Demons

[Crusty]

Demons


Yesterday, I rode through some hellacious thunderstorms. According to the Weather Channel and Intellicast, it was supposed to be a beautiful sunny day.However, coming through Saint Louis was one of the most challenging rides I’ve endured in a long time. The sky was almost night time black and the rain was so heavy that visibility was down to a couple of hundred feet at times. speeds fell to 20 MPH when there weren’t accidents to stop and crawl by. I saw six separate accidents in 20 miles. Even through my Darien jacket and Buell rain pants, I got pretty wet. I passed by one rider on a Harley dresser who was just sitting under a bridge waiting for the rain to let up, and considered doing the same, but my demons wouldn’t let me. I had stopped before St. Louis and let the thunderstorm pass by while I sat in a McDonalds, but all that did was make me have to ride through the storm again; and by that time, the storm had grown in size. If I hadn’t stopped, I might have saved myself  a lot of the stress of dealing with horrendous weather that lasted longer combined with rush hour traffic.

My dad was originally from North Carolina. He met my mom when he was in the Navy and his ship was stationed in Massachusetts. When they married, they settled in Waltham where my mom was from. Often, when I was young, my family would make the trek to North Carolina to visit with my dad’s family. We would usually set out at night (my parents preferred driving through the night, as the traffic was lighter) and drive straight through until we reached my Grandparents house in Fayetteville. At times, my dad’s brothers would drive up to Massachusetts. The question always asked was, “How long did it take you?” Getting from point A to point B ASAP was the norm. (I remember one time my uncle John had to sit at the toll gate for half an hour on the New Jersey Turnpike, because he had been speeding so fast. The cops made him sit until the time he would have arrived if he had been keeping to the speed limit The toll tickets had the time issued stamped on them).

Anyhow, when I started traveling on my own, that was how I would travel. It was always about the destination and never the journey. I didn’t take a real Long Ride on a motorcycle until I got my Moto Guzzi V7 Sport in 1973. All my previous bikes had been older clunkers that had trouble running for more than a few miles without issues. My Sport was fast and reliable and meant to cover lots of miles at speed. My first Long Ride was from Colorado Springs to Lafayette, Louisiana; a distance of 1203 miles. I set out on Thursday morning,  July 5, 1973 and 22 hours later, I was at Ron’s place in Lafayette. I stayed for one day, then turned around and rode home; arriving at Noon on Sunday. I had covered 2400 miles and was really proud of that fact. Over the next few years, I rode equal distances the same way. I made the run to Lafayette a couple more times, I rode from Louisville, Kentucky to Daytona Beach the same way and I also rode from Louisville to Colorado Springs non stop. It didn’t matter if I was driving a car, pickup truck or box truck. I would drive until I absolutely had to sleep, then I’d just sleep on the front seat, or under a bridge if I was on my bike.

Over the years, I learned to temper those habits. I slowed down to a more reasonable pace, but those demons were always still in the background.

When I set out this summer, I intentionally tried to banish those demons. The idea was to enjoy the journey. I made it a point to take secondary routes and see the country. For the most part, I’ve been successful, but those demons are still there and it doesn’t take a whole lot to bring them to the fore. They jump up at any and every opportunity. When I was telling David about the storm in Saint Louis, he asked why didn’t I just stop and wait it out? I said that I probably would have had to wait for hours, and I wouldn’t have arrived here for another day. He replied, “What difference would that make?” He was right. The storm brought out the demons and all I could see was, “I have to get to Cincinnati tonight!”

I have to sit back and take a deep breath and push those demons back where they belong. This trip is not about destinations. It’s about the journey. I’m riding to see America, not to blaze through it. I passed by the World’s biggest Wind Chime and the World’s Biggest Golf Tee without investigating. I missed seeing something. All because I had to get there ASAP. Time to regroup and reestablish my priorities.

[Aaron D.]

My family is the same way-first question anybody asks if you arrive on Prince Edward Island from Massachusetts-is/was "Did you make good time?"

I've been pursued by those same demons since I started driving/riding. My wife has been responsible for whatever tempering I've had over the years, which means she's been responsible for my enjoying travel by motor vehicle a whole lot more now.

But if I'm riding alone-often the only reason to stop is to re-fuel or pee. Better if I can combine the two.

[Lannis]

It's sort of a national disease, and not getting any better.

I used to be that way to some degree - NEVER wanted to "stop the car" to give the wife and kids a break.   "YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE BEFORE WE LEFT!   NOW YOU CAN JUST HOLD IT!"

I quit that as I got older and wiser.   But the kids and young in-laws and cousins are all about how FAST they made it from one place to another, and how much Red Bull and Mountain Dew they had to drink to stay awake.    I come down pretty hard on them, but I'm sure some of it's from my example in the past (minus the stimulants - that stuff has never worked on me) ....

Lannis

[charlie b]

Mine started when in the Army.  Only had 2 weeks leave at a time.  We were on east coast, family in SW.  So, blitz to get there, to get as much time as we could with family, and then blitz back.

Still have that problem sometimes as I am still limited on vacation time.  If I am going to a specific destination then I pick the fastest route, which in many cases is the interstate that I have been on many times before.  I-40 through Little Rock I probably know where every Flying J and KOA are located.

