Quit my job to go on a "little" ride, US TOUR 2007

[Kaneman]

March 12th 2007

 

My first full day in Florida, Palm Bay to be exact. I enjoyed a relaxing day of touring and found myself in full tourist mode, camera in tow. Jay and his sister Nancy took me around to see all the sights and experience the laid back beach life so drastically different from the bustling metroplex I am used to. First, and most mandatory, we had to stop by the beach. Of course as I had packed no shorts for this journey I felt way out of place in my jeans and polo-style shirt. The beaches here are beautiful though and I was definitely surprised at all the souls, mostly northerners no doubt, that braved the cold waters of the Atlantic. There was a parasailor, lot of pasty white out of towners, a few squids in the parking lot, one of which was of the female variety and I wished she’d protect that beautiful skin of hers, and even a news crew filming someone working the stunt kite. Most humorous to me was the girl who repeatedly poked a washed up jelly-fish with a stick only to eventually let herself be guilted into moving his helpless soul back into the water. Guess what…if he has 20 holes in him its pretty much a done deal!

 

Anyway, here are some pics I got at the beach while being very careful to keep the sand out of my camera.

 

 

 

Trying to save the Jellyfish

 

A little boy more willing to brave the cold waters than I was

 

 

This is the life my friends

 

Looking suspect in my jeans!

 

 

After enjoying my first experience with the Atlantic Ocean, and also after Nancy took a quick beach nap we headed off to the City Bistro where my gracious hosts treated me to an excellent lunch eaten outside in th beautiful 80 degree Florida weather. I was conflicted but ended up ordering the Pizza Aurora and since everyone was so worried about my vegetable intake Nancy offered up a piece of her veggie wrap that was unreal. I never knew food without a dead animal in it could be so delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, as if that wasn’t good enough (HA!) we went to the local docs to see the million dollar yachts and a chance to catch a glimpse of a real life manatee. To keep this paradise in check however there were a few homeless people about of a different variety than myself. I did get to see a manatee’s back and chat with an older couple for a while about the ins and outs of condo ownership….don’t really see that possibility in my future however.

 

Feeding the pigeons from his own hands, what a giver!

 

Bad Graffiti, but a message we can all benefit from no doubt

 

Choo Choo

 

Money, it’s a drag…

 

 

 

My long lost relative perhaps??

 

I’m sailing away

 

I’m told this guy is famous throughout the land for his dedication and exceptional whistle blowing techniques

 

 

 

Due to a slight miscalculation in time and navigation we were a few…or maybe more than a few…minutes late to pick Brooke up from the bus-stop but she handled our negligence with grace and we headed back to the place I now called home for a great evening of “Scene It,” “Guesstures” and “Balderdash.” We had a blast and I could not have asked for a better day. We also enjoyed some calzones and strombolies from the local pizza chain. Lucky for me and my vegetable neglect some of them had spinach in them! It was another great day in paradise and I could get used to this type of living fairly quickly. These people know how to enjoy life, as if the crab claws in my previous entry didn’t clarify that fact.

 

No comment…

 

Brooke’s bug bite she suffered while awaiting our late arrival…

 

MMM MMM good

[Kaneman]

March 13th 2007

 

Once again I awoke in a comfy warm bed and apparently slept hard enough to generate quite a snore (I didn’t know I snored). And there may have even been a little drool involved! Excellent. I was finally completely refreshed from my long days of riding, camping and lap dancing! On the agenda today was a tour of the famous Cocoa Beach, where I’m told “I Dream of Jeannie” was based, the local and also famous Ron Jon Surf Shop, the Kennedy Space Center, and everything in between. Also on the agenda was dinner at “The Shack” which I later found had the best seafood I’ve ever had in my life. These people have treated me, a complete stranger, just like family and its been quite an experience. I know I will be sad to leave them when my journey progresses to different places shortly.

 

On the way down A1A we stopped at Ron Jon’s, I was hoping to purchase a pair of shorts that would make me look more Floridian but at $52.49 it was not meant to be! I did get a couple of post-cards to send back home however and they were appropriately priced. Before Ron Jon’s though we passed through Patrick Air Force Base and I’m hoping the pictures I took of the cargo jet landing right next to us do not get me in trouble with Homeland Security.

 

First pic of the morning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was off to the Cocoa Beach Pier where we did some people watching, drank some Corona (my first, in style no doubt) and ate a tasty hotdog to tide us over for our trip to the Kennedy Space Center

 

 

 

 

 

 

A life less ordinary

 

 

mmmmmmmmm

 

 

 

The Space Center was unreal. Pictures, mine or otherwise, do not do justice to the size and scope of these magnificently complex machines. Looking at the technology available at the time these rockets were developed makes it all the more amazing. These machines came more from the human mind and less from computers than what we develop now. It was a testimony to true human genius and very humbling. They have an exhibit at the Space Center in the original control room for the Apollo mission that landed us on the moon and put us firmly in the lead for the Space Race. The control room is just as it was that day and they dubbed in all the actual audio from the launch sequence. The energy in the room was also surreal, almost as if the ghosts of the technicians and engineers that made it happen still haunt the room itself. I highly recommend the Space Center to anyone who hasn’t seen it and is in the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To put the size of this building in perspective, each of the 50 stars are 6 ft long tip to tip.

 

Once again, after at least 4 days worth of fun my day was not yet complete. I was to accompany my gracious hosts to dinner at “The Shack.” For an appetizer I enjoyed some superb fried conch and calamari. And to suit those worried about my robust digestive system I had a huge salad topped with the some awesome Blue Cheese dressing. For the main course it was Flounder filled with crab meat stuffing. Already full to the core I went ahead and indulged myself with some French Silk pie that I was compelled to share with Brooke, who embodies the definition of “bottomless pit” when it comes to eating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My new Floridian family, Jamie, Nancy, Jay, me and Brooke

[Kaneman]

March 14th 2007

 

For the first time since I left for this journey I was forced to wake before dawn, at 5:45am to be exact, in order to catch our ride for the day, The Miss Cape Canaveral. An 85 foot fishing boat that would take us 30 miles off-coast for an 8am � 5pm deep sea fishing trip. Seas were approximately 3-4 feet and Jay and I were well prepared having taken Dramamine the previous night and upon our wakening. We picked out our rods, grabbed a seat and I wondered if the 2 hour voyage out to sea would have a negative effect on my stomach. Sitting next to us was Steve and Bill, two hardcore, tattooed and bearded Harley riders from Florida. Bill was an experienced fisherman but this was Steve�s first journey to sea since he was 25. On the way out we talked about local roads, I told them of my experience and they wanted to know about Deal�s Gap since they�ll be going there for 3 weeks in May. They were also ex-truckers and had a lot of interesting and humorous stories that may or may not have involved someone getting shot for breaking into one of their trucks. I also got some good advice on federal firearm laws and how to deal with the Highway Patrol officers I will no doubt encounter before I make it home. To my wonderment, about 30 minutes into the trip, I noticed Steve removing his false teeth in a hurried fashion. They must be hurting him I assumed and almost didn�t notice as he stood up to lean over the railing. You guessed it, Steve, my new hardcore biker friend, was a land lover and soon lost his breakfast all over the side of the boat. Poor, poor, poor Steve. He was ill enough to be wishing for death the entire 8 hours and was only able to fish for about 5 minutes, if that. You could see his face turn a sick shade of green under his white beard and I lost count how many times he emptied his stomach. I distinctly remember him asking Bill to cut his throat with a filet knife and put him out of his misery. Steve knew death was not to come for him and it was of no comfort. Unfortunately death had come for Steve�s wife back in November of 2006 as she was struck on her motorcycle by a vehicle making a left turn in front. The perpetrator got a $1,000 fine and 6 month license suspension for her manslaughter. Bill and Steve are both now actively involved in trying to hold negligent drivers responsible when they kill innocent motorcyclists, an effort I fully support. Bill and his wife were struck from behind while in their car by a 72 year old drunk driver who was 4 times over the legal limit, leaving Bill with serious back problems and his wife forced to walk with a cane for the rest of her life. They were good guys and I enjoyed my time with them. Yet more proof that judging a book by its cover is never a good idea they dispelled the myths of �hardcore bikers� as they were genuinely good guys with a lot of knowledge to pass on. Bill gave me his number and promised to show me some local roads if I was in his neck of Florida. Hopefully if Steve goes out on the ocean again he�ll have the presence of mind to take some Dramamine!

 

Jay, Bill and I had no such problems and fished all day. Fishing however does not equal catching and we all came home empty handed. We all caught our fair share of bait fish, �grunts� they call them. And we watched others haul in some interesting looking sea fish including one giant trigger fish and two wicked looking eels. The boat�s crew was quick to untangle lines and offer advice on which fish not to touch! As the swells grew larger throughout the day more and more people fell ill. Luckily it never affected me or Jay and we enjoyed our day of being on the boat and not catching any fish. To Jay�s credit he hooked some type of massive sea creature right after we had been told to reel in for the day but whatever he had hooked broke his line. It was a shame as he had strained with all his might to reel it in so we could have something to show for our efforts but it just was not to be today. The experience was similar in luck to the many times I have spent hours upon hours on the lakes of north Texas catfishing and crappie fishing only to come home being forced to eat something in the microwave instead of the catch that should�ve been being filleted on my kitchen table. We were told out of the three charter boats on the water that day our catch was the best, which was of little cancellation as I had Easy Mac for dinner instead of the fresh fish fry Jay and I had both hoped for. The icing on our cake of this adventure was an hour and 45 minute commute home through heavy traffic with me in perpetual fear my bladder was going to explode before I could release the Coke and beer I had indulged myself in earlier.

 

The rest of my evening was spent updating my blog (sorry its been so long, I�ve been busy!) and finishing off my ice cream cake that was my arrival gift! Tomorrow Jay says he has big plans in store that will forever cement this portion of my trip into my memory and I look forward to it. I depart from this paradise and my new family on Friday morning, most likely to head south to the Keys or maybe the Everglades for some camping so I can once again get back to the basis. From gorgeous Palm Bay, Florida, over and out.

 

I went for the day prepared to take a ton of pictures of all my huge catches but it was not to be.

 

 

 

 

 

My biggest catch�and that�s Steve in the background.

 

 

Everyone else�s catch

[Kaneman]

March 15th 2007

 

My last full day in Jayman’s world began late as we were exhausted from our fishing trip and slept in for a bit…him more than me but I’m told that’s fairly normal behavior anyway! We cleaned up and headed out about noon with me wondering what the surprise he had in store for me could possibly be. Previously he had said something about me being a thrill seeker so he thought he had something I would enjoy. I told him right up front, no bungee jumping, no skycoasting, I’m afraid of heights. He told me not to worry, none of those things were on the agenda.

 

While I awaited Jayman’s awakening I went out and installed the MadStat Engineering adjustable windscreen mounts I had ordered previously and came for me on Wednesday. These were suggested by a fellow forum member and to decrease wind-buffeting bad enough it sometimes affected my vision they seem to fit the bill. I’ve only got about 50 miles on with them so far but I think they are the answer, and cheaper than a new windscreen. I also “installed” the ADV sticker that was waiting on me upon my arrival in Florida sent from a fellow AdvRider. Thanks, you know who you are! Working on my bike I realized that despite my treatment as a king for the entire week I did miss being on the road. If I have it this good, and I still want to be riding, how can I ever go home?

 

Finally Jayman awoke from his slumber and our first stop was to get some of my errands done. At Bank of America I deposited my final paycheck (finally) and learned with the money I have I can manage about 4 more months on the road as long as there are no huge unexpected expenses, so that’s good news. If all goes well it will put my total travel time at 5 months, up from the original 2 I had planned. Excellent. Then it was off to the local CycleGear to exchange my busted saddle bags for something more robust. I traded the Frank Thomas Sport Panniers in for some TourMaster bags which seem to be more well constructed, we shall see. To be fair to the Frank Thomas bags I did lay the bike over in the mud with them attached and had them pretty loaded down. Fair is Fair. CycleGear was great as always and gave me no trouble exchanging my muddy and abused bags.

 

After that we headed to “The Brown Bag,” which is Nancy’s (Jay’s sister) sandwich shop. I had a delicious Italian sandwich with some homemade tomato and rice soup to die for. This food, like everything else I’ve had here, was truly top notch. We chatted with the ladies for a while, and I tried to talk one of their workers, Carly, out of staring her motorcycling career on the latest and greatest 600ss, but like so many new riders her mind was made up. Here in Florida I haven’t seen any “real” looking riders. Just kids running around with no gear going up and down the strips. I bet 85% of the riders here don’t even don a helmet. To me that’s a little nuts, but I support their right to choose that option. To each their own.

 

 

 

Now I knew it was time for my surprise, but Jay seemed worried about the possibility of wind and rain which didn’t really narrow down my choices since I was already pretty sure we’d be outdoors. He took me touring through some farm and ranch land where they were growing citrus, trees, and cattle, some with HUGE horns, but not shaped like Texas Longhorns. Then we found the ONLY curvy road in Florida. It had two turns, one left followed by a mile straight and one right. I bet riders here ride hundreds of miles to find those two roads! Then he said we had arrived and when I saw the signs where we were going I almost peed myself out of stark fear and told myself there must be something else that involves “thrill seeking” at Sebastian Airport beside leaving the safety of ground.

 

 

He told me we were going Skydiving and I felt like I was going to throw-up. Skydiving looks like fun for those brave or dumb enough to jump from “a perfectly good airplane,” but I always swore I would never even entertain the thought of doing it. Nonetheless I followed him to the hangers hoping the wind would make my decision for me. No such luck, the lady at the counter told us they were jumping today. Crap.

 

 

I didn’t know what to do. I knew that, statistically speaking, skydiving is probably safer than motorcycling. But all I could think about was the videos I’ve seen of tangled lines and reserve chutes failing to open. I watched videos of people jumping and couldn’t decide. I was scared to death. Suddenly I had to pee very badly so I headed off to the bathroom to continue pondering my decision. This was very sudden and at the counter she told me if I wanted to do it they’d get me right up in the air, no wait. Oh man…

 

 

I came back in and to Jayman’s credit he put no pressure on me but I could tell he was excited. I kept going back and forth in my mind…yes I can do it, no I can’t do it, over and over. Finally I made my decision. Based on my belief that when its your time to die death will come to you anywhere and the fact that I knew I would always regret saying no I agreed to do it. I filled out 3 pages, front and back, of paperwork confirming that, yes, I know you can die doing this and I’m not going to sue and I was ready to rock. She called all skydivers to the hanger and they had a quick meeting. Now, I had been watching the wind and I thought personally it was too windy but I didn’t know anything about all this. Soon the skydivers came over and did in fact confirm that with 30mph winds we wouldn’t be able to dive today. I was both relieved and disappointed. Now, looking back, I’m only disappointed. But not to worry my friends, I will return to Palm Bay next week where I will carry through with my decision to free fall from 13,500 feet with the one and only JayMan!

