Atlanta - Socal - Atlanta

[sometimesido]

Tuesday, May 26th

The day started late. I wanted to leave early, but I had stuff to take care of. I ended up not leaving the house til 11:30 AM
Sky a little greyish, but it's not raining...yet.

After I passed the Georgia -> Alabama border, it started raining. I stop under a bridge to put my rain coat on, only to take it off 15 minutes later. This went on more than a couple times. I was annoyed to say the least. As I have changed plans, I tossed the Tenessee/Arkansas/Oklahoma plan and went straight to Texas via Alabama/Mississippi/Louisiana route.

Oh, Alabama. nothing much to report except, on one of the stops to the gas station, I took a wrong turn and had to do a U-turn. What I didn't see was a loose gravel in my line of the U on the other side of the road and it slipped the rear wheel. It jerks me to one side right away and somehow, just somehow I catch the tire back and I'm on my way again. I couldn't help to think the trip could've ended right there and then. Ok, back to my song and the road.

Somewhere in Mississippi while messing with my new MP3 player, it froze and I stopped to reset it. I could not find a sharp pointy object for the life of me to fit inside the tiny reset hole on the MP3 player. After fiddle around and looking at the shoulder for five minutes, I picked up a piece of tire shred which had steel belts showing. Ah ha! about the same diameter as a paper clip and that did the trick. I was happily on my way again.

When I got to around Canton, Texas, I saw many lightning strikes somewhere far away on both the left and right side of the highway. I was thinking, "oh my, I'm going to run right into that!" I get to Terell, Texas and it started pouring down with heavy wind. I stopped under a bridge to put my rain coat on and next thing I know crack, craCK, BOOM!!! Lighting hits something on the bridge right on top of me. Whoa!!! I should have stayed under that bridge, but adrenaline kicks in and I speed off. Not even getting to the next nearest exit, I'm hit by severe down pour and heavy wind. At first, I was screaming like a cowboy on a horse riding through the rain to see a girl I haven't seen for a while. This feeling quickly turned in to "oh sh*t" moment. I'd like to think I'm pretty used to crosswinds, but this was entirely in a different class. I felt like my bike and I were getting slapped around by the wind. I was going slower and slower in hopes of gaining some kind of control, but by the time I was about an eighth of a mile from an exit, it got so bad that I was going five miles per hour. Ok, imagine getting hit by a crosswind from the left so bad that rear tire is slipping from the initial "push" and you have your left knee out to offset that. Did I mention this was at five miles per hour? I was scared. I thought for sure I was going to slip and fall, but I didn't. I don't know how. I was basically gliding in first gear with no throttle twist.

I park the bike right next to the pump trying to protect it from the wind so it won't knock it over and go inside the diner next door to wait til the wind calms down. I call my buddy in Fort Worth(60 miles away) to explain what just happened and he didn't want to hear none of it. He kept saying that he had a girl he's trying to hook me up with and that I should call him back when I decide if I'm coming to where he is. At first, I was baffled by this response. Oh but wait, slurred speech... He's drunk. 30 minutes pass by and wind has died down. I thought about getting a motel room so I asked people sitting close by if they knew a motel near by. One of them did and gave me directions. Cool! I ask for my check for the cup of coffee and the waitress says don't worry about it. Wow, thank you very much. I'm reaching for my wallet to leave a kind lady a tip and suddenly realized. I used up my last couple of dollars for snacks few hours back. Doh!

I left the diner and was headed for this motel room that supposedly had a clean room for $40 a night. Well...the wind died down and I said F it. I'm going to my buddy's place. After many wet miles I get off the final exit and call him to make sure he's home. He's at a Waffle House couple miles from his house. Ok, good enough. After I met him at the Waffle House and starting to follow him home, there was another biker that got inbetween my friend and me. He thought that was me and started to take off down the road. When my buddy was getting off the exit, I had to go around this biker and cut him off to make the exit. If you, the biker, is reading this, I'm sorry. It's my friend's fault. We finally get to his house and parked the Ninja in his garage. I fall down to crash for the night and looked at the time. 5:30 A.M. I shut my eye...


(While this was going down, I had another small problem. I had bought a universal cigarette plug for the GPS that came with several different adaptors including a couple mini USB ones that fit the GPS unit. Well, this adaptor piece came loose on the way to Texas and wasn't making contact with the wire properly. It just so happens that the battery is low and might go out at any minute. I was wresting with the adaptor the whole time. Except the five miles per hour part. Honestly, I probably couldn't have found his house without a GPS.)

Wednesday, May 27th

No riding today. I've decided to stay a day here so I can catch up with my friend Brad. He grilled steaks for breakfast. I tried to help out by cooking eggs, but no. Little did I know, the eggs in his fridge were two month old and exploded in my hands when I tried to crack them open. Ah well. He drove me around later sight seeing a little bit and took some pictures. We went into down town and had a beer at a bar that had an upstairs patio looking down at the city. Nice. OH, I got to try Whataburger for the first time. Good burger. I liked their own special blend ketchup too. Came back to his place and checked the bike out and lubed the chain. I started writing this and now it is 12:30 A.M. I need some shut eye for tomorrow. Good night.

