Bon Voyage Party on the Bowery

In a few short days, two hapless young chaps will set off with the money in their pockets and shirts on their backs for an epic journey--a journey that will test their humanity, their courage, and most prominently their buttocks. Yes, friends...your own Nate Bliss and Jim Bisbee will soon embark on a cross-country motorcycle adventure on Harley Davidsons, completing the entire length of US-20 East, a two-lane highway that starts in a sleepy beach town in Oregon and will spit us out in Kenmore Square, Boston.

So, we're working on growing out our handlebar mustaches and planning our biker tattoos, but in the meantime...

JOIN US FOR A BON VOYAGE PRE-TRIP GATHERING
at 352 Bowery, Apt 2
Friday, Aug 1
10 - ?
Beer/Spirits provided, but BYO appreciated

Over-under: Gas

Okay, so...how much gas will we be using on this trip?

Google directions for our route map the trip at 3,627 miles. That's without any scenic detours, missed turns, or in-town cruising (of which there will no doubt be some). But let's say 3,627.

Gas mileage estimates for the 2007 Harley Sportster range from 45MPG to 59MPG highway. MotorcycleUSA.com could only verify the lower of the two figures, so let's say 45MPG.

Was never very good at math, but I believe 45 goes into 3,627 approximately 80.6 times—which means about 80.6 gallons of gasoline per bike for the trip.

So...with national gas prices at an average of $4.064 (as of 7/21), we'd be spending about $327.56 each on gasoline.

And, with our trusty bikes holding about 3.3 gallons in tank, that's about 24.4 fill up at service stations across America.

Man-oh-man. Does Exxon want to sponsor us?

In sum, per bike:
3,627 miles
80.6 gallons of gas
$327.56 on gas
24.4 fill ups

The over-under is on. Place your bets. Awesome prizes await you!

Our bikes: Harley Sportsters

"These dudes are going across the country on Sportsters? They must be nuts!"

Inspiration: Easy Rider

Well done, gents. Well done.

Along the Route: Tim Russert Highway

Here's a bit of a non sequitur:

Earlier today our Commander-in-Chief signed a bill into law officially renaming a section of our very own US Route 20 as the Tim Russert Highway. Mr. Russert, a 16-year anchor of NBC's Meet the Press, was a Buffalo native and a big fan of the Buffalo Bills, whose stadium is also along US-20.

We're scheduled to hit this stretch of highway on Day 13 or 14. We'll look for the new road signs.

News coverage on the Highway Renaming:
Bush Signs "Russert Highway" Into Law (ABC)

Tim Russert on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Russert

Jimbo is online!

An adventure several weeks in the making, I finally found the time and competency to sign in and post on my blog. Welcome to me, round of drinks, smattering of applause, let's catch-up on the trials and tribulations. I have purchased a Sony Handycam to record the trip. The medium is Mini DV, the view-finder is touch-screen. Upon unpacking it last night, I discovered that my old Samsung (which I had believed to be broken) is in fine working order. Thus we can record twice as much footage! Different POV's! First-person for my crash with an accompanying wide-angle third-person for bone-crunching replays!

In discovering that the Samsung was still among the living, I also discovered several old Mini DV's from my time in Korea which just about drowned me in Bud-infused nostalgia for an hour or so as the carcass of my equally soused pal Pete decayed on my couch. I also have several stories involving my inability to hold onto my driver's license but that will have to wait for another time. It's great to be here and I can't wait to spam the shit out of this joint!

Two Weeks To Go!

Down to the home stretch.

Barring any (further) license complications (or misplacement--JIM!), we should be good to go!

T-minus 14 days and counting!

17 Days to Go!

17 days to go until Día de La Bandera in Venezuela. (For reals.)

Oh...also, 17 days until we take to the road.

Further Reading: The Great Road

A few mouse-clicks and google searches for "US-20" produced a link to a memoirish travelouge of the very road we'll be traveling by author Mac Nelson. A few mouse-clicks and a few days later, the book Twenty West: The Great Road Across America was in my possession. If the 3,300-mile road can provide inspiration for a 330-page book, then...well...I, too, am inspired.

I'll let you know how it reads. Or, check it out for yourself on Amazon.

Our Route!

It's confirmed: we are gonna do US Route 20—the longest of roads—for it's entirety, from Newport, OR to Boston, MA.

We've taken a guess at our itinerary, but stops are all subject to tweaking based on recommendations and offers of accommodations. But here's the working version:

Day 1: Seattle, WA
Day 2: Newport, OR
Day 3: Burns, OR
Day 4: Craters of the Moon National Park, ID
Day 5: Yellowstone National Park, WY
Day 6: Casper, WY
Day 7: Valentine, NE
Day 8: Sioux City, IA
Day 9: Dyersville, IA
Day 10: Chicago, IL
Day 11: Cleveland, OH
Day 12: Niagra Falls, NY
Day 13: Albany, NY
Day 14: Boston, MA
Day 15: New York, NY

Check out the map:

View Larger Map

22 days to go...

The countdown is definitely on.