New Jersey - Pennsylvania - Virginia (Day 1)

Jersey City, New Jersey

The weather forecast indicated potentially bad weather along our path but if we timed it right, we could slip through these hazardous conditions. The day we rode off from Jersey City, NJ we knew we had to ride through freezing temperatures 35 F and some rain through Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Ready to ride, today is the day. (Jersey City, NJ)

We head out of the city and unto the highway. As the cold air found its way into my all season protective gear and helmet I wrestled with the thought of not getting blown off the bike at highway speeds averaging 85mph. At one point we had to stop in the middle of the highway, cause I realized the tapping sound I kept hearing was was the metal button of my helmet strap (which I routinely forget to secure throughout the trip) hitting the helmet. You see, I haven’t ridden a motorcycle in 12 years, in fact my preparation for this trip was watching highway safety riding videos on youtube. 

Rest Stop in Pennsylvania.

-->

Winchester, Virginia

 

-->

We arrived in Winchester, Virginia, where we met up with Natasha for lunch at the Butcher Station.

 We ate free range meat dishes and did a little catching up and reminiscing about our crazy high school days at International School Manila over 20 years ago.

Pretty beat from riding 400 miles in freezing temperatures, Alan and I knew that we needed to get rest for the remainder of our 3000 mile journey straight across the middle of America. Upon saying our good byes, it was nice of Natasha to warn us that a rain-storm was heading our way, which we confirmed that evening on the news. Let me tell you, when two brothers are determined to get from the east coast to the west coast in 10 days, severe weather forecasts are taken with a grain of salt, after all we know that mother nature is unpredictable. So in the back of our minds we hoped that she would be in our favor.

We checked into Motel 6, primary criteria for accommodations was motorcycle parking right in front of the room. We wanted to avoid waking up to stolen motorcycles. We did have a heavy duty chain and lock used to chain both bikes together.

The rooms were quite spacious, clean and comfortable. 

There were a few restaurants in the area, but we ended getting food delivery. No free breakfast here but you get free coffee. That evening Alan got a fever that he sweated out, this was not going to stop him from the road trip of his dreams.

 

Road Trip Prep: New Jersey: Kawazaki Z1000 and Yamaha FZ6R

New Jersey to California:

When my brother Alan told me he was riding a motorcycle across America for his 40^th birthday, I thought about what it would be like to join him. Last time I rode a 600cc bike was in 2001.

Within a few days he scored a brand new 2012 Kawasaki Z1000, his dream bike. I knew at this point he was serious, not wanting him to go by himself, I decided I would come along, after all, its his big 40, and I'm always up for an adventure.

  

It was fun researching bikes and visiting motorcycle dealers, a week later I finally ended up with a 2009 Yamaha FZ6R from craigslist. Great Sport Touring bike for the novice rider like myself. I love this bike. Upright riding position, forgiving 600cc engine, decent wind protection, and my favorite stealth color, black.

-->

Key items I packed for the 10 day cross-country road trip:

Helmet, Winter gloves, summer gloves, all season winter and waterproof motorcycle jacket and pants, motorcycle boots, 5 pairs of (socks-t-shirts-and underwear), sweater, 2 long sleeve shirts, windbreaker jacket, long johns, whiskey flask, flashlight, macbook pro, ipad mini, jambox Bluetooth speakers, iphone, Canon G12 digital camera, mini tripod, HD video cam, sneakers, jogging pants, few hundred dollars in cash, and duct tape. The electronics were packed into my Mission Works (Sanction) backpack, and the rest went into my Timbuk2 Pilot bag. I brought along some water proof covers from an old pair of motorcycle saddle bags. The key player was my Rock Straps, which held both my bags and all this stuff.

Weeks leading to the trip, all I thought about were how my brother or I were going to die on this trip. It boiled to two scenarios. First was getting run over by an 18 wheeler truck, the thought of getting rolled over by even half of those wheels played itself out every night. Second way was the two of us Asian dudes coming across some spin off or hybrid sect of the KKK, in which case we would be beaten or torched to death just for fun. When I could no longer deal with these nightmare scenarios, I asked my bro what his daily thoughts were, and he said it was of dying on the road as well, so that ironically made me feel better.

Scene in Jersey City, NJ a week or before the trip