It was a last minute decision. Every year for the last twenty years, 500 or more hearty motorcyclists converge on the Stagecoach Cafe in Stockton Alabama on December 30th for what is called, The Annual Last Ride of the Year. A loosely organized event billed as a ride-to-eat, where folks from all corners of the country ride in on all types of motorcycles to hang out for an hour to two, enjoy a buffet brunch and head back home.
The quickest route from my home in New Hampshire to the Stagecoach Cafe was 1500 miles. Coincidentally, the ride home was also 1500 miles! December in New England had been a real cold and snowy one and I hadn’t really thought about attempting the ride to this year’s event. Besides the frigid temperatures, my bike needing tires and service, I wanted to be home for New Year’s Eve as well as the following day when my side of the family traditionally gathers for a party to exchange Christmas gifts.
After watching the weather carefully for a few days, I decided I would try to make the event. Once I posted on social media that I was going to attempt the ride, I knew I had to go.
I left on December 28th, giving myself two days to reach Stockton, which is just north of Mobile. I was basically riding to the Gulf coast. When I left, the temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit, but I had visions of warm weather when I reached the Gulf to keep me going.
I could not ride on the freeway in extreme weather without the use of heated apparel. In single digit temperatures, I would not be able to go anywhere. My hands would freeze first, followed by my feet and torso, and I would be a popsicle after 50 miles. Joking aside, hypothermia would set in in an hour or so and that doesn’t sound like a fun ride to me.
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I have all the right gear. I actually have multiples of each piece of gear that I carry as spares should something fail on a ride. I wear a heated jacket liner that plugs into the bike’s electrical system. The heated pants plug into the jacket and my heated socks plug into the pants!
I have heated handlebar grips as well as handlebar coverings that block my hands from the wind, but I also have fully heated leather gloves. With a warm wool neck gaiter and a full face helmet with an anti-fog shield, my winter riding outfit is complete. Of course a weather proof outer jacket and pants, thermal underwear base layer and good waterproof boots help block the cold and windchill while riding at freeway speeds.
The output of heat is managed by a small controller on my dash and I have two zones of heat. The gloves, socks and pants are one zone and the jacket liner is on the second. When it is really, really, really cold, I need to be careful with the level of heat. It can be so cold that my body doesn’t feel the heat working, so I keep turning it up. After a few hours on high, I can actually cause red marks, burns and even blisters, that I only realize after I stop for the day.
My ride south never really warmed up, I rode the first 750 miles below freezing. The following day started at 25 degrees but reached a sweltering 45 degrees by the time I reached my destination in Alabama!
I had dinner with some riding friends the evening before the gathering and I finally warmed up a bit. The Margarita may have helped. It was 32 degrees when I rode the short distance from my hotel to the Stagecoach Cafe. I was only the third bike there, and we wondered if the cold weather would keep the crowd small this year. It did not. The motorcycles started showing up, single riders, groups of two or three and larger groups of ten or more, all packing themselves into a parking lot made for 50 cars. Within an hour, the lot was filled and across the street was filling up as well. I was able to chat with a bunch of old friends and met quite a few new ones.
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It’s a mystery how such a small venue could serve 500 people brunch, but they did! After most riders were finished their meals, it was time for the awards. The youngest rider, oldest rider and oldest bike ridden to the event received plaques. A few people thought I would be receiving the award for most miles ridden to the event, but I knew otherwise. My friend Pat Cornell who is riding for Myotonic Dystrophy and just set a world record, had been on the road for nearly 3,000 miles to attend this event! He deserved the award.
Riders bid farewell, and within just a few minutes, the parking lot was deserted once again, every rider on their last ride of the year, heading home.
I rode 500 miles in the afternoon and fatigue set in, so I got a hotel. I made it home the next day, just in time for New Year’s Eve dinner. The last 900 miles were a lot warmer than the trip down, it actually reached 30 degrees!
I am grateful that my Multiple Sclerosis doesn’t bother me in cold weather like it does for some folks. I am grateful I have heated gear that allows me to ride when others have long put away their bikes. I am grateful for another year of being able to ride my motorcycle raising awareness and funds for MS.
