Day 1: NYC to Hagerstown, MD

243 Miles |

5:19 Riding Time

It wasn’t looking great in NYC this morning. There was light rain and the forecast was for it to continue most of the day. I signed up for a motorcycle class at the BMW Performance Center in Greer, SC that starts on Saturday.

The plan was to make it across PA to Rt 81S and as far south on 81 as I could. Chambersburg, PA would be good. Winchester, VA would be better.

Had some breakfast with Donette and Finley, then waited for a break in the rain. As you would expect, getting out of NYC was the hardest part of the day. Light rain all the way to Newark Airport, but once on 78W, it cleared up.

243 Miles, and about 5 hours later, I’m writing this from a Starbucks in Hagerstown, MD. Stopping here for the night..

The Route

Getting out of the City is always a challenge, and in the rain, it wasn’t exactly fun. I rode up Church St, to the Holland Tunnel to the Pulaski Skyway and Route 1/9 toward Newark Liberty airport. Then, on to US-78 West through NJ to PA. Picked up US-81 South near Harrisburg, and stayed on 81 to Hagerstown, MD.

Highway riding is boring, but sometimes, you just gotta get where you’re going. It was an uneventful day with not much traffic.