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Kentucky to California and back: May-June 2014

7K views 26 replies 7 participants last post by  joejinky 
#1 · (Edited)
I am getting ready to make another trip to the west coast. I decided it would be more fun to take someone along!

Every year I attend The Great Western Bicycle Rally held at Paso Robles, California, in the wine country, over Memorial Day Weekend. This is their 50th year, and my 30th time attending the rally. This year, I am considering taking someone along with me, just to make the trip more interesting.

My plan is to leave on or about May 18th, 2014 and take five or six days to get to California. I would then ride up to Paso Robles to meet friends at the rally. After the rally, I'd return to southern CA. for a few days to visit friends and take care of some business there. Then a leisurely ride back to Kentucky!

I ride county roads. I CAN ride the interstates, but that is so incredibly boring. I like the backroads, and the small towns I pass through much better.

This will be a hotel/motel trip. I'm leaving the camping gear behind. I'm going to travel uber-light as well, shipping my Cannondale bicycle ahead to CA., and then shipping it home again after the rally. If you join me, I will arrange for a loaner bicycle for you, should you want to enjoy the many rides they host over the weekend. I am trying very hard to leave the trailer behind on this trip but it is available if our gear exceeds the capacity of the bike's luggage space.

I ride a 2012 Honda Gold Wing with several modifications. It currently has 45,000 miles on it. Although trips are fun enough alone, I thought I might be able to find a female travel companion who would like to go along. I have prepared an information E-mail for anyone interested in the trip.

You can reply here, or in a PM, but for the greatest detail, respond to ridetoca(at)yahoo(dot)com I will reply with a detailed explanation of this adventure, along with my phone number and other contact info.

About me: I am 6'1", 280 lb., 55, single, retired, and able to enjoy life a bit. I live in Franklin, KY. (42134) where I settled in 2011. I am financially comfortable, so I can take spontaneous trips like this on a whim. I am a NON-smoker, a NON-drinker, and I certainly don't use drugs. I have over 600,000 miles of motorcycle riding experience, having worked as a motorcycle courier for many years in southern California, as well as riding with touring clubs and on my own tours, before moving to Kentucky.

I am politically conservative. Although I have one or two "liberal" friends, my nearly 100% conservative friends describe me as "Slightly to the RIGHT of Genghis Khan" in my political views. Any travel companion would have to lean heavily in that direction in order for us to get along.

My companion could ride her own motorcycle, or ride as a 'co-pilot' on my Wing. All of the details and negotiations would be worked out before we left!

I plan to ride about 350 miles per day. I CAN ride much farther, but this is not a stressful trip. This is just a leisurely jaunt across America and back again. It will last about 26 days.

In 2012, I rode around the entire United States, traveling over 18,000 miles in four months and crossing through 40 states. This trip will be more direct, out and back, with some recreation time in California. This site does not allow me to post links yet for some reason, but you can visit joejinky.com to see the photos and videos of that tour. I really enjoyed it, and I rode about 98% of it on back country roads.

If you are interested, you need to get the process started. We will need time to chat, meet, and work out the details of the whole trip before we leave. I hope to hear from you no later than April 15th.


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#2 ·
Finding a travel companion that is compatible is quite a challenge! It is one thing to go to a movie or hang out at a mutual friend's house for a couple of hours, and quite another thing to travel together for an extended length of time.

Back in 1987, while living in southern California, I wanted to take one summer to tour all 48 states on my 1983 Honda Gold Wing. Since I was not dating anyone at the time, I put a small sign on the back of the bike to advertise for a travel companion. The sign read:

"Seeking Female Co-Pilot
for CA-NY-CA Tour
Summer of '87"

I rolled up to a doctor's office and parked in front of the door. As I walked in to the reception desk, this stunningly beautiful girl sat behind the counter. She said, "I really like your motorcycle!" So I thought, "Hmmm... maybe I should ask her if she would be interested in riding along..."

