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Salute from Charles Town, WV (basically where WV, MD, and VA meet)! It has been an interesting and eventful
day. Oh wait, I guess that would accurately describe EVERY day of this journey! Last night I suggested
to RT at dinner that after the BMW folks finished with his bike that he head straight for IL where his kids & grandkids
reside (just North of Chicago). This would give him a chance to get some much needed rest. The riding that
we had planned going South (especially in TN) would not provide any rest and in fact would be some of the more
aggressive riding on the trip as far as twisties go. We had ridden all back roads yesterday from CT to PA with
many twists and turns in the mountainous region and I could tell he, well, just wasn't there. He wasn't making
mistakes or being haphazard, just simply too sore to really ride the road. He initially rejected my idea to head
for IL but after sleeping over 10hrs last night he advised me this morning that he would indeed route to IL for a few
weeks of rest. Honestly, I felt relieved. Sad that we were splitting, but relieved. With our USA Four
Corner trip approaching he needs to heal and rest completely. I went over to the BMW dealership and made sure he
was all set before I headed South. This dealership was quite interesting... BMW, Jap bikes, I think I even saw a
tractor in the showroom. I can't say that I've seen a combined BMW-Suzuki shop and we both thought it was
interesting. This was taken just before he headed for IL:
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It was definitely different riding today and not seeing RT in my rear view mirrors; RT makes me lead 99% of
the time (one of his expressions is “I don't like to lead even when I'm riding alone”). I had ridden
most of the Lancaster/York area last summer so I decided to go hit some of the better roads I knew about in
the area; being mid-wk & mid-day they were desolate and just lovely. Much of the ride in PA was gentle
rolling hills lined with tall corn. Here's a few pics from today:
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The Susquehanna River: |
And my fav pic thus far: |
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I went on all minor roads again today so basically since leaving the NH stamp I have completely avoided
running slab sans the jaunt from Providence, RI to where we stayed Mon night in CT. I decided to
go get the stamp at the “Monocacy National Battlefield” which is near Fredricksburg, MD. When I
arrived at the Visitor Center I parked the Strom off to the side of the parking lot since the lot was
very slanted. It's hard to describe the angles and slopes and whatnot but suffice to say I left
it stable though I did have the thought “I hope a strong wind doesn't come barreling through” and I went
inside to get the stamp. I was inside for less than 15min then went back out to find the Strom was
laying on it's right side. Stunned and confused but not worried since it was obviously a zero-MPH
drop I got it back up and accessed the damage... a broken right turn signal lens (housing is cracked but
very fixable) and a slight scratch on the crash bar, nothing else. I called Jim since after I
restarted it a heavy white smoke poured from the exhaust pipes and, as usual, he explained rationally
what made no sense to me. Right after speaking with Jim I was approached by an elderly grandmother
with 2 young boys on each arm in tow, one of which was crying hysterically. Seems the 2 brothers
had participated in a “race ya to that motorcycle” contest and one either tripped or was pushed at the
finish line, er, the Strom, and didn't stop quick enough to prevent further forward motion. The bike
tipping over scared them both so bad that they ran a different race back to the grandmother who was
finishing the tour of the battlefield nearby. I guess the loser told on the winner which, well,
greatly upset granny to say the least. This 11 yr old boy was so upset and crying so hard that I
thought I was going to start crying. The kid is probably traumatized for life. Seeing the broken
turn signal in my hand and having to face me with an apology was obviously a tough thing for the young
lad. I thanked him for his apology and suggested he practice on his braking technique. I rode
about 30mi further and stopped because I saw oil leaking while waiting at a red light. I again called
Jim who explained, in terms a mechanical moron like myself can understand, what was happening and suggested
I pull the tank/air filter and clean up the oil that's likely in the housing. Since I noticed zero
driveability issues and not wanting to pull the tank in the motel parking lot in the dark and potentially
create a driveability issue I have elected to wait until I get back to TN to do this. Plus, I can
recharge the K&N air filter while I'm at it. I'm planning on running Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway
tomorrow (there's a stamp for the Shenandoah National Park too) and may or may not head for a NC stamp. I
do know that I will be in the Knoxville, TN area by Fri night. After I talked to Jim I called Stromtrooper
“SCraig” to see if he would post something about me needing a lens for my turn signal (I can't exactly order one
since I'm on the road) since I wasn't sure if I'd have web access tonight. Lo and behold I got a call from
Stromtrooper SmokyMtnVstrom a few hours later who says has a lens and will have it ready for me when I come thru
Fri night. I'm beyond impressed with the network and quality of folks who make up Stromtrooper. I can't
thank you all enough for the help and support. Few Stromtroopers will experience this network as I have...
and even fewer can say their bike was hit by a speeding 11 year old.
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