LOOPING AROUND THE NORTHEAST
TRIP DAY: 8 - - -AUG 8, 2012 - WED
MILES TODAY: 223 - - - TOTAL MILES: 1499
AVERAGE PER RIDING DAY: 250.8
FROM: Crawfordsville, Indiana (on I-74 just west of Indianapolis)
TO: Auburn, Indiana (on I-69 just north of Fort Wayne)
Holiday Inn Express
------- THE DAY'S STORY - AND AS A BONUS, HOW TO RIDE A MOTORCYCLE -
It was our latest start to get moving out the door… It was almost 11am before we got our butts moving down that highway…
When packing up - and throughout the day - it's so important to remember to put everything back in the correct pocket. And then make sure it's zippered. In the motorcycle suits and in all the bags there are so many pockets! But the mc key ALWAYS goes in the thigh bag zippered pocket and the iPhone ALWAYS goes in the jacket's left pocket. And on and on. Then we can be sure something is there where it's supposed to be. With so much moving around - a different place most every day - it's important not to leave anything behind. And it's important that all is secure when on the bike.
There have only been three things gone missing so far - all items I likely dropped out of my front bag - a pair of bicycle yellow gloves, our original US map, and the original Cardinal cap that I brought from home…
Around one o'clock this day we stopped at a Waffle House. These are mostly in the south, and none around Pennsylvania where we live. I enjoyed a good pecan waffle, and it filled me up for the day!
Across from the Quality Inn this morning we bought four granola bars after getting the tank filled. Etsuko fed them to me reaching around my shoulders and stuffing the tasty treat into my mouth as we zoomed down Interstate 74. I noted that this gave new meaning to 'eating on the go'!!
It was a good solid day of riding - about 100 miles at a time - which translates to around an hour and a half… Then it's gas up and a little break. A little longer break around noon time for lunch.
We work together in a number of ways during the day. One of the most important ways is in turn-signalling. I most always use the turn signal on the Kawa - but believing that being noticed is best, I like to hand signal as well… I can't always do that when working the gears, steering, and so on, so frequently when turning or changing lanes, we follow this comical-looking procedure: with my hands on the handlebars I will flap the appropriate side elbow out (much as if I was doing the chicken dance!), and I'll keep doing this until Etsuko notices which is usually right away, and then she puts HER hand out to signal the turn.
It was a good riding day… Not too warm again, and we've sure been lucky not having too much oppressive heat! There were many more trucks than usual but all were friendly as we buzzed by on the left.
We did make our first navigation mistake which cost us about 20 minutes and 20 miles… Around Indianapolis the signage was just not very clear for getting off of I-74 and onto I-69. We made one of the only wrong choices so far on the trip and ended up on the wrong highway. Doubling back was the only option.
On my run after checking into a Holiday Inn Express in Auburn, Indiana, I made two important stops. One at a Staples where I bought a new GPS. Newer features than my 3-year-old one, and lifetime updated mapping! And the next stop was at a barber shop where Trish gave me a great $8 buzz cut… It was reminiscent of the haircuts I use to get in my late teens and early 20's, but a lot less hair now seemed left on my head…. hmmmm...
We found a Wal-mart across from the Holiday Inn Express and got some food for supper to take back to the room. As we were looking through the salad section Etsuko picked up a pre-packaged one that has some meat in it. I said to her that there MUST be one of those without meat. But she said they all had it… We asked the salad manager guy who came to help us, and he said that yes, they all had a bit of meat…. I said to him with a smile, "Do you mean I have to tell my wife that she was right about something?" He and I and Etsuko laughed, and then he said, "Isn't that ALWAYS the right thing to say?"
One of the Wal-mart ladies helped me find some microwave popcorn. I noticed her rainbow painted fingernails. And asked if I could have a picture. She laughed and said sure. A young girl with her dad was shopping and had a t-shirt reading "I WOULD CUDDLE YOU SO HARD"… I got a picture of that, too, and asked her if anyone ever wanted to take her up on that. She said a few folks. I didn't. At least not with her dad standing there.
Another good laugh came for me when we were back at the motel in the little dining area having what we got from Wal-mart. I looked all over for a microwave for my mac and cheese, but there wasn't one in that room. I was sure I had seen one. I walked over to the nearby check-in desk and asked the friendly manager woman if there was one around… and she gave me a blank look at first, and then, slowly, ever so very slowly, began to move her face and her eyes to a table right next to me practically - where there was a microwave sitting as big as life! It was just so perfect timing on her part and such a blank stare, that we both started laughing.
Appendix One: How To Ride A Motorcycle
HOW A MOTORCYCLE WORKS - HOW TO RIDE ONE
It seems to me that some of you readers may not know anything about motorcycles. Here’s a primer on how they work. I am surely no expert, so perhaps you should take that into account when reading.
Well, a motorcycle usually has two wheels – but there are also trikes out there.
It’s my understanding that the gasoline put into the engine sets off a sparking bit of energy that makes some cylinders of some kind go up and down, which in turn moves a chain or leather belt that turns the wheels. (Millions of years’ worth of prehistoric animals died for this – a tip of the hat to you dinos and others, and thank you!)
There are various complicated other ways the above happen, but I think you get the gist of it. Anyway, one used to start a motorcycle by kickstarting it. That created the force to get the whole process going. As far as I can tell, all bikes worth anything now have a little button that works as an electric ignition.
Well, after the bike is turned on with a key, that ignition button is pushed and assuming the bike gears are in neutral, the engine should start purring away. (If the bike isn’t in neutral, and the gearshift lever isn’t held in, then the bike may buck out of control.)
Okay, on each of the handlebars there is a lever. The right handlebar lever is the brake for the front wheel. (A lever near the right foot operates the brake for the back wheel.) On a motorcycle, the most important brake is the front wheel one. It is the opposite for a bicycle, where the back wheel’s brake is most important. This is because of the particular weight distribution of the machine. Normally, however, both brakes should be applied evenly.
The left handlebar lever is for the clutch. One squeezes this to engage the gears, much like pushing down on the clutch with your foot in a car. Motorcycles usually have four, five or six gears I think. The toe of the left foot moves the gearing. A little lever there pushed down is first gear. Lifting the lever with your left big toe (usually in a boot) moves the bike into neutral. Then lifting the lever again with your toe moves the bike into second gear. And so on up to the bike’s highest gear (for when you’re moving really fast). When you go slower or faster you push the gears down (or up) - and it MUST be in tandem with pulling in that gearshift lever on the left handlebar.
So after lifting your leg over the bike, one straddles it. Then one engages the first gear, slowly releasing the clutch while at the same time turning the end of the right handlebar (the accelerator). Then you lift your feet to the pegs and off you go.
Much of the above needs to be done at the same time as looking ahead of you, of course, and taking glances in the rearview mirrors.
When riding there are generally two positions. One with feet on the regular pegs (the right one near the brake lever, the left one near the gearshift lever). Or if one has crash bars (bars that curve out from each side of the bike to take the brunt of a fall should the bike tip over), one could put cruiser pegs on these bars and put his or her feet up on these pegs. It’s good to change positions occasionally on a long trip. And sometimes I ride with one foot up and the other down.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.