| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Something New Yesterday, I had a new experience. I was in a parade. A real, honest to God, 4th of July Parade. The whole thing started on Tuesday when I got depressed. I had bought tickets to see the new Spiderman movie. My brother is half owner of a Comic Book shop and he enjoys comic book movies and so do I. I bought the tickets for the early bird showing on Wednesday morning, since Wednesday is his normal day off. My reasoning was that he would need a bit of a break after returning from his vacation and diving back into work. The first couple of days back to work always suck after an event filled vacation. However, his business partner had made plans to go see the Rolling Stones in Washington, DC, so David had to work and let me know. The theater wouldn’t take the tickets back, so I gave them away to a friend and his girlfriend. It’s her birthday, so I gave them the tickets and said Happy Birthday! But it was like the wren feather that brought the whole pile down. It felt like everything I’ve tried to do this summer has fallen flat. The Springfield Mile got rained out, the ongoing debacle of my lead water pipe replacement, having to cancel going to the Sportster Meet & Greet, and now, the Spiderman movie tickets. So I did the smart thing. I went to a meeting and talked about it. After the meeting, I was talking to a few people who knew exactly what I was feeling and who were relating their similar experiences and I was approached by Taylor. She was supposed to be in the Northside Parade as a passenger on a Harley, but her ride had cancelled, and she asked me if I would be willing to take his place. Taylor is a Scottish American. She’s got a brogue that’s so thick, I can only understand about every third word, but she’s a US Citizen and loves this country. She’s been a part of this parade for something like 20 years, and her thoughts were that nothing was more American than riding on a Harley-Davidson in a 4th of July parade. I also find her to be extremely attractive, so I agreed to do it. (Unfortunately, she’s married and unavailable) So I went by the local Meijer store and bought a package of 4 - 6” x 8” US flags and zip tied two to the sides of the sissy bar and two to my rear view mirrors. It was all I could think of to make the poor Roadster ready for Parade Duty. She did look pretty beautiful, though. And I got a few positive comments throughout the day. I met Taylor at the agreed on time. Taylor was dressed with an American Flag on the back of the Harley shirt she was wearing, had red, white and blue face paint and had the words FREEDOM in big letters written down the sides of her arms. We rode up to the staging area and got lined up in position. We were about halfway in the order. I looked around and saw various floats, fire trucks, people campaigning for office and numerous school marching bands. We were after one of the marching bands; right behind the bass drums and in front of a large contingent of people wanting votes for their School Committee candidate. Finally, at noon, the parade started. The street was lined with a LOT of people. Taylor would whistle loudly and shout out “Freedom!” continuously. I wondered if her voice would last through the parade. She had a cloth bag that she set between us that was filled with small candies and would throw handfuls to kids along the route. She was having one hell of a good time. Now; Sportsters are not designed for Parade Duty. The whole time I was in the parade, I had my feet down. We would move forward at a walking pace and we stopped frequently. The speedometer needle never hit 10 MPH and mostly didn't move at all. The only time the clutch was fully engaged was when I had the engine off or was in neutral. The good news was that most of the route was downhill. I had the engine off a good bit. Also, Taylor was moving about quite a bit and the street had lots of patches from previous construction projects, so it took a lot of work to keep my poor Roadster running straight down the roadway. And while the route was mostly downhill, there were some uphill sections and some that weren’t steep enough down, so I had to start the engine and slip the clutch a lot. That had quite a bit of heat coming up from the engine; which, combined with the 90 degree heat and high humidity had me feeling progressively weaker as the parade progressed. Finally, we got to the end and I was able to ride at a normal 25 – 30 MPH on streets and I took Taylor back to her shop where we had met for the parade. Then I rode home. I was completely drained, physically; but I wasn’t depressed any more. In fact, I was feeling pretty good. I had made it through a very exhausting experience, but I saw thousands of men, women and kids who were having fun and I was contributing to that. I had taken a very enthusiastically patriotic immigrant on a ride that she absolutely loved and I got to experience something completely new. In spite of the bullshit, Life really is pretty good! | ||
| Ourdee |
The best lemonade stand used to be on the Nevada side of the Boulder Dam. | ||
| Tootal |
