Planes, Cars and Motorcycles: Other Forms of Travel
Originally Published in Southeastern Rider Magazine, August 2018
The month of April in 2018 was filled with days of travel. First off was a plane flight, followed by along car drive, and ending with a motorcycle trip. So, lots of miles divided by three forms of transportation.
Initially, I would take to the skies. My favorite riding partner, Kasey, is a disabled veteran. She served in the Air Force during the first Persian Gulf War, and since has battled the Veteran’s Administration, as well as an army of doctors to prove she suffers from Persian Gulf Syndrome, and all the ills that come with it. About six years ago, she traveled to Dallas, Texas to spend a week being medically tested for the signs and issues from being exposed to saran gas.
After several years of researching those findings, the doctor called her back to The Lone Star State for another test. This one would only include two rounds of blood draws. The rewards for the donation and trip were the round-trip flight, a night in a hotel, with all expenses paid for her and me, including a steak dinner. What could be better than red meat seared up in Texas? Of course, the real incentive would be finding something that would help her deal the effects of her service, and then save others from the suffering.
At the end of the first week of April, we drove ourselves to the other side of Charlotte to the airport to hop on a plane. Not sure if Charlotte/Douglas Airport is always under construction, but it has been being renovated since we have had to venture to the skies.
Flying has become such a hassle to me, you really have to think ahead. Making sure you don’t have certain items that won’t make it through security, picking shoes that are easy to slip off, packing the right amount, and no more, so we wouldn’t have to check a bag is just getting the list started. Then there are the long lines, and the slow move through TSA and the scanners.
After dressing again, this time in public, we found a seat to wait until we can board. Another line to wait in until I crammed my posterior into the airplane seat. Looking out the window, I longed to have the time to ride to Dallas, and not be confined to a tin can.
To say the trip was a whirlwind would be an understatement. We landed in Dallas in the late afternoon, were ferried by a private car to the hospital, and finally settled into an evening at the hotel with that steak dinner. The car arrived to pick us up in the morning, and after another blood draw, we flew out back to the Tar Heel State.
I had about a week and half break before it was time for me to hop in the car and drive seven hundred miles to Indianapolis. After an evening with my parents, I would spend the next day working, and then drive back to Carolina the following day. I started working this event called “Dancing with the Hendricks County Stars” before I moved from the Hoosier State. I enjoy capturing video of the event and making a show out of it. Plus, I get to use my talents to benefit the Hendricks County Museum. So, for the last couple of years, I have made this trip with car full of video gear.
I have always been someone who can drive long distances. In my younger years, I made an eight-hundred-and-sixty-mile trip. A few years later I started out of Indianapolis in the morning, and made it to Vermont to sleep that night, over seven hundred miles later. I have to say that traveling long distance on two wheels has been reduced with my age. My longest day in the saddle is six hundred twenty miles. In addition, I have also ridden over five hundred miles a couple of times, but I think those days are behind me.
Loading up the car, I didn’t have to worry about having too many bags, or bags that might be too heavy, and having to pay extra. No line to wait in to be inspected, and I didn’t have to worry about carrying my Leatherman Tool with me. There seemed to be a lot freedom in this form of travel. The feeling of going where ever I wanted to, when I wanted. I would only be limited by the surrounding drivers bunching up to form a traffic jam. I would find some construction around Asheville, North Carolina, and then slow moving through Cincinnati as I passed through around four in the afternoon.
I only made two stops, one for gas, and one at a Burger King drive-through to fill up for lunch. The same agenda would play out on the way home. If you have read my past writings, or my blog, you know I like to make loops on the bike. For this trip, it was about getting there, and back home, so I take the same route, and it is mostly highway.
While I like the space and the comforts of the four wheeled vehicle, the trip just feels like a blur. Scenery and the cars rush by in a mix of grey and green. Nothing ever sticks out as a memory. It was truly about the destination and getting there as soon as possible.
After my return, and ten days of pretty heavy video editing, it was time for yet another trip. Kasey and I had planned to attend the Mother Earth News Festival in Asheville, North Carolina. The original plan was to ride out on Saturday, stay over that night, and then head back Sunday Afternoon. The plan to ride was tentative, as even though we were further south than the mid-west, it was still unpredictable April.