 

Check out the winds…

 

 

 

This would’ve been our ride for the afternoon…

 

 

So, with adrenaline still pumping from the anticipation of taking one of my biggest fears and beating the holy hell out of it we headed to “Squid Lips.” The restaurant where Jayman works when he’s not taking his time showing strangers a great time in Florida. I needed beer, and there was plenty on tap. There was also all you can eat shrimp and soon we had a feast going. I really enjoyed Squid Lips and felt it was a great place to spend my last night. Soon, to my delight, Nancy called and said her and Brooke and meet us up there. What had started as a few beers to blow off steam soon became a full on seafood feast unlike any other I have ever indulged in. For the first time ever I tried mussels, clams and raw oysters but we also had fried calamari, bacon wrapped scallops that were huge, grilled Mahi, seared tuna with ginger and wasabi, and hot and cold shell on shrimp. All fresh from the local waters and man was it delicious! I could eat seafood all day long, wake up in the middle of the night and do it all again. I had more than a few beers and also some house specialties with a lot of rum in them! What a great last dinner to top off a wonderful, unbelieveable, mini-vacation in Florida with my new friends who treated me just like family for an entire week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Voodoo Punch” haha

 

 

Our last destination for the night was to visit Nancy’s friend Ruth, a co-worker and interestingly enough a former Amish. They lived on four acres in a house they built themselves, and yes they had electricity! Unfortunately Ruth was away at some sort of meeting but Gary, the groundskeeper and family friend showed me around. They had a nice stock tank with ducks and some large catfish. He let me throw out some dog food and seeing the bit mouths surface to gobble up the food reminded me of doing the same thing at our stocktanks on my grandparent’s land. Ruth’s husband was some sort of collector and he had all sorts of interesting machinery around.

 

Catfish

 

Evil Bunny

 

We collected these eggs and ate them for breakfast the next morning! Farm fresh baby.

 

An old tractor

 

An old something

 

An old shredder

 

A roller. When I asked what you would do with it Gary told me matter of factly you hook it up to a tractor and roll it over stuff.

 

HE told me this was some sort of rocket launcher at one time

 

Monster Truck

 

And after another full day it was back to the house to finish packing my clean clothes, enjoy some more enlightening conversation and get a good night’s rest before departing my haven the next day for more unexplored lands. I will go south to Ft. Lauderdale for a bike night, then I’m not sure after that. I need to get off the beaten path for a while, again, and get back to the heart of the adventure. Stay tuned!

[BFish]

talk about pics of my hood. first i need to clarify the beach shots and bistro shots were not in palm bay. melbourne and indialantic to be exact. looks like you've seen the sights and helping the economy.

 

fyi-i put a madstad on my wee-strom. the change was enourmous. haven't touched it since installing. ride safe down south and maybe shovelstroke will take you for a ride in his jeep!

[Kaneman]

talk about pics of my hood. first i need to clarify the beach shots and bistro shots were not in palm bay. melbourne and indialantic to be exact. looks like you've seen the sights and helping the economy.

 

fyi-i put a madstad on my wee-strom. the change was enourmous. haven't touched it since installing. ride safe down south and maybe shovelstroke will take you for a ride in his jeep!

 

haha, you are correct, the first beach shots were at indiatlantic and the second set was at the Cocoa Beach Pier.

 

I'm waiting for the thunderstorms to wash the oils off the road before I get back out so I'm camped at a Barnes and Noble in West Melbourne right now, a few more minutes and I'll be gone I suppose. Can't wait!

[BFish]

just checked radar rain won't last long. weekend supposed to be sweet!

[USAF1]

You have GREAT spirit Josh!!

 

Pat

[Whip]

Great job my man...keep it goin.....

 

Be well

 

Whip

[Kaneman]

Great job my man...keep it goin.....

 

Be well

 

Whip

 

Will do my friend! 4 more months minimum I think, plenty of time to see a lot of the U.S. no doubt.

 

After almost 7 hours of riding in rain and heavy thunderstorms I have arrived safely in Ft. Lauderdale and am having a great time w/the South Florida crew. Full of cheeseburger and milkshake, my sore and wet glutes are happy to have a soft couch to sit on here with Leon and Kel from CycleForums!

 

Since it was raining all day I didn't get many pics but I will post the "official" Kaneman report later. BTW, one of the guys here, "Curb," Steve, from CycleForums had a couple T-Shirts made for me. You guys gotta see them, they're a trip!

[Big Al 80]

Nice pics! By the way that girl was poking a Portuguese Man O' War not a jelly fish. The sting from the tentacles is potentially dangerous to most humans; these stings have been responsible for several deaths, but usually only cause excruciating pain. Detached tentacles and specimens washed up on shore can sting just as painfully as the full creature in the water, for weeks after detachment. The venom can travel up to the lymph nodes and may cause, depending on the amount of venom, more intense pain. In extreme cases medical attention is necessary. I know how it feels, I was stung last week when scuba diving.

Looks like she was very lucky. Also the boy walking down the beach in the next picture was right next to one in the seaweed. You never know what dangers are out there.

Good luck on the rest of your trip!

[Whip]

Very interesting Kaneman.

 

You just got a person to post who has been a member for over two years, but never had anything to say.

 

Way to go.

 

Whip

[Kaneman]

Very interesting Kaneman.

 

You just got a person to post who has been a member for over two years, but never had anything to say.

 

Way to go.

 

That is interesting. A lot of the lurkers on other forums have come out of the woodwork to post on my thread. Very flattering.

 

Whip

[Kaneman]

March 16th 2007

 

Time to depart Jayman’s to see more of South Florida and continue to enjoy this phenomenal weather. Nancy cooked us some fresh farm eggs with bacon and English muffins, did I mention she’s a chef?

 

Because of the pending rainstorm this would be my final shot until later that night…

 

So it was that time at last to once again continue on my way . That’s a little dramatic though since I didn’t really have far to go…or so I thought. I learned that since Barnes and Noble uses AT&T Wi-Fi I can connect there for only $2 a month so after grabbing a new cargo net at CycleGear I got a good table and Barnes and Noble and worked on my blog and drank a nice cold Pepsi. About the time I was getting ready to leave I looked up and watched the rain begin to pour down. Drat. Not a surprise though, I had been expecting these storms for a couple of days. Hastily, I made my way outside and moved the bike under cover so I could put all my rain gear on. With that accomplished I got out of Palm Bay on my way to Fort Lauderdale for bike night with LeonTLR, ninjakel, and Curb (Leon, Kel and Steve) from CycleForums at the Moonlite Diner. There was quite a few people actually.

 

My luck with the weather, which had been excellent, finally ran out and I was thankful for my audiobook to entertain me in the 40mph traffic. What should have taken 3 hours actually took about 7 but I didn’t mind….until my rain gear sprang a leak right over my crotch. I rode through the first ‘bout of storms with no problem and the skies gave way to the sun. Thinking it was all over I was looking out for a good place to stop and take my rain gear off. When on the horizon I eyed black clouds waiting to soak me once again. This time traffic shut down to 20mph and the rain was hard enough to be a little painful. Almost immediately I felt rain soaking down my nether regions! Dang it, there’s not even a seam there but sure enough my pants were not sopping wet. So was my left foot to boot (no pun intended). Needing a break I pulled into a rest stop and had a pretzel. There was a French Canadian gentlemen there who was having trouble understanding the vending machines but I got him all straightened out. I’m not sure what was up with the raingear but I know I’m going to have to get some new boots before heading north in colder weather. This isn’t unexpected as my boots had just about had it when I left anyway.

 

So finally I made it out of the rain and could now sit in traffic in good weather, lol. At one point I was next to a guy in a Mercedes smoking the nastiest cigar I’ve ever smelt, but he sure seemed proud of it. Gross. Anyway, I finally made it to Ft. Lauderdale and called Leon for directions to bike night. He told me just to come hang with them and follow them out, cool, I needed to change socks anyway! They were cool cats and had some pretty wicked machinery in the garage. GSX-R1000, TLR1000, and a GSXR600. They look so tiny next to my bike!!

 

We rode out to bike night and I had the first meal since 8:00 that morning, a big ol’ bacon cheeseburger and fries. Later on Steve and Bill treated me to a $5 milkshake too. This south Florida crew is a trip but we had a great time!. Steve (Curb from CFC) had made up two shirts for me to commemorate my adventure!! I am semi-famous now!! A great time was had by all sharing stories and later on we headed back to Leon and Kel’s, sat back and watched a movie and I was grateful for a nice comfy couch to kick back on. Unfortunately while leaving bike night a guy on a ‘Busa went down with no gear and ended up in the hospital. Sounds like a car pulled out in front of him, but I don’t know his current condition. Gotta wear your gear guys!

 

Oh and BTW, I made my first gas purchase with my PayPal card!! Thanks guys!!

 

The V-Strom is a total babe magnet!

 

 

 

 

What did you say about my momma?

 

Mikey always looks like this.

 

 

 

I think this guy was British or something

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was in the gas station when Leon told me to stay still so he could get a shot of this huge Silence of the Lambs style moth on my helmet!

 

Supplies for later.

[Kaneman]

March 17th 2007

 

Whew! Finally made it to bed the previous night around 3-4am. On the agenda for today was the second oil change on the V-Strom, a trip to the shooting range and a Saint Patty’s day celebration at “Duck Soup”, a local bar. Down here Walmart carries filters for bikes so I didn’t have to pay stealership prices. $23 got me 4 qts and a filter. Did that, cleaned and lubed the chain and put a nice burn on my forearm from the exhaust pipe…just like I do everytime I change the damn oil.

 

 

 

 

Leon and Kel’s dog felt real bad for me

 

But this lizard was neutral on the whole thing

 

Then it was time to blow off a lil’ steam at the local indoor range. Probably the best range I’ve been to because they let you double-tap. I shot fairly well and we went through a ton of rounds. At one point a guy was in there teaching his buddy how to shoot…with a 44magnum!! The pressure for each shot filled the room. It had been a long time since I last fired a weapon and this was great fun. We shot for over two hours with a plethora of weapons then departed for lunch at Baja Fresh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That’s about all I got before we were informed there was a no photography policy in the range!

 

Everyone was whipped from the long night and the range so before our big get together at Duck Soup we went back to the crib for a lil’ R&R.

 

Bling Bling!!

 

Then there was partying. Green beer, live music, more new friends…I think I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves

 

 

 

 

You’re not going to like him when he’s angry

 

And when he’s not he can light a smoke with his bare hands

 

They’ve got a serious artist down here and when all this is over I’m thinking of returning to get some work done myself

 

This girl was selling shots and kisses apparently, but the damn shots were the size of a thimble! RIPOFF!!

 

 

 

THIS GUY!!

 

She’s actually not, I’m told she’s really a woman of high moral standards and unparalleled virtue.

 

 

Then at long last, it was time for Denny’s. Best damn meal I ever had.

[Kaneman]

March 18th 2007

 

The plan for the day was to go see the motorcycle CCS races at Moroso. The reality of the day was that we were worn out from a long night and were better off staying in, a sort of “chill day” if you will. And a freebie for me, no lodging fees, sweet. Leon picked up some coffee that “morning” and after sitting back to a movie we went riding. Kel would’ve come too, but she had woman’s work to do. (SORRY KEL!!! Haha) Leon and I rode off to visit his buddy and also to get my ass kicked at ping pong. Then we rode down A1A to see how the other half lives.

 

I have never been anywhere before and seen so many six figure cars on the road. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley, Mercedes, etc. etc. Of course they were no comparison to the multi million dollar homes and boats. Pretty cool being down there really, defiantly the wealthiest area I’ve ridden through. After almost getting turned into by a Sheriff Deputy and then getting gas we headed back to Kel’s sparkling clean home. On the menu for the night was Leon’s famous meatloaf, and I soon found out why it was indeed famous. Best damn meatloaf I’ve ever had in my life, no lie. I would tell you how he made it but then he’d have to kill you and probably me and nobody wants to see that. He even hooked me up with some brownies, hard-boiled eggs, and a meatloaf sandwich to get me through the next day as I prepared to head to Key West.

 

So I dominated him on some Tekken 5 *cough*, we watched a flick and had a good night just sitting around talking. It was semi-early to bed because they had to work (it almost pains me to say that word!) and I needed to get to the beach to watch the sunrise! Fairly short report for the day, just a nice relaxing laid back day. Leon and Kel have been awesome hosts and it was killer to finally meet them after being on the same forums for 5 years. When I roll back through there I’m going to teach Leon how to wheelie, I heard he was having trouble clutching those wheelies up! By the way, I read some comments about the burn I got changing my oil. Leon put some “White Flower” ancient Chinese burn ointment stuff on it and it was amazing. That stuff is the real deal, it kept the bubbling to a minimum and the pain to ZERO….and no its not just because it’s a 3rd degree! Haha. 1st thing in the morning I depart for the famed Florida Keys.

 

One of the many examples

 

 

 

 

 

[Kaneman]

March 19th 2007

 

Hype. Its what we use to promote things that….well…..need a “little boost.” Occasionally something actually lives up to the hype, but that was not the case with Key West…at least not for me. Maybe I expected too much, maybe I was too tired…I dunno. I think this is the first time during the last month I actually haven’t enjoyed myself wherever I was at.

 

I did enjoy a gorgeous sunrise over the ocean before heading out. I talked to a few people but seemed to be drawing a lot of attention for some reason so I headed out after the rise. One guy though walked up and asked where I was from, told me his brother just got back from a South America tour and I wondered if he was on Advrider somewhere. I headed down A1A and then US 1 for a while before heading over to the Turnpike. Now, the good news of the day was that FDOT was giving major discounts to motorcyclists with no license plate, the bad news was me exiting at Okeechobee Rd. to take a major leak and sitting in traffic for 45 minutes with no escape. OOPS! Eventually I made it to a gas station though with a nice lil’ café and got a cheap breakfast after taking care of a lil’ personal business. Hehe. I had just put my helmet on when I heard a loud SNAAAPPPP. I turned and looked and saw a guy in a BMW driving off, with the gas nozzle and rubber hose hanging from his tank! Oh my God it was funny. I flagged him down and pointed it out and he was pissed, at himself of course. He had a nice dent back there too. I told him not to worry about it and it could’ve been worse and headed back into traffic toward the Turnpike.

 

I was getting pretty excited about the Keys and soon enough I was in Key Largo! I dropped by the John Pennycamp park to see about camping but was SOL, booked up. Uh-Oh, I wondered if this would be the theme of the day. I noticed a lot of things I wanted to photograph but I was feeling pretty drowsy so I decided to make camp closer to Key West and do more sight seeing tomorrow. I am happy to report that the 7 mile bridge is actually a full 7 miles, no hype there! I saw quite a few state parks, one KOA and one private campground on the way down so I knew I had quite a few options for places to crash tonight.

 

Key West came into view and I was immediately disappointed. Not all of this is Key West’s fault. It is Spring Break and probably one of the worse times to come here but needless to say the traffic was nasty. Almost as nasty as the tourists. Leon had told me the people here were really nice, and he was right, the locals are…but the damn tourists are cranky. I’ve never seen such a large population on vacation without any smiles. I got honked at 3 times, once by a bus that scared the bejesus out of me, and saw the bird once too. I rode all of Key West, mainly looking for the Mile 0 marker on Hwy 1 but also to see what it had to offer. I didn’t see anything to brag out really, but I did visit the southern most point in the U.S. There was actually a line of people go be photographed in front of it, not really my type of attraction so I got a quick shot and vowed to get out of Key West ASAP. I did see Mile 0, but traffic was too thick to get a shot. Even the V-Strom hated Key West actually dying on me once when I blipped the throttle before clicking into 1st at a light. Such an extension of my soul….strange.