I used to ride in the Mardi Gras parade every year. The last time I rode I had a naked woman that painted herself blue on the back throwing beads. You have to get that timing down for when they throw and jerk the bike sideways you can correct at the handlebars! Fortunately they had the bikes go first to kind of clear the path for the rest of the parade so our speed was a bit higher. Even allowed for an occasional wheelie!! Fun times indeed! Glad you enjoyed it, definitely brought back some memories to me! | ||
| 86129squids |
Awesome snippet, RoadCrust! Any pics?? | ||
| Buellish |
You just made me smile,again! | ||
| Crusty |
Ourdee; I'm still trying to figure out what that lemonade stand has to do with me riding in a parade.  | ||
| Ourdee |
Don't over think it. Brad said you were a fart smeller. It's about 120 degrees there in the summer. It seems an inhospitable place with everything going against it. But in that turn in the middle of nowhere was the best lemonade with that crushed ice you can drink. Parades are hot slow and not much fun to ride except when I was rolling on a penny farthing in period costume doin' tricks. The smile and look of awe on others provides that cool drink in the dessert. Sometimes it's not all about us. Then it is a mind game and it is all about you and others. It is wonderful to have a small part in it all. When I would sit down at that picnic table under that umbrella in the dessert my mind would take a free ride because I sat down and waited. Waited on everything around me. Sometimes we just have to soak it all in. I still may not have made it make sense. I may not be able to. The giving you did and the getting you got just took me back to that lemonade and moment. Riding isn't always about how fast we get there. Sometimes we just don't know we're already there. | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
So, he's refreshing? I could get that out of what you said and agree with it. | ||
| Ourdee |
Yalp | ||
| Crusty |
Parade Pics    | ||
| Crusty |
More Parade Pics:    | ||
| Glitch |
Just simply awesome! | ||
| Ourdee |
Right On! | ||
| Pwnzor |
Great story, great pictures... looks like you may have found yourself a new companion there, John. | ||
| 86129squids |
Heck yeah! Looks like all had a great time. Livin' right! | ||
| Crusty |
Unfortunately not. While I find her very attractive, she is married and I won't get involved with a married woman. | ||
| Ourdee |
John, I expect nothing less. But I don't think that is what Matthew meant. | ||
| 86129squids |
Nothing wrong with borrowing a pretty lady for a bit, go on a joyride... sure looks like a joyful ride! It'd been really sad if she couldn't have made the parade, good on ya Crusticle. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Well, that is actually exactly what I meant... I didn't know she was married. Hey, fun for a day, and you get to keep the memories. ...NEXT! | ||
| Crusty |
Good News and Making Preparations Yesterday, I got an e-mail stating that my Application for HELP was approved, and the county was going to pick up 30% of my balance for the water line replacement. That makes it possible for me to be able to come up with enough dough to pay for it. It’s really going to hurt me financially. I’ll have nothing in the savings account and I’ll only pay the minimum on everything, and food money will be tight for a while, but I’ll be able to do it. Assuming the estimate was accurate, that is. Anyhow, that bit of good news pushed me over the edge. I’m going to make my trip to Massachusetts. I won’t be able to buy and ship a lot of local foods back here like I’d planned, but I’ll get to see the Weedsport Short Track (I bought my ticket a couple of months ago), meet a bunch of friends at the Troy, NY Dinosaur and see my friends in Massachusetts. I’m hoping that when I go to the shop, they have pizza from Nana’s for lunch, but even if they don’t, it’ll be nice to see everybody and trade some insults with Jimmy and Guido and do an oil change on the cuff. I know my credit is good with them. So I think I’ve got a route planned out. I’m going to camp in the Allegheny National Forest on the first night, then camp at the Speedway. It’s under four hours from the Speedway to the Dinosaur on roads without tolls, and I really hate tolls, so I can easily make it to the Troy Dinosaur in time for lunch. And it’s only four hours or so over the Taconic Trail and Mohawk Trail to Hudson. I’ll easily make it there before sunset. I was on the fence about going, right up to yesterday morning. But knowing that I got the Poor Old Farts discount makes all the difference. Now, I’m excited. I’ve checked the extended weather forecasts for here, Weedsport, Troy and Hudson and all I can see is Nothin’ But Nice for the next ten days. I haven’t camped yet, this year, so I wonder how badly I’ll sleep on the first night. I never sleep well the first night out when I’m camping and I expect that will be the case on this trip. I’m still debating whether to bring my coffee making gear. I won’t be using it a lot, but I’m sure I’ll be wanting some coffee in the morning. Most places, though, have a Golden Starches or a Drunkin’ Donuts not too far away. I’ll see how full my saddlebags are with my other gear, then make my decision. If there’s room, I’ll go for it. I really need this trip. It’s going to be fun! | ||
| Pwnzor |
We wait with baited breath for your inevitable reports! | ||
