Coast to coast in 48 1/2 hours

[winewhisperer]

4:37am Marianna, Fla. (continued from above)After the fill up at Mariana, Fla., I've got 233 miles yet to go. The GPS says about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Based on the time measured at the gas pump, that would get me to my destination just before 8:30, with about 2 1/2 hours to spare. However, that was not the case. I had to do several things in Marianna.

1. Dumb gas pump won't give me a receipt. Gotta head in to the station to get it.

2. Fill the CamelBak

3. Back out the bike, clouds looking ominous. Rain's a-coming. Better get the rain suit and the rain booties on.

4. Gotta go. Back into the station, pull off the rainsuit. Starting to sweat. Everything sticks to me. Uggghhh, why's this gotta take so long?

5. Fill out IBA trip log info. Stow receipts in zip lock bag.

6. Starving. Need grub. Hop on bike: scan horizon... remind self, it's 4:37 am doe-doe: forget about fast food: back into gas station for a couple of their grotesque sausage muffin thingies.

They tasted a little funny, but it was too dark to see them, and I was too tired to care. Ya know yer eating something gross when it bites back...

---Finally back out on road, look at watch: that stop was over 20 minutes. Ugghh. Time for another lecture. Gotta make faster pit stops, Gary. OK, so it's about 4:55am or so. GPS says I'll arrive at around 8:40am if I don't stop. However, can the FJR can't go 243 miles without filling up. What if I get stuck in a traffic jam? What if I run outa gas? So the decision was made, rather than chance it, I'd have to stop for gas again.

--finished up the imitation sausage sliders running at about 75 mph with one hand on the throttle and the other in my mouth. They didn't taste too bad actually, and at least I wasn't starving any more.

Another issue to deal with was my physical condition. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open at times. Fatigue and sleepiness seemed to come in waves. I managed once again to fight it off. I had perhaps 1 hour and 20 minutes to go when it got really bad.

I tried fighting it off,

But this trick didn't work so well while driving.

So, I pulled off the road at Lake City for gas. I was in and out in no time (hurray???) and stopping for awhile helped me wake up. Though I saw some sprinkles, Mark was right. He said that the rain appeared to be heading away from me, like some giant arm just reached down and swept it out of my way. For quite a while, I was riding on wet pavement and light sprinkles, with lighting and nasty clouds in front of me. However, I never caught up with the storm, and it had done it's damage and left by the time I arrived. All was well, I had about 2 1/4 hours to spare according to the GPS's predicted arrival time. And then it happened. As I neared Jacksonville, all of a sudden, traffic slowed to a stop on I-10. I was in the middle of nowhere, and the GPS couldn't offer any detours as I couldn't get off the expressway. I strained my stiff neck and my tired eyes in an attempt to see far enough ahead to answer the questions:

1. What's the problem?

2. How long is this going to take?"

-must take writing break. Time to go ride the Tail of the Dragon as daughter just finished her nap.

More later.

Gary

darksider #44

Oh man! The thread that just keeps you hanging.

 

[wheatonFJR]

4:37am Marianna, Fla. (continued from above)After the fill up at Mariana, Fla., I've got 233 miles yet to go. The GPS says about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Based on the time measured at the gas pump, that would get me to my destination just before 8:30, with about 2 1/2 hours to spare. However, that was not the case. I had to do several things in Marianna.

1. Dumb gas pump won't give me a receipt. Gotta head in to the station to get it.

2. Fill the CamelBak

3. Back out the bike, clouds looking ominous. Rain's a-coming. Better get the rain suit and the rain booties on.

4. Gotta go. Back into the station, pull off the rainsuit. Starting to sweat. Everything sticks to me. Uggghhh, why's this gotta take so long?

5. Fill out IBA trip log info. Stow receipts in zip lock bag.

6. Starving. Need grub. Hop on bike: scan horizon... remind self, it's 4:37 am doe-doe: forget about fast food: back into gas station for a couple of their grotesque sausage muffin thingies.

They tasted a little funny, but it was too dark to see them, and I was too tired to care. Ya know yer eating something gross when it bites back...

