America's 911 Ride

[Guest BluesLover]

Anyone planning on attending?

 

I went last year and I registered this afternoon to go back one more time. It is one awesome event.

 

The plan:

 

- leave St Thomas on the evening of August 13 and stay in the Burlington/Mississauga area (staying with friends and family);

- leave Burlington early on August 14 and head towards Somerset, PA via US219. Arrive in Somerset by 3:30 pm (in time to take part in the escorted tours to the site of the Flight 93 Memorial);

- stay at the Quality Inn Somerset on the night of Aug 14;

- participate in the escorted ride to Arlington, VA on Aug 15.

- stay @ the Doubletree Crystal City in Arlington for the night of Aug 15;

- participate in the escorted ride to Ground Zero in NYC on Aug 16.

- stay @ the NY Sheraton on 7th Avenue for the night of Aug 16;

- participate in the ceremony at Ground Zero on the morning of Aug 17;

- head home via NY State Thruway

 

So far, there is myself and two buddies from Burlington. John and I did this trip last year for the first time, and it is quite a moving experience. By the time we come into New York City there are nearly 1,000 bikes in the procession. Some of the pictures from last year are at:

 

http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/BluesLover55/2007%20trips/Americas%20911%20Ride/

 

If you're interested in going, here is a link to the website:

 

http://www.americas911ride.org/

 

Cheers,

Lou

[Guest Swifty]

this sounds like a unique idea from my usual...keep bumping it up closer to July.

[Guest BluesLover]

Anyone from the VentureRider family planning on participating in this event?

 

Both John (my buddy from Burlington) and I have decided to take our daughters with us. They're both in their early twenties, so they were 15 and 13 respectively when the tragedies happened. We want them both to experience the event - it is indeed quite a moving experience - but also want them to pay their respects to the fallen members and families of the EMS, fire crews and police. Besides, it will provide some very good father/daughter bonding time over the 5 days away!

 

A fellow local rider (he's a London firefighter) will also be coming with us.

 

Hope to see and meet some other VentureRiders along the way.

 

Cheers,

[pa-thunder]

Can`t go on ride but i can show you around somerset.I live 10 miles from there.

[Gray Ghost]

Work will keep me from attending the ride, but won't keep me from remembering why the ride goes on. I appreciate those of you who can and do attend the ride.

[Guest BluesLover]

i can show you around somerset.

Appreciate the offer pa-thunder.

 

I don't know how much time we'll actually have in Somerset. We likely won't get there until mid/late afternoon on the 14th. By the time we unpack the bikes and get registered at the hotel and on the ride, it will likely be time to head over to the Flight 93 memorial at Shanksville. After that, it will back to Somerset for dinner. And it's an early start (7:30 am) out of Somerset on the 15th.

 

Cheers,

[cecdoo]

Wish I could come along on the ride, but have other plans, I was just out to 93 Memorial 2 weeks ago, understand they are getting closer to erecting a more permanant monument. It is a very moving place. Craig

[dogman]

Blueslover,

 

This sounds like it would be a great trip. I'm not on holidays until the week of Aug. 18th, but I can see if I can take the 14th, and 15th off.

 

Do you have any info on hotel costs and how we go about booking if I can make it. Also how does one register for the ride. We got some info for a Canadian ride 911 ride at work, but when I inquired, they where already booked up.

 

Thanks

[Guest BluesLover]

Blueslover,

 

This sounds like it would be a great trip. I'm not on holidays until the week of Aug. 18th, but I can see if I can take the 14th, and 15th off.

 

Do you have any info on hotel costs and how we go about booking if I can make it. Also how does one register for the ride. We got some info for a Canadian ride 911 ride at work, but when I inquired, they where already booked up.

 

Thanks

Hey Dogman - all the information is available on their website.

 

http://www.americas911ride.org/

 

From the left hand menu, choose 2008 9/11 Ride Info for all the info, registration, etc.

 

Cheers,

 

P.S. I did the Canada's 911 Ride the first year that it was available (started in Kingston, went to Ottawa, then to Huntsville and on to the Police College in Markham).

[dogman]

I have sent off an email request for shared accomodations as my wife can not get the time off work.