On other trips I can take my time, use the backroads or even routes that are out of my way.  Take it a bit slower.

One thing I will enjoy about retirement is not needing to make time due to limited vacation days.

[Penderic]

Then came Dusty.


Be Well, Friend.

[Arizona Wayne]

What gave me pause was the first long bicycle trip a did some years ago. I was in Europe but maybe that doesn't matter (where).
What I came to realize is that I was missing allot of stuff that makes a journey worth while.

Sort of like slow down and smell the roses and meet the people. So much to take in when your traveling slow!

Marvelous!

mike

Kirby, if someone didn't know your intinerary they would think you smelled the roses now.  HA, we know better.   

I used to put in 500 miles days.  Now it's more like 300-350 mile days.  Try to stop only for gas or food. When I ride to a rally/campout, I rest/mingle then, before hitting the road for another 300+ mile day.  I enjoy the time on the road whether it's straight or twisty(preferred).

[guzzimike]

Yah, I was the same way back in the day...consumed by the "Demons."

Perfect example - Late 1970s; I was in college in Pomona, Ca. My GF was at San Jose State. I'd take off in my '69 VW Beetle Friday nite after traffic ( 20:00 hrs ) , drive all night to get to SJSU by Saturday morning. Visit Sat and Sunday; then take off Sunday nite to get back to Class Monday morning. To pass time and stay awake while driving I did all sorts of things ( no stimulants.. ) One time, my VW's horn developed a short circuit, and would send a mild charge onto my hands, especially if sweat was present, which it often was , in summertime.

Well, whenever I felt sleep knocking down at my eyelids, I'd grab the steering wheel where I knew the insulation was minimal. where the electric Jolt! would strike. That little Electric-Snap routine kept me awake on the trip, and it kept me going To and Fro for several more similar weekends. This routine held true for many months.

Finally I had to break down and fix that short-circuit when a year later my GF took to driving the car.

Another time, while driving the distance during a rainstorm, I calculated the area of sweep of my windshield wiper on my windshield, using Calculus. In my head.

It was not easy, because I kept drifting mentally into solving for area in toroids; which soon became virtual Donuts; which in turn made me hungry; which made me angry because I still had many, many miles to go.... And so I accelerated out of my doldrums, prompted by the Miles ahead to be devoured, seduced into action by those Road Demons.

Yep, them Demons were relentless, especially when backed by sure Trim at the end of the journey


Nowadays, I have slowed down A Lot....

Nowadays, I am lucky if I can remember how to spell " Calculus" or " Demons" correctly.


OTOH, trim still retains its allure over me; undiminished, in large part... ( knock on wood..  * NPI *  )





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[Lannis]

Yah, I was the same way back in the day...consumed by the "Demons."

Perfect example - Late 1970s; I was in college in Pomona, Ca. My GF was at San Jose State. I'd take off in my '69 VW Beetle Friday nite after traffic ( 20:00 hrs ) , drive all night to get to SJSU by Saturday morning. Visit Sat and Sunday; then take off Sunday nite to get back to Class Monday morning. To pass time and stay awake while driving I did all sorts of things ( no stimulants.. )

One good thing about being older and wiser is ....

.... there is not now and never will be ANY place that I have to get to THAT bad .....

Lannis

[Stormtruck2]

I feel your demons Crusty.  When I ride I am no longer  a 54 year old beat up/ beat down old man.  I can lean as far as I ever have, but I hurt and barely can walk to the bike.  I can feel not just the memory of past joys, but create new ones.  I can no longer sky dive, scuba dive, run for hours, or engage in fire fights, but I can hit the adrenalin button and get that old thrill again.  I no longer have the physical prowness to perform at peak levels, but my experience lets me keep up with the young bucks on their bikes. While the bike cannot banish the demons that visit me in my sleep, it gives me the ability to hold them at bay, the strength to live another day.  Live to ride, ride to live is more than just a platitude to many.

[Lannis]

I feel your demons Crusty.  When I ride I am no longer  a 54 year old beat up/ beat down old man.  I can lean as far as I ever have, but I hurt and barely can walk to the bike.  I can feel not just the memory of past joys, but create new ones.  I can no longer sky dive, scuba dive, run for hours, or engage in fire fights, but I can hit the adrenalin button and get that old thrill again.  I no longer have the physical prowness to perform at peak levels, but my experience lets me keep up with the young bucks on their bikes. While the bike cannot banish the demons that visit me in my sleep, it gives me the ability to hold them at bay, the strength to live another day.  Live to ride, ride to live is more than just a platitude to many.

I've got some of that to a degree - it takes a little time to get on and off the bike, and time to recover from a long ride.

I'd {change} one sentence above for it to describe my case:

"I no longer have the physical prowness to perform at peak levels, but my experience lets me {know to RIDE MY OWN RIDE and not have to} keep up with the young bucks on their bikes."    Sometimes it's not skill that's allowing them to get ahead of you, it's their willingness to take senseless risks on blind turns and weaving through traffic, and I'm just not going there for pleasure any more ..... !

