July 9th, 2009 Here in Portland Maine, and after yesterday’s ride from Bar Harbour to Buxton, I like to say Rain in Maine. I made it to Reynolds Motorcycle Shop completely soaked, and was encouraged to make myself at home and put my stuff in the service area so I did. Got changed and then went for something to eat while they worked on installing the new shock from Progressive Suspension, and chucking my old blown shock. When I got back Scott the mechanic had the new shock in and then he checked the valves after the engine was cool and that checked out good, hardly any change from when Jim did them 8000k ago. This shop is huge, and the inventory is massive. Really good people at Reynolds, which has been in business for 42 years. When I got on the bike when it was loaded with it’s luggage, I immediately yelled through my helmet yeah!. And the fellas all chuckled and someone said now you’ve got a cadillac. While riding to Portland I couldn’t believe I had been riding the bike for 8000k with a blown shock. What a difference. Tons of preload to work with as well, infinite as Scott said. It’s like I have a new bike. So off I went to stay in Portland for the night and I met two couples from Canada on Harley’s I think who were staying next door from me. Pictures will follow, gotta get packed and check out of the motel and find Scott in Boston. Hopefuly not so much rain today.
This is outside of Bar Harbour somewhere. My exact words when I came around the corner and saw two bridges were, Whoa.
This picture doesn’t reveal the magnitude of this dealership. It’s the biggest I’ve ever been in.
Here’s Scott working on K.
Laundry day, and hanging the wet riding gear.
Here’s the black beauty. What a ride now, I can’t get over it. The red button is where the Nitrogen is zapped in.
Ro
My friends who know I like rocks, well they also like rocks. This one came from The Rock. I was looking for skipping stones while taking a break, not intending to take a rock with me, it just sort of happens right, when the rock catches your eye. Garrell, we’ve talked about this at length eh.
Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.
I think Gargoyle needs a new flower, but he seems content just the same. It’s funny how that dried up flower stem has stayed in his hand all this time. They really are protectors.
Riding into Boston …. I ended up continuing on after talking to Scott, the timing wasn’t right and I was getting hot and bothered so I just decided to keep riding. Scott’s bike wasn’t going to be ready until the next day and for me to get a place to stay, put the stuff away and lube the chain etc. . well, I just would have slowed Scott down from seeing the Red Sox so I left, and spent the night in Foxborough. I was nackered, and there was no wireless even though they said there was, so I gave up and went to the bar for a chicken ceasar salad, and then a battle of the bands ensued, listened and left after the first band. Went back to the room and fell asleep and then an hour later some music came on loud and in my delerium I thought it was the TV even though it was off I kept trying to use the remote to stop the music, then I figured out it was the alarm clock, set for 12am. Funny guys funny. So I went back to sleep and an hour and a half later a different, louder noise, the fire alarm. So I laid in bed waiting for it to stop but no it didn’t. No smoke smell but I thought I’d better get dressed and check the hallway. Everyone was out of the rooms and confused. So I went around looking for clues and found none. I was sure nothing was up but I stayed until the fire department came, and then said it’s okay to go back to sleep. That wasn’t going to happen so I wrote in my journal and found Death Cab For Cutie live on PBS and that was good, and then to sleep. Whoever reading this is probably asleep now too.
The next day, odometer at 20,000 from 12,500 when I left Toronto. Now off to New York …. I’m not a coffee drinker but I did stop for a tea at Tim’s when I saw the sign on the I95; nostalgia reigns. …..
Not great pictures on the Interstates. Just a grind to stay alive.
And into New York …
Shit I missed the turn off for Manhattan and ended up in Queens. So I was just riding around looking at life when this van pulled up and this guy yelled something. I had my music on so I turned it off with the remote thingy I have and I said What? And this Spanish dude smiled and said Bonjour. We shared a laugh before the light turned green.
And 7th avenue …. I’d been before but wow, is it ever cool arriving on a bike. There’s so much happening everywhere, and the driving, it’s like pond hockey on a motorcycle; dodging this and that and seemingly moving like fish in the sea. I really like the chaos and the challenges. Just as I parked here this older Asian guy came up to me and was sincerely interested in why I was there. And he asked me where I came from and I said Canada and he said with broken English and hand signals, You came all the way here and didn’t sleep? Yes I slept, and I didn’t just arrive here from Canada, I’ve been on the road for a while. So he said, while gesticulating the throttle motion, you came all the way here? Yes, but not all at once, I stopped in a few places. Ohhhh, so you just come and you go? Yes, precisely. Ohhh, so where do you go now? And the best thing about this conversation was his sincerity …. so where do you go now? South I replied. Oh okay, take care. The greatest thing about conversations on the road is that everyone wishes you well. It’s an understanding that every culture has, to be well. This entry also reminds me of a dude I saw in Maine along the #1 who was dragging a big friggin’ cross made of thick wood, possibly 4X4, with his clothes attatched to the cross, dragging this thing in the shoulder of the highway and I thought of stopping and pulling around and back to take a picture and have a chat but I just couldn’t. I was afraid of his psyche, and how long it would take to get through the motion.
