There are only two pictures for today. Today, our goal was to eat miles. We were going to slab our way North as far as we could in order to have a bit of a rest day on Friday when we got to Abbey and Jane’s in Kingston, ON.
Unfortunately, the day went in the shitter in a big way. It all started after loading the bikes in the morning. My driving lights had stopped working the night before and we then discovered that my tail light was out as well. Well, I took the thing apart and pulled the fuses and discovered one of the fuses was blown. Did I have extras? Sure! At home. On the workbench. In the words of Homer Simpson, “D’oh!”
Well, that's when we met Floyd. Floyd was riding his VTX1300 to Roanoke to see his brother. His battery had died, but he did have an extra 10A fuse. So, I put the fuse in and my bike was ready to roll again.
However, Floyd was still SOL. We found an Advance Auto Parts just up the road and the deal was struck…I’d take Floyd up to the Auto Parts store as repayment for getting me out of my trouble. Now, I’m very secure in my masculinity, but having Floyd ride the bitch seat was a little unnerving. Especially when the lady at the stop light scowled at us and Floyd blew her a kiss!
We were finally back on the road and headed down Highway 460 towards Roanoke and the I-81. It was a beautiful day, albeit muggy and we were making good time. Until lunch. We stopped at a University town and grabbed a “Gourmet” Sub and filled our Hydration Packs. As we were getting ready to depart, the skies opened up and we were riding into a Thunder Storm to beat the band. We had crossed back into West Virginia and finally sought refuge in an Exxon/Dunkin Donuts combo and sat there for almost an hour waiting out the storm.
When we were back on the road, the rains let up and not long after crossed into the Great State of Pennsylvania. Pulling off I-81 into a rest area is when I had my second mechanical failure of the day. No rear brakes! When I got stopped, I went to work and checked Fluid levels and discovered that the level was down. I bled the lines and got some braking power back. After that, it was on the phone to Paul in Wernersville looking for a local Motorcycle dealer. He sent us a number and an address, but unfortunately, the place was closed by the time we got there.
Continuing on I-81 we got closer to Harrisburg and the same Thunderstorm we’d chased through Virginia was directly in front of us. The rain pounded us once again and I finally pulled ahead of Larry and straight into the first Motel Super 8 I saw. There were a number of folks in line ahead of us, including some bikers. The regular $65/night charge was now $90! The Pakistani gentlemen running the place were adamant that was the price until we said we were leaving, and all of a sudden the price dropped to $70! I muttered an expletive and said that we weren’t staying there!
We pulled back onto I-81 and the weather cleared until Frackville, PA where we grabbed a Room at the EconoLodge. We’d managed almost 500 miles for the day. Tomorrow SHOULD be somewhat easier….
Floyd from Ohio
Group Shot, Floyd, Larry and Me!
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