Motorcycle Views

2006 Americade Motorcycle Rally Blog - Day 9

By Walter Kern

This year I'm publishing highlights of Americade 2006, day by day in this blog. Americade is scheduled for June 5-10 this year. The blog will also include my preparation in getting ready to take the ride to Lake George, NY, my observations while there, the ride home, and getting back to normal -- before the next set of rides to the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) Wing Ding national rally in Nashville, TN and the BuRP rally in Maggie Valley, NC. (BuRP is a rally for Motorcycles forum members.)

We were up this morning at 6:30 a.m. packing the trikes. The rain had continued through the night and it was mainly just a nuisance. Jane had bought a new piece of luggage for the back seat of her bike. It had little wheels so she could pull it around. Of course that meant that her old one had to ride home on my back seat. When you put something that big on the rear seat, it effectively disallows you from opening the top trunk more than a hands thickness. That means I had to load the bike in sequence, first loading the back trunk, then the top trunk, then the luggage rack, and finally the luggage on the rear seat. We wore our frogg toggs rain gear and I put on my protective over-boots. Despite the drizzle most of the way in New York State, we buzzed along at 70 mph most of the time.

When we reached New Jersey, the sun started coming out and we got pretty hot. At one point we pulled off the road into a shopping center and shed all the unnecessary clothing. While there, Jane talked to a motorist about trikes and a truck pulled up next to me wanting to know if I was going to Americade. I thought that unusual. Most citizens don't even know about Americade. I went over to the truck and told the driver we were just now returning from Americade. He said he used to go every year. He was a Blue Knight and a former Gold Wing owner. He said he was now riding a ATV. I said, "Don't you mean a VTX?" "Oh yeah," he said. I got the impression he doesn't ride it much any more.

Returning home, we unpacked the trikes. I thought about the fact that we would be going through this same packing-unpacking drill at least four more times this summer as we attend the GWRRA Wing Ding in Nashville, the BuRP rally in Maggie Valley, NC, the Northeast Regional GWRRA rally in CT, and the GWRRA New Jersey State Rally in Mt Olive.

Well, my Americade Rally Blog is finally at an end. I want to thank everyone who has read the blog and commented on it. Your comments were very important to me. Most writers seldom get a chance to interact with their readers and I enjoy the experience with near real-time reporting on the Internet.

I found that blogging takes a lot of time. Each post took an average of two hours to compose, edit, and publish and most were done around midnight when I was tired from the activities of the day. But, I plan to continue blogging the other trips I have planned. Most of these trips involve my Gold Wing friends but one is solely for Motorcycles forum members. That means that you can participate if you like. Why read an account of a motorcycle rally when you can be there yourself. So check out the BuRP Rally. Registration is still open.

For more information about Americade, see my articles, Americade and 10 Ways to Enjoy Americade.

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