 

If that comes thru then I will register immediately and happily join you guys on the ride down.

 

I am half expecting to hear back that they will not check for shared accomodations until I register. If that is the case, then I guess I will have to bite the bullet and register and hope I can get accomodations this late in the game.

 

Will you be joining up with the Buffalo people on the 14th in the am?

[dogman]

I have received tentative accommodations for the 3 nights, so I plan on attending. I am going to register tonight.

[dragerman]

Respectfully, I’d love to be able to go but I wouldn’t be able to see through my tears to ride. Too close to home for me.

[Guest BluesLover]

Will you be joining up with the Buffalo people on the 14th in the am?

Don't think so. We're still not sure what time the daughters will be up and running on Thursday morning, so we're going to play it by ear.

 

Glad to hear you were able to get accommodations, and look forward to meeting you in PA.

 

Cheers,

[Guest BluesLover]

Well, at about 9 pm yesterday, I rolled back into town from the America's 9/11 Ride. Even though this was my second time down there for the event, I still found it to be as incredible and moving an experience as you can get.

 

I was lucky enough to have the company of my daughter Amanda this time around, so it was especially meaningful to be able to share the experience with her.

 

Carl (a fellow rider and a member of the local fire department) and I met at the Husky on 74 and the 401 on Wednesday evening and headed towards Mississauga. After running the 401 to nearly Kitchener I had enough of the truck traffic, so we headed "cross-country" the rest of the way.

 

Early on Thursday, we went out to Burlington to meet up with Amanda, and my buddy John and his daughter Janet. Our trip down was pretty uneventful - crossed the border at Fort Erie and caught 219 south. Lunch was at Fynn's Family Restaurant in Wilcox, PA (John and I had stopped there on our way down last year). Along the way, while riding southbound on 219, we ran into a couple of friends who where on their way home from a 6 day trip to Virginia - it was was really neat to have them pass us going northbound on their way headed home - how freaky is that, eh?

 

I normally stay on 219 through Du Bois, but the GPS was directing me to take the 119 through Puxatawney and then 56 back to Somerset, so off we went. Unfortunately for us, so did the rain, and we did get caught in a rainstorm that I just could not outrun, try as I might.

 

We eventually made it to Somerset at about 5 pm, got registered at the hotel and for the ride, and at around 7 pm, the entire group make its way out to the Flight 93 Memorial site for a small service and a series of presentations. They have moved the temporary memorial to the opposite side of the road from where it was last year, and are planning on putting up a permanent memorial. It really is a very sobering experience to see the site and to imagine what the people on that plane were thinking as it is heading to the ground at 500 mph ... upside down!

 

After a buffet dinner back at the hotel, we called it a night - if you're not an early riser, this ride isn't for you. KSU is 7:30 each and every morning! As we were staging on the Friday morning, we didn't see Carl anywhere (he was staying at a different hotel) and we were getting worried. Just as we were about to head out, John gets talking to the fellow who is parked beside him and it turns out that he is Carl's room mate! All was well with Carl ... well, at least after the flat tire was replaced (a Yamaha being fixed at a Harley dealership yet!) and we met up with him at the Cumberland stop.

 

From the rest/pit stop in Cumberland, it was on to Hagerstown, MD for fuel for the bikes and fuel for the humans. And from there it was time to head to Arlington. The whole day was pretty much a "rain suit" kind of day - overcast with some drizzle, but all in all we were able to avoid any substantial bad weather. Once we got to the hotel in Arlington, some took part in the tour of the Pentagon, but we were all tired so we stayed at the hotel and took in the organized BBQ and a few cold pops. An ex-colleague of mine who now lives in Leesburg, VA came to join us and spend some time reminiscing.

 

Early (6 am) on Saturday morning we went out to the staging area at the Pentagon. We were one of the first there - gives you the opportunity to roam around and check out all the other bikes/people. Pretty soon we were on the road again, this time the destination being Mike's Famous HD in New Castle, DE. Along the way, there is a rest/pit stop along I95 and it was very welcome because the day had started off sunny and warm and stayed that way all day, so water was in high demand.