Then I tried to find my way out of New York cause I didn’t want to stay and have the bike lost underneath the bowels. This is when I noticed I call my GPS ‘fucker’, cause it’s always trying to get me to go somewhere when I can clearly see it’s not going to be a good route. I know fucker I say, but it’s friggin clogged up here I’m going this way. No fucker I’m not taking that route. And then we seem to get along when things are working out and then all of a sudden it’s pointing to go left when I can clearly see to veer right amidst the insane traffic. No fucker I’m going this way. Sorry. You were right. But you didn’t have a bus and a truck and a mercedez and a block of people jay walking down on you now did you. Eventually we, the GPS and I got screwed and we’re both scratching our heads when I decided when we were in Brooklyn to pull over and take a time out here ….
The people inside were more helpful and all was sorted after a 30 minute conflab with the locals; a beer and a smoke. It was Friday today and rush hour so that didn’t make things any better. It was nice to meet these guys with their varying accents on their Friday night. Alright, turn the GPS on and don’t look at it, sorry, and just concentrate on the traffic and the directions I was given.
Now I’m satiated with food, drink, peace and all the bike things have been done. Time to go for a walk here in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Scott is heading to see Robert Fulton Jr.’s grave and motorcycle somewhere in Conneticut. We will hook up when we do. It’s funny actually that we have probably spent more time apart than together so far. When I talk to people they say are you traveling alone? No my friend is around here somewhere. Incidentally this is Day 25 for me and it’s July 10th, and I’m all caught up with this blog. This motel has a really fast wireless which takes all the frustration away and I was able to add a lot for the amount of time spent. Tomorrow heading toward Washington.
Later on I went to a local Gentleman’s Club which was only a one minute walk from the motel. I met some good people and observed what any man wants, but in the end, I wonder how this can be? I find the process actually juvenille, and yet I am lured there just the same for I love women and sexuality; just not like this. The good thing is they either toss bills in the air for the ladies to gather or get to place it between their breasts and probably cop a feel in the process which is much better than the Canadian process which is to toss Loonies at their sensitive spot. Maybe I’ve said too much, and I apologize for describing such ways but I can’t help but tell the truth. For me I enjoy the process of understanding the business, but mostly appreciating the women’s differences in sexuality for a show, which is not to be confused with a woman’s real feelings. Beside me was a customer who was with three young happy guys and two girls including her and she said that it was her friends birthday and that she was embarrased that her friends kept giving her one dollar bills to stuff in the naked women’s bodies and in the end I kept encouraging her even though I didn’t want to do it myself. I don’t know where I’m going with this …. I’m just talking out loud I suppose…… Strip clubs are a weird entity, and I know this cause every time a woman comes up to me to ask for a private dance I say no and they say, Why, aren’t you having fun? Fun? What is fun I wonder? And then they usually move on after that. I don’t know, what is fun anyway? I like to think that fun is true and not complicate to making money. ‘Cretos’, I believe …. is the word.
July 11th Arrgg … slight self induced headache this morning. I booked a ferry crossing last night for 2:30pm to go from Cape May to Lewes today so I’ve got to pack up and ride there and be an hour early so I’ve got to get moving. I need a tea. My Dad asked me a question via email so I’m going to answer it here as it’s a good question.
Question: How do you protect your stuff on the bike when you go into a bar ot Tim’s or whatever? Also, do you unload everything every night?
For short stops like lunch and such I don’t worry about it too much so far. It’s a judgment thing based on the amount of people around. In my tank bag I leave a camera and take off my GPS and put it in there. I usually take my helmet with me every time cause if they steal anything at least I have my helmet to keep on going. If I’m not comfortable I take the tank bag in with me to eat. At Hampton Beach I left my helmet and everything cause there was a State Trooper parked beside me and also a bunch of bikers were sitting on benches where mine and their bikes were parked. Over night I like to choose places where my bike is parked right in front of the door but if not I strip the bike more than other times. For example last night I was staying at an Inn so my bike was in front of my balcony but a floor down. So I took the orange dry bag off which contains my camping gear and some bike parts and I locked the panniers with padlocks and brought my computer and tank bag inside with me. The computer is in the top box at the back of the bike. The two front black bags at the front are a cover for the bike, rain pants, work gloves and cloths so I don’t bother with that. And I lock the bike with a disc lock. All of which are beatable obviously but it’s to deter the walk by thieves. Most of the time I leave my camping gear on the bike over night but as Scott says it’s more of a pain in the ass to replace than the money. So last night I took it off cause I was staying in a high density area. Alright, time to move on …..
So I was riding into this small town and I thought at first I was seeing what I know as Hutterites then I realized that these are Jewish people. And I only started taking pictures after 30 minutes of riding through this place looking at all the beautifully dressed people, I really missed some great pictures.
Then just after this picture I put the camera back in the tank bag as I saw a pick up truck in the shoulder, yellow lights flashing and a man outside of the truck looking across the highway. A big rig was in front of me and I didn’t really know if anything was happening I just sort of got ready; both feet on the pegs, the brake foot ready and then wham, from under the big rig half of a big rig tire was spinning around after the truck went over it and it was coming at me spinning toward the fast lane I was guessing so I veered to the right and then passed it and looked in my mirror to see all the cars behind me veer out of the way too. Then in the distance of my mirror I saw the highway man run out to the debris and drag it away for they are friggin heavy those tires. Whew!
Then I got on the ferry just in the nick of time as I had booked a spot for 2:30pm, just a guess, but the traffic was heavy and I didn’t get there until 2:10pm, check in was for 1:30pm. No worries. I met a nice couple who I had a good chat with and I gave the gentleman a travel card of mine and they we boarded the ferry.