Lannis (emoticons not available)

[Moto]

I feel your pain. I was caught in hellacious storm near St. Louis just last summer.

One of my problems in continuing through storms is just to prove to myself I can take it, rather than a particular desire to get some place in a hurry. This is something that could kill any of us, and that I find I still need to work on it. Another demon, I suppose.

One thing I would say about traveling through the U.S. is that there is not a great density of truly interesting things to see in many areas. The World's Biggest Golf Tee would be one example of something of little interest, in my opinion. What can take the place of sightseeing is slowing down and meeting people, who are usually the most interesting things around. This isn't something I'm good at, but whenever I do it I tend to remember the experience.

Glad you survived the storm, and happy to hear of your adventures!

[Arizona Wayne]

I feel your pain. I was caught in hellacious storm near St. Louis just last summer.

One of my problems in continuing through storms is just to prove to myself I can take it, rather than a particular desire to get some place in a hurry. This is something that could kill any of us, and that I find I still need to work on it. Another demon, I suppose.

One thing I would say about traveling through the U.S. is that there is not a great density of truly interesting things to see in many areas. The World's Biggest Golf Tee would be one example of something of little interest, in my opinion. What can take the place of sightseeing is slowing down and meeting people, who are usually the most interesting things around. This isn't something I'm good at, but whenever I do it I tend to remember the experience.

Glad you survived the storm, and happy to hear of your adventures!

When it comes to bike trips, mostly what I remember are the hairy parts of them.   The rest is just a blur.    It's not the destination, it's the journey. 

[mjptexas]

Demons
...I have to sit back and take a deep breath and push those demons back where they belong...

Crusty, we are what we are.  Change doesn't come any easier with age.  I suffer a bit of the same problem.  I used to blow by a place and think 'Gee, that would have made a great picture'.  I've gotten to the point where I turn around about half the time and go back and get that picture.  Sometimes change comes in small increments.

[Crusty]

Anticipation; or Something


I'm preparing to head out to Springfield (IL) to see the Mile this weekend. I won't actually head out until Thursday morning, but I'm getting everything ready to go; so on Thursday, all I have to do is get on my bike and go. I changed the engine and transmission oil yesterday; today, I have all my laundry (Including my watch band) in the washer. I would have waited until tomorrow to do the laundry, but I ran out of clean clothes. My watchband is nylon, and after a few weeks, it picks up enough sweat that the bacteria in it really start to create a strong, nasty smell. Throwing it in with my clothes get the stench out. Tonight, or tomorrow, I'll start repacking my bags. I had to empty them and let everything dry out when I arrived here after riding through that deluge in St. Louis. I wouldn't really mind so much, but I didn't have my tools in ziplock bags, and now there's rust on some of them. They'll be in ziplocks from now on. I've been using ziplocks for most everything else, but it never occurred to me to put the tools in them. Live and Learn.

I'm looking forward to watching a weekend of racing. On Saturday night, there's a Short track race in the Fairgrounds Arena. It used to be a National event, but I guess that there weren't enough people in the stands, and the Promoters decided to downgrade the race (and also lowered the purse for the racers). Still, most of the Experts who'll be racing on the Mile will be there, and the racing is always close, with a lot of bumping and hard riding. I'll be in a front row seat, as usual.

I'm supposed to meet up with some folks from Wild Guzzi. There are a lot of good people on the Guzzi forum, and it'll be nice to put faces to some of the forum names and to make new friends.

I'm hoping to stay in the campground in the Fairgrounds. I don't really care for the Riverside Park campground a couple of miles away, and I'm hoping the Campground in the fairground will be a bit nicer. Riverside Park isn't the worst campground I've stayed in this summer, but I just don't care for it a lot.

David (my brother) has a cat named Polar, and she likes to tap me on the leg so that I'll pet her. She learned pretty quickly that I'm an easy mark and she constantly interrupts me when I'm at my laptop. After all, she's the cat and it's my duty to pet her whenever she thinks I should. At least in her mind that's true.
David's other cat, Phoenix, is pretty paranoid. He likes to sleep on my bed during the day, but bolts whenever I walk into the room. He's not quite as bad as when I first arrived; at least now, he occasionally lets me pet him. When I first got here, he would run and hide every time I caught sight of him.

I need to get a new pair of boots. I was going to get a cheap pair of "waterproof" boots that are on sale from Competition Accessories, but even though their website said they were "In stock" when I called, the guy on the other end of the phone told me it would be 6 to 8 Business days before I got them. Since I don't know where I'll be at that time, I had to give them a miss. However, my twisted and devious mind is telling me that since David got me the tent for my birthday, I should take the money I would have spent on it and add it to the money the cheap Chinese boots would have cost then go to Walter Dyer Leather in Framingfish, when I get back to Taxachusetts and buy the Chippewa Rally boots that I've been lusting after for years. Not only are they made in the USA, but they're supposed to be first class in quality. I won't buy a pair until I get measured and try them on, though. I've wasted too much money on boots I got online that don't fit. I was willing to gamble with $50.00 boots from Comp Accessories, but really good boots are something I want to fit right and last a long time.

Well, I think I'll get out into this beautiful day and do something.