(Sometimes gearing up is half the fun)Today I trekked West toward LA to ride one of my favorites: HWY 2. Its 80 miles from where I'm staying, and I left at 6:30, early enough to to beat the traffic. As I climbed in altitude it started getting chilly, so I stopped for a gas station coffee and warm up near the start of this famous stretch of road.
The locals were horrified when I told them where I was going, and I soon learned why. All the rain had caused rock slides, and the road was full of heavy equipment to clear the mess. Three miles in, the road was closed. I passed through enough rock and debris on the easy early miles of the road to know it was probably just as well.
I turned back toward the desert, sympathized with a couple of "sport tourers" and hit the road. (They were discusted locals, "If you can't ride up here in July, when can you?").
I was disappointed (and cold), hit the highway through a construction zone, and nearly lost one of my nine lives. Some maniac in a mini-van darted in front of me from the left, nearly rear-ended the car that was in front of me, then cut back to the left and missed the car he passed by inches. (I say "he", but I got no idea). There was newly planted pylons, dirt, construction vehicles and tight traffic. I don't know why a bunch of us didn't bite it, and I don't know what was up with the guy--either he was having road rage at the slow vehicle he passed on the right, or he didn't see me (but I know he did). Either way, I always ask myself what I should have done differently, and the only thing I come up with is that I should have seen the crazy behind me a ways back. It's hard when you're in a construction zone and dealing with those obstacles, but that's why you gotta be super competent to ride a motorcycle, and I nearly came short. I'll stop feeling sorry for myself more quickly about a "bad" day next time. Oh, and I also learned that I'll probably talk to myself (out loud) about it if I ever do go down ugly. I'll spare you the words that came out of my mouth.
So, day's over, it's NOON, so what's a girl do? I came home and made a smoothie (my first mean, if you don't count coffee), and set about motorcycle maintenance. My Lil Trip's still dirty after his flash flood run-in, so I needed chain cleaning, lubrication, and a top-up of coolant. I finally found a shop that's open on a Monday, only to find it closed.
I was gonna do a quickie up 74, but Brian at Auto Zone (he was on a Gixer), said "you don't wanna go up there right now". (FYI, Auto Zone has WaterWetter, oil and filters, but nothing else for a bike. (I was gonna do my own maintenance, but guess not).
Fortunately right after my smoothie I booked a massage, so I had Eugene from Transylvania coming over at 6 (seriously). So after battling desert sun trying to find some biker supplies, I settled on steak, wine, and a massage. What's a girl gonna do.
Oh, in my biker tools pursuit, I did find some guys at a car wash who let me use a hose to rinse the silt from Lil Trip's radiator and chain. Now if I can just find some chain lube. 'Cause tomorrow, We got a big day.
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