Stage 16 : Tacoma

Cool, clear skies met us Sunday morning for the final leg of the journey. All the riders were gathered at the start, watching each class leave and wishing everyone well. A mixture of emotions, but I think everyone was ready to get to Tacoma.

The ride stated with some nice 2 lanes, then headed up into the mountains. Everyone stopped together at the 1st gas, warming up, laughing, and taking pictures. Then headed to Mt Rainer.

The road up the pass by Rainer was spectacular, and as we crested the pass, people were lined a bridge over the road cheering. Beautiful scene with Mt Rainer towering in the background. The road down was just as beautiful, and now the pressure seemed to lift as we rode on into Tacoma. I caught Hans about 10 miles out, and we rode In together. It was kind of fitting, fore we had first met almost a year ago by chance at George Yarocki's trying to build these two bikes for the Cannonball. So we rode in together, both bikes with perfect scores.

We assembled again for the last time, and rode by class to the grand finish at 2:00. Riding up the hill and thru the banners brought a lot emotions, memories, and relief from this 2 year quest. A special moment.

The challenge of taking a wore out 84 year old motorcycle and restoring / rebuilding it for a 4000 mile rally is enormous, but so are the rewards. Thru hard work, perseverance, and a little luck, you can get amazing results.