We got up and packed up on time for the morning meeting and rolled out on time, something like 7am. Everyone was checking each others bikes out and talking shop as an icebreaker. There was quite a variety of makes and models in our group. We rolled out on time with several of the Day 211 ladies cheering us along.
So! We were off on our historic journey. The baton has a case with shoulder straps and a belt for a waist strap. So every time we stopped, a different person would take it. Amy & I each took a turn. It was heavy and uncomfortable, not gonna lie! We stopped often enough, but not for long. I had my camelbak on, I’d gotten it for the Canada trip and noticed that if I have sips of water pretty often, I actually drink less and don’t need to stop as often as compared to feeling thirsty for over an hour and then gulping down 16 oz when I do finally get to.
Here are Amy & me with the baton in its carrying case.
Getting gas as a group is something, especially in a hurry. Sometimes you park and go inside first and then hit the pump right before we head out. Sometimes you wait for the pump first and then park and go inside for a bio break or quick sugar infusion. Sometimes you don’t have time to go inside. Seeing how the stops were not pre-planned, not all of the gas stations were ideal for a large group of motorcycles and there were some weird areas that required awkward maneuvering and turning around. Several times we had to do u-turns or whatever to in to a gas station or get back on the route since nobody was familiar with where we were. We made it work.
Also: I am, by far, not the only one who hits the ladies room without bothering to take my helmet off.
We switched up our order frequently, except for the lead, her 2nd in command, and the sweep (I think). We did hand signals as much as possible. For some women this was the longest trip they’d ever been on. Some people were comfortable with group riding, some not. The thing is that you need to stay close enough to the bike in front of you so that the group does not get separated when there’s enough space for a car to move in. This happened a few times, and we actually had an unplanned stop at a rest area to address this. It took a few tries to get the pace right. The general rule is 2 seconds behind the bike directly in front of you and 1 second behind the bike staggered in front and to the side of you. That’s pretty close, especially if you don’t have comms and you don’t know how that person rides. Our fearless leader got a little frustrated because we needed to get our shit together so we could get in before 7, since she can’t see very well at night and so doesn’t ride at night. So we got it together.
There happened to be a Subway at one of the gas stations we stopped at, so by unspoken agreement, we had a lunch break. It was threatening to rain when we stopped but went away, and then the rain started for real while we were on the road. So there was a long line of us along the highway converting to rain gear. The rain combined with the 2nd half of the day made it kinda rough. Fortunately I’d weaned my caffeine intake down to 1/day before the trip, so was able to surge in that regard to help me stay alert. I’m SO glad I had Amy on the comm. My alertness definitely started flagging in the late afternoon.
It’s all kind of a blur. Switching up the order and then talking to different people when we stopped, eventually I got to know everyone. Some women brought male escorts (a controversial topic when planning the relay). The men who joined us were super supportive to their lady riders and to the rest of us gals.
This is the day my bike got her name, by the way. We’re going along and I’m thinking about how awesome this all is, and how my bike needed a name. I was thinking about super women, Amy’s bike Diana is of course named for Wonder Woman, then I thought about She-Ra, and then I remembered my childhood friend Sheila, and it just stuck. I thought about it for a while before naming her publicly and it just fit. So that’s how Sheila got her name.
We got to Iron Pony Motorsports around 7 that evening. They had dinner for us and we got to hang out in their very nice show room. After a bit people started wilting and heading to the hotel.
Here we are signing the scroll.
This was definitely the longest day I’ve ever ridden and the longest I ever hope to ride. I’m not one of those Iron Butt enthusiasts. This was 12 hrs total (7a-7p) plus 30 min or so to get to the hotel. It was over 600 miles. Unfortunately I was too tired to properly log either of these metrics.
Well, what a nice surprise that hotel was. Keep in mind that 10 women were doing the entire US portion of the relay for 3 weeks plus a return trip home. And a couple of people were joining the entire relay. Several women had posted GoFundMe’s for this purpose. And spending the entire day on the road meant that you didn’t really care about sleeping somewhere with a ton of amenities. So, all of the hotels were definitely budget friendly.
First of all, when we showed up someone warned us that check in was taking forever. A couple was checking people in using a combination of paper and computer. Then, the hotel couldn’t find my registration. The hotelier had my ID and Amy stayed in the lobby while I went to get my paper confirmation. While I was outside, I heard people in disbelief about the state of their rooms, and someone invited me in to see. It was pretty bad. Smelly, stains everywhere… I found my paper confirmation and headed back inside. Amy & I, both walking briskly, met in the middle – her with my ID in her hand and me with the paper in my hand. We both said “we’re not staying here” at the same time. (My cc was not charged, but I was definitely prepared to dispute it if it was.)
People were calling various other hotels and lots were booked up. There was another budget hotel across the parking lot and around a fence, so we just walked over there and got the last room. It was MUCH nicer!
As we walked back to the shitty hotel to move our bikes, Colette was doing a FB Live video and asked us how we rated the hotel. Well,
here you go. I first walk thru at 2:15, and my & Amy’s interview starts at 5:25. My star rating is reflected in the amount of fingers I held up.
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