Just as we were preparing to leave the ferry the gentleman asked me if I had stayed at the country motel? What I said in disbelief. And he showed me his iphone or the equivelant. He had already checked out this blog. Nice couple, good vibe. Anyway we parted and here’s a picture of them before we went our separate ways …. not a very good picture but it’s hard while riding, though I should have zoomed in some. I also can’t actually see what I’m taking a picture of I just sort of aim and shoot without looking.
Then I arrived at a roadside motel which was really nice and simple. I watched a couple of movies, The Holiday and I can’t remember, both love stories.
And on my way to Washington, D.C. . A bridge going east and a bridge going west.
I had no idea Washington was so pretty. Everytime I’ve seen images on TV it looks massive and plain but arriving on a sunny Sunday at noon, well it was quite beautiful.
And here’s the White House in the background. It’s actually not white but tan, at least to my eye from that distance. The security guard who manages the gate to go in was cool and didn’t ask me to leave as I wasn’t supposed to park there. He just asked me where I was coming from, and answered after I asked, no you can’t get a better picture with the bike. Smart guy knew I wanted to have the bike in the picture.
On my way out of Washington I pulled off the I-66 and found this great Diner, circa a1947. Nothing has changed inside from what I could tell. Really cool.
And now into the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and a really spirited ride down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Whoa whoa whoa, what a road! And it goes on forever. I’m not even done now I just got off of it to stay in a motel for the night. But tomorrow I’m back on for hundred of more miles. By far the best road I’ve ever been on, especially for it’s length. Lot’s of deer though, but I didn’t let that stop me. I really rode her hard and scared myself a couple of times but overall really got into the zone. The interesting thing about roads is one kinda gets a feel for the turns by recognizing the similarites from stuff past already. Good roads are really a signature of the people who helped build them. These people were on the ball. I wonder how long it took to make?
Below is a deer I just missed.
And another. I just happened to have my camera out when I came around this corner. Yikes.
I stopped for a break to batten down the hatches in my mind and to get my game face on for this was about the ninth deer I had seen in an hour. Below I rode with these guys for a while after talking with them at a gas station a while back. Ralph and John I think. They had really nice decked out BMW 1200′s and I was quite envious. We had a spirited ride together for quite some time.
And now I am in Roanoke, Virginia for the night. I figured I’d stop here cause the Mike Myer’s movie I worked on which was actually quite tense for a comedy, well the other leading male’s character’s name was Roanoke. The actor’s name alludes me right now but it starts with a D I think. We got along well and he had to learn how to play hockey and after all the time he spent learning and working he told me when he gets back to L.A. he’s going to keep playing. He loved it. I got to teach him a couple of things but he was well taken care of by other competent players. So I decided to stop here and it’s really nice cause it’s filled with kids of all ages who are on the road for a baseball tournament and all the parents and kids are all over the place. They had a bbq in the parking lot and they’re starting to say there first goodnights now at around 11pm. The sounds are comforting, the laughing, the I love you’s and the sound of flip flops, balls bouncing, shrills and confident discipline from the adults. When I pulled in I was quite a spectacle, the parents watching with their drinks in plastic glasses and the kids wandering over to chat and have a look at the bike. One young teenager girl from the south said as she was going by, Ya’ll wanna give me a ride on your motorcycle? Well, I can’t I only have one helmet. And that was that. Time for me to stop with this and take a rest. Peace. Oh yeah one other thing; motorcyclists as you know give each other ‘waves’ when you pass each other and some give you the low peace sign and other’s give you the index finger pointed at you and some give you the full palm without the wave. This guy today gave me first the index finger and then leaned out from his bike and gave me a big thumbs up and I laughed for miles after. It’s like the time I was riding into Jackson Hole last summer while standing on the pegs rolling down the mountain into town when from around the corner a young guy on a dirt bike was also on the pegs from the opposite direction and well he gave me the thumb and pinky, the shockbra (Hawaiian), and waved it too. I laughed and laughed into that tourist trap town. Reminded me of the town of Banff. Also the kids and parent while having the bbq also celebrated a birthday and I got to hear them sing the song, the candles and the applause. Goodnight. By the by, it’s the eve of July 12th.
Scott is somewhere on the Blue Ridge Parkway camping for a couple of days and then going to a BMW rally in Tennesee. I’m going to mosy on down, screw those BMW dudes and their expensive bikes. Just kidding. No I’m going to go get myself some Dragon’s Tail, some more infamous twisty’s. Also my rear brake is getting mushy so I think I need to change out the pads and bleed the fluid. Never done it before so I’ll need some time to go through the process. Incidentally it’s been almost 22,000 k and I haven’t had any service or touched the brakes. Not bad I say, especially after today’s ride. I really do like my horse, she reminds me of Mitchell my horse back when I was a teenager, in the way that we learned to know and respect each other. He was a great horse, and smarter than a whip.
My Dad, Tony, has been religiously following this blog as much as I’ve been posting. Today he sent me a couple of photos of both he and me Mum on the infamous Mitchell. There are pictures of both my brother and I on Mitch but they’re in boxes ….
More of the lucsious Blue Ridge Parkway …..
I followed these riders for a while until they waved me on ….
