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Day -2, Sunday – Ontario

Well May is here and I am in here in Ontario, CA. Riders are poring in. The line at the host hotel is moving in slow motion, but thankfully I’m not staying here. I got here early enough to get registered and met up with my roommate for a short ride to Outback for dinner. Now I’m back at the hotel looking for a relaxful evening, right after I complete this update.

I’ve been watching posts on the RFTW FB page and seen some funny stuff and some not so funny. Like important things that got left behind of lost along the way.   I’ve had pretty good luck getting everything together I need to bring along, but I have an edge.  I keep everything on a checklist.  I even have a checklist on my checklist.  The T-CLOCS checklist.  Do you know what that is?  You should.  It’s put out by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.  You can find it on their website.

Click to access T-CLOCS_Inspection_Checklist.pdf

Some things I have on my checklist include passport (what if you decide to go home by way of Canada?), hot and cold weather gloves, hydrator vest, electronic jump start kit, extra key and/or fob (I give this to a friend, so he’ll have it in case I lose mine or get locked out).  You can always bypass your HD security and start your bike by entering a code if you remember the code or have it written down, but it’s a pain to do everytime you turn your bike on if you don’t have the fob.  Lose your fob or have a fob with a run down battery and maybe you’ll be making out a checklist to remember these items in the future.  Why do you need to remove the battery from your extra fob?  Think about it.  An up-to-date checklist could be a valuable thing.   A week before heading out, I print out my checklist and start to assemble my items.   I never have to try to remember whether I have everything.  When it goes on the bike, I check it off the list and if it ain’t on my checklist, I don’t need it.

A few days ago a buddy of mine you might know as Gump showed up at my place in Utah and we had a couple days to get caught up and ride over to the Biker Blessing put on by the Christian Motorcycle Association and then had a nice barbeque. The blessing we both received from their chaplain was heartfelt.  Motorcycle riders know that blessings for a safe ride are always welcome.

After picking up my wife from home we road out to Vayo for pie. Where’s Vayo? Come for a visit and we’ll ride out there together. Sunday morning after bacon and waffles Gump and I were making last minute checks before departing. The final thing before getting on my bike was a nice hug and kiss from my beautiful wife. It will be almost a month before I see her again. She asked me if I would miss her. I snickered and said you know it. She said something like “no, you’ll be too busy”. I said I’m always thinking about you when I ride, so I always miss you and I do already.

 

 

 

Our bikes are packed and we’re ready to head out. What a beautiful day for a ride. Just out of St George is the Virgin River Gorge of which I-15 cuts through.  It’s a sweet set of sweepers you’d like to take at 70mph but watch for Arizona State Troopers because this corner of Arizona is patrolled by them. I was feeling a little guilty that the weather was so perfect for us after hearing all the trouble people were having heading west to start the Run. Sorry to all those that had nasty weather, but we missed it. We had no delays in Vegas but there were plenty heading into Victorville and then Cajon Pass. We got off I-15 at Cleghorn and headed down old I-15 with a couple other cars for a few miles. We probably made up 20 minutes with this little shortcut. As we were heading south, the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe was heading north. I raised my arm up with my palm open and the engineer saw me and gave us a couple blasts. I love that. Got to love train engineers.

So Gump and I made it to the host hotel in one piece and hugged after we got off our bikes. It was great riding with him. Several times he commented about traffic ahead I couldn’t always see and when I signalled for a lane change to the right, he gave me a ping on his CB “one ping only” to let me know he saw my signal and was moving. He was always in my side mirror and moved with me whenever I changed lanes or changed speed. It is a pleasure riding with such an experienced rider.

Like last year, my roommate had already checked into our room and had an ice cold Diet Coke ready for me. Last year I commented in the SitRep “Run For the wall is an event that gets under your skin and it feels good”. The feelings have been coming back for several days now but especially today.

Again all the route vendor trucks were set up outside and open for business. Everyone is there to help anyone interested in anything commemorating Run For The Wall. Stop by and check out the all the stuff.

Here’s the Pre-Run Itinerary if you haven’t seen it already.

Download the PDF file .

Please check out what’s going on. Some stuff is mandatory. Monday is a big day. There will be hundreds of bikers riding in and there is a lot of coordinating that needs to happen. All the activity in preparing for the Run kicks into high gear tomorrow. We have been waiting and saying “Is it May yet”, for a long time.  Like I said in the beginning, May is here.  Are you ready for Run For The Wall?

“We Ride For Those That Can’t”
Tom “Twotone” Lystrup – Midway Route SitRep Writer
I’d appreciate your comments. lystruptf@gmail.com
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