Hardcore rider
Jamie is a guy I "met" online 6 or so years ago. He hails out of Memphis, TN, and we have lots of common interests, one being riding. Jamie is a single, unattached guy, which enables him to have lots of adventures. His latest one was spending the last few months in Germany. To get there he rode his Suzuki V-Strom from TN to Vermont where he stored the bike in a barn, then took a train to New York City and a plane to Germany. Well, a few days ago he began his trek back home in reverse. He made it back to VT Friday, just 1 day ahead of the major snowstorm that I'm sure most of you have seen on the news. He left VT just ahead of the storm saturday morning on his V-Strom, with the air temp at -5°F. His goal was to make it to NYC or southern NJ, but even with cold weather riding gear the extreme cold forced many stops. He hit snow here in Connecticut, and made it 30 miles in a snowstorm to another riding buddy of mine's house (35 miles closer to where he was then my house). Here's hardcore Jamie heading up the road to the house at 4:30pm (7hrs to go 200 miles!):
Right after that picture was taken, he lost momentum and started sliding back down the hill. I ran outside and grabbed him and then helped push the bike the rest of the way up the road and into the garage.
After a nice warm dinner and many MANY bottles of wine (we ended up sleeping there rather then drive home in the storm, even with my 4x4 truck) last night, we decided the roads were clear enough to continue on his way. Temps were a balmy 20°F when he left this afternoon. Goal was to make it to another friend's place in DE, and hopefully south of the snowbelt, before he stops for the night. Here's Jamie heading out.
Jamie and my friend Kurt getting the bike out of the garage:
Gearing up:
My wife and Kurt saying goodbyes:
He's off!
Following him out to the interstate:
Ride safe my friend!