Unsafe at any speed

Today started off great. Sunshine and mild temperatures as I cruised to the east on US 20. At Cleveland I switched over to Interstate 80.
WHAM! What had been a couple of sprinkles here and there suddenly turned into a downpour. Gusty side winds were blowing me from lane to lane even though I was down to 40 miles an hour.
All I wanted to do was get to the next exit and get some place dry before I had an accident. Water was building up on the road and I didn't want to do any horizontal surfing.
I finally got to the exit and got major attitude from the toll taker when I handed her my soggy ticket. A mile away I found a motel and walked into the office dripping wet. All I wanted was a hot shower and dry bed.
On the TV the news program they said there was major flooding, hurricane warnings, and winds gusting to 60 miles per hour.
When I was riding to the motel the water was a foot deep across the road in places. Didn't I have this kind of problem the last time I try to go across country?
Well tomorrow looks better so I should get home soon. Tonight I'm eating Pop Tarts and Pepsi out of the vending machine. It's just another (water logged) adventure!

Planes Instead Of Pains

Took a day off today to get some feeling back in my backside and some circulation in my legs.
The USAF National Museum has virtually every plane used by the Air Force and the Army Air Corps since the Wright brothers original model.
To see them up close makes you realize how dangerous flying in World War II was. Frankly, they were crude and tiny compared to the modern jets we know now.
I think the most amazing thing was to see how small the Apollo capsule was. This thing was smaller than a Fiat 500 and they went to the moon and back in it! Of course I would have given anything to have been one of them.

Heading East

Yesterday was just a delightful day of riding on the road. There were wide easy curves through the rolling hills of southern Illinois and Indiana. The sun was bright and the temperatures were moderate, what more could you ask for?
How about the world's best BLT? I stopped at this little general store in the middle of nowhere just at random. BLTs are deceptive in their simplicity. This one had home grown tomatoes, homegrown lettuce, and locally grown bacon. Lots of bacon! It was so good that afterwards I went over and shook hands with the cook.
Then there was the Wabash-Cannonball toll bridge. I almost missed this gem but I turned around and went back to give it a look. At first I missed the second sign and came to the river where the road just ran into the water. I stopped at the post office and asked the lady if it was a local joke just to catch tourists. She thought that was pretty funny but pointed out where I missed the turn. The bridge is a series of old railroad trestles. The rails have been removed and you ride along the old wooden planks. 18 inches wide or you drop down on the tie beams. Needless to say I was very focused and not gazing at the scenery as I traversed the river. Taking the bike swimming once on this trip was quite enough. I'll post the video of this when I get home.
From there I crossed over to US 40. Surprisingly, parts of the original National Highway are still preserved. I got to ride on the original cross-country highway from the 1920's.
Today I'm going to take a break from riding and visit the USAF Museum. It's huge and walking around will give my b*** a rest from sitting.

MRT for TAT

The disappointment of leaving the TAT has been balanced against finding the MRT( Mississippi River Trail). This is a bicycle path from the very headwaters of the river to the Mississippi Delta. The trail winds through the back roads of each state providing an up-close-and-personal look at life along the river.
I got to ride along the top of a levy, see the broad plains of farming that make New England look tiny, and even got to ride a barge across the Mississippi River.
Where the TAT avoids all contact with humanity except for the rare gas stop, the MRT goes through every little town, village, and hamlet it can find. I met and talked to more new people yesterday than all of the rest of the trip.
One of the disappointments of motorcycle travel is that it can be either a motorcycle trip or a photo trip but can never seem to be both. There's just too much gear between me and the camera for spontaneous photo taking. I keep one camera in an outside pocket but I keep the phone very deep in my jacket. I'll try harder to take pictures I can post a long the way today.

Plan X

I went to Memphis and got new sneakers for the bike. Unfortunately, they are more suited to street and trail. I tried about 15 miles of the TAT today and on the gravel roads the bike handled like a drunken donkey on roller skates.
It was too much work and there was too much chance of an accident to continue. So Plan X is an eXit from the TAT and the beginning of the ride for home.
However, the trip has not been a failure. I've learned much about planning, about dealing with problems as they arise,  and how to stay focused when things go wrong.
Best of all, I've had a really good time. I've gotten to see some friends I haven't seen for a while and I've toured a part of the country that I've never been in before.
Tomorrow I'll head north along the Mississippi River and hopefully won't catch up with all the rain I see in New England. The TAT will be waiting for me when I return.

