Well, today was the day we came for...the big demonstration ride. We met two of the others at their hotel near the Pentagon at 6:30am and rode together to the Pentagon parking lot...the staging location for the ride. We arrived at 7am and there were already many riders there. They parked the Rolling Thunder Chapters near the front of the procession while leaving room for the groups being honored this year. The club that I noticed arriving...because there were so many of them and they came about 3 hours after we did...was called Nam Vets and another called Military Veterans. Each year Rolling Thunder gives a different club or two a position of honor near the front of the parade.
Even with these two groups...and of course the group from National...we were still in the first 1,000-2,000. There was probably another 300,000 bikes behind us. It's very difficult to determine that number...or even comprehend it...until you can get up high and get a better view. I took some pictures but since I can't download them to the computer it's difficult to tell much. I'll be interested to see the news tonight to see what they estimate the crowd was.
Like I said, we arrived at 7:00am, parked our motorcycles where told and then began to roam around. There were several vendors near us selling food...BBQ, sub sandwiches and chicken strips...now who eats that kind of food at 7am? Rolling Thunder National was selling event patches, pins and R/T hats to those who had not purchased them on Saturday. There was a few other vendors but they didn't have anything I couldn't live without...however, they did a great business with everyone else.
The most popular vendor at the event was the Christian Motorcycle Association. They gave away coffee and cold water, as well as cookies, crackers and other items like lotion and sunscreen...I should have gotten some of that. They even had bread and peanut butter and jelly for people to make sandwiches. Although this wasn't very appealing at 7am, by 10am the sandwich tasted pretty good. I also visited their tent...only a few yards away from my parking location...to fill up my bottle with cold water.
Finally, at 12:00pm, the flag was raised on a nearby fire truck's extended ladder and a B-52 made a low pass over the parking lot marking the beginning of the parade/demonstration. It was at least another 15-20 minutes until we left the parking lot...2 X 2. We drove across the Arlington Memorial Bridge into Washington, turned left behind the Lincoln Memorial and up Constitution Avenue past the Smithsonian Museums. We turned right on 3rd Street...I think...between the National Mall and the Reflecting pool over to Independence Avenue, down Independence back to the Lincoln Memorial. At this point, you had the option of parking to the left or going straight...which we did. The road was very familiar as we had been on it yesterday about four times. It took us under the back side of the Kennedy Center and we ended up in Georgetown again. At least this time we knew where M Street was and how to get on the Key Bridge to cross over to Virginia.
Along the route...except on the bridge itself...people lined the streets, waiving flags, saluting us, trying to give high fives and all manner of acknowledgement of the riders service...although many riders never served. However, it was quite a thrill to see such a reception. I think they wanted to honor veterans and the military on this Memorial Day weekend as well, perhaps, as seeing a lot of interesting motorcycles.
Speaking of motorcycles, I think I saw just about every possible mutation of the original motorcycle that anyone has ever thought of...there were Honda Goldwing trikes, Harley trikes, Boss Hogg trikes (they have a car engine in them), fancy customized motorcycles and un-customized motorcycles. There were side cars, trailers, dog trailers, and even a motorcycle that had a body on it that looked like a airplane or rocket. Speaking of dogs, one couple had a small Chihuahua dressed in what looked like a set of Army fatigues, complete with a pair of goggles, a little gun in a holster and a name tag that read "Patton". His disposition was much like that of his namesake. You couldn't get within a foot of him before he was growling and showing a lot of sharp teeth, so we gave him plenty of room and admired his outfit from a safe distance.
All in all, it was an interesting day and I think everyone was glad we made the trip. I guess we'll know for sure after the ride back home. We were finished with the ride after only an hour and were on our way back to the hotel in Alexandria. Of course, the 300,000 or so riders behind us were probably still making the loop. I told someone that it almost made being a member of Rolling Thunder worth it just to get a place up front.
When we arrived back in Alexandria, we decided to go downtown to King Street...apparently the center of activity in Old Town Alexandria...to find a place to eat and relax. There are many restaurants, bars, and shopping available but not parking places. As we drove slowly down the street, we kept an eye out for a parking place. We only had 4 bikes so one car place would be sufficient for all of us. Finally, we found one and as we were parking, a young man came by and invited us to his place. It turned out to be a bar and grill with a descent menu. We walked in and there wasn't another sole in the place...not for another hour. We sat near the bar and the kid...who happened to be the bar tender and waiter...took our order. The food was good as was the air conditioning.
We're resting at the hotel now and wondering if we should try to do one more thing before calling it a night. I might suggest heading back downtown for dinner, but we'll see. Tomorrow we start back...at 7:00am...so getting a good night's rest would be nice.
