Jay, Harold, Kazuo, Susan and Kyoko at the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

Day 18 Posse Ride Eastern Campaign Thursday June 30, 2005 Corning NY to Cleveland OH 342 miles Warm and mostly overcast States: 43: Pennsylvania, 44: Ohio Rode with: Kazuo and Kyoko and Jay First we stopped at the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. Harold and I stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Mansfield, PA on the way home from the 2002 Can-Am ride, and they told us about this canyon. But that morning it was total fog and we couldn't see a thing. This morning threatened to be a repeat, very overcast, we almost cancelled taking the extra four miles to see the canyon. A local told me it would still be pretty, even with it this cloudy, so we turned. And then the sky cleared up. After a nice ride along Route 6 in PA, we caught the interstate. We looked ahead and saw a major storm approaching, lighting, thunder, rain. We stopped to put on rain gear, and then rode right into it. Although it did not last long, it was bad. As we all pulled into the dealer safely, there were many hugs, we were all happy to see our friends made it through that ok. I got a couple of phone calls also, friends who had made it to the dealer earlier and did not see us, they were worried, just checking we made it in ok. Riding a Harley across the country is not safe. We all look out after each other. We have developed some extremely close friendships. Harley riders have this rather arrogant saying, "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand". But really, it is hard to explain how you develop these extremely close, trusting ties, with people you really have not spent that much time with. HOG (Harley Owner's Group) has an advertisement that says, "Who's says you can't pick your family?" and the photo shows a large HOG gathering. We look after each other like family's should. Last year and father and son did the Western Campaign, all 22 states west of the Mississippi. After that ride, before this one, the father passed away. Before he died he made his son swear he would complete the Eastern Campaign for both of them. So the son was on this ride with us. One day the son rode all day with a new friend. That night his bike broke down. At least three days for repair, no way he would complete the trip, no rentals available. The son decided to purchase a new Harley. The dealership would not take a credit card, the son had the money, but no check. His new friend, who had only been riding with him for one day, took out his checkbook and wrote the check. The son will pay him back. Its just hard to explain how much you come to trust and depend on and rely on some of your fellow riders. Tonight we are all staying in the same hotel, so that's very exciting. Only one hotel to get directions to, no figuring out where to leave from in the morning, no getting lost finding each other. Plus we all get together to socialize in the lobby. I would guess about half these riders never ride their Harley on even one cocktail. And of the other half, most them might have one drink and then wait an hour before riding. Riding a motorcycle is dangerous enough, not a good idea to do anything to shorten your reaction time. Pretty much once we get to our hotels for the night, we are ready to stop riding for the day.