Shark Week II, the National Road Glide Rally, was held in Le Claire, IA. The organizer of the first Shark Week, my friend Chris, has led a “Gypsy Tour” or ride in to each rally site. For SWI he led us from Pittsburgh to Gettysburg along the Lincoln Highway. He stopped along the way to show us key features.

This year, Chris led us from New Orleans to Le Claire along the Great River Road. It was a 3-day trip with stops in Memphis and St. Louis.

Our hotel in New Orleans was an old-fashioned gem. The interior courtyard was beautiful.

In Clarksdale, MS we stopped to take a picture of the road sign on “The Blues Highway” at the intersection of highways 61 and 49 where legend has it blues singer Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for mastery of the blues.

In Memphis we went out for barbecue. In St. Louis we ate in the hotel.
We stopped along the Mississippi River at various points. This picture was taken near Cairo, IL.

I had an unscheduled stop in Illinois to repair my bike. The inner primary bearing wore out and had to be replaced.

From Le Claire we went on rides through Iowa and Illinois. I led a ride to Anamosa, IA where we visited a motorcycle museum and the J&P Cycles headquarters store.

There were organized lunches and dinners and time to sit in the parking lot in the evening and socialize.
On our last day we gathered all the Sharks for a picture.

My route home was 1500 miles. I rode 1000 miles the first day and 500 the second to complete a Saddle Sore 1000 and a Bun Burner 1500, Iron Butt rides.

The Shark Week III rally will be in St. George, UT. The four-day Gypsy Tour starts in Oklahoma City and will follow the remaining portions of Route 66. We’ll stop over in Tucumcari, Gallup, and Flagstaff. The rides from St. George are scheduled to go to Zion, Bryce, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Other rides will go to the Valley of Fire and Las Vegas.