Hello everyone....glad to read that everyone got home safe and sound. I did the unexpected. I rode the entire 450 miles and 11 hours in one day. It was my intention to ride only 8 hours and stop for the night. But I got so motivated to stay ahead of the rain that I kept pushing myself one more town until I was so close to home I decide....oh well.

Rain was my motivation but I was not successful at it. I rode a series of small showers after I left Andy and Tony at I-79. But just south of Pittsburgh the sky just dumped on me. I was terrified and stopped under a bridge with four other bikers come under the bridge with me. This happened three more times where I had to stop until the rain lightened up. Finally arriving into New York State I could see I was racing ahead of the front and that's where I wanted to be until I got home.

The rain experience has me convinced that I've got to cut my windshield down so that I get my slip stream on the visor of my helmet to keep it clear. I found the whole riding in the rain experience not too too bad except for not being able to see through my visor and my windshield.

What a great ride this was for me. My total mileage for the four days was over 1,000 miles. My riding down Rt 219 on Wednesday and Thursday with Gary was a real challenge for me. I certainly came home a better rider than when I left.

What I saw of West Virginia would definitely make me come back. Except that next time I'll do the slabway down and back and use the time in WV for the twisties.

Meeting old friends and making new ones is for me what it is all about. What a great bunch of people these are who attend these events. It's like a long awaited family reunion and the memories you carry with you for years. The stories and experiences everyone shares are great. And the laughs are just one right after the other. If any of you regret not having gone to this years event, then start planning for the 8th Annual T rally in Beckley, WV in 2010.

I haven't processed my photos just yet, but it seems that everyone captured all the moments, so nothing will get overlooked.

I'm going to be replaying each and every event over and over in my mind for a very long time.

PS....I can't give enough praise for my rain suit by NITRO Racing. Four horrendous downpours and I never felt a drop come through to me. Same thing about my waterproof CruiserWorks boots too!

alepel

"Ride with the Spirit always, and in all ways"....hombldr

Edited 1 time by alepel Jul 27 09 2:20 PM.