 

Alright, I needed to get to camp and crash, it was 5pm and I had been on the bike since 6am. First camp ground. Booked solid, in fact had I wanted to camp there I would have needed to reserve the site 11 months ago. Oh damn…as was the story with both other State Parks. One did have primitive camping for $40 which was “600 yards from the nearest parking which was full anyway” Uh….no thanks. The KOA grounds had primitive camping available for….you ready for it….$60 a month. I was almost sold on it because I was so tired but in order to actually enjoy the water I was paying for I would’ve needed to buy a fishing license and pay to rent a pole so I bailed. Holiday Inn wanted $179 for one of two rooms they had a vacancy on and even the cheap places wanted in excess of $100. The guy at Boyd’s actually laughed at me when I asked for tent camping. lol

 

Crap. I was exhausted to the point of riding drowsy (Red Bull was no help), about two hours from the mainland, and having a lil’ stomach issue. (Yea, yea I know, it was bound to happen sooner or later) I was in a hurry, not enough to speed with all the cops around, but enough to pass a car turning left in front of me on the shoulder. I never noticed the Deputy behind me until he lit up the red and blues. Oh great! Instant Kharma for my free tolls was the first thing that came to my mind. Well apparently that is illegal here and this Deputy was none too pleased…possibly even offended (GASP) about the whole ordeal. I gave him my DL and CHL, the later of those causing a little alarm but not too much. Finally he asked about my gear and I told him about my trip. That brought a smile to his face and he let me go with no ticket after making sure I wasn’t wanted for murder or terrorism or anything. He even offered up suggestions for places to stay, all of which I had tried. John Law also let me know illegal camping on the beach was a bad idea. The best part of that ordeal was him trying to run my temp tags by the number…I didn’t have the heart to tell him that number was actually a date. Today’s date to be exact.

 

Alright, enough was enough, I had to call it a day…and I got some good luck after all at the Islamorada Motel. $70 a night, (still over budget today by $40, damnit) only $10 more than KOA primitive camping got me a room, wi-fi about 10ft away, a clean cozy room and cable TV. I can live with it for sure. I immediately broke out my cooking gear and heated up the best meatloaf in the world, wolfed it down and topped it off with some deliciously succulent brownies (Thanks Leon and Kel!!!!) The guy here running the Motel is cool though, did a cross country trip on a ’78 Suzuki 750 and shared some fun stories with me about his adventure. Shame though, his back is too messed up to ride anymore.

 

So, all in all, yes I’m still on vacation but human nature is to find something to complain about so I’m choosing today. You know what though? 1 out of 31 aint half bad fellas! In fact, we should all be so lucky for one month out of our life! But I won’t be coming back to Key West just the same.

 

Tomorrow I’m going back to the sanity of Florida’s mainland, and yes sanity is all relative. I’m feeling a really strong urge to camp, away from people, if at all possible so I’ll spend the day exploring and finding a good camping spot somewhere in South Florida.

 

 

 

 

Two of Monroe County’s finest

 

Hey, its the best I felt like doing!! Haha

 

Finally, time to rest

 

 

 

This stuff is GOOD!!

 

[Kaneman]

March 20th 2007

 

Not that partying with the south Florida crew isn’t adventurous, especially with Mikey around, that guy is a trip…but when I left for my debacle in the Keys I had something more old school in mind. So I didn’t find what I was looking for at the United States’ most southern point, but I had a feeling the everglades would provide exactly what I had been looking for. For the second time since my departure over one month ago I awoke in a hotel room, this one much cleaner than the last. I’m going to let you guys in on a secret. Its true that my life is a dream and that most motorcyclists envy my journey, I never forget how fortunate I am. But at night when I’m alone and sometimes when I wake I miss home and all the people I love there. In fact sometimes during the night my feelings grow so strong that I awake prepared to get to the office by 8am…until I realize I’m in a different state, physically and emotionally as well. As was the case this morning, but I shook it off and readied myself to find the essentials. Adventure, Water, Food, Shelter. In that order. A long hot shower, some quick blogging and I was off to find the “Loop Road” that had been suggested by some forum members.

 

I stopped at a McDonald’s once in Homestead to hit up the dollar menu when a homeless guy asked for some cash. It was funny I thought because he didn’t know I too was homeless. I gave him as much as I was willing to spend on my own lunch, gobbled down some cheeseburgers and headed out. I’ve grown quite fond of the small town’s “downtown” and Homestead’s seemed pretty cool. I bl…DAMN!! I’m being attacked by bugs as I type this!!! ARRRG…anyway, I blazed a trail through and passed a lot of farm land. At one point I stopped to get a shot of these guys watering the crop and it’s a damn good thing I did because as I was putting my camera back on the mount I saw one of them overshoot and blast some traffic with water. The blast looked ferocious and I’m pretty sure it would’ve knocked me off the bike had I not stopped…or at least ruined my camera. Looks like my luck was working today.

 

 

 

Keep practicing guys…seriously, look at that stream and think about how powerful the force of the water blast must be…

 

I carried on, hung a left on US41, the Tamiami Trail, and soon saw a bunch of signs for Airboat tours. I wondered if I could afford it… Gator Park sounded like a nice place so I stopped and found out it was $20 to do an airboat tour and see the wildlife show. Alright, sounded fair enough so I paid and had a great time letting the tour guide educate me on the ways of the everglades. Where I was is known as the river of grass. Pretty cool tour and highly recommended if you’re new to all this as I was.

 

Kinda looks like my ex-girlfriend! (Just kidding Mandi, you know you’re beautiful!!)

 

 

This guy had lots of jokes and most of us were polite enough to humor him with a laugh.

 

River of Grass indeed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently a crate of these guys fell off a plane and although not originally native to Florida they can now be found in abundance throughout the Everglades.

 

Same story with these guys, there are now the only Toad left in Florida after falling off a cargo plane or ship and eating every other toad on the block.

 

Yuck

 

YOU EVIL FIEND OF SATAN WHY WON’T YOU DIIIEEEEE!!!!

 

 

Polly kept taking dollars from the tip jar when the guide looked away.

 

Haha…he said $%#@&

 

 

 

 

And for the grand finale our fearless tour guide dominated this gator who seemed to have cared less. It was kind of erotic though!

 

 

 

 

I found the Loop Road, found free camping along the way and ended up back on US41 at a visitors center. All along the road I had seen people fishing and I knew from my airboat tour the waters were thick with all types of fish. I needed a fishing pole. The lady at the visitors center called the nearest hardware store in Everglades City and found out they do sell poles. So off I went. Now, they did have collapsible poles, for $120. Yea right, I’d rather try my luck with my bare hands. The dude that worked there was very helpful though and he got me the cheapest pole there, took 1/3rd off the price, and gave me some PVC pipe to make a case out of. The next day I actually burned the PVC to make it soft and cut a groove out so my entire rod and reel fits beautifully. On the way out I picked up other camping essentials. Eggs and Pepsi.

 

 

Saw this at the end of loop road, good choice!

 

When the loops road turns to gravel

 

Since I left I have become so used to high mileage days it hardly even felt as I had ridden at all, which bit me on the butt because I neglected to realize I was running low on gas until after I had left Everglades City far, far behind. No matter, everything works out…usually. I dropped my camping gear off, set up the tent and headed back to the Loop Road to find a fishing spot. Oh, I neglected to mention, on the way back from Everglades City the rain that would be with me all night began. Which meant I had to set up camp in the rain and that is never fun. Luckily (told you my luck was paying off) there was a fishing hole around the bend so rain be damned I was off to catch dinner. As I was setting up camp before I left a gentleman pulled up with his family in an Isuzu Rodeo and talked to me for a bit. He suggested I use bread as bait and gave me a slice to try. Haha, what a moron, who uses bread to fish? Anyway, While I was talking to them I kept getting the feeling they were leading to something, like they wanted something from me. Turns out it wasn’t what they wanted from me, but for me. His wife dug in her purse and pulled out a lil pamphlet called, “Are You Good Enough to Go to Heaven” I kid you not, that was the title. “We’re Christians.” She said, and told me how they like to reach out to people. This is the third time someone has tried to help me find Jesus on this trip and I am always polite and do my best to change the subject before it gets to involved. Later that night I read through the pamphlet and it was pretty hardcore stuff. I’d quote something from it but I used it as fire starter.

 

A swamp

 

So now here I was, on the side of Loop Road, with about an hour and a half left of sunlight, in the rain, ready to catch some fish. At the hardware store the gentleman sold me some plastic worms, which I hate but figured maybe they work better down here. Well they don’t. I have never caught anything off a plastic worm, but I did feel a few nibbles this time. Alright, I figured before I went back to camp resigned to eat eggs for dinner I’d try bozo’s bread bait. Squish it on the hook, drop it in the water, BAM BAM!! Just like that I pulled out a keeper. Well, I saw keeper, but I don’t really know what type of fish it was or what the limit on it was but I knew I was going to be eating fish for dinner. Drop another piece down, BAM! Before I knew it I had caught 6 fish, 2 of those keepers, off one piece of bread. Who was the bozo now? I needed one more keeper to make a good filling dinner. This time I threw my line out a bit and startled the gator that had been keeping a close eye on me. There were actually 6 gators within my sight but the one only about 4 feet in front of me must have been the male because he was not comfortable with my presence. Nevermind him, I am the top of the food chain around here, my 9mm told me so. I hooked another fish, but decided to toy with him a bit taking my time to reel him in. I pulled the line and brought him to the surface…too close to the gator. CHOMP!! In one lightning fast motion this dominate gator scooped up MY fish, almost pulled me into the water and ate him right in front of me with a sickening crunch crunch crunch. The speed and precision of his movement was amazing, enough so that I decided two fish would be enough, thank you, and I went back to camp without 80 holes in me.

 

I had this look on my face for about 10 minutes as I pondered the quickness of the Gator’s movements. Figured I might as well get a picture.

 

 

 

 

Oh no. In my excitement I had forgotten about my low tank of gas. I had about 20 miles until I ran completely out and I couldn’t remember a gas station being anywhere close. I headed back to US41 and luckily there was a Sheriff parked at the corner waiting to ruin someone’s day. He told me I was only two miles from the nearest station and pointed me in the right direction. Thank God!! He didn’t tell me it was almost $3.00 a gallon, but oh well.

 

Back at camp I “cleaned” and filet my catch. I saw “cleaned” because I had forgotten to buy water so this was a messy ordeal. The hot sauce drowned out the swampy taste that I couldn’t wash off and my fish was rewarding and delicious. It was still raining, but my bed was dry, my tummy full and I was exhausted from a full day’s adventure. The everglades are amazing to me. Anywhere you see water you will see gators, there are more of them here than there are stray dogs in the ghetto. The forests are thick, and I know because I did some hiking as well looking for firewood. Alas my fire wouldn’t burn, even with gasoline, due to the rain. Its possible, I understand, to start a fire in the rain…but I never made it to Eagle Scout. Tomorrow, rain or shine, there will be fire though. And water too! I read myself to sleep with “Ghost Rider” and I thought about how different Neal Peart’s journey was than mine, yet how similar at the same time. One thing I noticed about the comparison though was how despite Neal’s ability to stay at the finest hotel’s and eat the best meals he does a lot more complaining than I do. This is not to underscore the deep tragedies that led to his journey, but I too have faced tragedy, yet I seem happier. As I fell asleep in my muggy tent, with the dogs beginning to howl, rain pouring down, my prevailing thought was that money does not buy happiness…although sometimes it does come in handy.

 

 

 

[Kaneman]

March 21st 2007

 

Yuck. It was muggy and I was sticky and sweaty. Got to get out of this tent like 2 minutes ago. A passing diesel engine had woken me from a deep slumber and today I knew as soon as I woke that I was not at home and I didn’t have to go to work today. No way to freshen up, no water to brush my teeth with. I had to get on the bike and run some “errands” I took what I needed and headed off to the local General Store I had visited yesterday. Water, check…wait, what is this?..a firestarter log. Oh yea, gotta have that. There WILL be fire tonight. On the way back to camp I decided to start gathering firewood. I learned quickly that in order to obtain the proper amount of firewood, get what you think you’ll need and triple it. As I sit here now next to my mission accomplished fire I realize that it the truth. I wish you guys could see the size of the log I just put on as I type this and you’d wonder how in the hell I managed to get it on the bike. For this particular log the answer would be, “on my lap.” When traveling the country by motorcycle you learn to be resourceful no doubt. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

 

I delivered my first payload of firewood and water back to camp and decided I wanted some ice cream. Yesterday while in Everglades City I had seen an ice cream shop promoting “homemade” ice cream so that was the order of the day. Of course US41 to US29 is as flat and straight as any Florida road but at least there was a little canal to my right full of gators to keep me entertained. I learned though that I don’t need 318 curves in 11 miles to be happy on the bike. As long as I am riding I feel like I am home. I am in control. When I came upon this realization today while riding I knew that somehow I wanted to include that feeling in this blog, so people who don’t ride will know what it feels like. But I can’t describe it. I don’t have the vocabulary to make someone who doesn’t ride understand why we do. Why we take that risk, why we put ourselves out there in bad weather, its not possible to describe the joy that overpowers the negative every time I get in the saddle. In fact, yesterday I reflected on how much I love to ride in the rain. You’re out there, experiencing the elements, a part of Mother Nature. When my ZRX died and I was sad Bob and Whip told me it was just a machine. At rest, and alone, that is true of a motorcycle, it is just a machine. But when I straddle it and take it down the road it is an extension of me, an extension of my every movement, every input and of my very soul. I remember when I quit my boss Cassandre begged me to take my Jeep instead, those things are dangerous she told me. We’ve all heard it a thousand times, but people in cars die on the road too and I can’t imagine trying to have the same experiences trapped in a cage. And no cagers, rolling your windows down IS NOT the same thing, lol.

 

 

 

Anyway, I made it to Everglades city, stopped at Suzie’s Station for a cheeseburger which was good but soiled by poor service. I shouldn’t complain though, my waitress was about 94 years old….so she did ok I suppose.

 

 

City Hall in Everglades City

 

Lunch

 

Dessert

 

 

The icecream shop…uh oh, here comes the rain again. Will have to finish this blog tomorrow!!

 

Ok, it’s the next day, 10:30 and I’m going to try and finish this blog with the same positive attitude I started it with…a lot has happened in the last 24 hours.

 

Anyway, the icecream shop was right down the street and I stopped for a big ol’ vanilla caramel stuffed into a waffle cone and it was definitely worth the 120 mile round trip. The lady at the counter told me about some of the touring she’s done with her husband on their Road King. She even told me about his crash where he “had to lay it down” to avoid injury. Never understood that philosophy personally, but ok. On the way back to camp I picked up another load of firewood. Dropped that off and got a final load. I now had a huge stack of wood that should keep a fire burning throughout the night.

 

 

 

More wood than a 14 year old in the morning

 

The evil gator that stole my fish yesterday

 

Back at camp a few other campers showed up so I walked across the road to borrow some ice for my Pepsi. Really I was hoping for the same type of experience I found with Ross and Ashley but maybe those only come when you aren’t looking for them. Companionship wasn’t too far off however as a man and wife pulled into my campground on their old Hondas. He was on a 1982 CB450 and she was on a similar bike. They were camping down the way at Monument Lake but had been told about me by the lady at the General Store off US41 and wanted to say hi. Pretty cool eh?! We talked for a bit and they were really nice. As we were chatting an Australian guy, dressed for the part, walked over and shared some of his stories. I wished he would have been with me while I was fighting those mean ol’ gators off! Everyone left and I resumed building my campfire.

 

Apparently I’m still no expert at starting a fire, and the clouds on the horizon were darkening quickly, surely filled with more rain. Screw it, I didn’t have time for “Survivorman” techniques and doused a sock in gasoline, put a 3rd of my fire-starter log on it and set it ablaze. It was SPECTACULAR!! I had to hurry and throw wood on before the initial blast wore off. Hahaha, it was great. Within 5 minutes I had a roaring fire and within 30 minutes red hot coals ensured no rain would put this fire out. I took advantage and used the fire to hard-boil my remaining egg supply and then I invented a new campfire desert. I call it Kaneman’s Sweet Eggs. Hardboil one egg, bite the top off, scoop out the yoke, and fill with honey. MMM MMM GOOD BABY!

