Brad and Bill met during their time in the Marine Corps. A few years later, they were assigned to the same unit. Among the unit members, there were a few who rode motorcycles. They had a mix of sports bikes and cruiser motorcycles. Their rides together were usually day trips. They would usually ride to a lunch spot, where the riders would disperse at the end of lunch and head to various destinations.
Brad and Bill rode together a few times since Laughlin. They had separate friends they’d ride with. Brad retired from the military and settled in Utah. Bill was transferred to Illinois. The two stayed in touch. In 2007, they got the idea to meet at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally with two mutual friends. The four of them agreed to meet at the well-known Buffalo Chip. Brad rode from Utah. Bill rode from Illinois. Kevin trailered his motorcycle from California, and Jim rode from Virginia.
Sturgis was a great experience. Their days were basically staying up late with the bands and then waking up early to ride before motorcycles flooded the roads. They agreed to do it again sometime, and then said their goodbyes. Kevin and Jim departed the Buffalo Chip, headed home separately. Brad and Bill looked over Bill’s road atlas and discussed the routes to ride back. Then the two planned to ride from Sturgis to Custer together, then part ways. In Custer, the two stopped to get an iced tea and look at the road atlas. They declared that Interstate 80 was an imaginary boundary where they'd have to part ways going east and west. They would follow back roads until finding Interstate 80. They ended up riding together to Laramie, Wyoming. It was in Laramie where they discussed how fun it was to explore the minor roads and country lanes. They avoided the most direct point-A-to-B style routes. Both approached riding with an easygoing attitude and curiosity to explore the rural roads.
The following year, Brad and Bill met at Bill’s house in Illinois. While at Bill's house, Brad had a scare with the local lion. That is a separate story--there is always something with these two! They rode around the Great Lakes, literally. Bill used a paper map to guide them. They navigated to Green Bay, Escanaba, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Toronto, and into Gowanda, New York. Somehow, they ended up at the Harley Davidson Factory in Kansas City, Missouri. Then they accidentally crashed a funeral party in Nebraska while following the Pony Express Auto Route. That year was full of experiences such as making roadside repairs to Bill’s bike; a close call with a Canadian soldier; no bacon-only pea-meal; a whole town directing them to a stripper bar instead of a pub; a bossy American agent at border crossing, hitting cars with boomerangs after meeting an Olympic World Champion in Ohio; seeing the Traveling Viet Nam Memorial, riding in zero visibility rain, and meeting some people with memorable stories. They were hooked and planned the ride for the following year. Their plan? To ride to Maine for lobster. No expectations. Let's see what happens along the way! It turned out to be a blast that could not have been planned.
Brad loves sharing tales from our rides. People are always excited to hear what happened next! They’d ask to swap phone numbers or email addresses to get the latest scoop. That’s when Bill started this blog to gather and share these yearly stories. We hope you enjoy reading about our road adventures!
