Oh my soul. What a vacation. Talk about America the beautiful. Then there was the 50cc. What a ride. What an experience. Where do I start? What can I say? I could write for hours about this.
Let's begin with the man who saved my life. Hot Rod Zilla, I'm so glad you recommended the Camelback. I had no idea how much water I would need to drink. I've never in my life experienced heat like that. Granted, the weather was forcast to be near record highs coming through the deserts of Calif, Ariz. and New Mexico. The problem was that I had to drive so many miles in that temperature range. I must have spent something like 12-15 hours in that miserable heat at various stages of the ride beginning with my trip from your house in Albuquerque NM to the Grand Canyon.
With the Camelback filled to the brim with ice water, I found myself sucking on that thing the the fat boy pulls at the end of the tug-of-war rope. I drained it more than once and even found myself afraid for a while as I was "riding dry", looking for a gas station at one point. It's amazing how far you can ride seeing nothing but sand out there. Good thing I brought my little tube of chapstick. Nobody ever warned me about extremely dry lips. But concerning using the Camel back and it's wonderful bite valve, I did have a little dilemma. When it got really hot on my way across the Nevada and Calif. deserts to Brett's house (BGROSS), it was almost painful to lift my face shield to get a drink. I had to be careful to duck my head below the wind-blast to get a drink. At 80 mph, that kinda heat feels EXACTLY like putting a blowdryer up to your face and turning it on. The air blast actually burns. Even holding a gloved hand out in the air blast left a burning sensation between my fingers. I had high hopes that my air wings would keep me cool, and they did for most of the trip, but when it gets REALLY hot, I had to redirect all four of them away from me. Thank God the FJR's fairing and my aftermarket shield allows absolutely no direct air to hit my body. Now I know that's important in desert riding as well as cold weather riding.
I must be the only guy in history that sucked the bite valve clean off of a Camelback... because somewhere in Louisiana, I looked down and it was GONE. Uggh!!!! how did that happen? Thankfully, I was able to just suck on the remaining on/off valve when I needed water. I'll be posting up a ride report and some pics soon.
I even had to be careful of brain freeze from too much ice water too quickly.
I became quite good at getting the camel back filled with water by pushing the little button for water next to the lemonade dispenser on the typical gas station self-serve drink fountain. I learned to be careful not to bump the soda dispersers on either side with the camelback's wide-mouth opening. I did get some soda down in the Camel back a couple times while learning this.
I'd also like to thank Brett (Bgross) for all his help. He spent a lot of time aiding me in route planning and knowing what I could expect. I had no idea how many times along the way I was going to seriously consider quitting. But now I've got two bottles of water: one from the Pacific and one from the Atlantic... and pictures taken by and of the beachgoers that watched me collecting it.
I'd also like to thank Dave Cook (Screwball Dave) for his help in giving me weather reports and distances, advice, encouragement and for your prayers.
Saving the best till last, I want to thank the Lord for watching out for me. Many times along the way, Doe-doe here found himself not paying attention closely enough, and wandering out of his lane. I will never forget one certain high speed ramp in Louisiana. Thank you God. More on that in my ride report.
And even after 9 hours of sleep last night, I am still a very tired...
garahouse
darksider #44
