I promised that I would share my experience at this year’s ODMP ride with you. I had my fun, now it’s time for me to deliver. 

A few bumps in the road

The trip started with a few headaches- first the plans that my wife and I had made for our daughter fell through so we had to make alternate arrangements, only to end up returning to the original plan after scrambling for a new solution. Ah, the joys of being the parent of a teenage girl…

Then my wife and I hit the road, but first we had to make a couple pit stops. Our daughter lost one of my wife’s gloves, so we had to stop and get her a new pair. (Did I say how much I LOVE being the father of a teenage girl…) And, my accessory power adapter died so I had no way to plug in my phone/GPS (no, I can’t blame this one on my daughter). We had to hunt around for a replacement.

Once we finally got on the road traffic was pretty heavy, even though we were headed opposite to the majority of the DC area commuters. Then when we finally got to the hotel, we found that the hot tub was out of commission—no hot relaxing soak for us. Oh the misery of first-world problems.

We did manage to grab a decent dinner and wound down a bit before heading to bed. It really wasn’t a bad day, just a few unexpected complications. 

Saturday morning, we were up nice and early, grabbed breakfast, filled the tank, and hit the road. The ride in was a little chilly, but it was warming up fast. We arrived plenty early for registration, got our t-shirts and started out on the route.

When Everything is Right- It Just Doesn't Get Any Better

Here is where the complications all disappeared.  

The route that the organizers of this ride have set up is through gorgeous country. About 2/3’s of the route is on old, backcountry road that doesn’t see much traffic. I mean roads that don’t even have any markings. These roads have plenty of gentle curves and rolling hills. Roads like these are the reason that motorcycles were invented!

The springtime foliage was AMAZING. The entire route was lined with trees newly in leaf, heavily dotted with pink, purple and white dogwoods fully in bloom. Where there were no trees, there were rolling horse pastures and beautiful old Virginia homesteads. I mean houses with names like Twin Oaks, Fox Meadows, Serenity—gorgeous colonial architecture everywhere.

Take all this natural and manmade beauty and add perfect spring weather. There were a few fluffy clouds in the sky, which was bright blue. The sun was shining, and the temperature was in the low to mid 70’s.

We finished the route and went back to the launch point for lunch. While we were there, we ran into a few people that I know and ended up spending the afternoon with them waiting to see if any of us won any prizes. (Spoiler alert- I didn’t bring anything extra home with me.) 

After all the prizes were awarded, only one of our group had won anything—he took the prize for the worst poker hand. Then the whole group of us rode back together. Everybody made it safe, no injuries and no breakdowns.

Once I got back home, I found out that there were over 600 participants this year. They doubled last year’s attendance. That means that this was a great fundraiser for the ODMP.

OK, I’ve run on long enough. I’m pretty exhausted after a great (but long) day, and it’s time to hit the rack. My bike was put to bed nice and early, and my wife has already turned in for the night. Now it’s my turn.

For anybody who doesn’t already know, I created this site for a class project. If it had not been for this class, I would never have even thought about putting all of this together. It’s just not something that I would normally do to fill my time.

But… Now that I have put words down on these pages, I can say that I have had a great time doing it. It has allowed me to explore a creative side of myself that I have never really looked at. Do I think that I’m the next great copy writer in line for a position at Yahoo? No.

Do I think that I am going to try to work this site into something that is going to put a couple extra pennies in my pocket? No.

Do I think I have found a new, fun, creative outlet where I can spend some time talking about something that I really love? ABSOLUTELY!

So, to answer the question that I posed to start this post- "where do we go from here?" I don’t know where you are going, but tomorrow I plan to head to Haymarket, Va. where my wife and I will join in on the Officer Down Memorial Page Ride (www.officerdownmemorialride.com) the first thing Saturday morning. I plan to take a few pictures, then come home and share them with all of you while I talk about what a great time we had.

After that, on May 1st I plan on riding my bike up to Burlington, Vt. I’ll spend a few days riding around northern Vt. then shoot across to upstate NY to meet up with an old Army buddy. Then maybe down to the Poconos to meet up with another old Army buddy on my way home. Once I get back, count on me letting you all know how that went.

Can I promise that I’ll keep this up forever? No, I can’t make that promise. Do I want to? Yes, I do. I’ll tell you one thing, the more feedback I get, the longer I’ll keep going. As long as I feel like I have somebody who is listening, I’ll keep talking. Join in with me and we’ll travel many miles together.

So, as I’ve said before, “Come on—climb up on the back seat, or saddle up next to me, and let’s hit the road. The highway is calling and there are plenty of miles of open road ahead of us.”

Hello! Thanks for stopping by here at Two-Wheeled Life. Since you have decided to visit, it’s only fair for me to let you know that this is my first blog post—here or anywhere.

While I have you around, let me tell you what I would like to do here. I love motorcycle riding! I want to share the joy and excitement that I get from riding. I want to share it with other riders, with people who’ve ridden before but have not been on a bike in a while, and most of all, with people who have never been on a bike.

I am not looking to convert non-riders to a new way of life, but hopefully I can open one or two pairs of eyes and help people understand why we bikers are so passionate about our “hobby.” I hope that I can get some help from you other bikers out there, and we can spread the word together.

Tell Your Best Biking Stories

If you are someone who already enjoys riding as much as I do, stop by the Reader Forums page and share your great stories. Post pics of your ride. Tell us about some great charity events or fundraisers going on in your area. Don’t be a stranger, if nothing else, at least just say hi! If you don't ride, take a look around the site and visit the Reader Forum to see what those of us who ride have to say.

I added this video clip after my original post. Sorry, I couldn't help it. I chuckle out loud every time I see this commercial. I just HAD to share!