---Finally back out on road, look at watch: that stop was over 20 minutes. Ugghh. Time for another lecture. Gotta make faster pit stops, Gary. OK, so it's about 4:55am or so. GPS says I'll arrive at around 8:40am if I don't stop. However, can the FJR can't go 243 miles without filling up. What if I get stuck in a traffic jam? What if I run outa gas? So the decision was made, rather than chance it, I'd have to stop for gas again.

--finished up the imitation sausage sliders running at about 75 mph with one hand on the throttle and the other in my mouth. They didn't taste too bad actually, and at least I wasn't starving any more.

Another issue to deal with was my physical condition. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open at times. Fatigue and sleepiness seemed to come in waves. I managed once again to fight it off. I had perhaps 1 hour and 20 minutes to go when it got really bad.

I tried fighting it off,

But this trick didn't work so well while driving.

So, I pulled off the road at Lake City for gas. I was in and out in no time (hurray???) and stopping for awhile helped me wake up. Though I saw some sprinkles, Mark was right. He said that the rain appeared to be heading away from me, like some giant arm just reached down and swept it out of my way. For quite a while, I was riding on wet pavement and light sprinkles, with lighting and nasty clouds in front of me. However, I never caught up with the storm, and it had done it's damage and left by the time I arrived. All was well, I had about 2 1/4 hours to spare according to the GPS's predicted arrival time. And then it happened. As I neared Jacksonville, all of a sudden, traffic slowed to a stop on I-10. I was in the middle of nowhere, and the GPS couldn't offer any detours as I couldn't get off the expressway. I strained my stiff neck and my tired eyes in an attempt to see far enough ahead to answer the questions:

1. What's the problem?

2. How long is this going to take?"

-must take writing break. Time to go ride the Tail of the Dragon as daughter just finished her nap.

More later.

Gary

darksider #44

Oh man! The thread that just keeps you hanging.

Yes it does!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I have decided I really really don't like Gary. Did anyone else notice that the only reason he posted anything here at all was so he could remind us all that he is sitting on arguably the best motorcycle roads east of the Big Muddy and can go ride them at will? I will be so glad when he is stuck back in Florida on nothing but straight roads.

 

[garyahouse]

Now, some of you already read my final post and moved on. However, I had MUCH editing and adding to do. Ya need go back and re-read my final post. And what's more, I forgot two things. FWIW, I would have included these pictures in the final post, but I don't dare edit the thing. Last time I tried that, the website messed it up and I had to edit out all the html language and repost every picture. It took forever. I don't want to risk messing it up to add anything. So here's the two additions:

This is the 50cc route that I took:

And this forgotten story:

Why do I put this in? Because I promised two young ladies that I would.

On my first day of the 50cc, somewhere west of Texas, I pulled into a gas station to fill her up. Seems like I never know where to put my helmet, so this time I set it next to the gas pump. After filling my tank, I had to head into the station to fill the CamelBak. But rather than leave the bike at the pump, I rolled it up to the parking spot in front of the front doors of the station, so others wouldn't have to wait for me to come back out of the store and move the bike.

Imagine my surprise when 4 or 5 minutes later, I came walking out of the gas station and met up with these two ladies

"Mr., does this belong to you?" one of them said. "Uhhh, yes it does, Thank you so much," I replied. "We found it laying next to the pump right over there..." So I told them my story, what I was trying to accomplish, and thanked them over and over. I told them that they were now going to be part of my story, and that with their permission, I'd like to take their picture and post it up here as part of the story. "We're going to be famous," one of them screamed. "Yup," I said, "You're both heroes. Did you know that you're holding about 750 dollars in your hand? I can't tell you how much I appreciate your honesty. You could have just taken it and sold it, and I would have been unable to legally drive to a motorcycle dealership to buy another one. I'd have been stuck here at this gas station, 1500 miles from home, with no helmet. As far as I'm concerned, you two are heroes.

OK. Now I can say it's finished.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Gary, forget what I said about not liking you. I take it all back. You sir, are The Man.

Reading the final paragraph of post #139 answered a question that has often gnawed at my thoughts, a question that I never fully thought through and never understood until I read that excellent piece of prose. The reason we all stay on this forum, the reason we tolerate each other's meanness and sarcasm, the reason we stay even when things don't go just the way we want them is more simple and yet more complex than I ever thought. Here on this forum with all its goofiness are the only other folks in the whole world that understand us. We can't even explain it to ourselves, but our fellow forum members know what goes on within our hearts, they understand and appreciate the things that motivate us even when our closest friends and family do not. You just taught me that when I should have known it all along. Thank you.