We quickly arrived at a deal-breaker, when she tipped her head to the side and asked, "What's a 'Canyca' Tour?" I knew at that instant, that I could not travel with this girl for weeks on end. She was dumber than a rock!


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#3 ·
This could just be the start of something wonderful! I would also like to fly to Ireland and tour the country by motorcycle, on a guided tour. Also Australia, and Europe. I looked into the Munich to Moscow ride, as well as an off-road adventure across the center of Australia. China is another possibility, but I am not sure what sorts of tours are available there. I have no interest in riding around Japan, but Austria is definitely on my bucket list. Spain, France, Germany ... I might just pick a country each summer and go for it. I'd really like to see some of the world before I croak!

Of course, I'd want to bring a riding companion along. I'll start with finding someone for this local 6,000 mile run to California and back, and then see where we go from there. I have the time. I have the money. What I don't have, is a fun female travel companion. :frown:


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#4 · (Edited)
Alright Ralph. You made your point. Please take your political discussion to another thread.

This thread, MY THREAD, is about finding a compatible travel companion for a 26 day motorcycle tour across the country, and a potential travel companion for motorcycle tours of different countries in the very near future. Read: A compatible travel companion for ME.

I really do not want to get into a discussion about "conservatives vs. liberals" here. Please do not attempt to hijack this thread.

Any conservative woman out there knows exactly what I seek in a travel companion.

I wish to travel with someone who will ENJOY my company as I will ENJOY her company. Since I am a conservative, and decidedly so, I cannot and will not travel with a liberal, simply because of what you have demonstrated right here in your posts.

Now, in my original post, I mentioned SEVERAL qualities I seek in a travel companion. I am looking for a NON-smoker. I seek someone who doesn't have to have a beer in her hand to be having a good time. I seek someone who has the TIME and the ABILITY to travel on such a tour. I seek someone tall and slender to proportional, simply because the rear seat on a Gold Wing is not conducive to "BBW." I suggested that she be TALL so she sees more than my back through the entire trip. OR, if she rides her own motorcycle, that would be fine too. I am looking for someone who might enjoy attending the Great Western Bicycle Rally and riding a bicycle through the wine country with me.

There are other "deal breakers" involved in this offer. If she wants to spend all of her time listening to 'rap' music, or 'Christian radio', or Piers Morgan podcasts, or talk about all of the wonderful things Barack Hussein Obama has done for our country, we will not be traveling together. If she does drugs, or cusses like a sailor on leave, I am not interested in her company. If she is married or "attached," there is no way I'm going to travel with her. If she cannot laugh at discovering that a blueberry yogurt spilled all inside of her camera bag, then she is not the right companion for me.

With all of this, YOU have homed in on my requirement that she be politically conservative.

If you want to have a "Conservatives vs. Liberals" discussion, please go start a separate thread about that topic. This is not the place for it.

Thanks, and ride safe!


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#6 ·
Years ago, I tried to find a travel companion for a 48-State motorcycle tour of America.

I had a sign on the back of the bike with my phone number! This was BEFORE The Internet, smart phones, text messaging and such.

A woman called me. She had a voice like a Klingon! Deep, raspy, definitely a heavy life-long smoker. We talked for a while on the phone...

"Will you be riding on my Gold Wing?"

"No. I'm gonna ride my Hawg!"

I pictured some butch biker broad with a 60" waist and a tattoo of a claw across her face. I never called her back to follow up.

Well, the tour never came to pass. I could not find a compatible companion, and it seemed silly to do a tour like that alone, so I just abandoned the idea.

Late that summer, I was at a traffic light in Los Angeles, when a woman I can only describe as "BARBIE" rolled up next to me on a white Harley chopper. This girl was tall, slender, with long flowing silver white hair. She had a bare midriff that exposed a waist I guessed to be about 20", and her other proportions were only known in my teenage dreams. I looked over my left shoulder at her and then turned away. I didn't want to stare! Dear GOD, that woman was beautiful!

After a moment, and in that same crusty, raspy voice I heard over the telephone, I heard her say, "Hey! Weren't you looking for someone to ride around the country with? I called you but you never got back to me..."