And then a detour of the parkway toward this town called Boone. Just when I was exiting to get back on the Parkway I checked the time and decided to stay since my Mum’s man Wally’s surname is Boone. I also had a long day yesterday and wanted to do an oil change so I decided to stay here for the night.
I’m staying at the cheapest motel so far on this journey at $35 american plus tax. I met some other riders and we were shooting the breeze when this came from around the corner ….
This car moves fast, really fast. One of the guys said this car can go 70 miles an hour. Unbelievable fun! You can see the owner way in the distance. I can tell you he had a big grin on his face. He rolled the car a few times, no problem. Below are the gentleman I was talking with. One, the eldest, is a semi-retired deputy sheriff and the other a retired officer, don’t know the rank. Good men. They’re on their way back from Deal’s Gap, where I’m heading tomorrow. They gave me some good tips. I love bikers, all for one and one for all.
July 15th, 2009
Just arrived in Gadsden, Alabama. A couple of hours ago I was feeling tired so I pulled in to get some gas and a coffee. When I stopped I took my jacket off and thought, wow it’s hot here. Then I went in and paid for the gas and grabbed a coffee and went out to have a smoke and look at the bike but it was too hot. So I went back in the air conditioned gas station and was looking at some maps when I felt dizzy like I was going to pass out. Then I went to the washroom and put my head under the water and then I thought when was the last time I had a piss, shit, this morning hours ago. So I drank a litre of water and then after making sure I had cooled enough I headed back on the road without my armoured jacket on cause it was too friggin hot. I should get a mesh jacket like Scott has, he’s got to jackets. Then a while later I stopped again and had a gatorade. Now here in the motel with the a/c on and I’m not going to get something to eat until it cools down. Yikes, mild dehydration and heat stroke, I just hadn’t realized how hot it became while I was riding, and I should know better considering the places I’ve worked and played in the past.
EXCERPT FROM JOURNAL
July 14th, 2009
Cruising along a two lane black top in the country of North Carolina I was following a car for a few minutes when I saw a black dog up ahead coming out of the ditch and onto the driveway of a house on the opposite side so I started to gear down and brake and as I was slowing the dog was sort of trotting while looking behind him and still the car ahead of me hadn’t started braking. Then the dog went out into the opposite lane and the car still hadn’t braked and then shit, the dog was hit on the driver’s side and went under the front of the car and tumbled out the passenger side and rolled into the ditch. The car finally braked and I pulled over expecting to carry the dog to somewhere dead or alive. As I was turning off the bike the dog was yelping and spinning in circles gesturing at his hind leg like as if he was trying to catch his tail. But I didn’t hear anything cause my ear buds were still in and the music was on. Then the adrenaline kicked in and he took off like a bat out of hell. I got off the bike and the driver of the car came walking over to me sheepishly and said I didn’t see that dog I hope I didn’t kill him. Well, he ran off down through the woods toward that house . Ya think I should got knock on the door? Yeah, I’ll come with you thinking there might be trouble with the dog or the possible owner. The white haired lady knocked and the white haired black man came out with cloudy white green eyes. Once they established what was going on she said to us with her drawl, It was a big dog, black … And I said it had a white chest black pointy tail with a white tip. Yep, the black man said that’s him he said with a thoughtful smile. My daughter brought him over one day and she said she was gonna pick him up after she got back from (somewhere) in a week, but he’s been here now three months. I heard some barking behind the house and into the hills, three different barks separated by some distance. The other dogs were probably asking what was going on. Well you might find a dead dog in the morning, I’m really sorry about that I just didn’t see him. That’s alright ma’m, don’t you worry about it. I might find him he said still smiling, don’t you worry ma’m. He’ll have to shoot him I thought. I just came from checking the mail box and he usually comes with me and then wanders over the road to the other house and then he shows up here later. Well I’m really sorry’bout that she said several times. I killed a squirrel once but nothin’ like that. Don’t worry ma’m he said still smiling and thinking about going down the hill in the back of the house. And we left up the lane, I never saw him she said to me. Don’t worry it wasn’t your fault, he wasn’t looking I said thinking neither of you saw each other. And so I got back on the bike and rode away thinking, how could she not have seen him? But I knew why, I had a hunch before any of this happened. I looked in her side mirror to see who was driving a few miles back because of the way she slowed down for easy corners and sped up to the speed limit. She wasn’t driving, she was transporting. And as I was leaving, the image of that dog rolling under the car and flung into the ditch was in my head, and I was thinking of his silent expression when the dog was spinning in circles and then the fear as he ran off. I was weeping in my helmet, behind my dark glasses for the dog and for life’s fragile ways. He was just going to check the mail one day and then wham, it was all done. And as those tears dried on my cheeks in the wind I was thinking too of all the people who have died before me and those who will die after … then I continued to ride with the same stoic philosophy, thinking of Marcus Aurelius’s Book of Meditations, which is the only book I brought with me to re-read again ….. “Even if you were destined to live three thousand years, or ten times that long, nevertheless remember that no one loses any life other than the one he lives, or lives any life other than the one he loses. It follows that the longest and the shortest lives are brought to the same state. The present moment is equal for all; so what is passing is equal also; the loss therefore turns out to be the merest fragment of time. No one can lose either the past or the future – how could anyone be deprived of what he does not possess?
