I’m delighted to report that the party in Montgomery went off as well as we could have hoped! No blood was spilt, and no bail money had to be surrendered to the long arm of the law, either. Notice, I am not proclaiming innocence on anybody’s part here, I’m just acknowledging our good fortune… and our good time!
The folks I know there became really dear to me, and an important and wonderful chapter in my life resulted from my association with all of them. Jerry had a chance to glimpse some of the reasons I hold the memory of all of that so special. Alas, one can never go back, though…
As good as it was back then, and as many mixed feelings as I had when I departed, I knew then it was time… And, I remain convinced I did what had to be done. I had fallen into the seductive trap of an overly sedentary lifestyle that included way too much inactivity, both physically and intellectually. I was quite literally withering away, going downhill in that ‘death-spiral’ that ultimately leads to an early grave. For once in my life, I knew precisely what I needed to do!
I’ve been unable to completely return to the life I love… and need. I have been able to find a suitable path, however, that does enable me to still come and go regularly, routinely, but it just isn’t the same. Likely those times of totally random, multi-year indefinite rambling are gone forever, but that’s not as big of a deal now as it might have been a decade and a half ago. Besides, I did have a good taste of the life I’d previously only dreamt of, and the fond memories produced linger long in my thoughts.
For some reason Jerry and I failed to wake-up at the crack of dawn ‘the morning after’, but we did finally arise and begin ‘the process’… KSU did arrive long before the noon whistle had blown, however, and we did make good use of what little ‘cool’ remained of the morning. Not much, mind you, but the first hundred miles or so were downright enjoyable. That turned out to be the majority of the ride that day!
We breezed through Tuscaloosa and made the turn due north onto AL 43… the same road I’d taken on my way to Solo1’s 90th birthday party. On that previous ride, the left rear wheel bearing had gone out on our girl in Russellville, AL… about 60 miles north of the town of Fayette, AL… It was Déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Bera once described such an event…
Yep, I heard another clanking, banging, frightful noise that indicated a significant change in her ordinary smoothness was underway. Our Valks are so smooth, quiet, comfortable, and reliable, that we usually take them for granted and expect nothing unpleasant will ever happen… Well, I’ve learned that on occasion, things not-so-nice can indeed happen! “Wonder what all that is about,” I anxiously thought to myself!
Now, most here know that I’m not exactly mechanically or technologically gifted… Heck, I have to plan in advance, think really hard, and focus intently just to change a toilet paper roll… Of course, some women might point out that this trait alone sets me apart from most men, and that I should be commended for that. Be that as it may, all I knew for certain was that our girl was probably broke! What precisely might be broken eluded me completely…
I pulled into a gas station in Fayette and asked my partner to take her for a spin and see if he could figure anything out. Jerry, unlike his ten-thumbed, single-digit IQ riding companion, is rather nifty at such things; so, ALI was in good hands, and her future looked much brighter for that. He returned shortly and proclaimed the left rear wheel bearing was toast… Yep, those immortal words of ol’ Yogi were right on the money!
Meanwhile, Troutdude was busily trying to wrap-up myriad loose ends, so he could get underway to meet-up with ALI and me in a couple of days for the big trek northward. OK, that is a profound understatement… This always busy guy had more loose ends than an Army regiment in the midst of a raging dysentery outbreak! Sheeesh! I really, really hated to make that call… You know the one… The one I always make when… Yep, I happen to be Dennis’ ‘needy friend’!
He asked me a string of questions in rapid succession… kind of like a machine gun firing point-blank at me, and… For all I understood, he might as well have been reading from the Koran… in Arabic! I handed the phone to Jerry, and things apparently got communicated, and a plan was begun to be formulated…
After several iterations, the upshot of it all was that Dennis was going to get a couple hours of sleep after putting the new rear tire I had at his place on a nearly new wheel he’d picked up recently… complete with wheel bearings and spacer already in place. He’d put that in his m/c boat trailer along with a jack, adapter, and tools, then ride to meet us at the motel we landed-in in Fayette… early the following morning.
After changing the wheel out on ALI, we’d leave together from there on our big trek, and Mitch would meet us the day after and take Dennis’ trailer to his house in Illinois for Dennis to pick-up on his way back from Canada. Should have been rather simple and straight-forward… Except for the heat, that’s exactly the way things went, too! Mostly...
Dennis arrived around 7:30am the next morning, and activity got into high gear (are you impressed with this technical talk I’m tossing around?). Jerry had already removed the saddle bags after I had unloaded them. Dennis moved our girl to a shady location, so he didn’t actually sweat more than a couple of gallons after all…
Things occurred rather quickly and efficiently, and, as always, I was very impressed with the process, plus the two of them seemed to make a pretty good team. Naturally, my job was to stay at least ten feet away from any work, and if for any reason I should venture within that ten-foot radius, my hands absolutely had to be in my pockets! Under no circumstances was I to even touch any tools!!! The work wrapped up soon enough, and I had that satisfied feeling one gets when things work out and a happy ending results… It helped knowing I’d done a good job with my part, too…
An all too familiar pose for this needy guy’s benefactor…
gas stations that are open 24 7
Old spacer - notice the grove on the right side of spacer in photo.
Following a test scoot down the road a little way, all appeared in order, and I was confident we could once again ride cross-country and seek adventure. Off we went… Me leading two of the best friends I have! I am so fortunate…
DDT
