First Real Roadtrip on the 919
I am writing this on my iPad from Seaford Delaware. We attended a funeral in Silver Springs, MD today before heading here to my wife's aunt's place.
My family came down Thursday night. Friday morning I decided I would ride down and join them. I had to wrap up some work stuff Friday and at noon I went out and bought a nice Givi tank bag. I gave my wife my dress cloths for the service, just in case I found a way to go, so I didn't have much to pack.
My plan was to leave mid-afternoon and make it half way, then make the rest of the journey Saturday AM. However, my wife texted me early in my ride to say that the service is at 10am and that they were leaving early from the hotel. So I decided to take it all the way, Ottawa to Silver Springs, MD. I felt good, visibility was decent due to the full moon and I was having fun, so why not! GPS said midnight arrival, add a few more gas and rest stops makes it 1am.
Because I was originally planning on stopping around dark, I only brought my mirror gold shield. It turned out to be ok, not ideal, but I could see everything. It helped that I almost always hooked up with a "pace car" and stayed close to use there lights as additional illuminators.
My route was 416, 37, 81, 83, 29.
There were a ton of cops out. My family drives down to this area every summer and I have never seen so many police. I picked a pace around 10-15 mph over, on average. I was passing as many cars as were passing me.
I didn't see any deer, unlike a fellow WT member that hit one in MD the same night. I was on the lookout though. My biggest fear is a dear jumping over the jersey barrier from the on-coming side right into me as I'm in the left lane. Has that ever happened? There would be little chance of seeing that in time.
The bike was running great. I just installed the PC3 and was trying out my first map, the Two Brother map. It brought the bike alive again after loosing a bit with the slip-on install a month ago.
Anyway, I arrived safely at 1am. I installed the rotor security lock that I bought when I bought the Givi, up to the hotel room with my family and crashed out.
Here are some random memories of the ride down:
- string of cops with cars pulled over, 81N into Saracuse. Several of the unlucky ones were Audi's. Coincidence.
- 1st stop, Cortland, NY for gas and Ronnies. Bike stalled at the bottom of off ramp. Did I stretch the tank that far? I was at about 330 km on that tank. More than I had tried before. I didn't pay enough attention when I filled it minutes later to see how much I put in.
- Met a BMW rider at McD's. I asked him where he was coming from. He said DC to Trenton, Ontario. I told him I'm almost doing the opposite. Talked PR2's. Nice guy.
- Wilkes-Barre rest stop. Feeling fatigued, time to pop a caffeine tablet. What are those really loud, deep bull frog-like sounds in the trees. They were way to loud to be cicada beatles, could they be. Laid down on a picnic table and stared at the stars. Flashed back to sleeping under the stars in a bag at summer camp when I was around 10. Over 30 years ago. Was that really me? Recalled the sense of awe and smallness. I need to look up at night more often, knock on the sky and listen to the sound stuff.
- Lebanon, PA - just walking out of the gas station and a guy walking in says, "that's a really nice bike you have". Apparently they have good taste in PA. No stranger in Ottawa ever said that!
- Discovered riding with earplugs allows me to hear my voice much better. Oh oh!
Spontaneously started to blurt stuff out for fun and to help stay alert. Then the songs came: Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head (even though it wasn't raining), Rocky theme, Maiden's Run to the Hill's....
- Found new postures to take the weight off of the hands using my core to support my weight.
Triceps, hands and shoulders all fatigued in this ride.
- Amish guy upstate NY pulling a trailer with a 15' square wood garage on it!! With only two horses that he was physically "encouraging" to pull harder!
- Bike still stinks with east coast US fuel. However, the smell in different, not as sweet.
Next up, crazy ride to Seaford.
My family came down Thursday night. Friday morning I decided I would ride down and join them. I had to wrap up some work stuff Friday and at noon I went out and bought a nice Givi tank bag. I gave my wife my dress cloths for the service, just in case I found a way to go, so I didn't have much to pack.
My plan was to leave mid-afternoon and make it half way, then make the rest of the journey Saturday AM. However, my wife texted me early in my ride to say that the service is at 10am and that they were leaving early from the hotel. So I decided to take it all the way, Ottawa to Silver Springs, MD. I felt good, visibility was decent due to the full moon and I was having fun, so why not! GPS said midnight arrival, add a few more gas and rest stops makes it 1am.
Because I was originally planning on stopping around dark, I only brought my mirror gold shield. It turned out to be ok, not ideal, but I could see everything. It helped that I almost always hooked up with a "pace car" and stayed close to use there lights as additional illuminators.
My route was 416, 37, 81, 83, 29.
There were a ton of cops out. My family drives down to this area every summer and I have never seen so many police. I picked a pace around 10-15 mph over, on average. I was passing as many cars as were passing me.
I didn't see any deer, unlike a fellow WT member that hit one in MD the same night. I was on the lookout though. My biggest fear is a dear jumping over the jersey barrier from the on-coming side right into me as I'm in the left lane. Has that ever happened? There would be little chance of seeing that in time.
The bike was running great. I just installed the PC3 and was trying out my first map, the Two Brother map. It brought the bike alive again after loosing a bit with the slip-on install a month ago.
Anyway, I arrived safely at 1am. I installed the rotor security lock that I bought when I bought the Givi, up to the hotel room with my family and crashed out.
Here are some random memories of the ride down:
- string of cops with cars pulled over, 81N into Saracuse. Several of the unlucky ones were Audi's. Coincidence.
- 1st stop, Cortland, NY for gas and Ronnies. Bike stalled at the bottom of off ramp. Did I stretch the tank that far? I was at about 330 km on that tank. More than I had tried before. I didn't pay enough attention when I filled it minutes later to see how much I put in.
- Met a BMW rider at McD's. I asked him where he was coming from. He said DC to Trenton, Ontario. I told him I'm almost doing the opposite. Talked PR2's. Nice guy.
- Wilkes-Barre rest stop. Feeling fatigued, time to pop a caffeine tablet. What are those really loud, deep bull frog-like sounds in the trees. They were way to loud to be cicada beatles, could they be. Laid down on a picnic table and stared at the stars. Flashed back to sleeping under the stars in a bag at summer camp when I was around 10. Over 30 years ago. Was that really me? Recalled the sense of awe and smallness. I need to look up at night more often, knock on the sky and listen to the sound stuff.
- Lebanon, PA - just walking out of the gas station and a guy walking in says, "that's a really nice bike you have". Apparently they have good taste in PA. No stranger in Ottawa ever said that!
- Discovered riding with earplugs allows me to hear my voice much better. Oh oh!
Spontaneously started to blurt stuff out for fun and to help stay alert. Then the songs came: Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head (even though it wasn't raining), Rocky theme, Maiden's Run to the Hill's....- Found new postures to take the weight off of the hands using my core to support my weight.
Triceps, hands and shoulders all fatigued in this ride.
- Amish guy upstate NY pulling a trailer with a 15' square wood garage on it!! With only two horses that he was physically "encouraging" to pull harder!
- Bike still stinks with east coast US fuel. However, the smell in different, not as sweet.
Next up, crazy ride to Seaford.
Total Comments 0