I turned to her. "That was YOU?" She nodded, gave me a pouty face, and rode off. The car behind me honked his horn. I was literally STUNNED into immobility.


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#7 ·
On my 2012 tour of America, I pulled my Escapade trailer behind me. it was full of gear, more than any sane person would take along, but I tend to pack heavy. I would rather bring something along that I will never use, than to buy ANOTHER one on the road.

On this trip in May, I am going to make my first attempt at traveling uber-light. I am leaving nearly all of the "stuff" at home, or sending it ahead via U.P.S., and having it available in California. This is a very difficult thing for me to do! I would shock most riders if they were to see an inventory list of the stuff I packed, and acquired along the way.

Still, I tried to leave some room for "unexpected" luggage. After all, I reasoned that I would have to have room for something added to the trailer on a whim...

Hey ... it COULD happen!

 
#10 ·
Well after 20+ years in the Navy I haven't noticed any difference in a Sailor's ability to cuss and a mechanics, fireman, police office, or any other human. Male or Female.
 
#14 ·
Oh man. Craigslist is the very bottom of the Internet TROLL kingdom.

What a bunch of god-less liberals infest that site. They enjoy the anonymity of being able to post A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G without needing an I.D., so they let their inner A-hole run free.

What a sad statement that makes about humanity.

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#15 ·
Boy, you said a mouthful there. You are absolutely correct. I've sold two items there but the trash you have to deal with is crazy. And to think we allow these jerks to vote. I'm really questioning our whole voting qualifications. Maybe everyone doesn't have the right to vote. I'm beginning to think you should have to take a good well thought out test to see if you have the brains and mental stability to vote. But I guess someone would just skew it to what ever party was in power in order to get more votes. I still say some people just should not be allowed to though!
 
#16 ·
And to think we allow these jerks to vote. I'm really questioning our whole voting qualifications. Maybe everyone doesn't have the right to vote. I'm beginning to think you should have to take a good well thought out test to see if you have the brains and mental stability to vote. But I guess someone would just skew it to what ever party was in power in order to get more votes. I still say some people just should not be allowed to though!
It used to be that, in order to vote, you had to have a stake in the decision. Only land owners could vote, because they had something to lose if the wrong decision was made. When they started allowing anyone with a pulse to vote, the country began it's inevitable decline into communism.

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.


The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.
 
#17 ·
Yep, it seems like a for gone conclusion doesn't it. I've always hoped this country would be different but I guess not. It's leaped ahead drastically just recently. And the fools couldn't care less as long as they are fat and happy while they are alive. The heck with the future.
 
#24 ·
Everything is ready. The plan is to pull out tomorrow morning. Hot Springs, Dallas, Phoenix and Utah before arriving in SoCal. Then the bicycle rally in Paso Robles, and then back to Kentucky.

I received several replies to my ads, but no one "clicked" so I am traveling alone. One woman told me, "I can go with you, as long as I check in with my parole officer every night..." BUZZZ!!! I'm sorry. you are NOT a winner, but thank you for playing our game!
 
#27 · (Edited)
I am back from my four week tour. 7,500 miles total, through the southern states and up into Utah. The trip was great! Sadly, I did 99% of it alone.

I did pick up a friend in Utah. She used to ride until she was in a horrible motorcycle wreck. now with a prosthetic leg, she can no longer ride a motorcycle, except as a passenger.

We toured Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef National Parks over two days and had a great time.

Now I am home again, and working to figure out my next move. I have to speak with a contractor about sealing the basement of 'FrankenBarn', my latest project. It started as a 600 sq. ft. ground floor wood shop, but I tend to get carried away when I do things. It is now a 6,400 sq. ft. four-story barn with a full basement and a walking attic, and an elevator to reach all four floors. At only 11 times the original planned size, it is going to take some time and a lot of money to complete it. Still, when it is done it will be a fantastic building!

Check out the photos, videos and blog of this recent trip at my website joejinky.com

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