The final leg east; not an insignificant one, will leave Laconia and cross Maine and Nova Scotia along coastal roads to the extent possible. We will ride this great northeastern coastal riding to Glace Bay, THE FINISH!
The Toughest Ride for the Toughest Riders on Earth! 10,000 Miles of Pure Adrenaline!! The Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge is a grueling battle of endurance and determination! Join us and test your abilities to navigate, endure and persevere along some of the most technical roads in North America. Check out the web site at www.hokaheychallenge.com or contact the organizers for more information (info@hokaheychallenge.com).
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Finish Line!
The final leg east; not an insignificant one, will leave Laconia and cross Maine and Nova Scotia along coastal roads to the extent possible. We will ride this great northeastern coastal riding to Glace Bay, THE FINISH!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Almost there!!
Leaving Rocky Mount, we will ride east to the North Carolina coast, Nags Head and the Outer Banks and ride north along the Atlantic Ocean across the Outer Banks into Norfolk, Virginia. From Norfolk, we will ride across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the Maryland outer shore. The Bay Bridge Tunnel, together with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Mackinaw Straights Bridge are three of the greatest bridges in the United States. We will ride all three!
Our route will proceed up the outer shore of Maryland, through the southwest corner of Delaware, back into Maryland and on through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. This segment will be a real test in urban direction finding and riding. Not particularly a long distance but a segment with a large number of directional changes. The course is made up of mostly rural roads with some really good riding. Rural Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island have some great back woods roads. Lets hope the one's we have selected are among them.
Crossing Massachusetts and briefly passing through the southeast corner of Vermont we will ride east into New Hampshire where we will arrive in Laconia, New Hampshire and Laconia Harley-Davidson, our thirteenth check point. Laconia is the home of the third largest motorcycle rally in the nation but, alas, it happened in June. We will however, ride through Weir's Beach, the epicenter of the rally.
Our route will proceed up the outer shore of Maryland, through the southwest corner of Delaware, back into Maryland and on through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. This segment will be a real test in urban direction finding and riding. Not particularly a long distance but a segment with a large number of directional changes. The course is made up of mostly rural roads with some really good riding. Rural Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island have some great back woods roads. Lets hope the one's we have selected are among them.
Crossing Massachusetts and briefly passing through the southeast corner of Vermont we will ride east into New Hampshire where we will arrive in Laconia, New Hampshire and Laconia Harley-Davidson, our thirteenth check point. Laconia is the home of the third largest motorcycle rally in the nation but, alas, it happened in June. We will however, ride through Weir's Beach, the epicenter of the rally.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Rocky Mount Here we come!!
When we leave Nashville, we will once again ride one of the nation’s great parkways, the “Natchez Trace Parkway”, from Nashville to southern Mississippi where we turn west to pick up the southeast corner of Arkansas. This parkway may again, be relatively slow going due to federal supervision and tourist traffic this time of year. Crossing the southwest corner of Arkansas, we will ride southwest through Louisiana to Beaumont, Texas. Here we will ride east along the Louisiana coast, through the Bayou country, from Beaumont to New Orleans, Louisiana.
We will ride down the full length of Bourbon Street in the Historic French Quarter of New Orleans. This is assuming we don't arrive there on Saturday night as Bourbon street is closed to vehicles, yes even Harleys, on Saturday night. Parallel streets to the north or south of Bourbon will get you through this area on Saturday night. Leaving New Orleans, we will ride the coast road along the Gulf of Mexico, across Mississippi and Alabama to Florida. This is a great coastal ride with expansive coastal views and storied ports such as Pensacola, Panama City, Apalachicola and Mexico Beach, Florida. The water is literally only feet from the road along much of this ride.
Once we arrive in northern Florida, east of the Florida panhandle, we will turn northeast and proceed through South Georgia, South Carolina and into North Carolina on our way to Rocky Mount, North Carolina and Rocky Mount Harley-Davidson, the twelfth check point.
We will ride down the full length of Bourbon Street in the Historic French Quarter of New Orleans. This is assuming we don't arrive there on Saturday night as Bourbon street is closed to vehicles, yes even Harleys, on Saturday night. Parallel streets to the north or south of Bourbon will get you through this area on Saturday night. Leaving New Orleans, we will ride the coast road along the Gulf of Mexico, across Mississippi and Alabama to Florida. This is a great coastal ride with expansive coastal views and storied ports such as Pensacola, Panama City, Apalachicola and Mexico Beach, Florida. The water is literally only feet from the road along much of this ride.
Once we arrive in northern Florida, east of the Florida panhandle, we will turn northeast and proceed through South Georgia, South Carolina and into North Carolina on our way to Rocky Mount, North Carolina and Rocky Mount Harley-Davidson, the twelfth check point.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Get OFF the Fence and Ride!!
The office will be accepting applications up to the day of departure!!
Challengers: We will be scheduling time slots to in-process riders on the 3rd and 4th so watch your email for your appointed time. If you do not have your tracking unit already, please contact US Fleet Tracking to be sure that a unit is waiting for you in Mesa when you arrive. You will need to be trackable by the time you show up for registration.
There is still time to join us for the ride or to come out and see the riders off!! as they embark on the trip of a life time!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Riding the Tail!!
Leaving Columbus, we will ride south through Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The hills of West Virginia and Kentucky are exceptional riding. Going further south into North Carolina we will enter the Great Smoky Mountains where we will encounter the Blue Ridge Parkway. We will ride the parkway south to its southern terminus at Cherokee, North Carolina. The parkway is really a great motorcycle road, however, it is a federally supervised, speed restricted road which may be a burden as we will want to move along. Like CA 1 along the California coast, the Blue Ridge Parkway can be a test of high density tourist traffic endurance during August, but, this isn't supposed to be easy!
Riding through Cherokee, North Carolina we go deeper into the Smoky Mountains where we will encounter generally great riding and an over the top motorcycle road called the “Tail of the Dragon”. Three hundred and eighteen curves in eleven miles. Hang on to your hat! Also, don't expect to see many highway signs indicating the route you are riding. This road is so infamous, that the road signs are removed by cyclists for souvenirs. The state abandoned replacing them long ago.
Departing the Smoky Mountains, we will go into Tennessee and on west through to Franklin a suburb of Nashville, and Bumpus Harley-Davidson, our eleventh check point.
Riding through Cherokee, North Carolina we go deeper into the Smoky Mountains where we will encounter generally great riding and an over the top motorcycle road called the “Tail of the Dragon”. Three hundred and eighteen curves in eleven miles. Hang on to your hat! Also, don't expect to see many highway signs indicating the route you are riding. This road is so infamous, that the road signs are removed by cyclists for souvenirs. The state abandoned replacing them long ago.
Departing the Smoky Mountains, we will go into Tennessee and on west through to Franklin a suburb of Nashville, and Bumpus Harley-Davidson, our eleventh check point.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)