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Sturgis |
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Tom
Serine and his 750 Honda Shadow in Front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA |
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| Tom
Serine's Cross Country Motorcycle Journey to the Pacific Coast Highway |
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Tom
Serine recently completed a 7,500 ride on his 750 cc Honda Shadow to the
western part of the US. The trip from North Carolina to the west coast
was planned just so he could experience the thrill of riding his motorcycle
along legendary Highway 1, north from San Francisco; a gnarly stretch
of two lane asphalt that hugs the Pacific coastline. |
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The journey began with Tom quietly slipping out of
North Carolina on August 15, 2007. His first day of riding landed him
in St. Louis, Missouri where it was a sweltering 105 degrees outside.
The next day, Tom increased the pace by blazing along interstate highways
in 95 degree + temperatures to Denver, Colorado. Here, the grueling heat
and long days in the saddle riding across the Great Plains finally caught
up with his body, forcing him to spend a weekend in Denver searching for
some well earned rest and relaxation.
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Leaving
Denver on the 20th, Tom slowed the pace a little and allowed the twin
cylinder Honda Shadow to work its way across the Rocky Mountains to Provo,
UT. Leaving Provo on the 21st, Tom sped across the dry deserts of Nevada
to end the first part of his motorcycle journey in Sacramento, California.
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On
the following day, August 22nd, he made the short ride into San Francisco,
where he spent some time checking out the sites and sounds of the famous
city by the bay before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and rendezvousing
with his destination, Highway 1. He finished his first day of riding on
Highway 1 at Manchester, California, about 110 miles north of San Francisco.
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Highway
1 proved to be an ideal road to experience on a motorcycle. As he rode
north, many times he found himself looking straight down from the roadway
to a jagged rocky coastline up to 200 hundred feet below him. Within moments,
the road would suddenly drop to sea level. At other times, the blacktop
surface would snake back and forth from the ocean, revealing seascapes
and mountain views one moment followed by pastures tucked in mountain
valleys filled with sheep and grazing cows . |
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View
of Tom's Loaded 750 Honda Shadow on the Pacific Coast Highway |
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Tom
found Highway 1 to be similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina,
with the Pacific Ocean thrown in. The weather on Highway 1 that first
day featured temperatures in the low 70s and sunny skies. At times he
actually found himself feeling cold, especially when thinking back to
the the heat wave he rode through on the first days of the trip. |
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The
single lane highway was posted with speed limits sometimes reaching 55
miles per hour. The twisting and turning of the blacktop tested and improved
Tom’s riding skills. Small towns and villages would appear out of
nowhere every 20 miles or so, providing interesting places to break and
rest before the next set of curves. |
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Tom
spent his first night on Highway 1 at the KOA campground near Manchester,
CA where he was rewarded with the opportunity to sleep in his tent only
200 yards from the Pacific Ocean. That night, temperatures fell into the 50’s necessitating his first campfire of the trip. After a restful night listening to the ocean, Tom awoke to another beautiful day. Quickly packing, he continued riding north. |
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spent the night in Fort Bragg, the largest town on Highway 1 since leaving
San Francisco. Leaving early the next morning, he found himself in the
California Sequoia tree area. The road veered away from the ocean and
curved through a forest of the largest trees he had ever seen for about
25 miles to the end Highway 1 where it joins Highway 101 at the town of
Leggett. Leggett was a very small town consisting of a couple of restaurants and a gas station. However, as luck would have it, while refueling, Tom spotted a poster beckoning visitors in the area to come and see the "Chandelier Tree." This is the tree you always see with pictures of cars driving through it. Tom questioned the station attendant on its whereabouts. The attendant replied that the famous tree was only about a quarter mile up the road. After fueling up, Tom pointed the Honda toward the great tree and motored away. |
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Tom
riding through the Chandelier Tree |
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The
opportunity to ride through the tree cost three dollars. Tom found the
ride through the Chandelier Tree a picture moment and perfect ending to
his journey along the Pacific Coast Highway. |
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Returning
to Highway 101, Tom rode north into Oregon and spent the evening at Coos
Bay. Near Coos Bay, he discovered a huge sand dune like the one back home
at Jockey's Ridge. However, unlike Jockey’s Ridge, people were allowed
to Dune Buggy and ATV on the giant mound of sand. Tom camped out that
night with a group of visitors who had come to the great dune to ride
their ATV's and dune buggy’s. |
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On
the 24th he left Highway 101 and rode to Interstate Highway 5; turned
north and sped to Olympia, Washington. Here he returned to Highway 101
and visited Port Angeles and Neah Bay. Turning south, he rode back along
101 to Puget Sound, finishing a long 16 hour riding day in Seattle where
he decided to spend the weekend. |
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On
the 27th of August, Tom left Washington State for good on Interstate 90.
A long riding day put him in Missoula, Montana where he spent the night.
Leaving Missoula the next morning, he rode across the state and spent
the night in Miles City, Montana. |
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On
the 29th of August, he left Miles City and rode across North Dakota and
into Minnesota where he spent the night in Moorhead, Minnesota, near Fargo.
On the 30th, he rose and rode out of Minnesota and into Wisconsin, spending
the night in Madison. On the 31st, he turned south, riding through Chicago
and ending the day near Detroit, Michigan, about 25 miles from Ann Arbor.
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Early
the next day Tom rode into Ann Arbor where he went to the ASU/ Michigan
game. Afterwards, a night of partying followed. He awoke the following
morning with a hang over and one final day in the saddle before reaching
home in North Carolina on September 2, 2007. |
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| Epilogue | ||
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This was the first trip Tom has ever completed where he did not get rained
on once. The worse weather obstacles were experienced on the first two
days of his trip. |
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Those
two days were spent riding through the hottest weather Tom had ever experienced
on a motorcycle and took the heaviest toll on his body. Tom attempted
to beat the heat by starting the day at 4:30 am, however the heat was
so bad he was sweating “bullets by noon.” He began to stop
every 100 miles and buy two bottles of water; one to drink and one to
pour over his body in an attempt to cool down. Relief from the heat would last about 25 miles and then he would quickly become uncomfortable again. After the first night Tom sought the comfort of an air conditioned cabin. Once settled in he pulled the mattress from the bed frame; placed it in front of a small window air conditioner and slept there for relief. In addition to the heat, the first two days he rode 1600 miles, necessitating the layover in Denver for recovery. The weather improved once he reached the mountains near Denver. The day across Nevada amounted to about 600 miles, but seemed easy in the low humid heat of the desert. Tom recalls that Nevada was also the most boring state he has ever ridden through. On the return trip through Montana, temperatures fell into the low 40’s at night, forcing him to sleep in his riding clothes. |
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On
another note, Tom lost a spare gallon gas tank that he had bungeed to
the back of his motorcycle somewhere in Virginia during the early morning
hours of his first day. He remembers hearing a thud somewhere but ignored
it. Two fuel stops and hundreds of miles later, he finally noticed the
missing can and connected the unknown thud to it. He later replaced it
with a larger two and half gallon container from a local mom and pop store
in Illinois. |
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Tom
Serine is a 1989 graduate of Manteo High School and a 1993 graduate of
Appalachian State. He currently resides in Winston Salem, NC and works
for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He rides a 2002 Honda 750
Shadow ACE. |
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