I had a good idea the other day, which is about 28 days too late but, what I’ve started to do is take a picture of a license plate for the state I’m in and then I’ll put that at the beginning of those series of pictures so one knows which state/province/country the pictures were taken in. The only problem is I missed all the other places as I’m a slow learner. So I was thinking maybe it might be fun if any of the people I’ve met along the way could send me a close up picture of a license plate to my email address…. sawyertwo@gmail.com Then I could put the plates in front of the series of appropriate photos. I’m assuming not just my Dad is looking at this but if that’s the case then Dad I’ll try and find one of those garages with all those license plates on the wall. These are the one’s I need …. Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Maine, New York State, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virgina and Tennessee. Actually what I should do is try and get pictures of motorcycle licenses. Hey Rigs you can send in your Ontario plate that’s on my ex-car, your car now.
A break before riding into the Dragon’s Tail …. the infamous 129 switchbacks ….
I didn’t take too many pictures cause I needed both hands and feet to get through this aggressive road and the pictures I did take don’t tell the story but I can tell you I wasn’t so scared for my own riding but for the riders coming at me.
A rest a Deal’s Gap to have a Mountain Dew and buy a sticker. I met a couple of guys, one who isn’t in a picture but he used to come here when only hunters and fisherman were here but now it’s a motorcycle destiny. And the other guy pulled up just as I was leaving so I stayed to conflab about our same bikes, even the colour.
And then a relaxing ride out ….
And this shot I took outside of my motel room. The motel was great, the oldest/cheapest ones are the best. $34 bucks for the night and the weirdest thing is that as soon as I walked in the room the scent reminded me of an apartment I lived in 20 some years ago, The Eltovar in Edmonton, Alberta. Actually Scott lived there too, and many of our friends including Brian, John, Dave, Harley, Rene. It’s so weird even after going to get something to eat and then going back in the room I thought, The Eltovar. I don’t know why, but I guess it’s true that our sense of smell is the strongest of the senses.
As I mentioned earlier I call my GPS ‘Fucker’ (sorry for the language but it’s the truth), my ipod is called ‘DJ’ and the bike is ‘K’. So anyway I talk to these entities once in a while and I have to say I laughed out loud while riding when I said, Okay fucker we’re going this way this time cause I’m tired of your decisions today and DJ you better start picking better shuffle songs cause you keep trying to give me the same old ones out of some 3000 and K don’t worry next time we stop I’ll change your oil. If I start talking to my boots I’ll pull into a mental hospital.
I stopped here for a break and was here about five minutes before realizing that this was lying just in front of me and the bike.
So with my new addiction to sticking things on my bike I was contemplating cutting the ball up and sticking the batman image on somewhere so I got out my knife and I was thinking about the way I was going to cut it when I thought, why wreck such a nice ball? Okay, I’ll save it and give it to some kid I meet along the way. So of course it’s not the most practical size and dimension for storing in a limited space but what the heck eh, it’ll make someone smile somewhere down the line.
Uh oh, weather trouble is a brewing.
Thanks Jay for the motorcycle cover. I hope you’re feeling better; fight the fight brother, my thoughts are with you. Apparantly, while watching the weather channel tonight, there are going to be a lot of thunder showers for the next couple of days so I covered her up for the night. Don’t want to start the day riding on a wet sheep skin. By the way, my Mum gave me this. It used to be on her and Wally’s couch and the cats used to nap on it. Sorry cats.
EXCERPTS FROM JOURNAL
June 23rd, 2009
Let’s just say
Time is the master
Let’s just say
Waking for someone else’s dreams is untrue
We all know the clock is still ticking
But for who and for who
A flock of birds looking for baby blue
Dragging behind a crack in the ice
A foot floating beneath one’s soul
Attempting to swim across Antlantic and Pacific
Or both so and so’s too
Let’s just say
Time is the master
So my clock is unarmed
But for me and for who
June 20th, 2009
How does a butterfly fly into the wind with those little frail wings so determinedly so without turning around or crashing upside down for hundreds of miles to and fro? How is it possible such a light thing is able to do what I find such a struggle just to keep upright and not get into trouble? How do you do it butterfly said it’s caterpillar frown?
Run your mouse over this below and click ….
My Dad wrote me to tell me he used to have one of these geogous bikes back in the day. He said you had to have the rpm’s at 5000 to get moving and then lean on the tank so she wouldn’t pop. ’71 Kawasaki Mach 3, I guess they were nicknamed, The Widowmaker. What a beauty.
I made a list of small towns to input into the GPS so I could take secondary highways. My paper map isn’t very good, nor is the ‘fucker’ actually. I took roads niether sources knew.
It was a weird start to the day. First I was approaching a big rig that was pulling out of a driveway on a hill and starting to come at me as I slowed from 120k to 110k then a 100k then I don’t know cause I was looking at the truck and my brain couldn’t figure out why he had a cable coming out of the front of the trailer and at first I thought is he being pulled but clearly this was just my brain trying to figure something out in a millisecond that couldn’t be happening cause there was no other vehicle except the big rig a 100 meters behind me and then I thought, is that cable past the truck going to hit me? And that’s when I realized that the truck had caught the main electrical line between the posts and he was pulling the thing apart so I friggin gassed the bike and ducked even though I didn’t need to and sure enough after I was safely through my mind assured me that this was happening. So I literally turned back to see and get a second look and then the rig that was driving behind me slowed down but didn’t stop so I just kept going. A car in the lane that the rig with the cable had stopped so I figured he would help this absurd situation. Then a half hour later I saw a solo tree trunk smoldering in a field and I decided to pull over and have a coffee. I could hear the thunder and see the dark clouds so I decided with the visions I had seen earlier, and my history with electricity, that maybe I should avoid the storm as I saw a break further north so I drove 20 miles out of my way and only got rained on from the outside of the storm and still got to stay on the secondary highways. You see I was once a few feet away from a lightening bolt when I was a kid and I’ve mildly electricuted a few times over the years. The sensation of being pulled into the current is quite frightening.
