Vietnam Veterans Memorial Ride

If you missed this event then you really missed out. From start to finish is was well thought out and quite enjoyable. The goal is to raise funding in order to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the property where the Beirut Memorial exists.






Our normal Crew couldn't make it so Debbie and I left New Bern around 9:15 and rode to Jacksonville. It was a little cool to start with but boy did it heat up quickly. We met Mike, Holli, Brett and Justin in Jacksonville and rode over to the ride location. Mike and Holli had rented an 07 Electra Glide Classic in Wilmington for the occasion. There may be a new Harley on the horizon in the near future.

We joined the line up at 10:30. Bikes were lined up, four deep, on Montford Landing Road from Highway 24 to the overpass. That's almost a quarter of a mile of motorcycles! The local TV station estimated around one thousand bikes.







The majority of the bikes were Harley-Davidson but every make was in the line up right up to a Royal Enfield.







Are these some outlaw members of the Wild Hogs?






The opening ceremony was held at 11:30. Members of the Marine Corp Band from Cherry Point were on hand as well as members of the Junior ROTC. There were several local dignitaries on hand and the event was well covered by the media.













































We walked to the head of the line to check things out and pick up our shirts. Here are a few bikes in the line up that caught our attention.





































































Engines were started at 12:00 and we head to Hubert via 24 then to 117 to Sneads Ferry, hit 17 North and end up at New River Harley-Davidson.








The Onslow County Sheriff, Jacksonville Police Department and the Camp Lejeune Military Police all had a hand in handling traffic to allow the extremely long line of bikes safe passage.
























The ride lasted about an hour and went through some very nice back roads. A good distance of the ride was on board Camp Lejeune. There was quite a number of people all along the ride waving and watching the procession.
































The ride went very smoothly considering the number of riders and I saw only one bike with mechanical issues. That bike did show up at New River HD about a half hour late.





The only major slow up was the entrance to the dealership. There was plenty of parking but it took some time for everyone to spread out.


























There was live entertainment, free food and beverages. These guys really know how to run an event.

















Mike and Holli.








There were a lot of folks browsing the inventory and checking out the specials.
















There were quite a large number of door prizes given out for those that registered.







About 3:00 we decided to head north back to New Bern. There were some very dark clouds in the area that we saw from the Jacksonville bypass but it appeared that we would avoid them. Unfortunately about halfway to Maysville we ran into a rain like I will never forget. Cars were running about 30 mph with flashers on and traffic in the approaching lane was throwing standing water in the air like rooster tails from a speed boat.

My glasses totally fogged up, water was running up the outside and down the inside of the windshield and it was difficult to look over the windshield and not be blinded by the driving rain. Did I mention it rained? At one point it was raining so hard I was concerned about getting a dry breath. There is nowhere to pull over on that stretch of road since this is part of the Hoffman State Forest and there is only a grassy shoulder and a rather large ditch. We slowed even more because of the amount of rain, low visibility and the slightly squirrelly feel the Ultra exhibited in plying the standing water on the roadway. Things quickly cleared and we pulled into the Hardees parking lot in Maysville. Debbie was fairly dry other than her hair out the back of the helmet and lower pants legs. I dried my glasses so I could once again see clearly and by the time we arrived in New Bern my shirt and jeans were dry. Even with the rain we had an exceptional trip. It was one of the most memorable trips to date.

So far as the Ultra in the rain, she never missed a beat and once again helped us arrive back home safely. She got a good clean up on Sunday and is shiny as new waiting for the next adventure. I'm ready for the next two wheeled adventure as well.