|
Well, the anticipation is over. The phone calls have been made, plans have been
set, and all of the goodies have been sent. Now it’s time to RIDE!
Before we start, there are two people that we
have to give sincere thanks. Our wives! With out the support and blessings of these two wonderful people (along with our kids
too!), I can tell you right now that there is no way that this ride could ever happen! Thank you Carin and Brenda for letting
us do this, we owe you both BIG TIME
(but of course, don’t hold us to that!)
OK, here goes..
After Mikes
bike arrived, I took it on a final run to my house from work and back just to make sure everything was OK after the long trek
from Buffalo to Torrance. This was the first time that the two bikes got to “meet” each other and I am sure that
if they could talk, they would have had plenty to say to each other in the garage that night.
We’re both sure that if they had minds of their own that they would both
be happy that these two wacko’s had resurrected them for another ride! After all, they were made for riding, and we
know that Mr. Honda would be happy as well ‘cause that’s why he built them.
The ride started out at American Honda National Headquarters and was attended by a number
folks that belong to the very first HRCA Chapter, the Honda Employee Rider’s Club (HERC). Among those meeting us at
Honda Headquarters was the Vice President of Honda's Motorcycle Service Division Silvio Carrera and the person from
Honda that somehow gave me the permission to take this much time off, my manager, Doug McIntyre (he claims that he was tricked
into it but I'll deny it every time!)
There were 24 people that joined us on the ride to Palos Verdes Estates where we were given
permission by the city Police department to ride to the beach and dip our wheels in the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful
morning and we had a nice little ceremony.
From there, we rode South down the famous Pacific Coast Highway to Dana Point and San Juan
Capistrano and over one of California’s many beautiful riding roads Ortega Highway. We stopped at Lookout Point which
offers a view of Lake Elsinore.
We then traveled up to Corona where Carin and Our HRCA Chapter Vice President Dave Oventhal
had prepared a great lunch layout for us to complete what was decided to be called our “send-off ride". There was quite
an array of bikes that joined us from an 1988 NS50 belonging to fellow associate Chris Hults to GL1800 Goldwings. Also joining
us for wile was Mark Obert on his 1970's CT90. Seeing that bike travel down the road at 50+ mph with Mark wearing his bright
blue sneakers, shifting by hand help further to reduce the drag while he was tucked in as close as he could be was a
true treat!
At the end of the day we accumulated 140 miles. Tomorrow, we really begin the ride and head
off for Sunny and warm (OK, Mike, HOT!) Arizona. We will update the site as often as the Hotels we stay at have the connections
to do so! See you later!
|
