That's All, Folks

My riding season has officially come to a close. The bikes, Luci and Michael, are already safely tucked away out of the weather and appreciative of a long recuperation. Meanwhile, I'm settling into the Northern Kentucky area for winter...although since today is the second straight day of below freezing temperatures, I am questioning my decision to live here 🤣.

If you just want my stats, scroll to the bottom. What follows next is a recap of my season. Brief for me; probably not so brief for you 🤣.

I had an incredible adventure this year. I left Cincinnati on 26 February bound for the San Francisco area. After getting snowed in both in Amarillo and north of Las Vegas, it was wonderful to arrive in sunny Cali, where I made my first Babes' Ride Out, then tootled around for about a month.

On 29 March I attended the Spring Heat in Arizona HOG Touring Rally, which wasn't hot but did end in Phoenix. I didn't stay for Arizona Bike Week, though, because I high-tailed it to Austin for the eclipse weekend. What a party!

I left Austin on 8 April, making a 3,700-mile loop of Texas and Louisiana to get to Oklahoma on 4/20 day and Small Mountain Street Tacos's Annual Taco Run and Hoka Hey meetup. Yeehaw!

By 26 April, I was in Key West for the Conch Republic Independence Celebration. Thanks to my awesome friends who saved me a seat on the boat, I got to participate in the Great Sea Battle reenactment in the harbor and the surrender ceremony at the bar. Hell yeah!

I arrived in Pensacola on 15 May, where I met up with old friends for the 9-day Tour of Valor HOG Touring Rally that finished in DC. How freakin' cool that was! Here's a video about it: https://youtu.be/qZqNLcDMILg?si=EBK8G_m_sY-Qgbr2

The day after the rally ended, I was headed further northeast, but I lost the belt on the bike and had to UHaul her back to Cincinnati. Once back, I decided to rent an apartment there and hung out until my partner and I flew to Anchorage for the Last Frontier HOG Regional Rally. We both picked up our Alaska 50 Rides, One Nation photo, which was #50 for me 👍. We also grabbed one of the 10 Rides for 2024 photos...which meant I had better get off my butt and get the other nine down in the Lower 48.

On 27 June, just three days after we got back from the Great White North, I picked up the bike and took off an aggressive run to complete the Pacific Northwest Grand Tour. Planned for 18,000 miles over 40 days at most, I made it 12,000 miles in 22 days until the bike became too unreliable to continue.

By 20 July, I was back in Dallas with Luci the El Diablo in the shop. Less than a week later, I was riding my first Road Glide, a 2020 Limited I named Michael (an angel to balance my devil). And by the beginning of August I had ridden him back in Cincinnati, leaving Luci in good hands at Texas HD.

A little rest and laundry, then on 10 August my partner and I hit hit the road together bound for New Hampshire for the East Meets West HOG Touring Rally a.k.a. Posse Ride. We took a week to get there and enjoyed most of the ride. [My partner will never ride in NYC again 🤣.]

The Posse Ride began on 19 August and took us through (in order) NH, VT, MA, CT, NY, PA, MD, WV, KY, IL, MO, KS, CO, TX, NM, and AZ before we arrived in San Diego for Labor Day. 2,200 miles to get to the start and 5,100 miles to get to the end. Then 3,000 more miles to get us back to Cincinnati. "Epic" just doesn't do it justice.

We left SoCal on 4 September, stopping at Tombstone, El Paso, Big Bend National Park, San Antonio, Dallas, and Memphis before making it back. I took the next month off the bike to just not be on the bike 🤣. But I still had one bike in the shop in Dallas, so I had to keep going.

Because I wasn't sure if Luci would be up for it, I towed Michael to Texas so I would have at least one bike to ride for the Texas Independence HOG Touring Rally. So on 10 October, Michael and I began our final stretch. Over the next nine days, I wrapped up my entire riding season, then towed both bikes back to Cincinnati.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted, elated, appreciative, surprised, and proud to have accomplished almost all of my riding goals for the year.

Here are the stats:

- Total miles on the bikes: 54,149 (Wyoming and Nebraska were the only two Lower 48 states I didn't touch.)

- Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas: 50-Stop Finisher [50 of 50] (4th year in a row)
- Pacific Northwest Grand Tour: Finisher [25 of 30 stops] (1st year)
- HOG's 10 Rides for 2024: 10 of 10 (4th year in a row)
- HOG's 50 Rides, One Nation: 50 of 50 (completed 2021-2024)
- HD Dealership Check-In Challenge: 394 (Top 3 finishers will be announced next year 🤞)
- Tour of Honor: Finished 2nd overall in total visits with 485, 10th overall in annual sites with 151, and Four Corners Ride Finisher (see pics and previous footprint)
- Iron Butt Association Rides: Lap of the 48
- Ride To Eat: Abandoned challenge after the first month or so

Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all there, chica.

So long, and thanks for all the fish! ✌️Read more