Guy Boutin's Motorcycle Touring and Travel Pages

Adventures in Sport Touring with the Honda ST 1100, 1300 and the BMW 1200RT

Exploring North America...One Road at a Time

              
                           Completing the "48"
                    One Rider, One Bike, and America

I recently completed a goal I set when I first brought my bike home. Riding it to all the lower 48 states. I completed that quest last month, and have had time to reflect.

Riding a bike in the lower 48 is not that big a deal in this day and age. Still, only a handful can say they have done it, and a even smaller amount can say they did it all on a single bike.

I feel good about the manner in which I carried out my quest.  I spent quality time in 46 states, and very little on faceless interstate highways.  Only Wisconsin and Delaware can feel neglected.  In both cases I crossed the line, touched them, and departed.  I was lucky enough to spend time in both on previous Prelude trips, so it's not like I don't know what they have to offer.  I only needed to get the ST there.

I have seen America up close and personal.  The people and the places are still fresh in my mind.  Thousands of towns have seen me pass through them.  I've chatted with farmers, factory workers, doctors, cowboys, mechanics, and of course waitresses.  Many were eager to learn who I was, and intrigued by the fact a far away Long Rider, found his way into their town.  Ninety-nine percent of the people in America are good.  I was never mistreated by anyone.  They were always helpful and concerned about my welfare.  I once waited out a thunderstorm under a church canopy in Oklahoma, 2 vehicles stopped within a few minutes of each other to see if I was ok.

I have pictures in my mind of long rides in the desert with painted sunsets on the horizon. I can still smell the salty air of Big Sur and Cape Breton, mental pictures of serene  Iowa cornfields, the towering mountains of Colorado and West Virginia.  The flowing water of a snow melt swollen Montana River.  Or how about the busy, and rambunctious cities of New York, and San Francisco.  The heartbreak of Ground Zero, and Gettysburg.  I regret I don't have a printer wired to my mind to print these pictures out for all to see.

America is a big place, with a lot diversity, but united in our love of freedom and country.  Yes, we have disagreement, but we always work things out.

I have time in every major national park in America. The Smokey Mountains, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Bryce, Badlands, Redwoods, Grand Canyon, Arcadia, Everglades and Niagara Falls just to name a few. I've visited great battlefields, The Little Big Horn, Yorktown, Gettysburg, Anteitam, Shiloh, and Manassas.

The ST and I have been in 33 state capitals, 4 Canadian Providences, and more county seats then I could ever remember.  

How enriched my life has become the last 2 years.  I have learned so much about my country and myself. You don't see, and experience the things I have, and not come away changed.  I grew in a variety of ways, not just as a rider, but as a man.

And the people. I have relationships all over the country. Great people and friends, who otherwise I would have never have had the opportunity to meet.  I know how lucky I am to be able to do the things I do, its not something I take for granted.

I've learned things no book could ever teach me.  You can read about places, and see pictures of the Grand Canyon or Crater Lake but, until you touch them, smell them, and feel their presence, you have not really seen them.

I love motorcycles, and the feeling of freedom they give me. Riding the 48 by any other means would just not have been the same.  How can I smell Nova Scotia Christmas trees in a RV?

What is next for me?  Alaska, and Western Canada, but not sure when. There is still much to see in the lower 48. I once met a Long Rider who was slowly, but faithfully, riding to the highest point in every state.  It had taken him 7 years to reach 39, but he said he was in no hurry, a good attitude.  My next immediate goal is to log 100k on my current bike.  I should reach that milestone late 2003 or early 2004.  There are still many roads to ride, many towns to see, and more people to meet.

It has been a fun journey. I look forward to many more.