As the day grew closer, we realized that we would need to arise early on Saturday to make the presentations we wanted to see. The weather looked clear, which meant chilly nights, and cool mornings. So, at the last minute, and by that, I mean Friday Afternoon, we booked another hotel on the way to Asheville, and ended up taking off on later that day. The hope was to get to the hotel before the sun went down when the temperatures would follow.
It was a good last-minute plan, if we only wouldn’t have gotten lost going to the hotel. As we were doubling back, the sky grew dark, and the air grew cold. We were surprised at the hotel by their hospitality. As the front desk clerk checked us in, he made up a cup of coffee for Kasey. The room was very nice, clean, and we ended up sleeping well.
The next morning we lifted ourselves from the bed and made our way to the complementary breakfast. The short walk was cool, but it would be bearable, with an extra layer of clothing, for the short drive to the festival. We enjoyed the day, and the trip to the next hotel would be under sunny skies in the late afternoon, and much warmer. After checking in, we rode down the road to get some dinner, and fuel up the bike. This night’s hotel wasn’t as nice as the previous night, but we still got a good night’s sleep.
The next morning when we exited the room for breakfast, the air was crisp with a chill. Kasey and I layered up with everything we had available and headed out to day two of the festival. We spent most of the trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I appreciated the lack of traffic and the scenery, as Kasey shivered behind me as we passed through areas of shade and sun.
We didn’t want to see any more miles in the dark, so we left the fair a bit early to enjoy the heat of the day. We got a quick bite to eat in the next town, and then made some miles back home. We were able to beat sundown, so that made for a nice ride.
I have heard many say, “Even a bad day of riding beats a good of anything else”. I don’t think I have ever experienced a bad day of riding? I have had my miles in the rain, wind, and thunderstorms, but I was still in the saddle, so it was all good.
Rodney Myers is Rider, a Writer, and Video Storyteller. He started riding around age 5. He made up stories before he knew how to write, and was fortunate enough to attend a high school that had a television station.
To read more of my motorcycle stories, you can check out my Motorcycle Blog at:
www.Blogspot.RodneysMCBlog.com
For more information:
Mother Earth News: https://www.motherearthnews.com
The more I drive or fly, the more I want to ride
 |
| Even though I have spent a lot of time in that saddle, I still think of riding to someplace before driving or flying. |
Initially, I would take to the skies. My favorite riding partner, Kasey, is a disabled veteran. She served in the Air Force during the first Persian Gulf War, and since has battled the Veteran’s Administration, as well as an army of doctors to prove she suffers from Persian Gulf Syndrome, and all the ills that come with it. About six years ago, she traveled to Dallas, Texas to spend a week being medically tested for the signs and issues from being exposed to saran gas.
After several years of researching those findings, the doctor called her back to The Lone Star State for another test. This one would only include two rounds of blood draws. The rewards for the donation and trip were the round-trip flight, a night in a hotel, with all expenses paid for her and me, including a steak dinner. What could be better than red meat seared up in Texas? Of course, the real incentive would be finding something that would help her deal the effects of her service, and then save others from the suffering.
At the end of the first week of April, we drove ourselves to the other side of Charlotte to the airport to hop on a plane. Not sure if Charlotte/Douglas Airport is always under construction, but it has been being renovated since we have had to venture to the skies.
Flying has become such a hassle to me, you really have to think ahead. Making sure you don’t have certain items that won’t make it through security, picking shoes that are easy to slip off, packing the right amount, and no more, so we wouldn’t have to check a bag is just getting the list started. Then there are the long lines, and the slow move through TSA and the scanners.
After dressing again, this time in public, we found a seat to wait until we can board. Another line to wait in until I crammed my posterior into the airplane seat. Looking out the window, I longed to have the time to ride to Dallas, and not be confined to a tin can.
To say the trip was a whirlwind would be an understatement. We landed in Dallas in the late afternoon, were ferried by a private car to the hospital, and finally settled into an evening at the hotel with that steak dinner. The car arrived to pick us up in the morning, and after another blood draw, we flew out back to the Tar Heel State.
