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Showing posts from July, 2009

Just Couldn't End the Trip This Short

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Saturday, July 25, 2009 Well, Kasey and I had some time with out her kids, and we needed to take The Black Pearl back to her home. We started out across US 36, heading east into town. Rockville Road, as it is also known, runs into US 40, Washington Street, and this would take us the other tow-thirds through Indianapolis, and to my home. Not so fast...Even though it was a cloudy day, and I was still flying blind without a GPS, and we had been on the bike an hour, Kasey just didn't want this ride to end so soon. I was not going to argue. We made our way further east, going south on Franklin, then east on English Avenue until it ended. We returned north to US 40, and took it east until Muesing Street. It was under construction, and we made our way through the gravel pit of a road. We wound our way along Muessing, and on to Prospect, jogging back to Muessing and then further south to SR 52, Brookville Road. After heading south and east for a short bit, we turned south again on Ki

Riding Blind

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Saturday, July 18, 2009 Well, since being back from the marathon ride to Lancaster and Jacksonville, I have been flying blind. No, I didn't gouge my eyes out, I was without my GPS. It got soaked on the last day of the ride, and began to malfunction. After researching upgrading to a new model, I realized that I can not afford it in the era of Obamanomics. I believe the worst is yet to come. Well, Garmin to the rescue, they would repair or replace my existing model for 160 bucks. Very affordable compared to 600 to 700 for an upgrade. So we took off without any electronic map before us. I made a route on Street and Trips, and had it packed away, but most of this route would be from memory. So we headed out of Danville, Indiana. We went west on US 36 until SR 75, which we took south. Not the most scenic or curvy roads in Indiana, but it took us down to the National Road, US 40. Heading west once again, we rode until SR 231 and then headed south again. As you get closer to Spe

I Hate Being Forced to Ride

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Thursday, July 16, 2009 I was about to head out on the bike to a destination that I had just visited the day before, Dreyer Honda South. I had gone the day before to show them the Air Cleaner Cover on my Honda VTX 1800 to get it replaced still under warranty. I had driven it down there before, only to find out that the crack under the chrome could not be seen when the bike is warm. So yesterday, I drove the cover, in my very cool air conditioned truck, only to be told that I need to bring the bike back. So here I am, forced to ride. So the Air Cleaner was mounted back on the bike, and I was heading out. I figured if someone was twisting my arm to ride, I may as well make it a scenic trip. I started out heading east on Washington Street to Franklin Road, and then heading south. After heading this way for a mile or so, I arrived at SR 52, Brookville Road, that I took south and east. Just short of the town of New Palestine, Indiana, I turned south toward the little creek side town o

Making the Way Home

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Sunday, July 5th, 2009 Wow, it was hard to believe that here it is the 16th and final day of the trip. We started out heading north through Cookeville, TN. It was only about 50 miles or so until we were in Kentucky. And while in Kentucky, we were on some good country roads, two lanes, not divided, and windy through the Bluegrass State. We ere riding through farm country, a mix of fields of corn, beans, and sometimes tobacco, and also cattle. As we passed one field with cows along the fence, I revved the engine once. None of them along the fence even noticed, but Kasey said that one further out seemed to look up in disgust. On the intercom, I said I knew what he was thinking. "What's that?" Kasey asked. "That guy thinks he got game," I started. "Wait until he hears the exhaust of this Cow-asaki!" Then I made a loud farting noise. After Kasey laughed, I continued. "Damn, I just pooped on my tail!" That would be the light moment of the

Turns of the Bars

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Saturday, July 4th, 2009 As we prepared to head out into the land of Boiled Peanuts, both plain and raw, whatever that meant, I was contemplating just how many times I have turned these handlebars. It could have been because we had made few turns in Georgia so far, and that we were on our way to making a lot of turns, and as advertised - 318 turns in 11 miles. I will admit that as we entered the foothills of the Smokies, the ride was getting better. Eventually we hit a place that Kasey's Brother suggested, Blood Mountain. It was a fun stretch of road to ride, except for the idiot in the full size van with a trailer flying down the road. We passed through North Carolina and into Tennessse. As we approached Telico Plains, TN we saw more and more motorcycles. We rolled into town, and approached the restaurant that was suggested in a motorcycle magazine I had just read. It seemed to be a first on this trip, a place I had picked to eat was not only there, but was open. We stepped

Riding in Georgia and Boiled Peanuts

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Friday, July 3rd, 2009 If you look at the dates on the posts, you will see there has been a few days since my last post, and it is because we have taken four days off of riding. Two of the afternoons were spent on the beach, enjoying the waves crashing on the sandy beach. Thursday afternoon, Kasey spent hanging around the pool at her parents house, while I was The Stadium Course of The Player's Championship at Sawgrass. For not playing golf in a couple of year, borrowed clubs, and new shoes, I played pretty well. The new shoes came from the fact that the box full of our clothes, including the shoes, never got picked up from the hotel. We headed back out of Florida, and it felt kind of cool, as cool as Florida can get in July. After getting through Jacksonville, and over the big bridge that many a cruise ship passes under, we arrived on SR 1. We headed north out of Florida, and I swear, as soon as we crossed the border into Georgia, it got hotter! It could be that the scenery