I missed this turtle then decided to stop and get it across the road. But in the process I had to wait for three cars and one rig to pass and each time I thought shit they’re going to look at me and then not see the turtle so the first three cars went by and of course the turtles head was deep in the shell as the cars went over it and then when the rig was coming it moved into the other lane to give me space on the side of the road that I was on and I thought great I just friggin’ killed the turtle but the rig missed it, but just. So when all was clear I picked it up and carried it over to the direction it was facing where I could see was a wee pool of water in the grass down the hill. The turtle still didn’t come out of the shell so I got on the bike and took off.
All in all it was a solitary day. I saw only two bikes and lot’s of trucks and cars. The cages were all giving me the finger just like when I used to live in the country. No not the finger, the finger or fingers off the steering wheel to say hi. The roads I took were really good and remote, hench the fingers. Even a couple of State Police cars gave me the fingers when I was speeding by. Very friendly people round here.
Insert Mississippi license plate here …. that’s a cool name actually, Mrs. Sippy
And then here I parked basically in the middle of a traffic circle at the beginning of this town and took a picture of this which is usually not my thing, and I had a smoke when a Sherriff drove by giving me the fingers off the steering wheel. No way, not even a get off the friggin road. Then another guy pulled up and said, You got trouble son? No I just wanted to take a picture of that. Oh, he chuckled, well you should look at the back, that’s where the ghosts are. Cool, I’ll check it out. So I did but I didn’t want to take a picture.
Then this Church was gutted from a fire but the light wasn’t right and I didn’t feel like fiddling with the exposure, I was tired and needed to find a place to stop for the night.
The camera took this picture, I still can’t figure it out entirely.
97% humidity and 92 degrees, I rode without my jacket all day and didn’t use enough sunsreen. My arms are hot and red tonight.
Kinda of a boring day but mellow and alright. I tried experimenting with ways to shoot from the bike but they didn’t work out but I’ll try again another time. It kind of reminded me of shooting K-19 The Widowmaker, after 10 weeks of shooting inside the submarine, well before that actually, we ran out of new angles to shoot from.
I’ve created a lot of new positions to stretch and move around the bike since last year riding from Edmonton to Vancouver down to the bottom of Oregon and across and up to Toronto. The one below is great for gusty winds, driving behind big rigs and for stretching the lower back. I call it the spoon cause I’m wrapped around the tank. Told you it was a boring day.
I got this plate just at the state line, at a gas station that was filled with people coming and going and I didn’t want to go right up to this license plate so I zoomed in casually and took the picture.
I tired early and stopped in Alexandria, Louisiana around 6pm, got a motel and went to a Mexican restaurant next door. Great food and also some of the staff taught me some Spanish phrases. I’m looking forward to stop moving for a few days in Austin, Texas. Time for the bike and re-organizing stuff before Mexico and beyond. I’m craving an arts scene too so hopefully every thing works out. Also my carnet de passage is being sent there as arranged with Suzanne at CAA. Also I wouldn’t mind getting some sun on the other parts of my body besides my cheeks, hands and now bright pink arms. That’s it, I’m done, till tomorrow.
My Dad’s lady, Sidonie, found this somewhere in Hastings, England and took the picture.
Up early, 5am, couldn’t sleep. As it turns out I got an email from my friend Tatianna in Toronto and the same night she couldn’t sleep. We’ve shared that same experience a couple of times before. So rather than toss and turn some more I just got up and hit the road. At the end of yesterday’s ride I was starting to see more horses and that always makes me feel at home.
Old abandoned gas stations always attract me, even though I don’t take enough pictures of them. I guess it’s because I imagine them when they used to be in business, before the big one’s came. Back when the old cars strolled in, back when if the kids wanted water they got some from the washroom sink while the adults talked about this and that. Those gas stations were where you could also have some work done on the car or ask about the roads ahead. I know you can still sort of do that, and there are still some small stations left, it’s just that that’s what I think about when I see them is all.
I found this motel around 6pm last night, the 18th of July on a Saturday. No Vacancy. But I talked to the guy and he booked me in for the next three. He then said there were a couple more down the road but weren’t so good, Ask to see the room first he said. Naaa, I’m going into unchartered waters anyway so I’ll just stay in one of those for the night and see you tomorrow. Surrounding the Austin Motel are loads of restaurants, shops, bars, ice cream shops, chip wagons, coffee shops…. but all independently owned, no chains. I immediately fell in love so what the hell.
