4500 Mile Ride for Charity - Made it home safely...Now to analyze the project!
Hi everyone! I have been "offline" resting and recouperating from the over 6000 miles I rode over a 2 month period for the "4500 Mile Ride for Charity" event. (Ok, so I can't count very well :). I want to first thank God for His protection during my trip and allowing my safe return. Secondly I want to give a big THANK YOU to all of the folks who have supported the 4500 Mile Ride for Charity with their donations, their encouragement, and their use of social media tools to spread the word to a much wider audience. I have been amazed by the help the project has received from people who are complete strangers to me, yet believed enough in the vision for the project that they got behind us and used their contacts and time to re-post our messages and requests for donations. This "viral" aspect of the project is very interesting and will be covered in much more detail in the book that I am writing about the project, which will be titled, "4500 Mile Ride for Charity - A social media fundraising experiment and epic adventure".
The coming book will include many more stories from the ride, a complete analysis of the social media coverage and technology used, some spiritual experiences that have not been published during the ride as well as a multimedia DVD that will contain hundreds of pictures and videos not published. More details on the book to be released soon. I will donate a substantial portion of the proceeds of the book to the 10 charities we have been supporting with the project. I am taking with publishers and should have the book out before Christmas in order to maximize the charitiable fundraising potential.
So, when I last posted to the blog, I was leaving CT for the remaining 2000 miles of the trip, having obtained the necessary funds to continue the trip. I had many challenges with power and internet connections during the last 10 days or so of he ride as I was roughing it for much of the final legs. I continued to use my phone for pushing up some images and Twtter for updatin my progress. I did not keep up as well with the blog story. While I am not now going to go into complete detail on the remainder of the ride due to some time constraints, I will cover all of the ride in considerable detail in the coming book. I encourage everyone to support the book in the same manner as the rest of the project, as it will be a continuing vehicle to raise money for the homeless, children, the wounded warriors, the police survivors and the animals we are supporting.
I departed Bristol, Connecticut on a beautiful summer day, taking a route recommended by my aunt's next door neighbor who is a trucker (and retired Navy). He sent me out of Bristol on route 8, which was a georgeous ride through the hills of Connecticut, which led me down to the New Jersey Turnpike thru New York into New Jersey where I stayed the evening with my good friends, Deepak Sahoo and his wife Priscilla.
Deepak and his wife were amazing hosts, preparing a wonderful "Indiaruvian" meal accompanied by a nice Shiraz wine. Seeing them was quite relaxing after running at high speeds down the New Jersey Turnpike. My relationship with Deepak is one of the "small world" stories I am going to tell in the book. The short version of the story is that I met Deepak Sahoo online through one of my online businesses while he was still living in Mumbai, India over 7 years ago! Eventually Deepak obtained a position with a firm in the US and moved here. About 5 years after we met online, we met in person during a surfing trip I made to CA with my kids. Deepak and his wife then moved to NJ for a job, whereupon I have now had the opportunity to visit with them again during this ride. They have become very close friends, and Deepak and his brother in Bangalore both do some contract work for Winchester Research.
After leaving NJ, I headed down into Maryland, and I tried to camp at Susquehanna State Park, which I found is closed during the week. I did however get to see the junction of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake as shown in this picture below.
I ended up stopping some 12 hours later outside of Washington, DC where I stayed at a Countryside Inn after realizing that I was exhausted and surviving being nearly run off the road by an impatient driver. Sometimes cars need to give motorcycles a little more leeway!
That night I shared my room with a homeless man who had been sleeping on a cardboard box outside the 7-11 near my room. Have you ever felt like you were "called" to help someone? Well, I felt a calling like that this evening, so I brought this 47-yr old black man into my room and shared what I had with him. Remember when I pulled into Ottawa and was taken in as a homeless man by that Russian woman? I felt the need to give that back...to "pay it forward" if you will, so I did. That was really going outside of my box...something I have never done before....something I will never forget. After we had breakfast the next morning. I gave the gentleman the suit I was carrying...which is a whole other "multiple blessings" story...for the book, called "The Suit".
I don't have any pictures of James, but I did manage to get him to give me his P.O. BOX. James is homeless and needs your help. I had a daydream about posting his info and encouraging people to send James a small donation, so here goes. If enough people send some small gift to James, we can impact his life directly and anonymously. Please send James what you can to help him out care of the following address:
James
P.O. Box 7798
Capitol Heights, MD
20792
After leaving Washington area, I headed down the highway towards VA, and somehow missed my planned turnoff which would have taken me on a more direct route towards Deals Gap, which is near Tapoca, NC. As fate would have it, I drove right past Quantico, VA and Ft. Belvoir where I had spent some time as a young 18yr old Marine. I had to see if I could get on the Marine base at Quantico to get some photos and content to help drive support for the Wounded Warrior Project. The Marine Sentry let me on base because I identified myself as a Marine (81-85) who was raising money for the WWP. Once on base and after a brief lunch at McDs, I found an administration building and fortuitously a Master Gunnery Sergeant and a Major who were both Harley riders. That was all the content I needed. A big OORAH to Master Gunnery Sergeant Miranda, aka "Kojak", and Major Hunt from Quantico!