 

After the lunch stop at Mike's Famous - where those so inclined could buy all their HD gear, parts and anything else HD - comes the dreaded long part of the ride. It is just over 100 miles to tbe next stop at Linden, NJ. This is the stretch of road along which, last year, a fellow suffered a brain aneurysm and died. Well, along this same stretch this year, yet another rider went down. Thank goodness though, that he did not suffer any serious injury.

 

At Linden, you get fuel and food - and water, water and more water. And from there, it is just a 30 mile jaunt into NYC. Unlike last year, the RoadSofa decided that it would behave and we had no problems getting to the hotel in Manhattan. But drivers (and walkers too!) in Manhattan are just plumb crazy - there is a police escorted ride of around 1,000 bikes and there are still cars out there trying to get in between the bikes. And people walking out in front of bikes too.

 

After checking into the hotel, we took the girls for a short walk down to Times Square and dinner at the Bubba Gum Shrimp Company. After rejecting 3 other tables, we were able to talk the hostess into seating us at a table that overlooked the square. Once dinner and drinks were done it was getting on to 11 pm, so we called it a night.

 

Sunday morning, we got our Starbucks fix, and headed home. Along the way, I missed a right turn and wound up taking us through a less than savory part of lower Manhattan - the positive thing was that by the time I got us back on 9A we were able to watch the Norwegian Spirit pull into harbour. A little while later, I went and missed a turn off on I78, so we got a bit of an unexpected tour of New Jersey (no U Turn allowed on I95).

 

One of Janet's favourite restaurants is the Cracker Barrel and since Amanda had never been to one either, I was searching Gidget (that's my GPS for those that don't know) for one nearby. We were in luck! Right at about 12:15 pm, as we were passing Binghampton, NY, lo and behold ... a Cracker Barrel.

 

After lunch, we caught the NY State Throughway and boogied home. We hit Buffalo at around 6 pm, and after fueling in Ft Erie, Carl headed home to Appin, where John and I headed to Burlington - he to go home, me to take Amanda home.

 

Total round trip: 2700 kms

Lots of fun and laughs

Lots of sobering thoughts about the events that took place in 2001

Lots of great company

All in all, another great adVenture.

 

Pictures - and I warn you, that the apple does not fall far from the tree, so there a "few" of them, are at:

 

http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/BluesLover55/2008%20trips/Americas%20911/

 

She also took 3 short videos and they are at:

http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/BluesLover55/2008%20trips/Americas%20911/Movies/

 

Cheers,

[bongobobny]

You came thru and didn't stop by?!!?

[Guest BluesLover]

You came thru and didn't stop by?!!?

Hey Bob - didn't realize that we were that close to you, but now that you mention it, you really are just a stone's throw away from the 219 aren't you?

 

On our way down, we were on the clock though - we wanted to make sure we got there in time to get on the escorted tour of the Flight 93 Memorial - so we couldn't have stopped in anyway. We got started a half hour later than I wanted, and the girls just wouldn't/couldn't function without their Tim Horton's break ...

 

But now that I know where you are ... watch out twin brother!

 

Cheers,

[ibents]

Hi Lou,

It looks like you guy's had a great time, pictures and video are very good. It's to bad that I didn't see the post on this ride sooner...I think it was the week before you left...I would have loved to have gone on that.

May be next year...if you post it...I'll certainly go, I was talking to GaryN and he also said he would have gone. If hotels for next year have to be booked now please let me know.

 

Thanks

 

Ian

[Guest BluesLover]

Hi Lou,

It looks like you guy's had a great time, pictures and video are very good. It's to bad that I didn't see the post on this ride sooner...I think it was the week before you left...I would have loved to have gone on that.

May be next year...if you post it...I'll certainly go, I was talking to GaryN and he also said he would have gone. If hotels for next year have to be booked now please let me know.

 

Thanks

 

Ian

Hey Ian -

 

hotels and such aren't ready for booking just yet, but mark Aug 20-22, 2009 as the dates for next year's event. I will definitely be going, and it would be nice to see more Canadians there - I counted 12 of us (including the 2 from the Hamilton police force).

 

I also only saw one other Venture throughout the 3 days, and at that I only saw it at the Flight 93 Memorial site.

 

Cheers,