A Funny Thing Happened...

A Funny Thing Happened...

We departed Columbus, IN, in the dark... It was 5:30am local time, 4:30am where we were headed. I'd simply wanted to get a jump on the morning traffic around Indianapolis, and since we would be on super slabs the entire day, it didn't matter much about the lack of ambient light. Just us and big trucks mostly, and of course the occasional NASCAR fan weaving in and out of our respective glide paths. Traffic was far lighter than it would be only an hour or two later...

Defying expectations, we missed no turns, had no close-calls, and everything went about as smoothly as we could have wanted... Except for the road surfaces, naturally, which had the usual lumps and bumps here and there. Due to the darkness, as we've all learned, few of those 'biker traps' are seen in advance, so naturally more of them were felt... jarring the rider's eye-teeth and inducing colorful language exclamations.

A full-throated sigh of relief was uttered as we turned onto I-74 west and left that bustling metropolis fading swiftly in our girl's mirrors. The sun was just starting to indirectly illuminate the area, but it was still not visible to us. We would be heading west, so no problem with that brilliant orb soon directly assaulting our delicate retinas with hurtful photons, either. My denim jacket had even felt good in the pre-sunrise air! Yep, that day just seemed to offer all the makings for a downright fine scoot!

Westward into Illinois, then eventually north towards Rockford... giving Chicago a wide berth as always... and our hoped-for destination for our second gas/break stop... Time for another cup-o'-Joe, too. I wondered how far we might get that day... Would we continue north into Wisconsin, or might we veer off towards South Dakota? Most likely north, predictably, because of the feverish temperatures forecasted for the central plains... Not much better along the northern route either, but even a few degrees can make a noticeable difference!

We were on reserve when I spotted the Pilot truck stop... and breathed yet another sigh of relief! Dangitall, I've just gotta stop trying to stretch things out like that! Cheapest gas in Illinois I'd seen so far, so that was a relief in itself. Dismounting was an even bigger relief, and the A/C inside felt absolutely wonderful! An exchange of acknowledgment nods with the sole trucker seated along the window eating area, and then a check of the phone to see if anybody might be looking for us... Not exactly...

No recent calls, but there was a voicemail from Lulu from a few days before. Dang, I do have such fine friends, and it amazes me how much of a lift I can get from just reliving interactions and the bonding that has occurred over the years... I called and left a message for her. I then recollected a reply to my latest post by Barbie. In that brief reply she’d reminded me of the upcoming Quad-State Ride that would be starting that very day... and I wondered...

We’d already done a fairly good days' worth of riding, but it was only 11:30am local time... Reckon we could make it to Holmen, WI? Yes, I concluded, if we bore down and rode hard... So, I gave Barb a call to see if we could still crash the party after all... YEP! She would handle the details right then. Within twenty minutes she called me back with all the arrangements made and this surprise attendee all set up! OK, time to saddle-up and hit the trail... in earnest!

An hour later, I was starting to think I’d bitten off more than I could chew! If I hadn’t made that call, I could have been sitting in front of a motel room A/C unit someplace, loafing, dozing and snacking at my leisure... Instead, our girl and her overly ambitious unwise rider were still pounding the pavement with a couple more hours yet to go! The temperature was rising, the rider’s fanny was already complaining, and the end was nowhere in sight!

Dang, it just wasn’t this hard back when we were simply solitary explorers... or so that thought suggested as it popped into my thinker muscle. Of course, that thought was quickly followed by another reminder of just how much my life has been enriched by the countless friendships and acquaintances made through almost a quarter century of life aboard our girl... That is the best part of this entire extraordinary experience; and then, yet another thought percolated to the conscious level...

Present hardships are the fodder of future big-dogging secessions, and this just could turn into a humdinger... We rode on as the sun continued to do its work... and sweat continued to pour... One could make a case for this being a totally ‘Green’ exercise, as this uncomfortable rider continued to ‘repurpose’ water into perspiration, which would then contribute to the evaporative effects of natural air conditioning... I only wished the process actually worked as well as that narrative implies!

About twenty-five miles or so from our ultimate destination and before we’d gone on reserve... for a change... we pulled into a station for fuel, A/C, water, and a much-needed fanny break. I thought seriously about lying down on the floor for a nap! I finally mustered the wherewithal to complete the journey... “We can do this,” I muttered to myself, as I half-heartedly attempted to reassure myself it would be worth it to go the final distance.

Just as we were passing the gas pumps on our way back to the slab... Two riders aboard trikes entered the lot directly in front of us... It was Barb and Don! They were stopping one last time before arrival themselves... so a U-turn by us and another break for a still very weary rider! This time, though, I did go for the ice-cream sandwich I’d passed on only a few minutes before... Barb led us the final stretch to the Prairie Inn & Suites, where I was able at long last to greatly exceed my own expectations by actually safely dismounting our girl unassisted.

This whole thing was... Well, I’d told anyone who would listen that I wasn’t going to be able to make that event this year... I’d begun that day riding easy, smelling the roses, and mostly simply trying to avoid becoming a road casualty. Normally we would have taken two days to make that ride to Holmen, so with not enough time to pull it off, I had no thoughts at all of showing up there. But... we had left unusually early that day...

The second half had been an exhausting day of bearing down in the heat and making many, many miles and pushing myself beyond where I’d like to have gone physically. Our girl of course, just took everything in stride. Just being there was a most worthwhile reward, however, for an otherwise unwise day in the saddle. Our family is an extraordinary composite of fine folks, and just hanging out with them is always... OK, I’m preaching to the choir again...

Funny thing about all of this... Another totally different outcome at the end of the day than what had been ‘planned’ at the beginning or even imagined throughout the entire first half! I’m starting to wonder if perhaps this planning stuff just may be over my head...

DDT

P.S. No animals, except insects of course, were injured in the making of this adventure. Also, no bigfoot sightings were made, and the rider was not incinerated by a flaming-death car tire.

P.P.S. As I was putting the finishing touches on this post, there came a knock upon my door... It was my good friend 'Dusty Roads', also known as MitchO. He is to accompany our girl and her hapless rider westward... perhaps to Idaho...The adventure continues...