Day Zero and War with the Wind

May 8th, 2011

My original plan was to depart on Thursday, May 5th.  Because of the weather, I decided to leave a day early.  However, because of the weather being much too cold to ride Wednesday, I delayed leaving one day.  Thus, Day Zero was spent at home relaxing.

Day One.  Thursday, May 5th, I departed as originally planned.  The first half of the drive from Cleveland to Chicago was all I had hoped it would be.  The sun was shining on Clyde and I as we happily hit the open road.   It's hard to put into words the feelings I had as I twisted the accelerator and the rubber finally met the road after months of planning.

The second half of the 337 mile to Chicago was a war with the wind.  Dark clouds loomed, and the wind picked up making the driving more difficult.   I felt as though I was going to be blown off the highway.  Rain threatened, but fortunately, never threw a punch and I stayed dry.  After 7 hours on the road, the Chicago skyline revealed itself and I'd felt a sense of accomplishment.  The epic road trip is no longer something I'll do in the future, but what I am doing now!

I woke up Friday morning to a warm sunny day.  I had planned on going to Milwaukee on Monday, May 8th, to see the Harley Davidson museum.  But the weather was so nice I decided to make the 172 mile round trip journey and put another notch on the belt of states traveled to/through.  Clyde won't admit it, but I know he shed a tear as we pulled up to the Harley Museum.

Chicago has been fun but I'm going to hit the open road tomorrow.  A big thanks to Mr. Brian Head and Christian Svoboda for the good times and warm hospitality.  And a special thanks to Chris, for giving me my "friend held up at gunpoint" story.  You'll have to ask me about that in person to get the full story.