Once back on the road, it was slow traffic for miles, which can be painful for the clutch hand, so I pulled over for a smoke and to take some pictures. While pulled over, I met another Major (and Officer Lee), who pulled over to make sure I was ok. I should mention that both Majors I met that day were "mustangs". In other words, they had both been enlisted Marines before becoming officers. OORAH to the MUSTANG officers! Semper Fi! Support the Wounded Warriors and The 100 Club!
Because I had taken so much time to wait out traffic and to hang out at Quantico, I rode late into the night that night making my way through VA. Much of that riding was flat, through the foggy forests at night. Eventually I was very tired and pulled off the highway for a camping spot, which ended up being almost 20 miles off the beaten path near Louisa, VA. I arrived around midnight after a very interesting and DARK ride through the fields and tiny towns. I set up camp in the dark and broke camp early the next morning. Here is a pic from the Small Country Campground near Louisa, VA. I wanted to make special mention of the fact that Small Country gave me a small discount to support the 4500 Mile Ride for Charity. Any time you are near Louisa and need a place to camp or park your RV, this is a great spot!
I caught some rain the next morning and rode all day through the breathtaking vistas of the Shenandoah and Appalachian Mountains. Pandora Esperanza, my workhorse Yamaha 1100 Vstar Custom, handled the elevations, climbing and descending without any problems. I stopped to take alot of pictures as I continued through Virginia. I felt like I was in VA for 3 days...riding the longest length of the state. That night I stopped in Lexington, VA and stayed at a cheap motel. I met an interesting gentleman at the motel who had the room next to mine. We shared some beers and stories, and I was given another "respect gift" by this gentleman...an indian-style necklace made of bone, touquoise, red coral and a stone he called "Angelite". He told me I would have even more angels following me because of that central stone in the necklace. I learned a long time ago not to laugh at such suggestions, in particular when you haven't researched the idea. I made a mental note to look up "Angelite" when I had the time. I will post a pic of the necklace later...
I have to run some errands, but I will pick up the story soon from this spot in Lexington, VA. I will add the pics later, as Blogger is not cooperating with the picture upload at the moment. Continue to support the efforts of the charities we are supporting with this project! Donate!
Thank you again for your continued support!
Lawrence
The coming book will include many more stories from the ride, a complete analysis of the social media coverage and technology used, some spiritual experiences that have not been published during the ride as well as a multimedia DVD that will contain hundreds of pictures and videos not published. More details on the book to be released soon. I will donate a substantial portion of the proceeds of the book to the 10 charities we have been supporting with the project. I am taking with publishers and should have the book out before Christmas in order to maximize the charitiable fundraising potential.
So, when I last posted to the blog, I was leaving CT for the remaining 2000 miles of the trip, having obtained the necessary funds to continue the trip. I had many challenges with power and internet connections during the last 10 days or so of he ride as I was roughing it for much of the final legs. I continued to use my phone for pushing up some images and Twtter for updatin my progress. I did not keep up as well with the blog story. While I am not now going to go into complete detail on the remainder of the ride due to some time constraints, I will cover all of the ride in considerable detail in the coming book. I encourage everyone to support the book in the same manner as the rest of the project, as it will be a continuing vehicle to raise money for the homeless, children, the wounded warriors, the police survivors and the animals we are supporting.
I departed Bristol, Connecticut on a beautiful summer day, taking a route recommended by my aunt's next door neighbor who is a trucker (and retired Navy). He sent me out of Bristol on route 8, which was a georgeous ride through the hills of Connecticut, which led me down to the New Jersey Turnpike thru New York into New Jersey where I stayed the evening with my good friends, Deepak Sahoo and his wife Priscilla.
Deepak and his wife were amazing hosts, preparing a wonderful "Indiaruvian" meal accompanied by a nice Shiraz wine. Seeing them was quite relaxing after running at high speeds down the New Jersey Turnpike. My relationship with Deepak is one of the "small world" stories I am going to tell in the book. The short version of the story is that I met Deepak Sahoo online through one of my online businesses while he was still living in Mumbai, India over 7 years ago! Eventually Deepak obtained a position with a firm in the US and moved here. About 5 years after we met online, we met in person during a surfing trip I made to CA with my kids. Deepak and his wife then moved to NJ for a job, whereupon I have now had the opportunity to visit with them again during this ride. They have become very close friends, and Deepak and his brother in Bangalore both do some contract work for Winchester Research.
