ATLANTA -- WSB-TV Channel 2's Jocelyn Dorsey recently returned from a motorcycle trip that started in Alaska and ended in Key West, Florida. Here's her story on the Iron Torch Ride:

Everybody is asking how was it? As Charles Dickens once wrote in a "Tale of Two Cities", "It was the best of times and the worst of times..." for the Iron Torch Riders.

The worst was traveling from Fairbanks, Alaska to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on the Dalton Highway. It's basically a service road for the Alaskan pipeline. It was a 500 mile obstacle course for motorcycles. And it was worse than I had imagined. We had injuries and damaged bikes along the way. I made it as far as Atigun Pass, past the Artic Circle.

My front tire got caught by the huge rocks in the road, they called gravel and went down. It did about $1,000 dollars worth of damage to my bike and more to my pride than anything. But I realized it was just the luck of the draw, not riding skill that made the difference. Fortunately I was able to get the bike back to Fairbanks via our wonderful volunteers who drove the chase truck with a trailer. I was able to continue the journey from Fairbanks to Key West, Florida and then back to Atlanta, more than 7,000 miles.

From there we rode through rain, hail and the dead of night all through Canada and then sunshine through much of the lower 48.

The best of it was the breath taking scenery. Now I know why they call Alaska the last of the wild frontier. We rode through hours and hours and hours of mountains without ever seeing a house or anything that looked like civilization. There were critters galore including bear, moose, buffalo, caribou, musk ok and yes I saw them all! And all of these animals make one pretty nervous when you are only traveling on two wheels. And the sun never did go down, really it didn't. That was one of the hardest adjustments I had to make.

And of course we had to visit Santa at The North Pole! (Alaska)

Montana was truly..The Big Sky.... I mean huge sky. We could see exactly what weather was coming at us, and once I literally "outran" a fierce storm. And rolling through Montana and Nebraska, I understand the meaning of "rolling hills". It was fascinating. Of course South Dakota was too cool... and the rock formations were massive and everywhere and hot. We stayed in Deadwood, South Dakota which was like going back into western times. A great little town.

Nebraska and Kansas probably had the worst winds I ever felt. The winds were so strong and steady we were drive through half of the state at an angle. We really had to grit our teeth when a truck passed. But the wide open countryside way fun to ride.

The folks in Memphis were first class. They not only welcomed us with a police escort, the Mayor and other city dignitaries, but we rode right into the baseball stadium with a cheering crowd of Special Olympians who had made placards with each individual rider's name and a personal message along with it. Everybody was touched by the gesture. There was not a dry eye in the house and it reminded us all what we were doing this for.

There were other Special Olympics Chapters in Arkansas and H.O.G (Harley Owners Group) members who welcomed us in several other states, but nothing like Memphis.

Of course, in our home state, we were escorted from the Georgia border to Kennesaw where we received commendations from The Governor and The Mayor of Kennesaw. Had it not been for the support of the Kennesaw Police Chief and key members of his department, we would never have made it.

We breezed through Atlanta July 4th and were in the Salute 2 America Parade and then hit the road again and on a fast track headed into Key West. The drive through the Keys was beautiful but traffic coming back made Atlanta look like a speed zone. One we got there, we realized what we 36 riders had gone through was an 21-day experience very few people in this world have ever had, and we will forever be The Iron Torch Riders, friends for life!

Some of the guys are even threatening to get Iron Torch Ride tattoos!

I could go on and on, but I'd rather you look at some of the photos and remember we're still raising money for Georgia Special Olympics so please log onto www.firstgiving.com/jdorsey and your donations will go directly to Special Olympics.