Well, I planned on going to bed at 9PM Monday night, but didn't get to bed until 10. I set the alarm to 5AM. I woke at 3AM and went to the bathroom and tried to go back to sleep, but after lying there a while, I decided I was already up, so I got ready to go and left at 4:40.
It was cold and rainy. Hmmm...didn't see that coming.
I had started with just my jacket over a thin long sleeved athletic shirt, along with my AVG Telluride pants and my First Gear rain suit. I wore my TCX X-Five Plus Gore-Tex Boots with a pair of wool socks. I was wearing Summer weight waterproof gloves.
At the first gas stop, I put on a merino wool bicycling sweater, and swapped the gloves out for a pair of waterproof Winter motocross gloves. Much better.
Later I stopped for lunch and added a thin but extremely warm Nike long sleeved shirt under the wool sweater. Ahh, toasty now. At lunchtime I added the quilted liner to the pants. I also walked out to the bike and got a text message from my friend and the MC of the show I'm in, which is currently in rehearsals for our Christmas show. I had gone to rehearsal Monday, but since nothing changes for me I had nothing to do. The general manager, Jim, asked me why I was here and I told him the entire cast was scheduled. He said there was no real reason for me to be there so I wouldn't have to come back until Friday. The text said, "Hope your ride is going well. Was going to wait to tell you but I guess Jim thought you were going to be here today and was kind of pissed. I told him it was a misunderstanding. John is coming to direct tomorrow and said you have to be here. Sorry man." So, I am 450 miles into this trip at this point. I figure I can just turn around and ride back to Branson, go to rehearsal and take the bike home the end of November. I call him and ask what is going on and he stops me to say he was just messing with me and the entire cast and crew were in on it and laughing their asses off right then, including Jim the general manager. Too funny, and I deserve it. I think I had pranked every one of them over the past five months. Payback was good and funny.
I went on my way and was very comfortable, despite the constant rain. Did I mention it was raining? From the moment I left, rain, more rain, and more rain. Rather chilly too, it was in the upper 40s when I left.
I made phone calls, talked to my parent and my wife and kept riding. Sena is great. I listened to an audiobook, and rode, in the cold, constant rain.
I kept riding, swapped the motocross gloves out for a pair of Glacier Gloves, those are great for rain riding by the way. My hands had been getting cold. Despite being waterproof, the outer layer of the gloves had gotten saturated which really apps the heat out of your hands. Despite being thinner, my hands were very warm in the Glacier Gloves.
I napped about 15 minutes at a rest area in Indiana, in the cold, rain. I put a neck cover on.
In Washington, PA I filled up for the last time, and took off the Glacier Gloves, even they saturate at some point, this time the left one was wet feeling at the palm. I put on a pair of leather gantlet style Winter riding gloves, didn't bother with their waterproof cover and rode on to Pittsburgh.
I got to my house at 12:30am EST. I unpacked the bike, called my wife and set out looking for matches to light the pilot light on the water heater. I couldn't find one. I ended up using a birthday candle, lit it off the pilot light on the furnace and lit the water heater. I got to bed at 2am and woke at 4:45 to go to the airport. My buddy picked me up and we drove about 40 minutes to the airport. I left the bike outside instead of parking it in the garage since it seemed to be infested with spiders. I killed a number of them at gas or food stops. One was a Brown Recluse. We had a lot of this in the condo in Branson, we were finding about ten a week, but I killed those with Demon WP. The bike however seemed to be a magnet for them since it sat outside covered the past five months. I didn't have the cover in PA but am hoping a hard freeze will kill the spiders. I'll use some Demon WP on it before putting it in the garage. I really don't want Brown Recluses in the house.
The flights went as planned and I landed at 2PM in Springfield. I made it home by 3pm and was in bed by 4. I just woke and have to get ready for a party. Ugh...I need sleep but my coffee is helping.
Great ride, but it rained all the way and it was a cold rain. Have I mentioned that?
I do love long distance riding. And Brian, I did;t have time for the 1000 miler, I just wanted to get the bike there and get back to Branson. I have done many 1000+ rides but have never gotten around to having any certified for the Iron Butt. I should do that one of these days.
On a side note, my modified Corbin worked well. I had them build it up and re-foam it with their softer foam. I was having a lot of perineum pain on the original Corbin. I had about 16,000 miles on the Corbin. All I wanted was for them to remove the hum, but they suggested making it flatter. Flatter was good, but it still had the hump, and pain. I removed the cover and removed the hump with a Dremel and an electric knife, and basically reshaped the entire rider seat. It is much more comfortable, no perineum pain.
Thanks for the offers for help Jim. I appreciate it, and thankfully did't need any, although at times psychiatric help might be good.