 

A campfire is an important part of camping alone. A fire is alive and is truly a warm friend. It heats up your soul and occupies your mind. I must have sit lost in my thoughts, staring at my fire (sometimes blazing up to 5ft tall) for a solid hour. Like the fires before it, this one brought me my moment of Zen. Soon though the rain was becoming too strong for me to stay outside so I gathered up the remaining wood, threw it on the fire, cleaned the area around the fire making sure everything flammable was in the pit and I headed to bed. Tomorrow’s plan was to head back in the general direction of Leon and Kel’s, find a Barnes and Noble or other wi-fi hotspot, and then find another camp ground…preferably one with a shower cause I was getting funky!!

 

 

[Kaneman]

March 22nd 2007

 

Wow, is it already 03/22/07? Hard to believe really. Looking back on it it seems to have gone fast, but luckily the days do not as they are long and eventful. Even the ones that aren’t as much fun. The sound that woke me this morning was pouring rain. It was a mere drizzle as I fell asleep but had turned into a torrential downpour by the time I woke up. My campground, apparently a low point, had turned into a nice lil’ pond and it’s a wonder I hadn’t floated away. If not for the kickstand puck Kristen gave me in Atlanta my bike would probably be laying on its side…so thanks to her for that! I zipped my tent back up and thought about what I should do. I also noticed I apparently had not put my rainfly on correctly for there was a little water seepage inside as well…enough that my sleeping bag was damp at best. Had to think, how should I handle this? This was my first downpour to face while camping, or at least the first time I would have to put up my camp during the storm. I needed to keep my bag and other essentials dry so I could camp again tonight.

 

Well I screwed that up pretty bad as I managed to get everything soaked except myself, but that would come later. Really I don’t think there was anyway to avoid it though, the rain was just too heavy. So after a muddy and wet wrestling match with my bundle of camp gear I was all loaded up and ready to go. A bit of pride swelled in me though when I noticed my fire, including the huge 50lb log I had carried on my lap, had burned all the way down…the rain didn’t even phase it. As I mounted the bike I noticed the stream of water pouring from my blue tarp. I wrapped it just right to catch all the falling water to thoroughly soak my tent and bag. Excellent…camping was looking grim for the night. Of course there are no pictures as I don’t risk my camera in the rain. Off I went, stopped for some gas and rode about 5 miles before my raingear failed on me. As soon as I get back to a CycleGear I’m trading this one in. The problem, it appears, is that the suit bunches up just perfectly to collect enough water to eventually seep through. Within minutes my pants, boxers, socks and boots were soaked through. Thank God it wasn’t cold though or I would’ve been in real trouble, instead of just uncomfortable.

 

I gave up the idea of camping and convinced myself to find a cheap motel to dry out in and deal with some other things that had come up. I learned yesterday while in Everglades City that the house I was living in is going to be foreclosed on in a couple of weeks. It’s a complicated situation really, but the bottom line is the house will not be there for me when I return to Texas, and that was disappointing. More stressful was the fact that I had to find someone to move my possessions and somewhere to store them. That’s a huge favor to ask of someone and coupled with the events of the day so far it was getting to me.

 

So, in my typical genius fashion I continued down the road to find a “cheap” motel. Before I made my first stop however, while merging onto 595 I went to downshift and…wait a sec…where’s my shift lever? Damnit! I was in 6th gear and about to climb a hill and there was very little shoulder. I feared the worst, that my lever was gone. I pulled over, into the grass as far as I could and was relieved to find my shifter, scarred but still attached. I got down on my hands and knees to survey the damage and felt a slight stinging sensation. I looked down and realized I was resting my luckily still gloved hand in a huge ant mound. How the hell did I miss that?!? It was enough to make me want to punch a midget. But I screwed the shift lever back in, tightened it down with my leatherman and carried on my way.

 

In Florida, or at least near the coast during this time of year, there are no truly cheap motels…perhaps if you know where to look but I did not. At the $100 a room Days Inn south of Fort Lauderdale the clerk told me I would have to go north of Palm Beach to find decent logging prices, which I knew was a ways away and I was still soaked, itchy, suffering a minor stress headache and feeling all around like a pansy. To make a long story short I stopped at 12 motels. Every Super 8, Comfort Inn, La Quinta, Marriott Fairfield and many others within sight. The cheapest I found was $119, the most expensive $250, and I was thinking maybe I should’ve bit the bullet and stayed at the Day’s Inn. I had gone all the way north to Jupiter and decided to turn back. As soon as I got on the highway and went to click into fifth gear I found that my shifter was gone again. Crap. At least this time there was a nice wide shoulder. I pulled over in front of a State Trooper running a speed trap hoping maybe he’d turn his lights on and block me from danger, but he was too busy collecting revenue. Enough so that when he got a speeder he wizzed right by me way too close for comfort. Jerk. When I got my shifter back on and caught up to him later I flipped him the bird in my mind. I’m a real tough guy like that.

 

Wait, what was this? I Motel 6 that I missed earlier. Might as well try it. Sure enough, true to form, this was the cheapest place in probably all of eastern Florida. $63 a night got me a bed, a place to dry my things, recharge my batteries, doctor my wounds, make phone calls…but no internet. That’s alright though, because while there I saw one of the most interesting people I’ve encountered since I left Texas. A large black woman with a nearly manicured goatee. WTF is that? I’ve seen chics with a little peach fuzz before, but this was as thick as mine and to be honest I was a little jealous at the ease of which she must have been able to grow that grotesque piece of facial hair. Anyway, I settled down, stripped off my wet clothes and crashed on the bed full of stress that completely defeated the purpose of this trip. I was angry with myself for so easily succumbing to the pressure of the road and giving in to the urge for a motel. I wondered if other, more tougher riders would camp in a sopping wet sleeping bag. I had only managed to camp for two days, but what a great two days it was. There was also my budget to consider. With a total daily expense of $75 after cheeseburgers at Mickey D’s I was $35 over budget. Fortunately I had only spent $10 the day before so that helped a little. Nonetheless I will need to rein in my spending to ensure the longevity of this journey.

 

“Talking” it out as best I could on AdvRider while posting from my cell phone helped me bleed off the stress. I’ve become pretty fast at typing with the T9Word, lol. Soon my Mom learned of my dilemma and came to the rescue letting me know they were already planning to go pack my stuff up this weekend. So the problem that had soured my day pretty much took care of itself when my family once again came through for me. Part of the purpose of this journey is to learn to deal with things in stride. It may be easy for some, but it never has been for me. I was the kind of kid that used to stay awake at night worrying about my eternal soul, global warming, pollution, dogs trapped in the pound and anything else I thought wasn’t right with the world. I want, no I need, to be more “Whipesque,” more able to take things as they come without them knotting my stomach. If you knew me you never would have believed this journey would’ve ever happened. Meeting new people, not having a schedule, not knowing what was going to happen from one day to the next…this was not how I lived my life. This was not something I ever imagined I could do, I simply was not the spontaneous personality type. In fact, while some of you may see the pictures of me at the bar having a great time and think, “Hey, that’s not adventure” don’t know me well enough to know that for me that is adventure because its all new to me. That’s just not something I used to do. But I’m learning how to have fun, and hopefully with continued support from my family…the ones of blood and the ones I haven’t met yet here on these forums I will learn to shed stress before it ever enters my body. Then maybe someday I’ll have good advice for someone like myself when they need it most. Time will tell my friends.

 

 

Check out where I had to pull over…not exactly a safe zone

 

 

These guys were angry at me, and rightfully so, I destroyed their home.

 

So they did this…

 

And while I’m posting injuries, here is the progress on my burn

[norah]

Hey Josh,

 

Couple of comments...love the t-shirt, loved the description about how to describe riding to someone who doesn't and the comment about the wood made me chuckle . Keep posting!!

[Kaneman]

March 23rd 2007

 

Well being shacked up for the night at the Motel 6 wasn’t so bad. I got to catch some “Mythbusters” and slept well all clean and showered (took two before bed, lol). I was looking forward to meeting up with the South Florida Crew at the Moonlite Diner for bike night again. I had an entire afternoon to kill and nothing to do really. Couldn’t ride too far with my shifter still prone to falling off. There was the matter of getting my blog and pictures uploaded and I had already gotten directions to the local Barnes and Noble…and then I was going to do something I hadn’t done since seeing Flags of Our Fathers with my own father, see a movie. Catch the matinee even and save some cash.

 

Not one to be a freeloader (all the time) I ordered some coffee and an Oreo Brownie thing and sat for ohh…about 3 hours in a comfy chair at the Barnes and Noble café uploading and surfing. One guy there asked me if I was wearing some sort of city uniform…I guess he mistook my Texas patches for Florida patches…you now, since they are so similar in shape and all. But I told him my story and we talked for a bit about it all, interesting fellow. I looked up Moviefone and found that Shooter was playing about 15 miles away in 30 minutes…had to hurry! Packed up quick and hit the highway. Even now with no job I hate being late for anything and I was relieved to make it right on time to catch the damn commercials. Commercials? Really? Didn’t I PAY for this already…what ever happened to movie trivia. I refused to look at the screen until the previews came on, just a personal annoyance really. But the previews were promising, some good movies coming out it looks like. Anyway, onto the movie, it was excellent. Having read Stephen Hunter’s “Point of Impact” I was not let down with this true action flick. No fluff, no BS, just straight up action. My kind of movie and now one of my favorites. I made myself comfy by removing my boots and putting my feet up…probably not good for the people sitting around me, but definitely good for me.

 

 

 

When I came out it looked as though I was facing more rain.

 

I suited up and figured since I had a few more hours to kill I’d go back to Barnes and Noble, park under the awning and mooch up some more space while the storm hopefully passed over. Stormy skies threatened but never materialized which was ok, I enjoyed my internet time. Sometimes I have withdrawals! On the way to Leon and Kel’s I stopped to get a 12 pack of Pepsi, both Kel and my favorite drink. Now if you’ve seen my bike you may be wondering how I managed to carry that in addition to all my (still wet) gear. Right on my lap, just like that 50lb log I dealt with in the ‘glades. I can call them the ‘glades now because I’ve been there and done that. Gators don’t even phase me now.

 

Soon after arriving at Leon and Kel’s place their friend Craig, that I met last week, showed up with his dog that looks just like Falcore from “The Neverending Story.”

 

 

Another Friday and another bike night with the South Florida crowd who are my kind of people. In Florida the vast majority of motorcyclists don’t wear any gear, save for a helmet occasionally. But the sportbike crew here from www.soflasportbikes.com look after each other and 98% of the perhaps 50 bikers that showed up wore at least a helmet, gloves and a jacket. That alone will show you they have their head on straight more than most, but they’re a tight-knit chilled out group of guys and girls that are a pleasure to be around. I think when this is all over I’m going to come back here to have a local tattoo artist do some work on me to commemorate my journey…so be thinking of ideas for me!

 

Since you all have already met the Soflasportbike crew I decided I’d do a somewhat artistic shoot showcasing some of the bikes there. Change it up a bit….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like I’ll be sticking around through tomorrow night since Mikey was kind enough to surrender his Florida Panthers NHL ticket so I could see the game with Leon and Kel. Thanks a million Mikey, I really appreciated that. At one time I was a HUGE hockey fan, for 3 years straight I didn’t miss a single game. (Easy to do when on an 8-5 corporate schedule) So I was looking forward to that. Stay tuned for updates from the game baby! WOOOHOOOO

 

We all went back to Leon and Kel’s and watched Borat!

 

 

I hadn’t seen it before and it was a trip. To say the least. Then, just like last weekend, Steve (the publisher of the official Kaneman Tour T-Shirt, now on sell for $18.00 shipped) passed out like the girly man he is.

 

 

 

Oh yea, this guy was there again! Hahaha

[Kaneman]

March 24th 2007

 

By the time I heard someone else stirring in the house loudly enough to wake me it was 11:30. Damn. Guess my internal clock is finally out of batteries…and it took so long to set too. Today was a big day for my gracious hosts…they were getting a new companion for their 11 year old Boxer, a little brother from a friend of theirs. Before we picked the new pooch up we stocked up on tiny burgers at Krystal’s and I got a platinum tour of the local “ghetto.” Not too bad, but I’d rather not stop there for gas after dark if it could be helped. I learned the inland channels are deep water channels as far down as 50 ft. We have entire lakes that aren’t that deep back home! Of course drought conditions in North Texas have prevailed for a while now.

 

Anyway, they picked up their new puppy and named him “Loki”, got some tags made, got a crate etc. etc. So a picture is worth a thousand words…

 

 

 

[

 

 

And I even got his first mess on “film”, although later that night he actually whined when he needed to go outside!

 

 

 

On the way back I got a shot of the used car dealer, one of many on this strip selling the world’s most expensive and sought after sports cars. One of them was even named Jenkins Auto…now in Fort Worth if you see a Jenkins Auto it would be filled with junkers of all makes and models…vast contrast

 

 

Then I saw this really neat building

Since we had woken up so late there were only a couple more hours to kill before Face-Off so I just laid back and cruised the net for a while and they took care of their new family member. Then…it was HOCKEY TIME!

 

 

Inside there was some of this….

 

And a lot of this

 

 

 

The lil guys played during intermission

 

 

And Steve was there too, but he had seats farther down

 

 

The game went into overtime, then into a shoot out…

 

 

And I was counting on one time Dallas Hero, Edddddiiieeeee “The Eagle” BELFOUR to keep the Panthers on top..

 

But it wasn’t to be as Florida gave up he last goal and that was it, this guy was devastated…

 

And that was pretty much a wrap for the night. Tomorrow its back up to Jayman’s for my last rendezvous before leaving Florida after over two glorious weeks here.

[Kaneman]

March 25th 2007

 

Today I actually woke at a decent time which gave me time to get packed up and ready to head north before Leon and Kel got up to cook breakfast. Hash-browns, Eggs, Sausage, Cinnamon Rolls and Pepsi, delicious!! Leon affixed a little something he made for me as well…

 

 

 

 

 

And then there was Loki, up to some comical puppy tricks…

 

Sleeping it off..

 

When I went from Jay’s to Leon and Kel’s the first time it took me about 6 hours, even though it was only 150 miles. This time it took a mere two hours. All uneventful on the flat roads that Florida is famous for. When I took the Palm Bay exit though I noticed a guy in the car directly in front of me, emphatically waving his arm out of his window. At first I assumed he was waving at the car still on the highway as we were exiting. I soon realized it was the JayMan himself and with good timing. As I pulled up behind him, he stuck his head out the window and turned around with a large, warm smile, pleased with his fortunate timing. Either that, or he’s stalking me. lol Happy to have a trusted guide for the remainder of today’s semi-short ride I followed JayMan back to my temporary home.

.

Thanks a million for the help guys!!

 

 

 

I was given a hearty greeting and introduced to a new bottle of Scotch purchased for my return to Palm Bay. Why anyone would celebrate me coming to be a freeloader is beyond me, but I’ve learned to accept the generosity offered to me by strangers. Of course JayMan’s family are not strangers to me, they are a family away from my own. Jay…normally you would say, “he went out of his way to show me a good time” but he didn’t go out of his way, he did what came naturally to him in the way he treats others. His goal was simply to make sure I had a great and memorable time, and he succeeded of course. Nancy, Jay’s sister who’s amazing life will most likely be made into a book one day and always has a meaningful story to share. Brooke, Nancy’s daughter, is an intelligent, down to earth teenage girl not like most you would meet. In fact, contrary to the norm for her age and the fact that she has a cell-phone the only time I’ve seen her gabbing on it is right now as she sits next to me watching me type this; just an example to convey her advanced maturity level.

 

These were waiting for me at the house, check out these cards!!!!

