Well, the first 582 miles are in the books. And it went as well as can be expected. Better in some regards. We pulled out of Clayton at 6:15 this morning after pulling the gel pads out of the fridge. Note to anyone that might use gel pads. Put them in the fridge before you use them (if it is hot outside). It was awesome!
It was overcast when we got on, but we expected it to burn off pretty quickly once the sun came up. But we were wrong. And we were glad we were wrong! The weather stayed completely overcast until the first stop just past Winston Salem. We stopped there for some gas and a quick McMuffin and we noticed that it was looking a little ominous up the road. So we put the rain pants on and got back on the road. About 20 miles up the road the bottom fell out and we ducked into a rest area and covered the bag and put the rest of our rain gear on. We road in the nice cool rain all the way across the mountains until we hit Asheville where the sun came out.
We spent some time at the Asheville Harley Davidson talking shop and then got back on the road. This is where it got interesting. It got hot, sunny and the road was loaded with truckers. It was slow going up/down the mountain and we were going through water pretty quickly. But the mountains were pretty, so Rhonda tells me. I was too busy trying not to kiss a truck's backside.
The ride from Knoxville to Nashville was not overly fun. Between the intense heat, sun and frequent stop and go traffic, Rhonda and I were about done for the day. But we made it. The last 10 miles took over an hour since we (poorly) planned the trip to make sure we arrived in Nashville at 5:00 on a Friday and were headed out of the city.
Anyway, here I sit in a nice comfy chair in the hotel and I could not be prouder of my wife. In fact, I think she did better than I did today! We really enjoyed each other's company the entire trip. I look forward to spending then next several days with her!
So how did the gear do? The SENA headsets arrived with enough battery to take us to Chili's for dinner. They were awesome. Music and conversation the entire way. The gel seats were good, especially for the first half. But we are going to try switching it up tomorrow to see if moving to ride with them and then without them helps. I will let everyone know. The bike did great, even though slow maneuvering with the bag and Rhonda on was something to get used to. But on the open road it was perfect. We tried out the Garmin GPS app on the iPhone and it worked great with the headsets. However it ate thorough the battery in no time. Got to try something new there tomorrow.
In general, it was a great day. I just hope the ones to follow are as good. I apologize there are no pics tonight. I am short of time, space and energy. But I promise that if not before we get to Sturgis, I will get pics up for everyone. I tweeted a few and Facebooked a few today. But we took others.
Here is the route from today. About 1300 miles to go!
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