GOE X Day Four: The Journey Home
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Usually the trip home from Gathering of Eagles, GOE, is a bittersweet one. I know there are a lot of people I just shared the road with for two days, that I won't ride with again for another year. Then again, it is always good to be home, also.
I awoke in the hotel room at 4:15am, thinking to myself, if I get up right now, and get out the of the parking lot by 5, I can make breakfast in Westfield. The combination of the beer from the night before, and that I still had a 3 dollar off coupon for hotel's restaurant, convinced me to stay in bed. It wasn't much later that I got up anyway, about 7.
By 8 o'clock, the bike was packed up, my belly full of breakfast, and it was time to check out, and hit the road. Dad was going to join me until Huntington, where he would turn south to Indianapolis. I would continue west to Logansport, then south and zig-zag to Thorntown.
The first short leg was I-69, we parted from it after about 8 miles. We would ride US 24 west into Huntington. The air was cool, as the expected low in the area was the mid-fifties. A bank sign had reported 65 by the time we got to Huntington. SR 9, the road that dad would take south was on the western, or the far edge of town. Actually, I was expecting him to turn off all this time, but at the intersection, it was I that had to make a right turn to continue on US 24.
So I was back riding alone. After all the time with the company of 45 or so bikes, it was just me and a stretch of asphalt. And I mean that, too. I did not run across a lot of traffic along this route. It reminded me of US 40, more motorcycles than cars, and with the cool, foggy air, there just wasn't much of anything!
As I pulled into Logansport, I noticed the GPS taking me on a route through some surface streets. I decided to take the direct route, highway to highway. The way the two intersections were laid out, I would have been better to take the GPS Route to SR 25, then the one I took. Once again, Technology wins over intuition.
SR 25 is a lazy Hoosier State Road. Your roam through cornfields at 60mph for a while, and then slow, in increments, as you approach a small town. By the time you are down to 30mph, you realize that the town that is now nothing more than a group of houses, once may have had a future. Had a another more popular, higher volume, highway not been built just bit away, this could be a major berg. It is hard to tell how long ago the businesses that still stand were open, and serving customers.
I spent the better part of hour traveling on SR 25, and I would eventually turn off, and do a number of jogs onto different County Roads with numbers, not names. As I arrived at SR 47, there was a couple on bike waiting at the intersection. We exchanged waves, and took off in opposite directions. The section of SR 47 I was on has some nice curves, and I enjoyed them for the few miles I had before arriving at my first destination for the day.
I strolled up the gravel drive of the farm that was the location for the Indiana VTX Owner's Association Tech Session. This was a chance for those who are scared to work on their bikes, to have hand in doing it themselves. When I arrived, there were about 20 bikes already sharing space in the barn, or out on the concrete pad. I would be here for while, and enjoy a burger cooked up on a grill.
Things would done about 3pm. I called Nina to find out where she was, and after calling her sister, I found her in Crawfordsville. She mentioned her brother-in-law had just fired up their grill, and wanted to know if I wanted to come out and join their cook out. I was only about 15 miles away, so I called up their waypoint in the GPS, and headed out.
I would continue on SR 47 until it runs into SR 32, at the eastern edge of Crawfordsville. The curves continued, as well as the small towns and farms. I rode through Crawfordsville, and arrived at Nina's Sister's House. The rest of them had already eaten, so I grabbed a small plate, and sat down and ate.
This would be another stop that would be along layover. I think it was nearly 8:30 before we left their front door. I took SR 32 East to I-65, just so I could get home in good time. As I pulled into the driveway, my loose calculations put me right around 800 miles for the four days. Short by my usual GOE standards, but another great rally, none the less.
Usually the trip home from Gathering of Eagles, GOE, is a bittersweet one. I know there are a lot of people I just shared the road with for two days, that I won't ride with again for another year. Then again, it is always good to be home, also.
I awoke in the hotel room at 4:15am, thinking to myself, if I get up right now, and get out the of the parking lot by 5, I can make breakfast in Westfield. The combination of the beer from the night before, and that I still had a 3 dollar off coupon for hotel's restaurant, convinced me to stay in bed. It wasn't much later that I got up anyway, about 7.
By 8 o'clock, the bike was packed up, my belly full of breakfast, and it was time to check out, and hit the road. Dad was going to join me until Huntington, where he would turn south to Indianapolis. I would continue west to Logansport, then south and zig-zag to Thorntown.
The first short leg was I-69, we parted from it after about 8 miles. We would ride US 24 west into Huntington. The air was cool, as the expected low in the area was the mid-fifties. A bank sign had reported 65 by the time we got to Huntington. SR 9, the road that dad would take south was on the western, or the far edge of town. Actually, I was expecting him to turn off all this time, but at the intersection, it was I that had to make a right turn to continue on US 24.
So I was back riding alone. After all the time with the company of 45 or so bikes, it was just me and a stretch of asphalt. And I mean that, too. I did not run across a lot of traffic along this route. It reminded me of US 40, more motorcycles than cars, and with the cool, foggy air, there just wasn't much of anything!
As I pulled into Logansport, I noticed the GPS taking me on a route through some surface streets. I decided to take the direct route, highway to highway. The way the two intersections were laid out, I would have been better to take the GPS Route to SR 25, then the one I took. Once again, Technology wins over intuition.
SR 25 is a lazy Hoosier State Road. Your roam through cornfields at 60mph for a while, and then slow, in increments, as you approach a small town. By the time you are down to 30mph, you realize that the town that is now nothing more than a group of houses, once may have had a future. Had a another more popular, higher volume, highway not been built just bit away, this could be a major berg. It is hard to tell how long ago the businesses that still stand were open, and serving customers.
I spent the better part of hour traveling on SR 25, and I would eventually turn off, and do a number of jogs onto different County Roads with numbers, not names. As I arrived at SR 47, there was a couple on bike waiting at the intersection. We exchanged waves, and took off in opposite directions. The section of SR 47 I was on has some nice curves, and I enjoyed them for the few miles I had before arriving at my first destination for the day.
I strolled up the gravel drive of the farm that was the location for the Indiana VTX Owner's Association Tech Session. This was a chance for those who are scared to work on their bikes, to have hand in doing it themselves. When I arrived, there were about 20 bikes already sharing space in the barn, or out on the concrete pad. I would be here for while, and enjoy a burger cooked up on a grill.
Things would done about 3pm. I called Nina to find out where she was, and after calling her sister, I found her in Crawfordsville. She mentioned her brother-in-law had just fired up their grill, and wanted to know if I wanted to come out and join their cook out. I was only about 15 miles away, so I called up their waypoint in the GPS, and headed out.
I would continue on SR 47 until it runs into SR 32, at the eastern edge of Crawfordsville. The curves continued, as well as the small towns and farms. I rode through Crawfordsville, and arrived at Nina's Sister's House. The rest of them had already eaten, so I grabbed a small plate, and sat down and ate.
This would be another stop that would be along layover. I think it was nearly 8:30 before we left their front door. I took SR 32 East to I-65, just so I could get home in good time. As I pulled into the driveway, my loose calculations put me right around 800 miles for the four days. Short by my usual GOE standards, but another great rally, none the less.
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