Coast-to-Coast BMW R75/5 NEW JERSEY to CALIFORNIA round trip - Nov.15 - Dec.15 2009. Part the Final....

Eric's farm, Tuscon.



There were some awesome dirt roads and utility access trails right by Eric's farm. Seriously fun time.



The Minolta has a wind up mechanical self timer that I have to set with a pair of pliers. We only did one shot like this and I couldn't have been happier with how it came out.






Now I'm getting ready to actually head back to New Jersey. Eric is staying on his farm in Tuscon and I've got to get home before the whole Northeast is covered in snow. Even with taking I-10 back I could feel that the days were too short and the nights too cold to find good road-side camping. Of course I had no money for hotel rooms so I decided to hit up my fellow ADV riders. I sat in a Starbucks for a few hours plotting out major cities that were about 600-700 miles apart and then proceeded to PM ADV riders in those cities. I got immediate responses from everyone and ended up staying with ADVers in (barko1) Las Cruces, NM, (Whip) San Antonio, TX and (Dranrab Luap) New Orleans, LA. Again, I was in mission mode to get home so I didn't take any pictures on the way back.

At this point there ADV riders that I stayed with really made the completion of this whole trip possible. Especially Whip in San Antonio who probably saved my life with his space suit. When I told him where I was going he rightfully told me I was insane for thinking I could ride back to NJ in my jeans and leather jacket. He lent me his Aerostitch which just so happen to fit perfectly. I actually strapped it to my passenger seat thinking I wouldn't need it only to pull over on the side of the road heading up to Tennessee to put it on because I was so fucking cold. I went directly north from New Orleans to stay with a friend in Cookeville, TN and there is no way in hell I would have made it there without the Aerostitch. Likewise, the ride from Cookeville, TN to College Park, MD to stay with another friend was even more difficult. I really didn't think I was going to be able to make it even with the 'stitch. My boots sucked and my feet felt like frozen blocks of ice. I had socks covering my face and two pairs of gloves and more socks covering my hands. It was 20 degrees in the mountains of Virginia the night I was heading to stay with my friend in MD.

The next day I got to hang out in Maryland and enjoy a relatively short ride back home. I decided to end the trip in NYC which ended up being the right call. I rode up to my friend's place in Brooklyn and spent a few days in NY before heading back to the Jersey Shore.

Brooklyn, NY. Warm and Happy in that suit. Taking the BQE into Williamsburg felt absolutely epic and was such an amazing way to end the trip.



Note the oil all over the rear tire. Eventually the pinion gear oil seal gave out and allowed drive shaft fluid to flow into the final drive and over flow and spray everywhere. Luckily the ring gear seal held up so the rear drum brake was fine. For the last few days of the trip I simply made a point to top off the drive shaft fluid periodically.

Parked on the sidewalk in front of my friend's Sportster. Same dude I rode down to Virgina with before the trip.



Home, sweet home.