying.

Eventually, I arrived at the hotel, and checked in

The Lodge at Chalk Hill

Considering a few of the hotels that I’ve stayed in lately, this hotel is definitely a step or two up.  That said, it’s not exactly a Marriott either.

What’s on store for tomorrow?

Tomorrow I’ll be heading to Virginia to spend two days with some old friends.  I’ve known Lee since I was 16, and I’ve known Chuck since I was in 3rd grade.   It will be nice to see what they’ve been up to while I’ve been riding across the country, and working in Silicon Valley.