First things first – Interstate National Star Sport is going to repair Marks motorcycle under warranty. I really am glad. Mark is a good guy and he does love to ride. I am somewhat disappointed that another boycott has ended so soon. I was kind of starting to look forward to throwing rocks through windows and burning some buildings down, but I guess I have to put away the matches again.
The trip to Deals Gap was awesome. The weather Friday was perfect. The traffic on Friday was perfect. It was a perfect day and probably the best day I have ever had down there. I made it down in just 10 hours, 9 hours of riding with an hour of stops. I really did not take any pictures that are any different than any of the other 1,000 pictures I have taken, so I won’t be posting any pictures from the trip. Mostly I was just too busy riding to take pictures anyway.
The weather Saturday was a little bit less than perfect. The day sure started out good, and I thought I would have another excellent day, but rain soon blew in and the temperature dropped. Most of the people who were there were smart enough to trailer their bikes in and most of them went home on Saturday. I spent the day waiting for it to stop raining. It never did.
Sunday was the trip home. This was an awful ride. I would have rather been at work than riding my motorcycle. The temperature never got above 40 degrees. At one point it was 35 degrees and raining. I have ridden in temperatures much colder than 40 degrees before, but I have never tried to ride 580 miles in this kind of cold. I suspect the reason I have never tried this is because it is a really stupid thing to do. I did everything I could to stay warm. I bought chemical heat pads and stuck them in my gloves and shoes. I bought a 12 volt electric blanket and cut a hole in the center of it to make an electric poncho for under the sweatshirt and three coats that I wore. I had three pairs of pants on. I suppose all these things probably helped a lot, but I was still colder than I have ever been in my life. The trip home took me 13 1/2 hours to complete. Even still, if I could do it all over again this weekend I would. The time I had down there on Friday was worth all of the suffering I did on the way home.
Check out tailofthedragon.com. Look down toward the bottom of the page. That’s right, a nice little picture of the Tanksters backside.
Once again I have to give thanks to the entire staff at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort. Everyone there is just the greatest. Brad is very lucky to have such a great group of people working there.