Friday August 4 – Saturday August 5, 2017
(~2946 miles)

I arose with my alarm at 01:15 and was on the road by 01:45, after a quick cup of coffee in the room. Having hit the sack around 20:00, I’d had a solid 5 hours of rest and was feeling alert and ready. I backtracked east across Staten Island, back to Coney Island and the Mobil station that would serve as my starting point. My cheat sheet of fuel stop waypoints and predicted arrival times was tucked into the top sleeve of my tank bag assuming an 03:00 start.

I was running early and my starting receipt clocked me in departing at 02:15. My hope was to arrive in San Francisco before dark the following day, in time to get some dinner with my wife.

The heat from the previous day could still be felt, but as I crossed through Pennsylvania I moved into a cooler weather pattern that eventually dropped the temperature down to 59 degrees. I actually pulled over to put on my heated jacket liner (in August!) at some point in Pennsylvania or Ohio. I only needed to keep it turned on low, but the extra layer helped to keep me comfortable at full speed. The skies were overcast and threatening all throughout Ohio and Indiana, but I never got so much as a sprinkle of actual rain.

In Iowa the skies begin to clear up to a beautiful clear blue with white puffy clouds. This was actually my first time rolling through Iowa on two wheels, and I quite enjoyed the rolling farmlands against the blue sky.

I did run into several construction areas on I-80 throughout the midwestern states, that ate away at (and finally completely obliterated) my 45 minute Head Start From the morning. I did not rush through my gas stops, but I didn’t lollygag either, usually only taking time to use the restroom and/or have a quick snack from my tank bag. Based on a friend’s recommendation, I brought along a six pack of protein shakes which complimented my usual Clif Bars and fig newtons very well I thought.

I had a waypoint marked to stop at the Nebraska state line for a Love & Merci Tour bonus – “merci-less” since this state no longer had a Merci train car. However I-80 enters the state in the middle of Omaha, amidst five lanes of merging highway traffic, with the welcome sign overhead… there was no way to stop so I simply kept moving.

After my planned fuel stop in Greenwood Nebraska, I realized I would be cutting it close to make it to North Platte for the next fill up, based on my fuel consumption at the faster highway speeds available out west. I made what was intended to be a quick fuel stop in Doniphan NE, but which turned out to be a 15 minute time suck when all the receipts at the dumpy convenience store turned out to be off by a half hour And the confused (albeit pleasant) clerk wasn’t able to understand what I was looking for, nor give me the correct time. I finally got her to initial the corrected time on one of the receipts that we had generated together, and I got out of there soon as possible.

The Flying J station in North Platte marked the end of a nested Bun Burner Gold ride (1500 miles in under 24 hrs), which I had just completed in 22.5 hours. I spent a little extra time getting a sandwich and coffee to keep me going for the next couple of hours. Consuming caffeine at this stage goes against recognized long-distance riding wisdom, and I ended up regretting it due to the more frequent bathroom breaks I seemed to need over the next hour and a half.

I continued west for another hundred miles or so until the need to rest overcame me, then pulled into a rest area near Sidney NE shortly after midnight local time, to close my eyes for a few minutes. It was a quiet rest area with some nice Stone benches circling the tree. I lay down on one of the benches with my Screaming Meanie set for 20 minutes and had a good power nap.

At the buzzer, I quickly got ready to go and downed a Five Hour Energy shot, hoping it would keep me going through the rest of the morning hours until daylight. This was another mistake, as I had forgotten a friend’s advice who told me not to drink the stuff on an empty stomach. This resulted in additional bathroom breaks every 40 miles or so for the next few hours, as I crossed most of the state of Wyoming in the dark.  Having been across Wyoming on I-80 in the past, I knew this was ideal timing, as there wasn’t much to miss!

I took a couple of Rolaids which seemed to help, and the frequent breaks actually kept me awake and more refreshed in my tired state. As I was now on Mountain Daylight Time and two hours behind my friends on the east coast, I spoke with my wife briefly when she woke up and then chatted with another riding buddy (thanks Jeff!) for a good 30 to 40 minutes in the wee hours just before Dawn. This really helped get me through the last toughest bit, until light started showing in the sky.