Thursday, May 28th

Woke up around 6:30 A.M. to start the day early. I knew I had longer day today going to Tempe, Arizona. (Thought my friend lived in Phoenix) The day started out wonderful. It was sunny, but not too hot from the storm a day earlier. I've never realized how big Texas really is. Riding for hours and hours and guess what? I'm still in Texas!

At Roscoe, Texas; I stop for gas and food. I fill my tank, get some food, and start walking back to the bike. As I get closer to my bike, i see there are spots of engine oil right under my bike! Oh Sh*t! I get the right side of the bike and the engine oil cap is missing! Back in Abilene, I topped off the oil to the Max level and must've forgot to put the cap back on... I'm going, F F F F F F. I call my buddy back in Atlanta to look up a Kawasaki dealer near me. 60 miles back to Abilene. I call the place up and of course they don't have it. Called up couple other places. No luck. My buddy calls me back and says he found a bike shop which might have one from an old 250 engine. Great! I called them up and the owner(who my buddy spoke to) is out to lunch. This nice lady on the phone was nice enough to call the owner on his cell phone and ask for me and called me back. Well, he said he might have it. I thought for a moment and decided to move forward to Arizona. I duct taped the hell out of the opening and ride out...



Gas station I stopped at to find out the cap was missing:


About 60 miles from hitting El Paso, I hit another storm. Arg... In the army, we have a saying, "if it ain't raining, we ain't training." Well I guess for me it's, "if it ain't raining, I ain't ridin'." There is a video for this, I'll post it later. I also saw a sign that says, "STRONG WINDS." Well, they are not kidding when they say this. I finally understand the level of crosswinds you guys around this are are talking about. Basically, I had my right knee out and leaning my upper body to the right side almost the entire time from here, past El Paso, almost to Las Cruces. I don't know how you guys ride out there. It was scary.

on the way to El Paso:


El Paso looks amazing with houses all over the mountains! You can look this up on google. I didn't take pictures because of rain, wind, and heavy traffic. I was hungry, tired, and almost out of gas. I stopped at a Burger King to grab something to eat. I sat by the window to watch out for my bike. This pretty girl who was working the drive-thru sat couple tables down and started flirting with me. Haha, I almost wish I stayed longer. I went a gas station to find they had 86 Octane. I fill it with 88 thinking I'll fill up with 86 next time to balance it out by the time I hit Arizona. I hit the highway and I'm immediately hit by these powerful crosswinds again. Rain has stopped by this time, but I could see the dark clouds far away. I am forced to shift my weight to the right just to go straight. Every time I get hit pretty bad, I just do a cowboy scream and move on...

By the time I'm crossing the border from Texas to New Mexico, the sun has set and was getting dark. I started seeing signs for dust storms and something about zero visibility. I just wanted to get to my destination. I don't care how long it took. I don't care how much my butt hurts. I don't care how my right palm hurts from pressing down the Crampbuster for hours. I just want to drink a beer at my buddy's house in Tempe. Highway was just a straight stretch in pitch black darkness for miles and miles. Only available light source was from occasional passing cars and trucks. I guess going 75mph is just not fast enough in the middle of nowhere at one in the morning. New Mexico, there will be another day for you...

I arrive somewhere in Tucson around one in the morning, local time. It's so close and I think I could get to Tempe before three. I stop for gas and saw this interesting motorcycle pull up to get gas. I knew it was something from the 70's and but could not make out a brand. I get in to look at some map of Arizona and started talking to the owner of the bike. Orange 1974 BMW R75, Complete with factory windshield, a cruise control, and BMW flip up helmet! We started talking about the bikes and trips on bike while the time just flew away.

Tucson to Tempe leg of the trip was just dangerous. Note to all: DO NOT operate a motor vehicle when you are sleepy. Sounds easy, but I was being hard-headed and kept on riding up and down the valleys in the middle of the night. When I finally got to Tempe, it was 4 A.M. local time. My friend has been waiting patiently while drinking a beer. I was a bit confused about exact whereabouts of the house, but he heard my exhaust and came right out. As soon as I get settled in on his couch, he offers me a beer. Yes, please.

Friday, May 29th to Saturday, May 30th
Fun in the sun. Reserved for pictures.

Sunday, May 31st
will update soon.

[kkim]

Thanks for the read.

safe journeys, Chris... we're all along with as you ride.

[00v_Lucky]

thx for sharing. it sounds like road trips on a bike is much more interesting than those in a car.

[bob706]

Hopefully you have no more "oh sh*t" moments. Keep us posted and have a good trip.

[Strider]

D@mn Chris! Your having an exciting time already.

Stay safe out there and keep us posted...

Here's to hoping there aren't anymore "oh sh*t" moments!

[tiburonsita]

Wow, interesting read! Keep safe. No video was running?