Losing My Grip

These tires are just about gone. However with amazingly bad planning, getting new tires on the 4th of July weekend is impossible.
Getting out on the highway doesn't seems like my brightest idea either. So I'm going back to the TAT And I'm going to ride across Arkansas for a couple days. I'll look for a bike shop on Monday and overnight some tires to them. Nobody is going to have the sizes I need in stock.
Not a critical problem with just a fun way to deal with the delay. After all, what could go wrong? It's not like this is Tanzania. Its just Arkansas.

Mississippi Blues

Only 180 miles yesterday. Mississippi has proven to be a most irritating state. Many of the back roads are graded clay with a layer of crushed rock on top. It's like you're riding down a river bed mile after mile. Hemmed in by trees with nothing to see it's exhausting.
There have been some pretty parts but they've been few and far between. Also the trail is heading more south than west. I'm tempted to skip ahead to the Mississippi River but now I'm determined to finish it. It's about 120 miles to go. That should take most of the day if the roads are the same as yesterday.
Camped out again last night. Boy could I use a shower. However I'm getting better at packing and packing and even cooked dinner last night.
The tires are looking pretty shot and I'm going to have to replace them soon. I can't complain, 2600 miles of mostly asphalt and a little bit of dirt is a lot to ask out of some nobbies. The trouble is nobody's going to stock the sizes I need. I have all day to think of a solution for that problem.
Westward Ho!

Overnight

I was misinformed about the reservations I had made on the Internet. I ended up sleeping next to some farmers cornfield. Who needs fireworks when you have a hundred fireflies?

TAT Day 2

Bright and sunny and warm today. Just the opposite of yesterday. Pulled over to change maps in the route sheet holder. Finally got a train and bike picture. Things are looking up.

TAT 2.1

Started early and got across the creek safely. Didn't get wet there but got wet everywhere else. Sometimes it rained and sometimes it rain harder.
No pictures for the day because the phone stayed safe in the dry bag. This morning looks bright and sunny. The forecast is for rain to chase me all day as I head West.
The day started off with a lot of dirt roads but then turned to all asphalt. Kind of like a giant Tiddler Ride. It would have been really beautiful if it wasn't for the rain.
Today I should get the rest of the way across Tennessee. Hopefully it'll get back to dirt soon. Maybe even another creek or two. ;)

Back to TN

An evening of relaxing with Dave & Janice and I'm ready to try again.

TAT Two

Why wait for next year?!!

I'm heading back to TN tomorrow. I don't have time to go the whole distance but I'll ride the TAT for a few days before turning north back to CT.

Can't keep a Transalp down!

I get by with a little help from my friends

12 quarts of oil and 3 oil filters cleared the "chocolate milk" from the engine. It took 2 days to get it to clear. Everyone at the campground was very helpful and supportive. There were the usual good natured jokes but everybody was on my side.
Now I'm in Columbia South Carolina at a friends house. I took the headlight out and drained the water out. Nothing was spared when it went swimming.
Tomorrow I'm going to another friends in Bluffton South Carolina and then up the Blue Ridge Parkway back to Connecticut.
There's always next year for another try!

Waterloo

Those of you who have ridden with me before will understand this picture. I got through 3 water crossings but fell over on the 4th one. The bike went totally underwater and sucked water into the engine. I had to get off the bike in the middle of a stream, take all the luggage off, and then pick up the bike.

Once I had the luggage over to the bank I had to go back with tools and pull the spark plugs to get the water out of the engine. After 15 minutes of pumping water out of the engine with the starter motor I finally got it started. It only ran on one cylinder until I calculated that I should remove the air cleaner cause it was soggy too.

After a half hour of engine work in the middle of this stream I finally got it running well enough to pull it up on bank and let it dry out. My TAT Adventure had ended after 6.8 miles. Now I'm back at the campgrounds. I replaced the oil and it looks like chocolate milk. I rode it around a little bit and drained it again and it still looks like chocolate milk.

Today I'm going to look for a shop that can change the oil and filter. I think my adventure's over and I'm just going to try to limp back home. Tomorrow is another day.

Wooden Tents II

The tents.

Wooden Tents

I stayed at the Cherohala Mountain Trails campground. Kellie and Wayne are perfect hosts. I spent the morning sorting out my gear. Wayne is going to  ship home a whole bag full of stuff I don't need. Less is more on the trail.

Why I love Tennessee

The food is so good it's unbelievable. The roads through the Smoky Mountains were great and I had a lot of fun.
I'm staying in a little cabin in the woods tonight and I start the Trans America trail tomorrow. I'm told there's four water crossing in the first few miles. I'll post videos tomorrow I have a waterproof camera.

