My first long ride of the year: Touring the South

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:48 pm

I rode the R bike down to Biloxi, MS starting last Tuesday. Left the office at 5:30 and headed down to Chattanooga, TN from Blacksburg. Slept overnight in TN and traversed the northwestern tip of Georgia, the length of Alabama, and Southern Mississippi.

I worked a couple days helping to rebuild a couple houses in Biloxi. Wow, words cannot describe the sheer destruction from the hurricanes down there. Whatever problems I felt I had in life paled in comparison to what people in the Gulf coast have gone through in the past 10 months.

After two very short days of work, I felt the determination to go back at a future date. I think it will take a decade for the Gulf coast in MS and LA to recover.

On Saturday morning, I hit I-10 west toward New Orleans. Since I had reservations to stay in Atlanta that night, I gave myself a couple hours to eat lunch and explore the Big Easy. I actually crossed over the Mississippi River on the R1150R, turned around to eat lunch near the WW2 D-Day museum and the French Quarter, then hit the interstate back through southern LA, MS, and Alabama to reach Georgia.

I hit Atlanta proper around 8 p.m. I don't know what it is, but I get a feeling of excitement akin to what I feel in New York whenever I'm in Atlanta. Coming up I-85, I deliberately hit the beltway to get on I-75 and go through the center of the city. I reached my hotel in Alpharetta Saturday evening around 9 p.m.

Sunday morning, I ate a hardy buffett and hit the road for Blacksburg and reached home in about 7 hours. On this leg of my trip, I traversed Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and my home state of Virginia.

In the past week, I have seen the following cities from the saddle of the R:

Knoxville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Biloxi, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Charlotte.

I have now seen 15 states while riding my R1150R, and have clocked over 37k miles on it. It has been a wonderful and reliable companion during my travels over the past 4 years now.

edit - Oh yeah. I rode 1913 miles, and the following link has 3 pages of pics from my trip:

http://yjleesvrr.smugmug.com/gallery/1533607

Post by **Boxer** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:33 pm

Awesome Yong! I commend you for doing this. I can't imagine that kind of destruction.
I have a photo somewhere of the beach area in Biloxi a couple years ago when I rode through there. It don't look nothing like that now.

Post by **DJ Downunder** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:05 pm

yjleesvrr...thanks for sharing your pictures...boy what a mess......amazing pictures...it's all very sad..

btw...great job with that siding..

DJ

Post by **wncbmw** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:13 pm

Yong - good of you to volunteer for helping to rebuild. Hurricane damage can be mind-boggling. My sister lived in Myrtle Beach when Hugo when through in '89. Very similar, whole blocks of oceanfront homes turned to rubble!

Lots of saddle time on this trip also!

Nice pics.

Post by **DSKYZD** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:26 pm

Inspiring! You actually stepped up and helped out. Respect.

mnnden · Post by **mnnden** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:35 am

Great, It is hard to look at all the damage, and wonder how it must effect the people there, Thanks for helping. Den

Post by **taosports** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:06 pm

wncbmw wrote:Yong - good of you to volunteer for helping to rebuild.
Lots of saddle time on this trip also! Nice pics.

+1, nice job!

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:01 am

Thanks guys, although I don't feel like I've done anything out of the ordinary. Americans have always been good about volunteerism, and I'm trying to be a good citizen of a country that has given me opportunities I couldn't have found in most places in this world.

I'm planning to spend a full week back in Biloxi either the last week of September or the first week of October. Y'all feel free to join me if you wish.