2016 Tour of Honor

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TripperMike

Old Yeller - Thanks for the Memories
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I did this for the first time last year and it was more fun that I had a right to expect. How many times have we ridden past a memorial and thought to ourselves "how nice" and continued our ride? This rally tends to put these wonderful memorials into their proper perspective.

https://tourofhonor.com/

If you're busy during this winter season planning this year's rides, sprinkle in a few extra stops going and coming. Believe me, these memorials stops will lead you to go places you would never normally go to.

 
I was able to complete 2 states tour of honor sites and made a stop at a site in Washington state and Wyoming as well. Really a great reason to ride.

 
2016 will be my third year. I like that you can make this event into anything you want. It can be a challenge to earn a trophy for being one of the first three finishers in a state or to rack up the most sites in the year. Or you can take the flower sniffin' approach and visit sites along your other travels. Either way, you'll visit places you didn't know existed and learn about the sacrifices of our brave men and women. I'm trying to improve my site count each year. Last year, I completed AZ, NM, UT, CO, and NV, and visited a few sites in CA and TX.

 
I was a TOH virgin last year but I'm happy to report I'm going back for more! This is an awesome excuse to cover some miles, see some sights, and even learn a little bit of history along the way. I didn't actually complete any states but rather just took the approach of picking something I found interesting and going to it or finding the memorials that were in my path when I was going to another event and stopping along the way. I hit two stops on the way to EOM last year and my wife and I had another couple tagging along. They were unfamiliar with the event but hopefully through the things we talked about and what they got to see maybe this year they'll play along too.

 
It'll be fun again this year to watch which riders surge to the front in the memorial count. It'll be a few years now for me before I can have that kind of fun again. It amazed me how Chris Comly was able to finish 3rd in '14 the same year he did the ButtLite and then again last year with a 4th/5th finish along with riding in the IBR.

What I enjoy most about this rally is that it can be anything you want it to be and still be a richly rewarding experience. I keep thinking I'll do a RR about my experiences with this rally; but everytime I start reviewing my pictures and trying to figure out which ones to use, I always seem to get lost in thought about what it took to photograph 'em. Admittedly not all, but there were many memorials that made you stop, pause and reflect on the real reason that memorial is there in the first place.

 
I know Chris and have done some smaller rallies with him. That Sportster has almost 170k miles on it now and he's thrown in for the '17 IBR! He's actually one of the reasons I chose to ride the Tour Of Honor last year. Great guy and a great spokesman for motorcycling. He's even a member on here now!

I kind of dedicated my ride last year to a friend of mine who passed away shortly before the tour started, Ray Devlin. Ray was a Vietnam vet and a customer of mine when I worked for a Harley dealership. He is now buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. This year I plan to take my flag and get a picture of it at his graveside It may not be worth any points but it's just something I feel compelled to do.

 
I signed up. I don't have time to take long cross country trips, but I can do a day or three at a time. Besides the very worthy sites involved, it gives me a reason to go places I might not go otherwise. Prob hit my state and adjoining states, but that's better than doing the tried and true mountain roads around the house over and over.

 
Bill,

My first thoughts were similar to yours, then the list of locations came out! I started off by just looking at my home state and then looking at neighboring states I could hit and return home the same day. As I went over the locations I started looking at the pictures of the memorials and reading some of the history behind them. This caused me on two occasions to plan trips just to see certain memorials I may have otherwise not visited.

From 2015 list, Middleburg, VA a memorial to the horses and mules that died in the Civil War. How many of these animals do you think died between 1861-1865 during the war? Died in battle, from disease, starvation, etc. The number astounded me. I didn't even consider how many were alive at that point in American history. Check out last years list of memorials and look it up or if this goes too long I'll post the answer.

I encourage anyone who is looking for an excuse to put more miles on or just to learn a little bit more history, sign up! I can easily see this becoming an event I'll do for years to come.

 
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Hi, Tour of Honor organizer here inviting everyone to check out the website and Facebook page if you're into that. Seriously, the FB page has a lot of GREAT photos put up by riders during the season. https://www.facebook.com/TourofHonor/

If you sign up soon, you'll be included in the initial mailing of SWAG, mid-February. That way, you'll have the gear and rules ready when the sites drop on 4/1.

Hope you can join us if you haven't already!

 
BUMP

Although the sites of the memorials will be released April 1st, you can sign up at any time prior to Nov. 1st. Although if you sign up Oct. 30th, you might be hard pressed to get the 7 memorials needed to be considered a finisher. Ayup, only 7 needed to be a finisher.

I have like a month and a half to get my bike put back together for this. It's going to be another fun year of riding.

 
I recently received an e-mail with a tracking number stating that the Tour of Honor had sent me something in the mail. I have since realized that it was sent to an old mailing address that Paypal still had on record.

Did anyone else receive the envelope or package? Was it the rally flag?

 
Thanks. I just wanted to know how much effort I should expend in tracking it down. Flag is pretty important...
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I will be, I wish I had signed up already, I think this weekend sounds good... but I ain't got a flag yet.

 
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