We're headed to North Carolina where I will break off from the group and go to Winston-Salem. Because the people I'm visiting don't have a computer, I may not be able to make a new post until Tuesday night. So until then, good-bye from Washington DC.
Even with these two groups...and of course the group from National...we were still in the first 1,000-2,000. There was probably another 300,000 bikes behind us. It's very difficult to determine that number...or even comprehend it...until you can get up high and get a better view. I took some pictures but since I can't download them to the computer it's difficult to tell much. I'll be interested to see the news tonight to see what they estimate the crowd was.
Like I said, we arrived at 7:00am, parked our motorcycles where told and then began to roam around. There were several vendors near us selling food...BBQ, sub sandwiches and chicken strips...now who eats that kind of food at 7am? Rolling Thunder National was selling event patches, pins and R/T hats to those who had not purchased them on Saturday. There was a few other vendors but they didn't have anything I couldn't live without...however, they did a great business with everyone else.
The most popular vendor at the event was the Christian Motorcycle Association. They gave away coffee and cold water, as well as cookies, crackers and other items like lotion and sunscreen...I should have gotten some of that. They even had bread and peanut butter and jelly for people to make sandwiches. Although this wasn't very appealing at 7am, by 10am the sandwich tasted pretty good. I also visited their tent...only a few yards away from my parking location...to fill up my bottle with cold water.
Finally, at 12:00pm, the flag was raised on a nearby fire truck's extended ladder and a B-52 made a low pass over the parking lot marking the beginning of the parade/demonstration. It was at least another 15-20 minutes until we left the parking lot...2 X 2. We drove across the Arlington Memorial Bridge into Washington, turned left behind the Lincoln Memorial and up Constitution Avenue past the Smithsonian Museums. We turned right on 3rd Street...I think...between the National Mall and the Reflecting pool over to Independence Avenue, down Independence back to the Lincoln Memorial. At this point, you had the option of parking to the left or going straight...which we did. The road was very familiar as we had been on it yesterday about four times. It took us under the back side of the Kennedy Center and we ended up in Georgetown again. At least this time we knew where M Street was and how to get on the Key Bridge to cross over to Virginia.
Along the route...except on the bridge itself...people lined the streets, waiving flags, saluting us, trying to give high fives and all manner of acknowledgement of the riders service...although many riders never served. However, it was quite a thrill to see such a reception. I think they wanted to honor veterans and the military on this Memorial Day weekend as well, perhaps, as seeing a lot of interesting motorcycles.
Speaking of motorcycles, I think I saw just about every possible mutation of the original motorcycle that anyone has ever thought of...there were Honda Goldwing trikes, Harley trikes, Boss Hogg trikes (they have a car engine in them), fancy customized motorcycles and un-customized motorcycles. There were side cars, trailers, dog trailers, and even a motorcycle that had a body on it that looked like a airplane or rocket. Speaking of dogs, one couple had a small Chihuahua dressed in what looked like a set of Army fatigues, complete with a pair of goggles, a little gun in a holster and a name tag that read "Patton". His disposition was much like that of his namesake. You couldn't get within a foot of him before he was growling and showing a lot of sharp teeth, so we gave him plenty of room and admired his outfit from a safe distance.
All in all, it was an interesting day and I think everyone was glad we made the trip. I guess we'll know for sure after the ride back home. We were finished with the ride after only an hour and were on our way back to the hotel in Alexandria. Of course, the 300,000 or so riders behind us were probably still making the loop. I told someone that it almost made being a member of Rolling Thunder worth it just to get a place up front.
When we arrived back in Alexandria, we decided to go downtown to King Street...apparently the center of activity in Old Town Alexandria...to find a place to eat and relax. There are many restaurants, bars, and shopping available but not parking places. As we drove slowly down the street, we kept an eye out for a parking place. We only had 4 bikes so one car place would be sufficient for all of us. Finally, we found one and as we were parking, a young man came by and invited us to his place. It turned out to be a bar and grill with a descent menu. We walked in and there wasn't another sole in the place...not for another hour. We sat near the bar and the kid...who happened to be the bar tender and waiter...took our order. The food was good as was the air conditioning.
We're resting at the hotel now and wondering if we should try to do one more thing before calling it a night. I might suggest heading back downtown for dinner, but we'll see. Tomorrow we start back...at 7:00am...so getting a good night's rest would be nice.
We're headed to North Carolina where I will break off from the group and go to Winston-Salem. Because the people I'm visiting don't have a computer, I may not be able to make a new post until Tuesday night. So until then, good-bye from Washington DC.
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