Anyway I stayed at another motel and I didn’t take any pictures cause the facade didn’t tell the story. As I was unloading the bike and checking out the people, making sure to make casual eye contact and nodding here and there, a food truck pulled up and started knocking on all the doors offering food. Good timing, now I get to see most of the people behind the closed doors even though I felt bad for the people, and good for them too in a weird way, meaning it wasn’t all that bad. And of course some people refused, didn’t need anything. When I was lubing the chain and locking down the bike and covering her up, a young lady who could have been 16 -19 maybe, but it’s hard to say as she had experienced eyes. Anyway she gave me a lingering look, just long enough to look too long for the average person. And then she went upstairs and I saw her mother, and plump younger sister I’m assuming and then I carried on with my business. Later after visiting a local Mexican restaurant with a Mariachi band, friendly staff and a good vibe and great food (again I learned more phrases from the staff), I confirmed that the local dude hanging around was the crack dealer and he had some minions working for him so he could never be busted but he was working the motel and the street. Then I got back to my room and when I was out having a smoke I saw the mother of the girl coming down the stairs and yelling up to the second floor, which was niether angry or questioning, just matter of fact. Then the young lady came down the stairs carefully in black stilletto’s and dressed to the 9′s. They jumped in the SUV and I never saw them again, even in the morning there was no sign of the truck. Maybe they went to some friends house for the evening. During the wee hours there was a little bit of drunken yelling, and in the morning, some doors were open and when I went next door for a coffee, (given up on getting tea), I saw them quietly drinking, which is not judgement by any means, just a description of The Village Motel. The skinny cat I was trying to get to drink my Evian water out of a plastic cup instead of the pool was no where to be seen and there was a dead cockroach in the bathroom that I must have stepped on at some point between last night and the morning. So …. off to do some chores before checking into the Austin at 3pm, and finally a chance to unload the bike completely and do some rearranging over the next three nights. Did some laundry in a massive laundromat, since leaving Toronto I’ve been washing my clothes in the bathtub and letting dry overnight, then had the best meal I’ve had since being in the States, two poached eggs over crab cakes with chipolte sauce and a pancake made from I forget, not a regular pancake and fresh fruit. Then off to find generic maps of Mexico, Central America and South America, just to reference against the GPS fucker, and The Smelly Biker’s routes and such that I bought on line while back. And then into the Austin …..
Now time to shower, shave and have a nice dinner, a few drinks and hopefully some good music/contacts before chores tomorrow morning, which includes hopefully a little time by the pool. In 31 days I’ve only stopped twice before, once in Halifax and once in St.Johns. Here in Austin while getting stuff done and waiting for Scotty, it could be 3,4, or 5 days. I’m looking forward to it, for every morning I get up to ride, for the first hour or so my nose runs, my eyes water and my throttle hand fingers become numb and I have to shake them free of the weirdness. At least it’s not the left hand, that would freak me out even more. All in all, it’s time for a rest.
I just learned that my neighbour Jay, (who I mentioned in Alabama thanking him for the motorcycle cover that I’ve been using ever since), well, he was fighting a battle with Colon Cancer that came on quite quickly last fall, and he died two weeks ago. The last time I saw him he said he was waiting for the rain to subside so he could get in more than just 9 holes next time. To be honest, I don’t know how he had the strength to even consider it nor the truthful exhuberance to really mean it like I was talking to him a few years ago. Jay got to see his daughter Amber graduate as valedictorian before he passed away. My best to you Mary, you’re one of the strongest women I know.
EXCERPT FROM JOURNAL
Day 34 Austin
Did lot’s of chores, checked in at 3pm at the Austin Motel and have enjoyed every lanquid minute. I’m finding however that between the FTG site and my journal, well it feels like I’ve already told the same story before or I wonder if I already have but haven’t. It’s confusing to write in both yet I am unable to part with either.
Day 35 Austin
Picked up the Carnet from Fed Ex and now I’m sunning by the pool at the motel, wrote a letter to Sadie and sent her some money for France in August and plucked a flower bud from behind me and put that in the envelope too. I met with some new friends and we met at Wahoo’s, changed the oil in the bike, and went out for a smoke and almost stepped on a neighbourhood cat who was lounging and I said, Whoa I didn’t even see you there, what are you doing? And then the cat got up and started walking with me out of a nice metal gate and into a half block of really cool homes and then I stopped and the cat flopped down comfortably and I asked, That’s it? Well I’m gonna walk over here, and the cat said, cool, I’m gonna hang out here. Incidentally I waited for the cat to choose if it wanted to slip through the iron fence but then held the gate open so the cat could saunter through before that, and now I’m writing in this book.
July 20th, 2009
Pay a fee and you get a reduced rate for your beer. Ben and Siohban are members. There are thousands of stickers stuck everywhere so I happened to have an extra Republic Of Newfoundland so we agreed it should be put on the East wall. Now the rock has made it to Austin.
After I went back to the motel intending to go out with my new friends I started watching this local music channel and then wham, I woke up at five in the morning.
This is the cat who took me for a walk last night. His name is Rocky, and he just one day left an apartment next door and decided to live at the Austin Motel.
I laughed out loud when I read this; that it bugged someone enough for them to write, print and tape this on the light post. And I get it too. It’s funny how some people just keep pressing the button over and over again like at elevators.
Incidentally, when I went to the post office and mailed my letter to Sadie the man felt the envelope and said What’s in there? A flower bud I picked for my daughter. You’re not suppossed to do that he said matter of factly, and then we both didn’t say another word except he said 75 cents and I said thank you.