 

 

At around 6, and with me having a couple of scotches and a couple more martinis under my belt, we departed for Makoto’s Hibachi Grill. Inside, standing at the bar while waiting for a table, I was mercilessly forced to consume even more alcohol. This time in the form of warm sake. Quickly enough, our table was ready, and I was dismayed to find our server for the night was a white man. In my inebriated state, I felt fit to give our young chef a hard time about his ethnic background. He was a good sport, and my gentle ribbing caught the attention of another patron at our table. I think my University of Texas shirt clued him in that something was out-of-the-ordinary with me. Thus, I shared my story with them, and they became the first people I passed my new business card out to. Later that night, I got an email from the gentleman wishing me luck on my ride and about how he enjoyed dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

But my favorite part of the dinner didn’t have to do with the food or fancy chef…

 

 

 

 

After arriving back at the house, I found a cold glass of Scotch in my right hand and it appeared as though half of it had already been consumed. What was going on in this crazy town in Palm Bay, Florida? Before I realized it, I was beyond the normal level of social drinking. The pictures pretty much some up the rest of the night… at least the parts of it that will be shared with the public. 

 

Gotta keep in shape when you’re on the road drinking you know…

 

You talking to me? I’m the only one standing here so you must be talking to me…

 

 

 

I was a little dirty from the ride so I figured I’d scrub up. I don’t actually remember this, but I’m assuming that was my train of thought at the time.

 

Ummm…..yea….

 

 

 

I think Brooke proposed to me…or maybe it was vice versa. Nobody will ever really know now will they…

 

But we were happy then and there, and living for the moment is what its all about eh? Hahaha

 

Maybe I’m faking it…maybe I’m not….one more thing we’ll never really know.

[Kaneman]

March 26th 2007

 

Day 16 in Florida started in typical Kaneman fashion when I once again let the cat out of the house. This is no ordinary cat, this is a cat rescued from certain death by Nancy when he was so young as to be hairless. Ditto is a 14 year old member of the family and I was about to be solely responsible for his demise. After he jolted out the door he stopped, turned and looked at me, and taunted me with his evil eyes. I could have gone in and let them know while he slipped away into the nearby woods or I could have attempted to gentle coax him back to me and carry him into the safety of the house. I chose option B, get him back ASAP, maybe they’d never have to know I had almost lost their cat for the second time.

 

Ditto stayed one step ahead of me, stopping to let me catch up, then scampering off eventually into the bushes behind the house. I fell to my knees and spotted him in the roughage. Sweetly calling his name I slowly reached into the bushes and about 8 inches from my target his hissed a fierce Pet Cemetery type screech and lunged forward with the same quickness I witnessed from a fish-stealing gator in the Everglades just a few days ago. Before I even felt it he had made two razor filled swipes across the back of my hand drawing more than a little blood. Dang. Option B was not going to grant results so with much shame I shuffled back into the house to let them know of my idiocy. They took it as well as they did the first time telling me not to worry because Ditto always came back. Alright, I had yet more wounds to clean.

 

 

First stop of the day was to Rooney’s for lunch. Which I probably should cut back on since I’ve gained 8 lbs since this trip started. So much for starving on the road and coming home malnourished. Every Monday Jay and Nancy have lunch as a tradition but this time Brooke and I were fortunate enough to accompany them. I had ribs and for my worried followers I ate another salad. Much to my dismay though, Nancy ordered the liver and onions. People actually eat that stuff? I thought you just used liver to go Catfishing….well I shouldn’t say anything as I did have the liver pâté at the Hibachi the night before. Of course I was less than sober so I take no responsibility for anything that may have entered my mouth. Wait…that didn’t come out right…oh well.

 

Umm…sorry Nancy, but gross

 

Much more appetizing…

 

 

If you’ve been following the thread you may have noticed me now on my second pair of cheap sunglasses. Well I lost those too so our second stop was to the Dollar Store to get me a new pair. You can’t survive in sunny Palm Bay without sunglasses, plus I’m just infinitely cooler with my eyes covered in mystery.

 

Back at the house, with Nancy at work and Jay asleep on the couch Brooke and I entertained ourselves with a card game called “Spit”. For the record I had never heard of this game before and am fairly certain Brooke made the rules up as we went along. Most ridiculous game I have ever heard of…except for maybe Curling. After Jay’s refreshing slumber we all headed off to Andretti’s, a local go-cart/miniature golf park. I immediately asserted my superior driving skills to put Jay, Brooke and the other kids on the track to shame. The rules firmly stated no bumping but I saw no ban on rubbing, and rubbing is racing. I actually heard an 8 year old drop three f-bombs when I introduced him to the P.I.T. maneuver. Shouldn’t have been in my way laddie! Brooke, Jay and I then teamed up for laser tag to put more kids to shame with tactical skills beyond anything they had ever encountered and Brooke got the most kills by far. Then we golfed and I realized that particular sport must be one of my weaknesses as I was about 5 strokes behind my partners every hole. It was fun, yet embarrassing all at the same time. At the arcade Jay cashed in a $20 and before we had even played one arcade game he had stuffed most of the tokens into the greedy coin machine with almost 700 tickets (the equivalent of $3.50) to show for his hard earned cash. With our time fading,we headed back to the go-carts to settle old scores. At Andretti’s they use a hole-punch system. Basically you get a hole punched in your armband when you get caught breaking the rules. 3 holes and you’re out. Revenge was now the name of the game however, rules be damned. We drove like it was a demolition derby, and terrorized young children with red glowing eyes and an insatiable thirst for speed and victory. Luckily for us, minimum wage workers don’t really give a damn and all of our antics only earned us one hole punch a piece.

 

 

 

 

Fight the addiction Jay!!

 

Look at the rage in his eyes as he smashes this poor child’s car into the wall at over 10 MILES PER HOUR!!!

 

Getting the punishement he deserves…

 

Or maybe that we all deserved

 

Since I was getting my butt handed to me I figured I’d snap some photos

 

 

Earlier at Rooney’s, Brooke’s disappointment with the lack of ice cream desert spurred me to promise ice cream after we left Andretti’s, so we stopped at Twisty Cone on the way back to the house. The night’s drinking was done in much more moderation than previously, Brooke got tired and cranky, which is the norm past midnight, and good conversation filled the air once again until it was time for slumber.

[Kaneman]

March 27th 2007

 

This was to be a chill day, as if they aren’t all in Palm Bay. Nancy and Jay were both working all day so I had the responsibility to entertain Brooke and she’s…well…difficult at times, as most brilliant people tend to be. I dropped Jay off that morning so the young lady and I would have a car, picked up some Dunkin’ Donuts that took 15 minutes to be delivered (stupid poor customer service) and headed back to the house to find Brooke’s door still closed and her still sleeping the day away. It gave me time to shave my head and take a really long shower, which was good….trust me. Finally Brooke raised up from her coffin and joined me in the living room. She’s developing a website about “A Time to Kill” for her class project so I got her set up with a free site and the basic layout, its good to do something to make myself useful and fill a niche when I can. We even wrote a letter to Mr. Grisham to inquire about his reasons for choosing racism as a central them for the book, we shall see if he responds. We watched some movies, hung out and had a great day until it was time for Karaoke night at Sharkey’s after Jay and Nancy arrived home from work. I’m sure she’ll ace that project with flying colors.

 

Right off the bat I’m going to confess that Jay was able to convince me to do something my Nashville hosts couldn’t…sing Karaoke for the first time in my life. When Jay got up to sing Billy Joel’s Piano Man some unseen force guided me to the second mike and I joined him in what I was later told was a rather loud rendition. I lost to Brooke twice in air hockey and twice to Jay in Pool. Well hell, I guess it wasn’t my night. So with that out of the way I decided to use my martial arts training as redemption on the Boxing machine and came away with the hardest punch of the night…and wasn’t too far off from the high score on the machine itself. I got 860, the highest ever was 903. ot only that, I consistently broke 800. I’m going to let that speak as a warning to the guy on ADV that keeps hitting on my Mom. (you know who you are sir) The bartender told Jay the high score was set by some kind of monster of a man so I was alright with not setting the record. Guess that martial arts training paid off eh?

 

Proof

 

Jay giving it his shot

 

His favorite bartender…Sandy

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I came out of my shell a little more today I suppose. I’m not really shy by definition, nor am I outgoing in public settings, at least not enough to pick up a microphone and belt out notes that I’m sure were off-key. Excellent night, but I didn’t expect anything else.

 

And guess who fell asleep right where she was sitting?

 

Ok, this is the treat CycleForums was promised. This is the legendary Jayman, karaoke master, with his rendition of New York in honor of my key destination once I leave Florida.

 

*EDIT* Photobucket is giving me crap so I’ll have to get the video up later. It will be worth the wait though.

[Kaneman]

March 28th 2007

 

Daytona International Speedway was on my mind when I woke this morning. Jay was taking me on a full tour of the Speedway and Daytona beach. I missed bike week by a couple days when I first arrived in Florida but figured I could see the same sights without all the traffic this way. The plan (you know how those go) was to get up, take Brooke to work and then head off to Daytona. The reality was Jayman is not a morning person and instead of forcing him out of bed early I decided to take Brooke into work and then come back for Jay. As it worked out we only left 20 minutes later than we originally planned so it wasn’t too bad. I took advantage of the long car ride though to handle some nagging personal business.

 

My residential phone service and DSL are/were both through AT&T. Now, obviously without a home I have no use for a home phone or DSL service. I do however need, in fact depend on, my email address and of course my AT&T hotspot Wi-Fi subscription to do my blogs on the road. And yes, I’m still on the road…just taking advantage of some of this wonderful Floridian hospitality at the moment. Anyway, yesterday I had already spent an hour trying to handle this issue. What I needed was to disconnect my phone and DSL while keeping my email account active. The first time I tried, over the course of an hour of my life that I will never get back, I was transferred to 4 different departments. That meant I had to give my information and customer code etc. etc. 4 different times. I had to explain my situation 4 different times. I had to deal with 4 different reps, two of them outsourced, telling me that they couldn’t help me. The 4th promised to speak with the rep they were transferring me to before connecting me to make sure I could be helped. What I got was a cold transfer into a recording, “We’re sorry, we are experiencing unusually high call volume and recommend that you call back at a later time.” CLICK. I was so infuriated I wanted to find an AT&T office and do a huge burnout on the hood of a senior manager’s car.

 

While working as a phone rep for Mercedes/Chrysler this was a common occurrence. Customers were constantly being transferred to me that I could not help. Didn’t have access to those systems, didn’t know the answers to their questions etc. etc. But I never cold transferred them. I spent my time and sacrificed my productivity numbers to get them to the right people. Most of the time I felt as though I was dealing with the competition, not with members of my own team working for the same company. Nobody wants to take a call from a customer with a problem; we only want the customers that are calling to pay us money somehow. But I hated poor customer service with a passion and I did what it took to get these people where they needed to be. These were just normal people and I knew exactly why they were yelling at me and why they were so angry because I could relate. I never took it personally because I felt their pain. Unfortunately most if not all call centers are based on a structure that recognizes cold hard numbers, not quality of customer service. There are people from my old job reading this and maybe they would even be upset I would portray their company in a negative light, possibly turning customers away. Well guess what, your customers already know you’re a royal pain in the ass to deal with. That fact becomes abundantly clear to them after they spend their first 7 minutes trying to explain their situation to a robot before ever even being connected to a real person. Being behind the scenes and seeing all this happen from the inside out was maddening to me because there was just no way to change it. There is so much red tape in a large corporation it is almost impossible to make productive policy changes. You spend 8 hours a day listening to pissed off customers, knowing exactly how to fix the problems that caused them to be pissed off, then going to a “Town Hall” meeting where upper management tells you how hard they’re trying to improve our customer service ratings yet completely disregarding the suggestions of the employees that do the job all day. Hey, here’s an idea, if you truly want to make it better get your company car having ass out there on the phones for a minute so you can see the problems first hand. Otherwise stop wasting everyone’s time with your pointless cheerleader meetings, your employees are onto you and they’re sick of it.

 

I knew it was going to take some serious dedication and temper management to get the results I needed. My advice to people unfamiliar with the inner workings of a call center is to keep calling back until you get someone who will help you. At Chrysler maybe 20% of the reps would’ve been willing to go out of their way to get you what you need. Maybe other companies are better or worse, I don’t know, but for now AT&T was at the low end of the totem pole. The other 80% never cared about anything other than their numbers, or cared at one time but are so beat down with it now all they can think about is getting you off their phone and moving to the next call. More calls equal higher productivity ratings. So, all in all with this experience it took 2 hours for me, an experienced phone center rep., to get to someone who could definitively tell me there was no way to keep my email address active without having active DSL and phone service. Customer service, at least in large corporations, is dead. Its like trying to get serious help at Wal-Mart…keep dreaming.

 

Long story short, I’m going to have to pay $20 a month to keep my same email address. I have little choice as my entire life is linked to that address, so be it, at least I finally got a straight answer and an English speaking rep who knew what he was talking about. Dealing with AT&T today was infuriating in a way only the completely uncontrollable can be. Its like physical torture in that you can’t control any aspect of it, you are completely at their mercy. Show a little attitude or let your frustration vent a little and you’ll end up worse off than you were when you first called in. Ok, feels good getting that off my chest, now onto Daytona.

 

Jayman said there was only one place he though appropriate for us to stop at for lunch. Hooters, Daytona Beach Florida, directly across from the most famous race track in the country. Hooters girls are a trip man. Our server was so friendly and carried a great conversation with us about different subjects, but she was dressed…well like a Hooter’s girl. She was also incredibly attractive and well endowed, which I know goes without saying given her current profession. So guys, let me ask, when carrying on an intelligent conversation with a woman who’s breasts are hanging out over the top of her shirt is it impolite to stare? It seems disrespectful to just openly oogle at a woman’s chest, yet she does work at Hooters. It becomes such a deep conundrum that a man’s head could explode trying to figure out the ethical logistics of it all. I chose not to stare. In fact I chose to keep my eyes intently focused on hers and only slipped a couple times. Females reading this probably can’t relate but when the girls are on display primal instinct forces our eyes downward and no amount of civilization is ever going to change that. We are human, but we are human animal first and foremost. Anyway, it’s making my head hurt just thinking about it. For lunch I had a tall glass of cold Northeastern beer and some Daytona wings, which are unique I suppose to that particular Hooters. Either way they were delicious and we had a great time eating and chatting with the girls there. I even passed out a business card so if you’re reading this please enlighten us on the subject at hand!

 

The “Big Daddy of Yuengling

 

Daytona Wings

 

Daytona fans of Kaneman

 

 

 

Alright, so full of wings and beer we were off to the Daytona International Speedway. Unfortunately they weren’t running the Richard Petty Driving Experience today so no driving was in store, but the tour and the museum part was a blast. Pretty much anything that has to do with motorsports is alright with me. After all, racing is sport, everything else is just a game. I came away with a better appreciation of NASCAR after all was said and done. There is a lot more to winning a NASCAR race than just making 4 left turns, believe it or not.

 

 

 

The Intimidator. The Daytona 500 where Dale lost his life was the last Nascar race I ever watched in its entirety. Nascar was never the same for me after that.

 

2007 Daytona 500 Winner Kevin Harvick’s car

 

More…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cockpit I wreaked havoc on the track from…

 

And the results in writing….

 

Check out the new shades doooood!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victory!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill France, the founder of Nascar, and his wife.

 

 

 

No visit to Daytona can be complete, obviously, without a stop at Daytona Beach. Up on the pier they had one of those guys who makes spacey paintings with spray paint cans, I get a kick out of watching those guys. Would’ve gotten a pic but he had large signs up saying no photographs, no video. Everyone fishing said they weren’t having any luck that day but we did see one kid reel in a small shark before we left.