[sometimesido]

in Tempe, Arizona.
no videos of That storm.
have not taken many photos due to weather.
I'll update the original post later, but here is a pic.

[Alex]

What is that pic showing, has it developed a leak?

[sometimesido]

it's missing a part.

[Alex]

Ah. Gotcha...

[sometimesido]

updated a little...i'll be back later.

[Verus Cidere]

Yes, the crosswinds around here are freakin' ridiculous! Glad to hear you figured out how to deal with them.

[speedgsx98]

r u in SoCal yet? BTW, how'z the butt feel, or should I say, how numb is it? If you're coming this way, you're welcome to stop by! zip is 92130...right off the 1-5 freeway 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego. Lemme know and I can PM you the address.

[sometimesido]

I'm in San Diego for one or two more days, then to Pasadena.
Wheeee

sorry for not updating, having too much fun out here.

[CC Cowboy]

Duct tape, what a great invention. Sometimes safety wire on important items works too.

Glad you're having fun. Did you remember to bring pennicillin?

[sometimesido]

nope, but i have a first aid kit.

Now in Pasadena, California.
I'm thinking of moving here...

[Strider]

Come on Chris! Pics, man!

[randomwalk101]

wow..great adventure.
I always wanted to do something like this but just doesn't have the balls....oh and stuck with a stupid job too...

Question: Say you ride and stop for the night at a motel or whatever...How do you protect your bike while sleeping? My biggest fear is waking up in the morning and the bike is gone and I'm 1000 miles away from home by myself....oh man

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by speedgsx98

r u in SoCal yet? BTW, how'z the butt feel, or should I say, how numb is it? .

He's in San Diego not San Francisco

[sometimesido]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

He's in San Diego not San Francisco

hm? he did say SoCal.

I'm sorry guys. Pics and Updates will come later.

Random: I've been fortunate enough to have friends at cities I've stopped at, but I'd have to say get a ground level motel room and put the bike inside, then chain it to something.

Also, I haven't taken that many pics, but I'll make a slide show of it later and include very little video I have.

This trip was somewhat rushed and poorly planned. Guess you live and learn. I under budgeted and now I'm just rushing to get back home.

Note: if you plan a long trip, take about 1.5 to 2x more money then you think you need...
2. get all the maintenance items taken care of. ignoring something to save you couple of bucks might end up costing you double, triple, or quadruple on the road...

My bike is not well, but I think I just might be able to gimp it home.

[CC Cowboy]

Good Luck! Hope you get home safely.

[sometimesido]

thanks! I'll need it.

loud valve noises, stretching chain, scratched paint, never ending butt sore, thousands of bugs wiped off the windshield, discovering a hole in the wallet, taking a nap at shady looking rest stops four in the morning.

Yea, I'd do it again.

[CC Cowboy]

I'm leaving on June 26th to go to Rhode Island if you want to join us.

[sometimesido]

Just got back. Barely made it with over stretched chain.
will upload pics later.

Oscar: I wish I could be on the road for a long time, but I've decided to move to California and must be getting ready. Have a safe and fun trip!

Next time around I'd like to do it on one of these:

[Strider]

Glad you made it back Chris
What prompted the decision for change of address?
Was California THAT much fun for you?

[sometimesido]

i always wanted to move to cali. nothing new. this trip just made me want to move more.

and here are some pics. really, I don't feel like writing, nor do I think I'm a decent writer...
and i suck at taking photos. haha. the end.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...8&l=27fa5dea22

[CZroe]

It's entertaining to read about someone else running into the same things I encountered when I made the trip on mine in December. The winds in NM scared the crap out of me but it was the wet cattle guards of Benson, AZ that nearly got me... this one in particular:



I was going to the Shell station (left-turn) to get gas and find out why the music stopped on my iPhone/Bluetooth helmet. I had to stop at the stop sign behind other vehicles and then I couldn't free my tire... it would spin in place and then try to slip left or right, nearly pulling the bike out from under me (my feet were slipping in too). It turned out that the same storm that made inescapable cattle guards ruined my iPhone 3G. The on-ramp across the street almost dumped me too even though I didn't stop and hit it as straight as I could.

Oh, I also decided to move to San Diego, so I didn't go back.

[Strider]

Originally Posted by sometimesido

i always wanted to move to cali. nothing new. this trip just made me want to move more.

and here are some pics. really, I don't feel like writing, nor do I think I'm a decent writer...
and i suck at taking photos. haha. the end.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...8&l=27fa5dea22

Hey man, there's some good shots there Plenty of memories! I really liked the Sunset shot...

[sometimesido]

Originally Posted by Strider

Hey man, there's some good shots there Plenty of memories! I really liked the Sunset shot...

thanks.

and aftermath.





^^^ metal shavings from sprocket.

time for a 15 tooth upgrade i guess..

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by sometimesido

thanks.

and aftermath.





^^^ metal shavings from sprocket.

time for a 15 tooth upgrade i guess..

DAAAAAAAMN! That is some SERIOUS tooth-wear.