A friend of mine from the Iron Butt Rally posted that she speaking at the AMA Vintage Days in Ohio last week and I thought that would be a good excuse for a road trip. Of course no sense in simply taking Friday off and riding out there as I already had July 4th off, so I took off the 5th and 6th and made it a quick road trip.

I left after work on Tuesday July 3rd and made it 225 miles to Winchester VA. No photos as it was all pure travel trying to get a jump on the trip

Day 1 was Winchester to Nashville TN. The time in VA and WV was spent on small roads and even with the high temps it was pleasant.

Cool building I spotted near Seneca Rocks WV

Much of this day was picking up a few Tour of Honor memorials as well as a few items on the scavenger hunt my HOG chapter is running

The Tour of Honor stop in Seneca Falls

And Monterey VA

For the scavenger hunt one of the things we need to find are different colored barns with Gambrel roofs and silos. I found a red one and a white one. We need a photo of the object, our bike, ourselves, and our book. As a result a selfie stick is the easiest way to go. I also picked up a few dealerships and 8 different states

After Saltville VA I was no longer riding on back roads in the trees so the heat become almost unbearable so I skipped the rest of my stops and headed direct to Nashville. That was the longest day at 700+ miles. I checked in, showered, and went to the bar for something to eat. I asked for a beer, glass of water, and menu, preferably in that order. I enjoyed that meal!

Day 2 I met up with a few people I worked with and had breakfast with them. I got on the road around 11am and was heading up to Indy to meet up with another friend who is building a Sportster to make the IBA trip from Alaska to Key West next year. The heat was intense and I was having a hard time dealing with it, probably due to the late start. I dropped most of my stops and ended up buying a 7 lb bag of ice and stuffing it inside my riding jacket. Along the way I crossed through the front and the temp dropped 20 degrees in a few minutes. Boy did that feel great!. I happily dealt with about 30 minutes of light rain. Only took a few photos, here is one in Lyons IN

Somehow I forgot to take a photo of my bike next to my buddy’s

Day 3 we hung out talking until noon or so which meant a late start. I dropped all my stops save the one where I was meeting another friend in Troy MI. It was a Tour of Honor stop as well and coincidently was in a cemetery where my friend Paul’s son is buried. I got there just after the gates were closed so I had to settle with a photo from outside the gate

We stopped for dinner and then headed to his place in Marine City north of Detroit for the night

Day 4 we were off to the AMA Vintage Days in Lexington OH. We stopped along the way for breakfast and got in around 12:30. My friend Wendy was speaking at 1:30 so we changed and left our gear at the hotel and headed over to the event. We met a few other friends there and saw my friend Wendy speak about motorcycle maintenance . Paul and I both picked up a few ideas on maintenance and cool tools and Paul was plying her for info on his Mikuni carb after I told him I was getting high off his exhaust fumes.

At least I thought to get a photo of my friend Paul and our bikes as he was getting gas on the way down

I did get a photo of Wendy speaking

Not everyone was captivated by Wendy

I did see this beauty

And this one

And this one

Wendy and her friend Kelly joined us for dinner Saturday at a cool BBQ/Ice Cream joint but there is no proof as again we (ok I!) forgot to take pictures of the group.

Day 5 we rode over to see Wendy speak about long distance riding. At dinner I asked if she would like to use my bike as a prop for her talk and she thought that would be a great idea to show the contrast of bikes that long distance riders use. Coincidently her 2005 FJR has almost exactly the same miles my 2006 Sportster has on it at around 230,000 miles

And here is a sticker that was on Wendy’s bike. DFF is Delicate F@#! Flower :laugh

And lastly she surprised me Sunday when she said she had something for me from the AMA. She was given a poster from the AMA for their 2007 event and when she opened it she thought I’d appreciate it more. In 2007 they had a Sporty on their poster! I did not take a photo of it yet but will post as soon as I get a chance.

We said our goodbyes and Wendy went west, Paul went north, and I headed east. I took my time and made a few more stops. I did 2,450 miles during the trip, had a blast, and took the time to meet up with a few friends.

Here is my overall route