July 22nd, 2009
I took the bike in for some fresh Metzler Tourances, man these tires are good. I haven’t come close to wearing them, (well this is only my second set and I haven’t really ridden like I’m about to) but I hope to see how long they’ll go in Mexico, Central and South America. I also decided to put some new brake pads in and sprockets and chain. Should be good till Africa. However the pins in the rear caliper were corroded to the point that the dude will have to drill them out tomorrow, and if he wrecks the caliper in the process one is on it’s way on overnight delivery. Cost me a bit more than I was planning but I figure better now than later, maybe, maybe not. It’s so funny, I had to change rooms in order to stay here a couple more days as Scott is also taking care of some bike things so we’re planning to leave Saturday if every thing works out all right. So I’m two doors down from my old room and I went outside as it’s raining for the first time in a long time apparantly, and there was Rocky hanging out in front of 132. Hey Rocky what are you doing man? And he came running over and then checked out my new room, 134. I told him I was allergic but he could come in for a while but he’s happy just hanging out in front of the door, watching the rain fall from under cover. He’s a cool cat. I was just going to take a picture but he’s gone.
More GPS stuff, wished I’d done it all a few months ago when I was into it, however a delve into it again reminded me of finding the process once more. Scott and I have OSM and Smelly Biker maps so we’ll get to bash heads and see which works for which and for what over time who tells stories for those who listen ….. is what I hear creatures howl ‘Inallwoods Span’.
Well the bike is done, just too bad about the stripped/ceased pins from the rear caliper and the redplacement rush overnight costs etc. . I wonder, I’ve been told to watch out for these bolts and such cause they easily strip, and I wonder if this is the case, perhaps too much torque with the gun or not enough finesse. It’s hard to speculate when you didn’t do it yourself. I really must get on with doing every thing myself. Ahh, just another thing to learn. I’m anxious to get going now, been a week of sitting still, however that being said, I was in the right place to chill and absorb. Meeting up with Ben and company tonight for drinks and foosball.
Old desk in room #132 ….
New desk in room #134
Downtown on a Thursday night. It may not look busy from the pictures I took, which wasn’t too many but it was all blocked off for four square blocks I’m guessing, every Thursay, Friday Saturday …. no cars. Ben said after a while, here we go into the shit show.
Texas tunes old style …
Metal show …..
Me, Ben and Dahlstrum (it’s a guess on spelling)
Back at the old school Texas bar to squeeze in a pool game before last call.
One of the friendly staff here at the Austin Motel asked if I’d been to the springs yet? Nope where are they? And off I went, 68degreesF all year round natural spring water.
What’s Gargoyle up to?
I bought one of these old key fobs for five bucks. Not too many left now. And it just so happens to be the room I’ve been staying in for well, 3 days out of 6.
And then another staff of The Austin pulled up into the parking lot and got out with a bunch of older and younger people and said she was walking down to the bridge to show her cousins the Bat show. Should I leave now I asked, yep pretty much, see you there. Well I didn’t see her there but I did see them later at the ice cream shop across the street. Friendly people round here ….
They fly from under the bridge out above the river at dusk ….
I hooked up with Ben after the Bat Show and we had a nice time listening to live music and listening to ourselves and the people around us. Ben said he had some stickers for me, he’s an intuitive one, and then he also gave me this shirt from the bar we were at the night before, the something Joyce, the name eludes me right now.
I recall wise Hubert who I would consider an elder saying, always give something to someone. Here I leave a feather that flew in the door and I give to the people who stay at 134.
Alright so Scott and I left Austin Saturday afternoon and it was even hotter than before. I think around 105 in the sun.
The terrain changed so quickly that Scott said this could be Zimbabwe. I said while drinking tons of water, it’s the friggin desert where ever we are.
And then we came across a SUV on the side of the road and stopped to help these ladies with their blown out tire.
Scott and I got everything taken care of but we had a bitch of a time trying to get the spare tire down from underneath the truck, until this dude came along. He must have known as when he pulled up and walked over he said he was a mechanic and he figured we might be having trouble getting the spare tire out, well he was right. The picture below is him waving back to the ladies who were offering money, No thanks M’am said the Guy. Later once we finished tightening the tire and putting everything back in her truck they tried to offer us money too, and tried, and tried. They even tried the cold beer thing but we denied. I figured we should have just said No Ma’m like the other Guy did. Anyway off they drove while we got ready to mount the bikes and continue on ….
It was very gusty here … hence the poles ….
Riding into Corpus Christi, and then around to a beach destination that Scott found on the map …..
… to here, what a beach. The Padre National Park. It was so darn quiet even though there were a lot of people around; the whole wind, wave thing.
And then off to Brownsville to go into Mexico Monday morning. Tonight as I write I’m half watching ‘For The Love Of The Game’ while Scott peacefully snores asleep. My turn will come much to Scott’s chagrin. We have to wear Breathe Right’s …. I have a habit of taking mine off in my sleep.
Three times some guys have said, I didn’t know VW made motorcycles, or, a VW eh, or, is that a VW? It’s interesting how powerful a label can be. In fact when we were at The Captain’s Quarters in St. John’s Newfoundland, the lady told me that we could load in from the back and to ignore the big sign that said Do not open, alarm will sound. The door didn’t even have a latch, it was a plywood door without a door knob or latch. But if you had approached that door without knowing, you probably wouldn’t go through just cause it said, don’t go through, alarm will sound. Labels define things, and signs deny things; but things are just things, as long as you take the time to see them as how they are, or seem to be anyway. Mexico tomorrow! Now the fun begins …..