The scenery changed for the better fairly quickly after entering Utah, as the highway went through Echo Canyon and alongside the picturesque Echo Reservoir. Enjoying the sights while moving wasn’t enough, and I felt like I had to get at least a few pictures to document some of the beauty I was seeing on this ride. A rest stop provided a convenient spot to pull over, stretch my legs by hiking up a small hill, and taking in the beauty of the western geology.

Temperatures rose Into the high 80s in the late morning as I descended towards Salt Lake City. This being my first time through, I found the highway signage a bit confusing and had to pull over once or twice to get my bearings to stay on I-80.  I also took time to shed my layers and open all my venting to help cool off. Having always loved maps and geography since childhood, I’d been fascinated with the big spot of blue in Utah that represented Great Salt Lake and was eager to set my eyes on it. I had heard more recently in life, the lake itself looks like more of a salt plain with some water on it, as I saw for myself at last, while skirting its southern “shore”.

Now the cross winds kicked up on the long straight highway stretch across northern Utah through the flat lands.  The salt plains were very surreal, bright white with some tire tracks showing here and there as the hot sun beat down and occasional wind gusts tried to batter me off the road.

I stopped for fuel in Wendover UT, at the entrance to the Bonneville Salt Flats Raceway. I hoped to buy a sticker there, but they didn’t have any among their other kitsch. Immediately thereafter, I entered the state of Nevada, a decision I have regretted since ;). I thought riding through the Midwest was boring, but the high desert terrain of Nevada along I-80 puts it to shame in this regard. Combined with the lack of sympathy during a roadside chat with a NV state employee, my mood came down several notches. Needless to say I monitored my speed carefully for a good portion of my journey through the state, and eagerly anticipated the border crossing into California.

My first view of Reno NV surprised me as being much greener than the portions of the state I had just come through. I did not stop, however, and pushed on into the mountains of California and upward to Truckee and the Donner Pass. The terrain and temperature changes were staggering as green forest sprung up around me and the temperature dropped as I gained elevation.

Rain clouds threatened and sometimes showered me, which felt refreshing and then downright cold, as I zipped my vents back up. At my final fuel stop in Truckee, I added a torso layer for comfort before making the long sweeping descent from Donner Pass down into the Sacramento Valley, where I saw the highest temperatures of my trip, peeking around 101° F.

The freeway traffic around Sacramento was a bit crazy but moving quickly. I had prepared myself mentally to try lane-splitting (legal in California) when needed, but it turned out not to be necessary just yet. I pulled over into a rest area to shed my layer from Truckee before continuing, but of course the temperature dropped again (with fog banks!) as I got closer to the coast.

Traffic finally closed up when I hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. I observed one motorcyclist splitting lanes and immediately grasped the procedure and appreciated the cooperation being shown by the cage drivers, who would carefully move aside  to form a wider lane when they saw a rider coming through. This new vocation kept my mind fairly occupied as I quickly crossed the bay and entered San Francisco at last. I continued to use this technique to get through the jammed up areas very quickly, and enjoyed my cruise through the city looking at the architecture and green areas on my way to my final destination Shell station on Lincoln Way, right next to Golden Gate Park.

Of course nothing is easy at this point, and I had to go in to the station to get pre-authorized for the gas. After the fill up, the pump failed to produce a receipt, so I went back in for my final receipt. The clerk was having a bad day for some reason and assured me it wasn’t my fault, so I told her she had just made my day by giving me a proper and complete receipt to end my cross-country journey.

I officially ended my ride at 19:26 local time, 2946 miles in just over 44 hours per the receipt time stamps (the GPS photo doesn’t include time when it was powered off at stops). I could feel every minute of the ride at this moment and felt extremely pleased at the  accomplishment.

Now I had a beach to see…about collecting some sand and water…