Ready To Go - At Last !!

Hard as it may be to believe, I've finally finished my list of things to do and I'm ready to leave in the morning.

Since the last post I've had a few more square peg / round hole issues but each was dealt with in turn with patience and grace. What a crock!! I was going totally mental with the stress and aggravation. I realized that I had become my own worst enemy and took a day off to let my brain chill. There's nothing like a day spent hiking in the woods to put things back into perspective.

Now, finally, it's all together. I've taken a couple of shakedown rides to make sure nothing obvious is out of whack. I'll spend tonight going over the lists one more time to see if there is anything I've forgotten. A few more items to pack and then it's off to a good night's rest.

Tomorrow I'll hit the highway south. Because of the delays I've had to drop the idea of a leisurely ride down the Blue Ridge Highway. Instead I'll slab it down to Tennessee and start the TAT on Monday. From now on, all the posts will be from the trail.

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Pounding Nails With My Forehead

Still in CT. As you might guess, exhaustion and frustration are setting in. People who know me know that I'm a pretty optimistic guy. Problems are never personal, there is always a solution, I just need to find it and make it happen.

15	52464-MN9-000	COLLAR, DAMPER (LOWER)	$13.65	$10.09
16	52464-MS6-620	COLLAR A, CUSHION ARM	$13.65	$10.09
17	52464-MS8-000	COLLAR B, CUSHION ARM	$15.04	$11.11

Yesterday was a bit over the top. In my defense, I have never rebuilt an articulated rear suspension like the Pro-Link mono-shock on the Transalp.

My first mistake was thinking that parts 15, 16, and 17 in the diagram were simply spacers. When ordered the other parts I didn't order them. This was a fatal error as it turns out, these Collars are actually the inner races for the roller bearings (28). Another day lost waiting for Honda to overnight them on a Critical Special Order.

When they arrived Ben pressed the bearings into the dog bone (weird part in 14) and I headed home ready to reassemble it all and get on the road.

This is where I took a left turn off the ranch. Honda parts always fit! No ifs, ands, or buts! I've repeated the mantra often, "If it doesn't fit together easily, I'm doing something wrong. It's not the parts." Yesterday I forgot that and wasted 4 ½ hours trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole.

My mistake was mixing up Collar A and Collar B when I installed the dog bone. They look virtually the same and but B is just a ½ mm shorter than A. As luck would have it I picked up B and put it when A should have gone. Then I tried to put A where B should go and it wouldn't fit. Tired and irritated I thought it might be something bent or out of shape. I decided to make it fit.

As I said, 4 ½ hours later I did what I should have done in the first place and went for a walk. When I got back I disassembled the dog bone and, sure enough, the parts were different. 5 minutes later Collar B went where it was supposed to (and fit better) and Collar A slipped right into place without the slightest struggle. Honda parts always fit!

It would be easy to prattle on about some life lesson to be learned here but I'll spare you. After getting it reassembled and torqued Beth & I went out for a quiet dinner and I relaxed with a glass of Irish whiskey. Could this be the turning point? Will it all get easier now?

After all, what else could go wrong?

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Used Parts

Good

Not so good

 

Everyone wants to be Green these days but sometimes it's an advance to the rear.

Despite what I said yesterday, the only way to keep writing for this blog on the trip is to take pictures with my mobile phone and publish when I'm near a community with cellular service. The trick is to keep the phone charged so that it will keep working.

My first attempt was to get a Nomad 7 solar panel. Costco had one with accessories for $99. I would just hook it up, point it at the sky, and be off the grid. The theory was much better than the practice. The 7 watt panel would eventually charge my phone when it was pointed directly at the sun on a bright day but wouldn't do a thing on a cloudy day.

Worse, if I didn't unplug the phone at the peak of charge the panel would back feed and discharge the phone battery! I put it out in the afternoon with a 60% charge and came back in the morning with a totally dead battery. To my simple mind a 50¢ diode from Radio Shack would have cured this but what do I know?

Thanks to Costco's great return policy I got all my money back and went looking for another solution. What I needed was a source of power for the USB port. And there it was waiting for me at my local Cycle Gear shop. A 12 Volt Power Adapter and a 12 Volt USB Charger Adapter. Total cost only $15.98.

This is actually greener than the solar panel because it's simple wiring for an already existing power source. No extra silicon mining and processing, no heavy metal lithium storage device, no huge packaging footprint. It works day and night and draws less than ¼ amp from the battery.

Simple is always better. In this case it's a lot cheaper too.

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