On July 3, 2008, our 7th annual benefit run will take us from St. Augustine, FL to Fairbanks, Alaska where you will have a week to explore the state.
Based on my last six years experience, I want to maintain a pace suitable for most of us. We will average just 500 miles a day ... every third or fourth day will be a short day to give us time to to laundry and bike maintenance.
Smaller bikes such as Suzuki 250 cc, Helix, Reflex, etc. can ride together at 60 MPH and rendevouz with the rest of us at the scheduled night stop. You can leave at the suggested starting time with the group or sleep in and catch up with us at the night's stop.
You can share rooms with other bikers and make plans for what you want to do in Alaska. For 2007, my hotel bill share was less than $400 as I used a sleeping bag and let the other bikers have the beds. In 2006, it was $27 per day. It can be as low as $9 per day, depending if you bring a sleeping bag (pay just 15% of the room's bill).
So, it is your choice to ride alone and just have a convenient starting and stopping point each day .. and maybe ride with groups other days.
I am listing on the schedule page stops and routes.
This will be a charity run to help infants and young children who are deaf and/or blind and their families through early intervention. Early intervention is a program where the families of these children receive information and support in the home to help their child learn to communicate and use their residual senses with amplification and/or lens correction. The young child’s overall development is also enhanced. The charity is the SKI-HI Institute in Logan, UT. (For more information on SKI-HI click on the button “The Charity".)
You will be sent a form to be signed and notarized that you are taking this trip at your own risk. I suggest that you have a travel assistance plan and/or AAA RV+ plan where they will tow you ANYWHERE in USA or Canada. You also should have a cell phone and a medical plan.
A passport? Required. Spare parts? Definitely! One biker didn't have a master link which caused a two day delay and increased expenses for her.
Of course, if something happened to you, we won't just drive on and leave you. One of us will stay and once we know you are in safe hands (ambulance, tow truck, etc.) we will continue. You will have our agenda and be able to catch up with us later. Motorcycle riding is inheritently a dangerous sport but if you respect the environment, anticipate danger, and are alert and maintain your bike and tires well, chances are that you will be like me ... age 60, several hundred of thousands of miles covered with no problems and LOVING IT.
PLEASE!! If you are going to join us en route, you MUST register via this link (or go to www.DrSign.com). You should check back at this website as if changes are made en route, we will try to update the information.
Basically, you should arrive at the check in point the night before, get a good night's sleep, and join us the following morning.