Congratulations on a job well done, a story well told and a ride well ridden.

 

[bgross]

Whew! Glad you finally made it home.

I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost.

Great RR & photos.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Gary, you make me laugh. You busted your butt to accomplish your goal, yet you still stay humble and know it took a lot of things coming together to make it happen.

No matter how rough your ride started, you planned the trip back just about perfectly!!

Having you as a guest at our house was an honor. I'm really glad that CamelBak did what it was supposed to do. I'm glad you listened to your friends warnings, and used your head when you got tired.

Hope the rest of your summer is great and you find a way to make it back here soon. Maybe by then, my youngest will be reading upside down.

 

[user 28803]

Gary, you are an inspiration. Thank you!

 

[Fontanaman]

This is the best ride report on the forum!

 

[DynaSport]

I just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your report. It has been an inspiration for me to quit talking about it and just do it. Now to find the time and money......

 

[Chuck35]

Great report!

I have been inspired!

 

[huchieglide]

One great ride report. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Good job, glad you are home safe.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Anyone else feel exhausted now?

Great RR, thanks for sharing!

 

[rogdeb]

A GREAT RR Gary

All of a sudden, my arthritic joints pale in comparison ......

 

[rogdeb]

"Mr., does this belong to you?" one of them said. "Uhhh, yes it does, Thank you so much," I replied. "We found it laying next to the pump right over there..." So I told them my story, what I was trying to accomplish, and thanked them over and over. I told them that they were now going to be part of my story, and that with their permission, I'd like to take their picture and post it up here as part of the story. "We're going to be famous," one of them screamed. "Yup," I said, "You're both heroes. Did you know that you're holding about 750 dollars in your hand? I can't tell you how much I appreciate your honesty. You could have just taken it and sold it, and I would have been unable to legally drive to a motorcycle dealership to buy another one. I'd have been stuck here at this gas station, 1500 miles from home, with no helmet. As far as I'm concerned, you two are heroes.

OK. Now I can say it's finished.

Gary

darksider #44

This shot couldn't have ended your RR any better

 

[Tanker]

Fantastic ending to a fabulous story Gary. Loved it all and I agree with Redfish's last post 100%

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

 

[WRThumper]

Whew, I wasn't sure if our hero would make it out of this adventure alive! But, like a good Hallmark movie, it's a happy ending.

But for me, this journey was far more than a membership in the IBA, or the "50cc" certificate I'm hoping they'll award me. It was about doing the impossible. It was about refusing to allow a dream to die. It was about timing, sacrifice, a little $$ and a lot of sweat, a touch of luck and a great deal of prayer and the help of many along the way. The doctor told me not to do it, my friends asked me why I'd want to do it, my family hoped I wouldn't do it, but my heart told me that I must do it.

Gary, for me you, don't need to explain why you had to do this ride. I totally get it. The desire isn't to prove to others that you can accomplish something like this, it's to prove to yourself that you can. Certificate or no, you know you completed the ride.

Well done, sir!

 

[garyahouse]

Not sure how many posts it took to complete this ride report, but there was no way I had the steam to complete it all in one sitting. Just thinking about it makes me...

Anyway, Thanks for all your feedback. Many times it was your comments that kept me returning to the keyboard to complete the thing. I guess it goes without saying that a writer has no purpose without a reader.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Redfish Hunter]

If I could have reached through this computer it would have been something more substantial than my comments making you "return to the keyboard"!

I do thank you for posting. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed picking on you. I blushed with embarrassment over your mistakes, I sweated with you in the desert heat, I shook my head with the crushing fatigue, and I laughed with you the whole time. I am proud of you.

Now, quit being a drama queen, stop trying to run up the "Views" count on this thread and go finish the RR on your ride with Kathleen in NC. Be sure to include photos of the lovely Kathleen.

 

[biknflyfisher]

That was, perhaps, the best ride report ever! I read it last night and was spent by the time I got through it. Man, what an adventure,,,

Gary, with regard to health issues I wish you all the best and as a fellow "man of faith", I'll just reference Phil 4:13 and Jer 29:11 which clearly you know by heart.

Brian the biknflyfisher