 

 

 

 

 

I was not aware of that…

 

 

I won’t make any comments or anything

 

A1A and Main in Daytona

 

Post Office in Daytona

 

Helmet Shop, you may have ordered something from these guys

 

The World’s Largest Harley Dealership

 

When we got back in the car Jay saw that Brooke had called three times. Plans with her friends had fallen though and she was bored! Imagine that…so we hightailed it back to Palm Bay to serve as Brooke’s gracious hosts. Thinking I might be a little homesick they decided we should go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. As a native Texan I felt like I deserved a discount on the Ft. Worth Ribeye but my waitress disagreed. Man she didn’t even comp our drinks and I showed her my I.D. as proof and everything!! Oh well, it never hurts to try. Dinner must’ve sat well with Brooke because even as the day changed from one to the next at midnight she miraculously did not get cranky…maybe a little loopy, but not cranky. Nancy, Jay and I stayed up talking, then just Jay and I. Before I knew it 3am had rolled over on the clock and it was time to crash out.

 

 

Home sweet home…

 

[Kaneman]

March 29th 2007

 

As my time here in Florida with Jay, Nancy and Brooke is coming to an end I realize more and more leaving my Floridian family behind will be the most difficult thing I’ve done on this trip hands down. Their continued offers to stay here longer and longer make it difficult to set a definite date to start heading north but it must be done as they have real lives and I have a nation to see. Due to some controversy on the largest of the forums this story goes on I decided to use this entry to reconstruct how I got to where I am now, for the people who may have not caught the entire story.

 

On January 30th after realizing I would rather be sick and at home than healthy and at work I decided to quit my job. That very day I was home sick and I was reading Advrider. The stories there inspired me to use this time in my life to do some of my own exploring. At the time I didn’t even think my story would be worth posting on AdvRider since A) I wasn’t a posting member and B) There are much more exotic rides than mine going on everyday. My online story began on CycleForums, where I have been a member for 5 years and then on ZRXOA, because that was my bike at the time. After a few days I decided to post on AdvRider as well. The next day, January 31st, I put in my two week notice at 8:30am.

 

Before I had even served my last day at the office my story had blown up to proportions beyond my belief. I had a ton of offers for a place to stay, food and showers all along the way. Something nobody else knows until know was that without those offers, without the initial attention the thread received I would have waited until March 30th to leave my job. Bonus checks went out on that date and I left $2,500 by leaving when I did. The cold truth is that when I put in my notice I was so miserable that the yearly bonus did not even cross my mind, but my department manager pulled me aside and asked me to at least stay until then. The beginning of my ride had already been put in motion though and I wasn’t turning back no matter what. Do I regret losing out on that bonus check? Not even a tiny bit.

 

Around day 3 or 4 I think it was, I posted in frustration that I had lost my electric vest. I remember being so distraught that night I couldn’t even sleep because I had essentially lost 3-4 days worth of budget by making a stupid packing mistake. You see, contrary to what has been posted and implied, initially this was 100% funded by me from money I worked for. I cashed in my 401k and my tax return and every penny I had in my name to come up with enough money for 2…maybe 3 months on the road. Not once did I ever think others would be helping me along the way. I departed February 17th with my life savings determined to see the country. Now, because of losing that vest, what was originally supposed to be a $100 replacement fund has become a 25% percentage of my total budget through donations and T-Shirt sells.

 

 

Anyway, all that being said today was relatively “unadventurous” by Viking-like standards. Nancy and Brooke had to work so I had Nancy make a list of chores for us to take care of. Needing the sun on my white Texan body I chose to do the lawn and left Jay inside to do the woman’s work (haha!!)

 

 

 

This guy was in the front yard and I wanted to make some new boots but he was too fast.

 

 

Nancy was thrilled with the lawn and despite her troublesome lawn mower I did have to admit it looked pretty good. Since Jay had poker and Nancy had to work at Squid Lips that night my reward for my hard work and sweat was my first date with Brooke-san!! We grabbed some Chinese food right next to the restaurant and I tried to teach her to use chop-sticks with no success. For some reason she likes to see people get butchered up so she made me take her to “The Hills Have Eyes 2.” It worked out for me because the movie’s credit card machine was down so with shame in my eye I had to ask the lady to pay for my ticket. If you ever get the urge to see that movie…don’t.

 

In order to make up for my lack of cash at the theater I granted Brooke the wish of a lifetime, a cosmic jawbreaker from Cracker Barrel…she had been talking about getting one for days. Of course I didn’t know where a Cracker Barrel was but I knew you can’t go far down a major interstate without finding one. 20 miles is all it took and we went back home to watch Borat with Nancy and her friend Scott. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha, if you ever get the urge to see that movie do it, just make sure your kids are out of the room first!!

 

Oh, and after all that Jay came back and he won 1st place at the poker game that night!!

 

 

[Kaneman]

March 30th 2007

 

I�m going to take a cop-out here and say I�m exhausted from building a dog-run for Nancy and doing some more yard-work so this�ll be a short report with lots of pictures!

 

Jay, Brooke, and I went to the Brevard Zoo today. Vastly different from the much larger Fort Worth Zoo but much cheaper as well. One of only two zoos in the country with a Kayak tour, and the Brevard Zoo has two.

 

 

 

 

 

Pumps in a bump!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awwwwww

 

 

 

 

A friendly and familiar face�

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the zoo we all stopped by a local Publix to pick up supplies for a big cook-out at Nancy�s with some of her friends, Brian and Ruth and their two kids Jerry and Becky. Brian owns a local Automotive shop and was a pretty cool guy and Ruth works with Nancy and used to be Amish! You�ve all seen pictures of their house in a previous thread where I fed their catfish. The surprise of the night was Brian�s acting skills at Guesstures (fancy charades). The boys DOMINATED the girls and I�m pretty sure they were working hard to conceal their embarrassment!

 

Brooke was working hard to finish off the jawbreaker

 

Ruth

 

 

 

 

This was me shooting up, trying to act out �steroids� Got it too!

 

 

I�ve been trying to show Brooke some self-defense moves for a while, I think its paying off!

 

 

Awwww!! Hahahaha, told you she gets tired!

[Kaneman]

March 31st 2007

 

Today I wanted to repay some of the kindness I have received from Nancy since I’ve been here in Palm Bay, Florida. Most houses here don’t have fences for some weird reason and Nancy’s energetic dog, Corey, needed a way to be outside for a while on occasion. I decided I would build them a dog-run, that conveniently enough doubles as a clothes line. I dropped JayMan off at work and headed to Home Depot to pick up the needed supplies. Now, don’t tell Nancy, but I had never done anything like this before.

 

 

They actually had a dog run kit that came with the cables, springs, pulley and hooks so that worked out well. I got that, two 7ft metal poles and some Sakrete. The only thing was I didn’t have a drill, no problem, I’m at Home Depot so I’ll just get them to do it right? Oh hell no. I didn’t believe the first guy that told me they couldn’t do it so I found a different associate and you know what he told me… “Sorry, we don’t have any drills here to do that with” I almost came unglued, “Are you serious, there must be a thousand drills over with the tools.” “Uhh…yea…but they batteries are dead on all those.” I was livid but bit my tongue and left with my supplies. To add insult to injury they didn’t even have a hot dog stand out front like every other Home Depot I’ve ever been to. Damnit! Haha

 

I drove over to the Brown Bag to get directions to Brian’s house, from Guesstures the other night, so I could borrow a post hole digger and get him to drill the holes. Instead he gave me two 12 ft heavy duty poles from an old carpet roller, a traditional post hole digger and an ice auger. The auger worked amazingly! Back at Nancy’s I dug two 3ft deep holes 50ft apart and filled the first hole with concrete, and of course you know I had to put my initials in it. Too bad I didn’t get enough concrete though so I went back to the Depot. On the way I saw a guy going the other way on an old KZ750 with saddlebags and wondered where he was off to. I found out on the way back when I saw him on the side of the road pushing his bike! I pulled over quickly and got to his aid just in time to help keep him from dropping it after he put his kickstand down on soft ground. He had run out of gas and then his battery died so he was S.O.L. But he said his wife was on the way so I let him be and continued on to finish my project.

 

Saw a “little” road kill being devoured. This thing always scares me when I’m on the bike, vultures can be pretty dangerous to riders

 

So it actually works quite well and now Corey has a nice place to run, play and bask in the lovely Florida sun. After I got done with that nobody was home yet so I did some more yard work taking care of some overgrowth near the road on Nancy’s property. After actually having to work for a change I was exhausted! But Brooke wasn’t having any of that nonsense and she put me to work that night helping out with her big Junior project. I know enough about Grisham and “A Time to Kill” to be certified as an expert now I think! So that was that, Jay came home, we had some drinks and some conversation and I fell asleep dreaming of dogs on tethers and vigilante fathers.

 

[Kaneman]

April 1st 2007

 

This is the hardest blog I�ve ever had to write, especially considering the recent events on this thread and all those who have taken my back when I needed it most. I�ve taken a job at a local restaurant and rented an apartment with my remaining funds to set up shop here in Florida and try to start a new life. I�m searching for a good economy car to trade the bike in on as I�m pretty much tired of riding. My sincere apologies to all, but this will be my final entry in this journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL FOOLS!!

 

That was wrong I know, especially since its actually the 2nd now but hey, always the jokester. Anyway, today was the day JayMan has been waiting for over the past year. WrestleMania 23. Too funny, I didn�t realize at first that �pro� wrestling was still so big, but my grandfather and I always watched WWF when I was a kid and he loved it. Got such a kick out of watching those grown men go around acting like they do. Of course I didn�t know it was all scripted at the time but it was one of the things we used to do together and I miss that. So to be honest, I was kind of excited too, especially since a lot of the wrestlers I watched as a kid were going to be fighting tonight.

 

First though, the beach. Every Sunday Nancy goes just to relax and kick back for a while so I joined her, alone, since Jay was at work and Brooke was busy reading for her project. I will certainly miss the beautiful beaches of Florida when I�m gone. Its usually not too busy, always clean and always relaxing. I had been taking some criticism from some ADV folks over the past couple days so getting out and being at peace for a bit was just what I needed.

 

 

Mutant Thumb..

 

 

 

 

If I wasn�t doing it on a bike, I�d do it in one of these for sure!

 

 

 

This fine dining �mansion� is on sell for eBay I believe�3.5 million or something like that

 

At least some people were out riding today! HA!

 

 

 

Nancy headed off to work and I was left with Brooke to entertain myself, since she was still reading. Boring!! Eventually she came out to set up her own April fools prank, supposedly one she does every year. Just a simple thing really, put a black hair tie on the sprayer at the faucet so when someone turns it on they get soaked. Well I sat there and watched her do it and fell for it myself no less than 5 times. I just couldn�t remember it was on there. But that�s ok cause she got herself a couple times too! Hahaha, all that and we only actually pranked someone once.

 

Later on Jay and I got her back�

 

 

 

Now I have to tell you, I was a bit concerned about WrestleMania because Jayman had been talking a lot of smack about wrestling me and then soon enough we were both gulping down Yuenglings like water�

 

 

and when we finished the 12 pack there was suddenly a bottle of Jack in front of us. I realized I should stay somewhat sober since Jay appeared to be going for a new record. But soon enough he began picking on me and I know that wrestling or fighting with someone who�s intoxicated is not always the best plan�so I tried to ignore it. Until he slapped me in the face�for the second time. There wouldn�t be a third, and I warned him as best I could! The next time he advanced on me I put him in the ground face down, twisted his arm up and applied lateral pressure to hold him in place. I then summoned Brooke to get the camera so he could never live down the shame he had brought upon himself. To be honest, I don�t even think he would�ve remembered the event if it weren�t for the pictures!

 

Apparently I said something Brooke didn�t like because she bit the hell out of my finger!

 

Don�t ever mess with Kane Myers baby!

 

 

 

Not really sure what�s going on here�I�d ask JayMan but I�m sure he doesn�t remember

 

See�.

 

Enough is enough homie�I warned you!

 

In the end we had another great night (don�t hate) and I think he�s turning me into a redneck�WWE, NASCAR, Hooters�what�s going on here? The Undertaker won his 15th Wrestlemania in a row, Donald Trump shaved Vince McMahon�s head and I am pretty sure Edge had his rib cage broken in a pretty risky stunt. I knew tomorrow was SkyDive day so I went to bed with a little primal fear in my heart�

 

 

LUSH!!

[Kaneman]

April 2nd 2007

 

My stomach was in knots before I even woke up, and it wasn’t from the alcohol related events from the night before, in fact I’ve held my own very well throughout this trip and am proud to report I’ve not gotten sick once or had a single hangover since day one. Whip must have done a good job preparing me for what was to come. The reason I was so nervous was my planned jump of fate from 13,500 over Sebastian Airport trusting my life with a complete stranger who would be strapped to my back in just a couple of hours. How unreal for me to be doing something like this, I have already said I don’t even like tall buildings. Not that 100ft is any different than 13,000ft as far as terminal velocities are concerned, but there is a definite fear factor that supersedes all logic involved with sky diving. Too nervous to eat I rushed Jason out of the house before I changed my mind. On the way to the airport I was in autopilot, just being guided to my next step without having to think too much about anything. I focused on the road, on the music, on anything other than the sky I would soon be falling from.

 

We arrived at the tandem check-in and were immediately informed that their plane was in New Jersey for maintenance but would be ready to go at 4pm. Great. Just great. 5 more hours to let the anticipation build inside me until I was sure my mind would change. Nothing else to do now but go back to the house and wait it out.

 

No dogs allowed skydiving…

 

 

Writing is always a good way for me to take my mind off whatever it needs taking off of. Nancy was running late and we couldn’t get a hold of her. Soon someone called from her restaurant to find out if we had heard from her. Apparently she was to take an order to a client but never showed up. This was completely out of character for her and Jason and I both became worried. After a few more minutes I decided that I would go ride around trying to find her while Jason stayed home and manned the phones. He would call me if he heard from her. So I gathered my gear up and got ready to leave when I realized I couldn’t find my motorcycle keys. Luckily while I was outside digging for my spare key Nancy pulled up laughing at herself for her mistake. She wasn’t actually working today but volunteered to deliver that order since she was there anyway. Out of all the errands she had to run today that was the one she forgot. The three hour old tuna sandwiches were still in the backseat where she had completely forgotten about them. At least she was ok, and at least I didn’t get a speeding ticket searching for her.

 

By this time my stomach was finally settled enough to consider lunch and we left for “The Shack”, which you may remember from my first visit here. As I expected lunch was excellent and only made more perfect by the great company and wonderful view of the water from our outdoor table. We stayed so long talking by the time we got done it was time to head to pick Brooke up from her first day back at school from Spring Break. About that time Jay got a call from Sebastian Airport. Their plane would be delayed until the next day, Jay set our reservation at 10am. Damn. Another night of waiting, another morning of nervousness! Oh well, too late to back out now so I’ll just have to roll with it.

 

 

 

 

At Twisty cone this guy stopped to get his lil’ girl a cone…

 

And I got Brooke one as well…

 

I don’t possess the vocabulary or education to express how amazing my time here with this family has been. No, I haven’t been out in the jungle or the swamp eating dead animals, taking pictures of road signs, blasting down the backroads or sleeping by the campfire over the last 9 days. What I have gained from this section of my trip is a family and a place in Florida where I will always be welcome. That is far more important and rewarding than proving my manliness by how many miles I can cover in X amount of days, miles on the highway will be forgotten but ever moment I spent here will not.

 

Jay, the man of the hour, the legendary JayMan. Without his invitation and willingness to take a chance building a friendship with a stranger none of this would have ever happened. Lets not forget when I first came to Florida Jay had already taken 3 days off work without pay to show me the type of life they live here, without ever meeting me. We shared a lot of the same experiences throughout our lives and were able to relate well to each other. There is much you can learn from an ex-catholic priest. I can not express my gratitude enough Jay.