After leaving NJ, I headed down into Maryland, and I tried to camp at Susquehanna State Park, which I found is closed during the week. I did however get to see the junction of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake as shown in this picture below.
I ended up stopping some 12 hours later outside of Washington, DC where I stayed at a Countryside Inn after realizing that I was exhausted and surviving being nearly run off the road by an impatient driver. Sometimes cars need to give motorcycles a little more leeway!
That night I shared my room with a homeless man who had been sleeping on a cardboard box outside the 7-11 near my room. Have you ever felt like you were "called" to help someone? Well, I felt a calling like that this evening, so I brought this 47-yr old black man into my room and shared what I had with him. Remember when I pulled into Ottawa and was taken in as a homeless man by that Russian woman? I felt the need to give that back...to "pay it forward" if you will, so I did. That was really going outside of my box...something I have never done before....something I will never forget. After we had breakfast the next morning. I gave the gentleman the suit I was carrying...which is a whole other "multiple blessings" story...for the book, called "The Suit".
I don't have any pictures of James, but I did manage to get him to give me his P.O. BOX. James is homeless and needs your help. I had a daydream about posting his info and encouraging people to send James a small donation, so here goes. If enough people send some small gift to James, we can impact his life directly and anonymously. Please send James what you can to help him out care of the following address:
James
P.O. Box 7798
Capitol Heights, MD
20792
After leaving Washington area, I headed down the highway towards VA, and somehow missed my planned turnoff which would have taken me on a more direct route towards Deals Gap, which is near Tapoca, NC. As fate would have it, I drove right past Quantico, VA and Ft. Belvoir where I had spent some time as a young 18yr old Marine. I had to see if I could get on the Marine base at Quantico to get some photos and content to help drive support for the Wounded Warrior Project. The Marine Sentry let me on base because I identified myself as a Marine (81-85) who was raising money for the WWP. Once on base and after a brief lunch at McDs, I found an administration building and fortuitously a Master Gunnery Sergeant and a Major who were both Harley riders. That was all the content I needed. A big OORAH to Master Gunnery Sergeant Miranda, aka "Kojak", and Major Hunt from Quantico!
Once back on the road, it was slow traffic for miles, which can be painful for the clutch hand, so I pulled over for a smoke and to take some pictures. While pulled over, I met another Major (and Officer Lee), who pulled over to make sure I was ok. I should mention that both Majors I met that day were "mustangs". In other words, they had both been enlisted Marines before becoming officers. OORAH to the MUSTANG officers! Semper Fi! Support the Wounded Warriors and The 100 Club!
Because I had taken so much time to wait out traffic and to hang out at Quantico, I rode late into the night that night making my way through VA. Much of that riding was flat, through the foggy forests at night. Eventually I was very tired and pulled off the highway for a camping spot, which ended up being almost 20 miles off the beaten path near Louisa, VA. I arrived around midnight after a very interesting and DARK ride through the fields and tiny towns. I set up camp in the dark and broke camp early the next morning. Here is a pic from the Small Country Campground near Louisa, VA. I wanted to make special mention of the fact that Small Country gave me a small discount to support the 4500 Mile Ride for Charity. Any time you are near Louisa and need a place to camp or park your RV, this is a great spot!
I caught some rain the next morning and rode all day through the breathtaking vistas of the Shenandoah and Appalachian Mountains. Pandora Esperanza, my workhorse Yamaha 1100 Vstar Custom, handled the elevations, climbing and descending without any problems. I stopped to take alot of pictures as I continued through Virginia. I felt like I was in VA for 3 days...riding the longest length of the state. That night I stopped in Lexington, VA and stayed at a cheap motel. I met an interesting gentleman at the motel who had the room next to mine. We shared some beers and stories, and I was given another "respect gift" by this gentleman...an indian-style necklace made of bone, touquoise, red coral and a stone he called "Angelite". He told me I would have even more angels following me because of that central stone in the necklace. I learned a long time ago not to laugh at such suggestions, in particular when you haven't researched the idea. I made a mental note to look up "Angelite" when I had the time. I will post a pic of the necklace later...
I have to run some errands, but I will pick up the story soon from this spot in Lexington, VA. I will add the pics later, as Blogger is not cooperating with the picture upload at the moment. Continue to support the efforts of the charities we are supporting with this project! Donate!
Thank you again for your continued support!
Lawrence
posted by Winchester Research @ 11:34 AM
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