The Piaggio MP3 Lincoln Highway Ride
The photographic record of Buddy and Bob’s epic journey across the United States — from Golden Gate to Empire State — is complete. Click forward or backward through the journey across mountain and plain, town and city. If we do say so ourselves, it’s a pretty great collection of American life-slices. Enjoy. And check back — we’ve got a few more surprises coming in the next couple of days.
Buddy, Bob and Piaggio USA president Paolo Timoni in Times Square, New York, NY.
July 14th - 1040hr ET: Buddy and Bob arrived in Manhattan under the watchful eyes of the New York Scooter Club and the NYPD. The roadfaring explorers were greated by a phalanx of friends, family and Piaggio employees, including Piaggio USA president Paolo Timoni. The press turnout was equally impressive: Forbes, CNN, The New York Times, the New York Daily News and NY Metro all turned out to document their arrival at the Lincoln Highway’s Eastern Terminus. While the ride’s over, we’ve still got some additional content and thoughts from the riders regarding their journey across America’s Main Street, so keep checking back.
Continue reading ‘Great Success! Buddy and Bob Arrive in Times Square!’
Bob and Buddy meet Ground Control (and Lauren the waitress) at the mouth of the Holland Tunnel — Jersey City, NJ
July 13th - Having commuted to and from Philly yesterday on the Lincoln Highway, we allowed ourselves to circumvent the city and grab a detour to New Hope, PA for brunch — another last-day indulgence. We found pleasant, uncrowded, country roads and fewer people in the streets of New Hope than would be typical for this time of year. Our waitress told us there were indeed fewer "shopping bags" walking the streets. We‘ve found the economic pinch to be pervasive across the Lincoln Highway.
Continue reading ‘Day 31 Ride Report: Exton, PA to Jersey City, NJ’
We like American murals. Do you like American murals? Berwyn, PA.
Several years ago, during an Alps motorcycle tour with my son Adam and sister-in-law Joyce, we awoke one morning in the Lauterbrunnen Valley of Switzerland (some call it the most beautiful valley in Europe) to find 6 inches of snow had fallen overnight. I frantically rushed to the inn’s front desk to determine the condition of surrounding mountain passes. Closed? Open? If closed, when would they open? The tension was building when Joyce suggested we stay in this magnificent valley for the rest of the day; a divergent solution that would never have occurred to me. Of course, it turned out to be one of the very best days of the tour.
Motoring through the battlefields of Gettysburg, PA.
After an early-morning interview with Charlie Sherman, a radio host out of New England, we were off to Gettysburg and its attendant battlefield with mixed feelings about the site being an appropriate venue for loud mufflers and Budweiser — it was Bike Week. Harleys were predominant and the tone and tenor of our prior encounters with diehard fans of The Motor Company continued: unlike our previous BMWs, Sophia and Marchello are big hits with the Big Twin crowd. Waves and thumbs-up were the standard greeting throughout the Gettysburg streets and countryside. This was something new for us — as was Bob’s consideration of a leather-fringed vest to go with those new chinos. Jeanne would never allow a tattoo.
Continue reading ‘Day 29 Road Report: Fayetteville to Exton, PA’
McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. The MP3s did not overheat.
On a 75-degree blue-sky day, we left the mom-and-pop Shawnee Motel, saying goodbye to owner Bill Triplett. Whenever possible, Bob and I prefer to avoid chains and this country-like motel just outside Schellsburg fits the bill. (Ask for a room in the back.) We headed in the wrong direction — west — intentionally so we could repeat the last segment of yesterday’s ride — a perfectly-paved, banked and gracefully-curved road to Lookout Point of Mt. Ararat in the Laurel Highlands section of the Alleghenies. We climbed to the 2,464-foot vista point and beyond that to the Bald Mt. summit at 2,906 feet. OK, so it’s not the 18,340-foot pass I rode ten years ago in the Himalayas — the worlds highest motorable road, it wouldn’t exactly meet our definition of a “road.” Nevertheless, in the Alleghenies it’s flat-out fun on the MP3; a quick ticket to biker heaven. We were never troubled by having to pass cars, as there simply weren’t any Restauranteurs are telling us business is hurting; gas prices are taking their toll. Probably because of our preoccupation with the road, we were unsuccessful in finding the ashes of the old S.S. Grandview Ship Hotel. If not for scheduled commitments we would have turned around and repeated this section yet again. The road-hugging MP3 was as at home here as it was in downtown Pittsburgh. Once a road establishes a rhythm, as this section of the Lincoln Highway does, you don’t want the dance to stop.
Continue reading ‘Day 28 Road Report: Schellsburg, PA to Gettysburg, PA’
Newell Toll Bridge between Ohio and West Virginia
With only fifty miles to go to make our noon appointment, we were off to a luxuriously late start at 10am. It was the first time in almost four weeks that we weren’t on the road by 7:30 AM. We crossed the West Virginia state line at East Liverpool, going over the hundred-plus-year-old Newell Bridge and into Chester for about five miles of West Virginia Lincoln Highway. The Newell Bridge is a model of our trip’s adopted theme, "We’re not done yet". Not only is the bridge still functional, but it’s a revenue generator with a seventy-five cent toll. (Ride a Piaggio MP3 and save a quarter!) The bridge is a two-lane, quaint steel structure with a stoplight on the West Virginia side. Somehow, you feel good just going over it. It has a steel-plate grade surface that’d make a two-wheeler squirrely. The MP3 handles it just fine. The bike continues to surprise with its ease of handling. Many non-riders have said, "You know, I’d give that a try.” They should, it’s a bike that can be handled on the first try.
Continue reading ‘Day 26 Ride Report: East Liverpool, OH to Pittsburgh, PA’
