Sunday, September 6, 2009

Labor Day Ride, the Triple Nickel! Rt. 555!



Took off Friday evening about 6 pm, goal was to ride all secondary roads to Marietta, Oh. Stay at the Lafayette Hotel on the River, up early and then ride the Triple Nickel back to Zanesville and then Rt. 60 home.

Plans change! Will post the details here soon!

Ok, decided at work I was NOT gonna waste a perfectly good weekend of riding weather, after all, this is OHIO and the weather changes by the MINUTE! I rushed right home after work and packed up, made a few stops on the way out of town and pulled out of Norwalk 6 pm sharp! Planned on doing St. Rt. 60 from Ashland to Marietta, but when I got to Rt. 224, I remembered I'd ridden 60 to Loudonville quite a bit lately. SO, too Rt. 13 all the way to Historical Rt. 40 and was gonna grab Rt. 60 at Zanesville. Pulled over there to put cold gear on, yea, them holllers and valleys get cool after dark (9:30 PM by then) A local and fellow rider walking by asked where I was headed. He was adamant Rt. 60 was very unsafe for rider's after dark due to an early Deer run this year, said they are everywhere after dark! So I took Rt. 40 22 miles over to 77 and shot 41 miles to Marietta. Was in my room by 10:50 pm.


Had a GREAT Pizza there, and while I waited for it in the bar met a great bunch of guys there for a wedding. A guy named Johnson sitting right on the corner with me actually went to Appalachian Univ. in Mars Hill N.C., which is my favorite place in the world! Talked allot and exchanged business cards! He's gonna check out my pictures on the web when he gets back to Upstate N.Y.

Anyway, up early and on the road by 8:45, ok, maybe not so early, but hit the Triple Nickel by 9:00 AM and 222 miles on the trip O.D., made it about 20 miles when I felt a "Snap" as I clutched, got instantly sick in the stomach, about 10 to 15 shifts later the big snap! YEP! On the Nickel with NO clutch cable! Rode about another 10 miles shifting without the clutch until I hit a little berg called Chesterhill at Rt. 377. Had to hit the KILL switch as it was a blind intersection at a main highway, and I had NO IDEA which direction to the nearest H.D. Dealership, and did NOT want to ride further from my S.O.S. repair center. Of course there was NO cell service, but a very nice local invited me to use his phone, and after calling 3 dealers found one in Zanesville with the part I needed. He said the truck was out, and he'd call back when it came in to find out where I was and that I was about an HOUR away from them! did the math, and that would make it a VERY LONG WAIT AND DAY AND TOTAL DOWN TIME FOR THIS BREAK! So, told the man when they called back to tell them I was gonna limp it there!

This is my Baby Broken down on a HILL none the less!
Yes, I had to PUSH it up that hill to get it all the way off the road!

I worked it up to the intersection in gear on the starter, then when clear put in 2nd gear and pulled out using starter and hit the throttle about 1/4 of the way and after neck snapping jerks it started and I was ON THE ROAD again! Rode quite a way to Rt. 78 and on a major downhill slope hit the kill switch again and flagged down the big truck that had been following me for directions to Zanesville. The checked and had Cell service, so called Fink's H.D. for detailed instrucions how to get there, was still about 30 miles out. So got up 78 to Rt. 60!, through 2 lighted intersections without having to hit the kill switch, and rode the wonderful scenic Rt. 60 all the way to the first light in Zanesville, where I had to turn left, yea, right! Light DID NOT cooperate this time and in a 5 lane intersection did not want to sit in the middle trying to start in gear, so went left of center into the oncoming lane, down the birm and turned through the intersection w/flashers on and everyone looking at me like F***ing Bikers think they own the road! Made it to within eyesight of the dealer and was such a busy intersection, picture Sandusky at the mall! So two guys say me trying to get it started and into the intersection and ran over to help, with a little push at the right time got that baby down to the dealershiip!

Anyway, Fink's H.D. was GREAT! Fast and efficient! Walked across the street for some food while I waited and spent the usual on T-shirts for friends and such. Got back on the road at 2:55 pm with 295 miles on the Trip odometer. Grabbed Rt. 60 and rode it to 224 to 13 to HOME! I was home by 6 pm with 428 miles on the trip od. for this impromptu road trip! Home in time to unload, and hit Milan Melon Festival for Jim's Pizza Box TACO'S!!! Bought a total of over 36 taco's, about a third of those are in my fridge for the lunches the rest of the week!
This is Jimmy with his little girl! I think I helped with her college fund this weekend!
As long as it's going for a good cause Jimmy and Pizza Box Crew!


How Many David's can you see here?
Yea, this is all I packed for an overnight ride!


Very cool old barn just miles before the cable snapped...



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