 

Nancy, the peacemaker and head honcho. Again without her blessing JayMan would have never been able to invite me into his home. She also took a chance by inviting me in. From the very moment I arrived here she made me feel more welcome than I had even felt in my own home. . Envision that first amazing meal, crab claws, steak, chicken…it was the beginning of Kaneman’s Rapid Weight Gaining Program. Nancy is peaceful and wise, I have learned so much by listening to her stories and sharing my own experiences. She was always a good sport, even when I may have had one too many Scotches.

 

Brooke. Its not even possible to put a label on her. The most grounded 17 year old I have ever met without a doubt. Intelligent, diligent, blessed with quick wit, a great sense of humor and of course fascinating beauty. More than anything I will miss hearing her laughter and seeing the smile that can light up a room everyday. Although I believe the best part about Brooke was watching her mood swing from cheerful to umm…”grumpy” right about 10PM. There were a few times though that she was kind to me after the 10 O’Clock hour and I figured I must be a pretty lucky guy.

 

With all this, and what was in store for tomorrow, I would have quit my job, rode straight to Florida and then straight home for this one leg of my journey. Thank you all, it would not have been possible to learn and experience as much on the road as I have here in Palm Bay.

[Kaneman]

April 3rd 2007

 

What DO you do when the corporate world has sucked you dry?

 

You Quit.

 

And jump from a perfectly good airplane baby!! WOOOOOOOO!!!

 

 

We were getting close and I was nervous beyond words. Maybe even a bit terrified.

 

If I was going to be extreme, I was going to do it with Mountain Dew in my belly

 

We watched the group before us take off, my mouth went dry and sweat beaded on my forehead.

 

 

 

Jay wasn?t the least bit nervous?at least not outwardly

 

 

 

The time was near, I was not any calmer in the plane. I did take peace in the fact that I knew I would never back out from this experience now.

 

Its go time

 

Don?t look down?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy had over 10k jumps and spoke in one of the calmest voices I?ve heard. He did well keeping me from throwing up. Having a conversation with him after the chute had deployed was surreal. After it did deploy and I realized we were going to live I said, ?Shit. It actually opened? to which he replied, ?Man I say that everytime? haha

 

Going up

 

 

EXTREME!!!!!!!!!

 

The rest of my day will be spent doing laundry and packing for tomorrow?s departure. I hear there is rain and cold weather in store for me so if this wasn?t adventurous enough for you stay tuned...

[Kaneman]

April 4th 2007

 

Rushing winds through an open dark smoke visor kept my eyes dry as I merged onto I-95 North. My first time on the highway in over 10 days. My stomach was full of waffles and egg sandwich from Jay’s going away breakfast at Waffle House to me. In true form for the journey after my selection, “Time” played the iPod picked “Why Does My Heart (feel so bad)” by Moby. These it picks at random out of 5,000 songs. Just as the iPod selected “On the Road Again” after stopping with the V-Strom for a photo op. at the exactly spot the ZRX had eaten itself alive at. Just as it had picked “The Logical Song” by Supertramp when I crossed (finally) from Texas into Arkansas. For those not familiar to the lyrics to that song…

 

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,

A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.

And all the birds in the trees, well theyd be singing so happily,

Joyfully, playfully watching me.

But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible,

Logical, responsible, practical.

And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,

Clinical, intellectual, cynical.

 

There are times when all the worlds asleep,

The questions run too deep

For such a simple man.

Wont you please, please tell me what weve learned

I know it sounds absurd

But please tell me who I am.

 

Now watch what you say or theyll be calling you a radical,

Liberal, fanatical, criminal.

Wont you sign up your name, wed like to feel youre

Acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable!

 

At night, when all the worlds asleep,

The questions run so deep

For such a simple man.

Wont you please, please tell me what weve learned

I know it sounds absurd

But please tell me who I am.

 

Surely my iPod is possessed by whatever force also keeps me riding. Looking back now I realize by my original plan my journey would be coming to an end, yet here I am really just getting started and so much more to see.

 

It was hot, really hot, and monkey butt developed quickly. As I’ve said before going through that first tank of gas is the hardest part of the ride and I adapted quickly. At the first gas stop of the day a guy walked up to me and said, “Yo man, look me straight in the eye and tell me you ain’t hot in that thang.” I laughed and said I couldn’t lie that well and was burning up.” “Man, you crazy!” As he walked off laughing I smiled and thought he doesn’t even know… I must not have been paying attention though when gas prices went up $.20 a gallon. For the first time while touring I stripped off the top part of my riding suit and tucked it behind me. Not one to ride without full gear I will admit it felt very nice to let that wind flow over me.

 

 

 

I was tempted to visit Crystal Lake on my way out of Florida but decided against that. I was ready to see a new state and knew my destination would be somewhere in South Carolina. No map today, although to be fair I didn’t do a whole lot of back-road navigating anyway. Off I-95 I headed toward Savannah, GA, a city I had heard was rich in culture and history.

 

Quickly enough I found the Visitors Center which had a parking ticket dispenser and free parking for the first hour. When I stopped at the yellow and black striped arm I saw a sign stating, “Autos only, no bicycles, no motorcycles, no RV’s. No motorcycles? Are you kidding, this isn’t 1950, people don’t frown on you when you walk into a restaurant with a leather jacket on. Since I was going to be breaking the rules anyway I opted not to get a parking ticket, clicked into first and bypassed the gate on the right. Their discriminatory rules weren’t going to keep me from getting the information I needed! Inside the Visitor’s Center they also had a pretty cool little museum, but with more rules I couldn’t adhere to. I had just paid for a can of Coke and didn’t want to throw it away so I stashed it in my riding suit pocket. That one came back on me though when the coke sloshed around after I climbed some steps and soaked my left leg. Too funny, instant Kharma. What a dufus.

 

Imagine if you will a time when a woman knew her place in the world…JUST KIDDING LADIES, I SWEAR!!

 

 

 

 

Some cool war memorabilia.

 

 

 

And a way cool Civil War model

 

Billy Jean was NOT my lover!

 

 

One thing I’ve noticed on this trip is no matter where you go there is always something close-by that has to do with Texas.

 

Dentist office, or the place where Joker had his plastic surgery done…you decide.

 

Where shirts are born

 

Opting not to see the 20min movie that was showing I headed back to make sure my bike hadn’t been towed and debated taking a $10 trolley tour of downtown Savannah and then I remembered, oh yea, you already have a touring machine. So I rode up and down the streets of downtown Savannah watching traffic of course, but also the people and structures around me. To be honest I wasn’t really in an extremely photographic mood so I didn’t get a lot of stuff but I had a really good time just looking around, reading Historical Markers and even walking through an old graveyard.

 

 

 

5:00 rolled around fast so I got back on the road and headed to a KOA I had found by calling them. Not thinking anything about it at the time, I didn’t bother asking price, though they did say tent camping was available.

 

Finally, another state to mark off the list!! The Welcome Center was already closed though so I didn’t get my mandatory free map.

 

When I arrived they told me it was $50 a night for primitive tent camping. You have got to be kidding me. Has the world gone mad, why are all these KOA's so expensive? Busiest time of the season maybe? Should have stopped at the last state park I saw in Georgia I suppose .I passed and headed south eventually making it to Hilton Head Island.

 

 

 

It is beautiful here actually, large trees everywhere, even in shopping center parking lots. The city has done a wonder job managing development. Every where I went the smell of the forest was thick, which was interesting among all the commercial business there. Since JayMan’s breakfast was long since processed I pulled over at a McDonald’s to hit the dollar menu and lucked out with free wi-fi that actually worked! In the parking lot a guy came up and asked me how much extra weight I was carrying with all my gear. That was a good question, I had been wanting to weight the bike since I left but don’t think they’d like it if I pulled into a weigh station. I told him I guessed it was less than a passenger would way and well balanced so I didn’t even notice. Him and his father do tours on Harleys and he’d logged a few miles himself, although his days as an Army Ranger had caused some hip problems he was having fixed soon. I gave him a business card and headed inside for dinner.

 

Two young girls in front of me in line had been complaining about the time it was taking for their McFlurries. “5 minutes to stand in line, 5 minutes to order, 5 minutes to make the ice cream….can we just get our order?!?” I knew what happens though when you complain too loudly and I told them, “Two seconds to get your McFlurry spit in…” We chatted, but they didn’t know if there was any tent camping available around either. While eating my tasty burgers I got a call from a ZRXOA member inviting up to hang out with them when I got to Virginia and he said something that I hadn’t actually thought of. He mentioned JayMan and told me that he had a very big heart. Of course, why I hadn’t I thought of it in those terms, that was the best way to sum up JayMan actually. I look forward to meeting with those guys, the ZRXOA is a good bunch, if a little rough around the edges! Haha.

 

 

I figured if it was an island there’d be good tent camping right? Corvette, Porche…uh oh…Mercedes dealership on my left, Starbucks, damn. This was nice area and camping wouldn’t be any cheaper here…if I had ever found a campground which I had not even after darkness had been upon me for an hour. The trip meter was showing around 450 miles but I had actually logged a few more than that before resetting it today. Wondering what the chances were I stopped at a Motel 6 and saw that it was only $40, not bad…but they had no vacancy and the lady at the counter told me everyone was booked.

 

She was wrong, there was vacancy at the Red Roof Inn, with wi-fi, for $54.00. $54 for a room, or as much as $50 if I took my chances finding camp in the dark. Satisfied with the situation I booked my room and chatted with them a bit, I even passed out another card. The room was nice but unfortunately haunted. My demon TV kept turning on and off, on and off, and the outlet was behind the bolted down dresser. No problem, they took very good care of me and upgraded me to a business class room with a desk, fridge, and microwave at no cost!

 

 

My first day back on the road was great. The bike ran perfectly, I was pretty comfy, made good time, covered a lot of miles, saw some great places and talked to some good people. The only bad news of the day was a message from Brooke letting me know I had left my iPod charger there. Not sure how I will remedy that yet…

 

Following the road and not relying on maps is fun and carefree, but I need to start seriously looking for camp much sooner in the day to avoid relying on getting a room. This looks like a beautiful state to explore and I am excited about spending a couple days here braving the storms that I think are on the way.

[Kaneman]

April 5th 2007

 

When I opened the room to my motel room this morning I was greeted by perfect temperatures and the rancid smell of something dying. Considering the used, and rather large, condom that had been floating in my toilet the previous night I would not have been surprised if the smell was coming from inside the motel itself…body under a bed perhaps. Nothing against the Red Roof…just gotta be sure to make sure everything flushes down when you clean the room. It didn’t take me too long to shower, pack and check out because I was ready to hit the road. My destination was the Francois something or other National Park north of Charleston SC. Not too far away that destination gave me plenty of time to explore.

 

First I rode around Bluffton and smelled the sweet sweet smell of cooking pork coming from an old caboose that had been made into a BBQ stand. That was an easy enough decision so I pulled in and ordered a pork sandwich, chips and sweet iced tea.

 

 

While I was eating I heard the ladies in line now needed change for a $20 so I offered it up, but they had it under control. But since I had the last covered table they asked if they could sit with me and share my shade. I laughed and said I would be happy to have some company so they moved their food right on over and I had lunch quests. They were working on a Habitat for Humanity home built solely by women just around the corner and were taking a deserved break. They had plaster and paint on their clothes and large, warm smiles. I didn’t catch their names, but the one directly across from me told me about her sons and their race to see who could visit all 50 states first. The lady on my left had a son who once lived in Keller, Texas, which is where I worked for so long. I talked about the differences between a place like that and a place like Bluffton, SC. Bluffton had no tract housing, no franchise business and no Walmarts that I could see. Keller was the exact opposite, a nice enough place, but without much personality. Small world though. After I finished eating I bid them farewell , gave out a Kaneman card and headed on my way. Their smiles and calm demeanor, along with the delicious BBQ, had left me with an overwhelming sense of peace.

 

 

Some more Bluffton touring..

 

 

I went out of my way to get this shot for my Pops…say hi to Tillman for me if you ever talk to him Dad!

 

 

As if my day was not going perfectly enough while I was at a stop light shortly after a lady in a Toyota with New York plates pulled to my right at a stop light. I glanced over and noticed she was looking right at me. My headphones were playing so I couldn’t hear her words but I read her lips and she said, “Have a safe trip.” She didn’t know me from Adam but I knew the look in her eyes was one of concern and compassion. How profound I thought for this stranger to be concerned enough with my safety to look me in the eyes and voice it. I assumed she was most likely from a motorcycling family or a motorcyclist herself, but I was humbled by her simple act of friendliness.

 

By now I was getting close to Charleston and saw a sign for Parris Island. Pretty significant historical place so I followed the signs. Then I remembered I would not be welcome near a military base snapping pictures so I didn’t go all the way. I did make it to the Marine Corps Air Base though and stopped out front to get some shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On US17 heading into Charleston I must have seen 30 “sweet-grass weaving stands” selling hats, mats and other things you can…um…weave out of sweet grass I guess. They lined the road though, east and west.

 

 

Then as I entered Charleston I passed under this bridge that was much cooler than my picture shows

 

 

Oh yea, and I stopped at a Post Office to take care of some mail I needed to send out.

 

 

Finally I was in the National Forest and on the look out for some free camping. Visitor’s Center signs to my right beckoned me to come on in and ask, but the lady inside only suggested pay sites…must be a conspiracy. I went ahead and stopped at the first she suggested just to check out the rates and…

 

 

So I rode on with plenty of daylight left to find a great spot and took a left on a gravel road with a National Forest sign. I rode far enough down to see there was plenty of open space to camp in, and plenty of left over wood from logging. Damn, I had to pee and the gravel was not making it easy to hold it in. So I pulled over and rode back into the woods a way. I put my feet down to get off the bike and realized, too late, that I had parked over a depression and had no leverage on the bike. My top heavy beast fell quickly tossing me off. Remembering the ZRX though before I let go of the bar I hit the kill switch. Good thinking. I took care of my business first then lifted the bike up. This was really easy, there is a special Kaneman way to lift a heavy bike without assistance. Face the bike, slide your hands under the bike, about shoulder width apart, palms down. Ball your hands into fists and turn them so that your thumbs are pointing up. Extend your thumbs with enough force to lift the bike, but not enough to flip it over. Easy as pie. After getting back on the road I stopped at a general store…can you guess what food item I purchased there?

 

 

(By the way, I read some more responses regarding my eggs. Leave my eggs alone, I’ve been doing this long enough to know how to handle them!! Haha)

 

My cute cashier gave me directions to some good primitive camping which I was fairly close to. She said it was right off the river and I should be able to catch some fish there. That sounded much better than what I had found previously. With eggs in tow I found the turn off…

 

 

Saw the forest from the inside

 

 

And found the gravel road she had spoken of. Nice hard packed gravel so no issues with traction there. I actually passed the turn the first time and had to come back so I rode about 30 miles on gravel. Enough to shake my water bottle loose and break the top and cause some other damage I’ll get to in a minute. Eventually, after climbing a hill on a hunch I found the perfect spot. Within about 15 minutes I had my tent up and my fire burning. Good to see I haven’t lost my touch! It is as beautiful here as the rest of the state of South Carolina has been so far. Very peaceful and quiet…just as you would expect the middle of a forest to be.

 

 

First I hiked into the woods gathering lots of firewood, on my third trip I heard a loud groan and creak, looked over my shoulder and saw a huge log go falling off a tree about 50 yards east of my campsite. SWEET! Its like God wanted me to have the largest campfire ever made by man so I hauled it all back to my site. Along with what I had already gathered I had a very adequate firewood supply.

 

 

Logs from God!

 

I found this swamp right behind my camp while looking for firewood…I wonder if there are gators here…

 

With the official camp business taken care of I hiked down the bank of the river with my rod and reel to do a little fishing, hoping to eat some fire baked fish utilizing the river’s mud, and some tree bark. It wasn’t until after I had cast out that I realized the vibrations from the gravel road had shaken the handle off my reel.