| 86129squids |
I gots the wanderlust too... still gotta build enuf $$$ momentum to get a quiet gearbox. Won't be easy, but sooner or later, it'll happen. Riding around local is adequate but not sufficient. | ||
| Crusty |
Brad; I'm going to be seeing a friend who has a pretty good stash of Airhead parts while I'm up in Massachusetts. What exactly do you need for your bike? He might be in a generous mood. Probably not; he's another Cranky Old Bastard Biker, but I can ask. Or at least find out how much he wants. | ||
| 86129squids |
That'd be flat awesome, RoadCrust!! It's hard to find parts for what I have... kinda like a Buell. Need a healthy gearbox. Funny, but when Char was stranded, I spoke with Tom Bumpus trying to help her out, mentioned I was riding a R75/7 with a gimpy gearbox- he just about described which bearings would fail first in that thing. Didn't know he was a BMW guy too! Wow. Don't know if you've met Tom B., great guy. When I met him he was riding a newer CityX, I still had mine... I might've flogged mine a bit too much riding with him, Tim, Barker, and the fast dude on the Husky down around C3Central and Suches... good times! Mine is a 1977 R75/7. I'll have to double check the specific gearbox, ratios change depending on model/year. I really appreciate you, brother. Summer is skinny $$$ for me in my work, goal assists are appreciated.  | ||
| Crusty |
Hold, Please I had planned to be on the road this morning, but I changed my mind. There are strong thunderstorms forecast for my entire route for this afternoon as a cool front comes through. After checking several sources - Intellicast, Accuweather and Channels 12 (CBS) and 19 (FOX) - I decided that it would be more prudent to wait a day. I’ve got almost everything packed and just waiting to go on the bike. I did that last night. Both saddlebags are full and my tent and sleeping gear are all strapped together, the windshield is on the bike and the Roc Straps are installed in their customary places. I can have the bike loaded and ready to hit the road in just a couple of minutes. I just don’t want to deal with heavy rain and lightning. Still; it’s a beautiful morning and I’ve got the itch. If I hit the road by 9:00, I could be camped in the Red Bridge campground in Allegheny National Forest by mid-afternoon. (I just checked the forecast again and it’s still supposed to rain heavily.) No; I don’t want to set the tent up in the rain. And it’s supposed to start raining by 2:00. I’ll wait and get an early start tomorrow morning. I was going to wear my mesh jacket, but it might be wiser to wear the First Gear or the Darien. I think the First Gear has better venting and is more water resistant, so that might be a better choice. Both have more pockets than the mesh, and that’s a good thing. Yeah; The First Gear is a better choice. Maybe this one day delay is a good thing. I have a little more time to think things out. If I had left this morning, I would be wearing a jacket that didn’t have enough pockets and I might have forgotten my ticket to the race. It was still clipped to the fridge; I noticed it when I poured my second cup of coffee. Now; where’s my little flashlight? | ||
| Ourdee |
Yalp, gotta find your mind. You are like a duck this morning. All calm on top. Be safe out there bro. | ||
| Tootal |
Reminds me of traveling. Get up and look at the sky. Rain over there? I'll go the other way! We Zig Zagged across Iowa on the way to Sturgis to stay out of the rain. We did it though, lot's of farm roads out there! Have fun on your trip John! | ||
| Crusty |
Heading North and East Once again, I’m sitting in a McDonald’s eating a sausage McMuffin and drinking a Senior Coffee with 4 creams and hacking out my babblings. I’ve really missed this. I didn’t know just how much until this morning. I stalled leaving yesterday because all the weather forecasts were calling for strong thunderstorms all along my route. I watched the radar off and on throughout the day and I think I would have dodged the bullet if I had gone. Oh, well; I can’t live my life shoulding all over myself. Last night, I got an e-mail from AFT telling me that there’s going to be a big shindig at the track tonight. Meet the racers, buy food, listen to loud second rate bands; that sort of thing. However; it kind of appeals to me. My thinking is that maybe I should push on to the track today and camp there for both tonight and tomorrow night. Or maybe I should stick to my original plan and camp in a national forest tonight and ride into Weedsport tomorrow morning. I don’t have to decide for a few hours; I’ll see how tired I am when it comes to decision time. There are plusses to doing either. One reason I stopped for breakfast now is to let rush hour traffic ease up around Columbus before I get there. Getting out of Cincinnati was a royal PITA. It’s late enough now that I don’t think it’ll be a problem. The road construction probably will be, but hopefully the traffic won’t be crawling when I get there. As is usual, I had a bunch of ideas about what to write about while I was riding and forgot all of them as soon as I fired up the laptop. Well, I’ve gotta get back out there. Later. | ||
| Ourdee |
Nice to see ya doin' what you do. | ||
| Crusty |
Lunch break. I'm out of shape. My butt hurts. |
