GOE XIII: Day 2

Monday, June 22, 2009

We began to group up, and pack up the bikes in the morning. Another round was had at Shoney’s, this time for breakfast. It was a lazy Monday Morning, and the working girls were late to get into their truck, which had some personalized plate to the effect of Skin4You, and he took off. I think this was the first time that Brad had noticed that the hotel was also a place of business.

It was nearly 10, and we had miles to get under our belts, so we headed out of the Super 8, and out along the Ohio River on Ohio’s State Road 7. We ran along the water way until St. Mary’s , where we crossed, and followed the river on SR 2 on the West Virginia Side. It was our third state to ride in on this trip.

We continued along the river for as long as we could, and even though we were heading to the city with Three Rivers Stadium, we had to veer from the waterways to get to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At one point, we actually arrived back at, and rode on US 40, the National Road. On the way to the rally in Virginia a few years back, we rode the National Road all the way to Cumberland, Maryland.

As we entered the home of the numerous Super Bowl Champs Steelers, we ducked our way through a tunnel, and then across a long bridge. It was a maze of roads that led us down to the meat packing district. A lot of shops were flourishing, making me wish Indianapolis could pull some kind of downtown like this.

Primanti Brothers, a staple on the Food Network was our lunch destination.





We found spots to park, and entered the establishment. After a lunch true to the build up on television, we began our journey out of the city. It would be a long and slow trip, with the heat and traffic holding us back.

I will on occasion get some flack from making my journeys on a Honda. But with traveling 12 to 15 thousands miles a year, I like the comfort and reliability of a water cooled engine. The heat and traffic was cooking the street, our bodies, and the bikes. This not good for any bike, but when you only source of cooling is air, and it is hot and not moving, trouble is bound to happen. Since you never know where you might be, having a cooling system other than mother nature is the way to go for me.

But, we had an air cooled bike with us. And, it would get too hot to handle. Brad hollered for a stop, as he was getting too hot, I think he meant the bike. I pulled into the next gas station, a few hundred feet up the road. When I was getting off the bike, I heard Julie saying he needed help. Brad’s bike was shut down, and it was time to put it under human power. I disconnected, and ran down to push the bike into the gas station, and under some shade. It looked like we were stuck here for a bit.

The station we stopped in was a Citgo, a station I avoid at all costs because of its ownership. Call me silly, I just don’t like giving my money to terrorist and dictators, especially the ones that want to flood the country with drugs. Speaking of the illicit materials, it seems that this particular Citgo dispensed fuel and Pharmaceuticals. While the guys looked at the bike, the girls had been observing the business dealings.

It became apparent at one time, that the bikes, and we, needed to move on. We moved the bikes to the side of the store, but we were still upsetting regular business. To interrupt things, a black snake came slithering through the parking area, trying to cross the road. Why did the snake cross the road, anyway?

All this happened in the three hours we waited for a tow truck to arrive. When it did, the bike was loaded up, and Julie would follow the flatbed to the closest Harley Dealer. As for the rest of us, we four headed out for the rally, with a lot of miles, and not much daylight remaining.

The first order of business was a bathroom break, as the Citgo was more of a crackroom I could imagine, and we were not allowed to use it. We were told there was another station up the road, but the one we found had not facilities either, so that left us with a Taco Bell.

We headed out of town looking for a quick way to make it to the rally. We needed dinner too, but that would come when we could find it. Gee, in Indiana, there is a Subway and Golden Arches on every corner. So after riding the twisties through the mountains, and rising as high as 3000 feet, we arrived in a town that had a place to eat, and a place to get gas. This did not come until after Kasey and I had a good time laughing about packing a lunch to get to a place to eat.

We were 130 miles or so from the rally hotel, and we decided to stretch it out, and make it in one run. There was more curves and mountain rises, but we eventually made it to Lancaster, and the Days Inn. It was somewhere between midnight and one.