I had about a week and half break before it was time for me to hop in the car and drive seven hundred miles to Indianapolis. After an evening with my parents, I would spend the next day working, and then drive back to Carolina the following day. I started working this event called “Dancing with the Hendricks County Stars” before I moved from the Hoosier State. I enjoy capturing video of the event and making a show out of it. Plus, I get to use my talents to benefit the Hendricks County Museum. So, for the last couple of years, I have made this trip with car full of video gear.
I have always been someone who can drive long distances. In my younger years, I made an eight-hundred-and-sixty-mile trip. A few years later I started out of Indianapolis in the morning, and made it to Vermont to sleep that night, over seven hundred miles later. I have to say that traveling long distance on two wheels has been reduced with my age. My longest day in the saddle is six hundred twenty miles. In addition, I have also ridden over five hundred miles a couple of times, but I think those days are behind me.
Loading up the car, I didn’t have to worry about having too many bags, or bags that might be too heavy, and having to pay extra. No line to wait in to be inspected, and I didn’t have to worry about carrying my Leatherman Tool with me. There seemed to be a lot freedom in this form of travel. The feeling of going where ever I wanted to, when I wanted. I would only be limited by the surrounding drivers bunching up to form a traffic jam. I would find some construction around Asheville, North Carolina, and then slow moving through Cincinnati as I passed through around four in the afternoon.
I only made two stops, one for gas, and one at a Burger King drive-through to fill up for lunch. The same agenda would play out on the way home. If you have read my past writings, or my blog, you know I like to make loops on the bike. For this trip, it was about getting there, and back home, so I take the same route, and it is mostly highway.
While I like the space and the comforts of the four wheeled vehicle, the trip just feels like a blur. Scenery and the cars rush by in a mix of grey and green. Nothing ever sticks out as a memory. It was truly about the destination and getting there as soon as possible.
After my return, and ten days of pretty heavy video editing, it was time for yet another trip. Kasey and I had planned to attend the Mother Earth News Festival in Asheville, North Carolina. The original plan was to ride out on Saturday, stay over that night, and then head back Sunday Afternoon. The plan to ride was tentative, as even though we were further south than the mid-west, it was still unpredictable April.
 |
| Besides changing plans and cold air, we got a lot of great information from attending the fair. |
It was a good last-minute plan, if we only wouldn’t have gotten lost going to the hotel. As we were doubling back, the sky grew dark, and the air grew cold. We were surprised at the hotel by their hospitality. As the front desk clerk checked us in, he made up a cup of coffee for Kasey. The room was very nice, clean, and we ended up sleeping well.
The next morning we lifted ourselves from the bed and made our way to the complementary breakfast. The short walk was cool, but it would be bearable, with an extra layer of clothing, for the short drive to the festival. We enjoyed the day, and the trip to the next hotel would be under sunny skies in the late afternoon, and much warmer. After checking in, we rode down the road to get some dinner, and fuel up the bike. This night’s hotel wasn’t as nice as the previous night, but we still got a good night’s sleep.
The next morning when we exited the room for breakfast, the air was crisp with a chill. Kasey and I layered up with everything we had available and headed out to day two of the festival. We spent most of the trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I appreciated the lack of traffic and the scenery, as Kasey shivered behind me as we passed through areas of shade and sun.
We didn’t want to see any more miles in the dark, so we left the fair a bit early to enjoy the heat of the day. We got a quick bite to eat in the next town, and then made some miles back home. We were able to beat sundown, so that made for a nice ride.
I have heard many say, “Even a bad day of riding beats a good of anything else”. I don’t think I have ever experienced a bad day of riding? I have had my miles in the rain, wind, and thunderstorms, but I was still in the saddle, so it was all good.
Rodney Myers is Rider, a Writer, and Video Storyteller. He started riding around age 5. He made up stories before he knew how to write, and was fortunate enough to attend a high school that had a television station.
To read more of my motorcycle stories, you can check out my Motorcycle Blog at:
www.Blogspot.RodneysMCBlog.com
For more information:
Mother Earth News: https://www.motherearthnews.com
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