Friday, March 9, 2012: The Adventure Begins
Even before we started our first mile I had an issue with the bike. Looks like the 8” 65W fat boy headlight we put on the bike blew the lil 15Amp fuse. A quick dip into the electrical can and replaced the fuse with a 20Amp then buttoned her back up. Pack strapped onto the bike, hugs kisses and assuring the family, we were ready to leave, the driveway at least.
The first leg of the trip consisted of hitting the highway and getting some distance down, since we started off so late, and still had to hit the shop before leaving Jersey. About 60 miles into the trip we pulled into a rest area off the NJ Turnpike, and a good thing we did. Pete noticed the smell of rubber burning and I went over the bike. It looks like bringing in the rear wheel as far as it can go has some side effects that I didn’t anticipate.
The tire grooved all the way down and was just this side of splitting. If it wasn’t for the 30oz of coffee I had earlier this trip would have had a whole different tone. Luckily we were only an hour from WeaverRides (
www.weaverrides.com). A quick call to Tom and he was on his way with Al to come and get us. Well more me, Pete and his horse were fine.
While waiting, we decided to amuse ourselves. Had a bunch of guys come up and ask about the Widow. Even with a lame leg she was drawing a lot of attention. At this point Tom and Al should up. We loaded the lil girl in the back of the truck and brought her to the shop.
Tom and Al got right to work when we got to the shop. New wheel, tire, chain, and sprocket were put onto the Widow in no time flat. Tom also went over the bike again and Al bought us all lunch. We ended up hanging at the shop for a few hours till we realized it was 5pm. The sun was starting set and the cold was rolling in. It was time to Mount up and ride into the sunset.
I didn’t realize how much I was itching to get going and hit the road. Pete and I made a final fuel stop in Jersey before hitting the Delaware Memorial Bridge and watched the sun set as we were coming to the crest. It was a very peaceful and empowering site. One that I fail to describe in its true beauty.
The ride through Delaware was uneventful as was coming into Maryland. We stopped at the Maryland house for fuel and a break and hit the road again continuing straight on till Virginia. This is where things got interesting again.
We pulled off to get fuel a few exits into Virginia and found a gas station. However we made the mistake of checking in and while on the phone the gas attendant decided to cut off the lights and kill the pumps as Pete and I were going to fuel up. We looked at one another and laughed it off, hitting the road once again. There we were on 95 better than 300 miles into our trip, the cold biting at us but the hum and roar of our steel horses eating at every mile. That was until I hear my motor sputter, then die. I ran out of gas in the left lane of the 3 lane in VA and needed to coast to the shoulder on the right. Thank the spirits that Pete was following he made sure I got to the shoulder safe and sound. As the trucks and cars sped by at faster than light speed. It’s cold, it’s dark, the sound barriers make it feel like we are trapped in a wind tunnel and the next exit is a couple miles down the road. Did I mention that it was cold.
Tom had warned me that taking the petcock off the bike wasn’t a good idea, but with the way the tank was mounted we needed to weld a nipple to the rear of the tank for full fuel consumption. No Petcock meant no reserve which means NO WARNING and NO GAS.
On the side of the road we called AAA for gas, they dispatch someone and tell us 30 minutes. TWO HOURS and Thirty minutes later I get a call from the AAA guy and he states “Its gonna be $9 bucks for the gas and $75 buck for the road side visit. I nearly choked but was too cold to do it. I had been hunkering down by Pete, who made a great wind barrier and told the guy to just get here. As I hang up the phone a VA state trooper pulls up on us. Pete walked over and explained everything since I was turning into lil boy blue because the cold and the AAA guys pulls up. I walk over to him and the first words out of his mouth when he sees the bikes is that will be $80 bucks for the service and $10 for the gas. My vision flashed red, note that there are now 2 VA state trooper patrol cars now. Pete puts his hand on my shoulder and steadies me and tells the guy, NO. the Troopers offered us some gas. He looks at us then the troopers, back at us then says, “Well it won’t be any cheaper.” Pete had a great response “They said free gas, how’s that for cheaper?” This guy changed his tune pretty quick as the troopers where watching. He looks to us again then the bikes and sighs and said, “I’ll tell you what its cold just give me the $9 bucks for the gas” Before he finished that statement I had my gas cap off. It was friggin cold. Once my tank was filled and Pete’s topped off. The troopers made sure we were cool, really nice guys who thought I was insane for doing this trip on a rigid. We hit the road again.
It was close to 2am and time to start looking for a place to bed down for the night. Cold, bone weary, and sore, a hot shower and warm bed was all I wanted. We rode another 15 miles till we found a hotel with a vacancy and stopped for the night.