 

 

Oh well, I had eggs and Nancy’s homemade banana bread in my tankbag so it was something that I could take care of tomorrow and not have to worry about it. Instead I just sat there and watched the sunset over the river. It was today’s moment of Zen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kaneman]

April 6th 2007

 

Dang it was chilly when I woke up this morning. This guy even snuck into my tent he was so cold.

 

Which says a lot because it was 11 o’clock. I have no idea how I managed to sleep for so long on hard ground with serious cramps and sleeping limbs all night but I did. And I did so hard enough that my makeshift pillow (dirty clothes in a bag) was soaked with sweet sticky drool. At least it made my decision easier for what to do today, I decided to stay here another night and fish all day…since I hadn’t seen the warden around anywhere. I plugged my laptop into the charger on the bike and rode back into town, to the True Value general store from yesterday. Since my water had spilled I needed to get more, get some hooks, weights, a new reel and some hotdogs for the fire. My total daily expense after all that came to $20. Gotta love small town discounts

 

The same cashier was working and asked if I was able to find the site ok last night. I thanked her and we talked a bit while she showed me around the store helping me gather the items I needed. Put a quick message on ADV, called my Mom to say hi, then headed back to camp to spend the day hiking, collecting wood, and fishing.

 

 

 

And with a view like this how could you blame me?

 

The woods behind me were burned clear from a controlled burn to keep the underbrush down. Made it much easier to hike and get logs for the fire.

 

You think if I ate these it would’ve gotten me high? Haha

 

Today I went the extra mile and hauled some MASSIVE logs back to camp. If yesterdays fire was big then this would be enormous.

 

 

When I got back to camp I found that an entire family had moved in down the hill a ways. I figured that could be good or bad, but would probably be good and I was right. After I got back a gentleman, so dark I thought he was black at first, walked over and invited me over that night for some chili. Awesome, you know, just in case I didn’t catch anything. They had a boat there and were doing a lot of catfishing and running trot lines so the guy gave me a box of worms and said I should try my luck with those. Soon I was sitting by the bank fishing away.

 

My first monster…

 

And the second monster right afterward

 

And then when I wasn’t paying attention my pole bent in half. I mean I heard that sucker cracking. Something had ahold of it good and as I wrestled with the pole I tried to adjust the drag to keep the line from snapping….but I wasn’t fast enough and whatever was on there swam off with some new lip jewelry. I was so pissed about missing the big one that I packed it in for the night and went back up to build my bonfire and roast some weenies.

 

My last view of the river was watching my new friends haul in 15-20 lb catfish from their trot lines, one after the other. I saw them struggling with one so large at one point they couldn’t get it in the boat and had to let it go

 

And then there were wieners. No hotdog is ever as good as one cooked over a fire.

 

My fire was something to behold and respect this night. Soon after it was built up I went “next door” to have some chili. Good times, but I left shortly after one of the guys started talking about bad words in movies and how they relate to black people.

 

They asked me to stay another night to eat some fried catfish and hang out, they were going to have a massive feast tonight. But I knew I would be leaving in the morning so that night I packed some stuff up and got a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s departure. I would try to make it to Va….weather depending.

[Kaneman]

April 7th 2007

 

9am Eastern time, a much more respectable time to wake up, but still later than I usually sleep at camp. Once again it was a hard sleep, leading me to drool and possibly keeping my neighbors awake with relentless snoring all throughout the night. From inside my small Eureka tent I could hear the wind rustling the large trees of the forest where I was camped. I had considered staying here another day, going back to the general store for a hotdog, then fishing the day away while waiting on my camp neighbors to fry up some of the catfish I had seen the night before. They had two coolers full of the largest catfish I have seen up close in my life. That says something too since for a period of about 6 months I literally lived off catfish caught from a nearby lake while I lived in a 14ft pop-out camper. When I woke though the travel bug (and another one I wasn’t yet feeling) had taken hold and I quickly packed up. Even now, after all the camping I’ve done I always wonder if I will be able to fit everything onto the bike. Miraculously it always fits, and I always have a little room for more. More today was the huge pack of corn tortillas I purchased from the general store the previous morning.

 

I said goodbye to my neighbors, thanked them for the delicious chili and blasted down the gravel road leading out of the forest and back to the familiar paved blacktop of US17. Heading north I initially intended to make it to VA, but when I stopped at Barnes and Noble to upload my ride report I learned of the snow that had fallen, and saw a picture of DC covered in an icy glaze. Yuck. Well now what? I could head west a ways, but it was to be below freezing at night anywhere I could reach in one day. Not fearing the cold, knowing I had the gear to dress for it, I decided to make camp in the Croatan National Forest in NC, just northeast of Jacksonville. Two glorious days of camping had left me wanting more, and left me wanting to settle the score with the big catch that never made it to shore.

 

In Georgetown the pungent odor hit my nostrils that could only be a paper mill and as I rose up a hill I saw the mill on my left side. I wondered if you ever get used to that smell if you work at the mill or live in the town that surrounds it. Big smoke stacks worthy of a photo op had me making a u-turn and then I saw something that made me smile. A guy on an old Japanese cruiser with North Carolina plates and a digital SLR draped around his neck. He was out doing some sight-seeing and decided to snap the paper-mill too. Apparently my idea wasn’t terribly unique.

 

 

As I left South Carolina, on my left I saw the a visitor’s center and a chance to get my free map, even if I no longer needed it, its somewhat of a ritual for me to get a free map for every state I enter. Another U-Turn granted me kind words from the desk clerk and a map to be shipped back to Texas unused.

 

All day I had felt lethargic and I assumed it was because of my strange sleep schedule of late. I vowed to start waking up at a decent time. I didn’t know at the time my sleep schedule was a result of something more sinister….although to deal with my sore throat I had stopped for some DayQuil. When I crossed into North Carolina for the second time this journey I was rejuvenated and busted a big second gear wheelie across the state lines. I literally entered NC on one wheel and I found that inwardly amusing. Amusing one that I could manage to wheelie this big top heavy beast and two that my very first act back in NC was illegal. Way to set the stage.

 

 

For miles now I had seen signs for the USS North Carolina. Aware that it was getting later and later in the afternoon I figured I could stop by, get a shot, grab some grub and still make the national forest before dark with enough daylight left to gather firewood. Even if not I had headlights I could use did I not?

 

 

Good job boys, get those Japs!! Oh, look how hard the wind was blowing too!

 

There was no food to be had there and once off the bike and de-helmeted I realized how cold it really was. You don’t notice as much with the heated vest plugged in. I also noticed that I was increasingly feeling out of it. My throat was scratchy and tender, my head was full of something heavier than my brain, I was weak and exhausted. What the hell is going on…it must just be the temperature change I told myself as I remounted the V-Strom and headed off. Remember what I told you about the iPod always picking the right song? This time, as soon as I hit the main road leaving the battleship the iPod locked up, putting itself into a musical limbo of silence. I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but later on it seemed ironically relevant to me.

 

Then, in Jacksonville North Carolina, it happened. I have slain the Dragon, ridden the Skyway, dealt with Atlanta traffic. I have ridden 50mph down gravel roads, ridden in rain, heavy winds, pothole ridden pavement. You name it, I’ve tackled all kinds of road conditions since leaving my home on February 17th but today my mind wasn’t prepared to deal with the very, very minor left hand curve on US17. This curve was so slight that you didn’t have to look into it, you didn’t have to lean, nothing, just part of the road. But somehow I managed to not turn into it and before I knew it I was on the shoulder heading toward a 2 ft. drop on the side of the road. SHIT! I swerved back onto US17, checked my mirrors to see cars behind me slowing down and I pulled into the parking lot of a nearby restaurant to gather my senses.

 

What is this? Its not like me to ride absent-minded. I knew I was tired, but I also knew that I had only been 200 miles and was capable of covering a lot more ground in one day. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Once my mind grasped onto the concept that I had caught some type of illness my body let its full force be known. Achy, scratchy, sneezy sickness had infected me and when I took off my helmet and looked on the inside of it the neon green was a confirmation that my riding was done for the day. The first motel I found was “America’s Best Value Inn” which wasn’t really a great value, but not bad, had wi-fi and a view of my bike from the window of my room. Carrying my gear to the room was the worst part of the day! It felt like it all weighed 500lbs and I wasn’t up to any manual labor. But I made it to the second floor, unpacked and laid on the bed with head spinning. No thermometer, but I knew my fever was high enough to feel to the touch. I chugged more DayQuil and spent a few hours on the forums and sipping my scotch. Nan and Jay kept me company on IM since I was unable to sleep but eventually the effects of the DayQuil wore off and I slept having the dreams that only come to you when you’re sick. Since I was young I have had the same dream and I can’t explain it but will try. It involved me walking a tight rope and falling into a big pile of junk. Broken toys, old car tires…I think it represents the gully we threw our trash in on the farm. The second part had to do with my late brother and I playing catch. Back and forth we throw a stone that keeps growing larger and larger until we have to roll it. The surface of the stone is rough, like 40 grit sandpaper, and it cuts our hands and makes us shout, but the stone gets larger and larger until it threatens to crush us and then the dream fades.

 

I am 25 years old now, have had this dream every time I’ve been sick for as long as I can remember. I have no idea what it means or why it resides in my minds deepest corners but it does.

[Kaneman]

April 9th 2007

 

This morning I had the pleasure of chatting with Nancy and Jay on AIM before departing my hotel room for Southern Pines, North Carolina. They were getting ready for their ritual Monday lunch and I was sad not to be able to take part in it. Not just because I’m a sucker for a good meal either, but because I do miss their company. Considering I was up until 5am chatting with Nancy does make up for that a bit though. Eventually I got around to showering and checking out though, with a new adventure and new ADVRiders ahead of me

 

Today was the day of U-Turns. I lost track how many I made today…but if I ever get a hold of the bastard who “organized” the street signs around here he’s getting a big fat thumb in the eye. Seriously, this entire trip I’ve relied on paper maps but today it just wasn’t working out for me. Ok, ok….perhaps there was a bit of user error involved I will admit. Perhaps, just maybe, taking a wrong turn and going 30 miles in the wrong direction right out of the hotel parking lot set the stage for the rest of the day. Eventually though I was on the right track and heading westward through some isolated back roads on a very chilly and overcast Monday afternoon. Something about the humidity, the wind, or some other unforeseen factor made today feel much colder than I think it actually was…although I don’t know the temperature. But it wasn’t all bad, in fact 200 miles flew by like they were 20 miles and I enjoyed all of them…even the ones where I was lost and had no clue what road I was on or direction the bike was pointing.

 

On the road again, it may be cold and nasty…but it sure felt good.

 

 

 

A few dead people…

 

And this guy cutting it up on some farm land

 

Somehow I managed to get stuck behind all the people I couldn’t pass. The cop in this car looked JUST like the cop on Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

 

I was behind this bus for a while and it made me think of the time I got kicked off for adjusting the security camera, for mooning the bus, and for jumping out the emergency exit. Then I remembered my punishment…my parents made me wait at school until like 6pm every night! Hahaha, served me right.

 

So I totally read my map wrong because it was folded up. I thought Southern Pines was right next to Lumberton…but I was wrong. I stopped here to get my bearings and make a phone call

 

This is the Bladden Correctional Facility. The inmates in the yard wondered why I was taking pictures and I wondered why they were locked up.

 

As if to taunt them, directly across the street was a water park

 

Most of the towns I rode through on the way seemed like functioning ghost towns. Worn down houses, closed business, high weeds, etc. etc. Mike later told me that they became that way after the textile industry busted but are on their way back up now. Somehow, by the grace of the Gods that have watched over me since Day 1 I made it to US1. See, I was on the right track but State Troopers shut down my highway, I don’t know why, and detoured me to BFE with no detour signs. Ironically enough, though I thought I was far off course, I was actually about 200 yards from my exit when I found US1. I pulled over at a place I thought they’d recognize and called for directions to Rachel’s catering shop…which was only 2 miles away. Really? Awesome, I thought I was totally lost but here I was just 2 miles from my rendezvous point. GPS be damned, who needs it anyway? Now, like I told you, initially I thought I was close but was reading the map wrong so I hadn’t eaten anything all day. As soon as I arrived Rachel went in and made me a chicken parmesan salad, Mike offered up his steaming hot coffee to warm my bones, and then as if it weren’t enough Rachel brought out a big plate of cookies and brownies. I was in heaven…or so I thought…but there was more in store for me.

 

With plans to meet back up with Rachel later, Mike and I headed off to his gorgeous home to trade my V-Strom for his son’s TW200 and go exploring the sand hill game lands. I was a little nervous since I’ve never done any sand riding, although I did grow up on the dirt. Southern Pines is a truly beautiful town with a great historic atmosphere. I will actually do a little photographic tour before I leave to give you a better idea, but onto the hooliganry.

 

Going from a DL1000 fully loaded with gear to a TW200 was a trip! Took a few miles to get used to. We rode out 13 miles to the game lands and then the fun really began. I was sliding all over the place, but managing to keep it upright. Everytime I thought I was going to wipe out but didn’t I giggled like a girl. In fact, I pretty much giggled and laughed the entire time we rode. Mike was tearing that sand up like a cat on a bag. At one point Mike was so squirrly I just KNEW he was going to go down, but not this guy, he knew what he was doing. Not me though, I just stayed on the throttle and let the bike do the rest. God it was a hoot. We made it to a section that had been plowed up and was about a foot deep with loose sand. I literally climbed the entire hill with the bike completely sideways, the big TW200 rear tire spewing sand like a geyser. It was then that, in a fit of laughter, I laid the little bike down. Since I couldn’t recover enough from my childish giggling to concentrate I laid her right back down again. Crashing on the sand is much more fun than crashing on the pavement!

 

Mike prepped the TW for me…

 

We stopped here so Mike could take one of many leaks to come..

 

And I decided to not let him forget it…

 

Look at the massive tire on this thing!! When we hit that thick sand I was thankful for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was filthy!!

 

 

 

 

Mike had a family dinner date to attend and invited me and Rachel along so we headed back to his place, dusted off and rode to the restaurant 3up in Rachel’s SLK convertible! Did you know it only has two seats?!? Hahaha, luckily the restaurant was just right down the street. And guess what else? I had salad again!! TWO IN ONE DAY….that’ll tide me over for a few months so back off about my diet YFF!!!

 

My carriage awaits…

 

Mike’s house was really neat, and out back he had this trick bicycle with an electronic transmission!

 

Do I look a little out of place? Mikes father in law, second on the left, was a paratrooper and told me about some of his jumps…from 550 feet!!! I thought 13,500 was scary…sheesh

 

Seabass with a Mango salsa

 

AND GREENS!

 

We ferried back to Mike’s, picked up my bike and I followed Rachel to her lovely ranch house where she had two comfy beds for my choosing made upstairs. Unfortunately she’s a big wuss and had to get up at 5am so she hit the sack early, but not before we talked about this and that for a while.

 

Today I learned I can never go back to sportbikes, its dual purpose from here on out. I rode Mike’s HP on the way back out of the trails and on the road as well and I’m seriously thinking the next set of tires on the V-Strom may be knobbies….*evil grin*

 

Mike has a really great son that plays Bass guitar and rides the snot out of that TW. A lot of you will get to meet him at WestFest this year

 

[Kaneman]

April 10th 2007

 

It was another one of those mornings where I slept so hard I didn’t know where I was upon awakening. Ahh yes, I am at Rachel’s (sweetfeed) lovely ranch home, upstairs, in a nice soft bed. There was even a semi-plan for the day. Get dressed, meet Rachel up at her catering business for some breakfast, explore this beautiful and quaint little town, then meet Mike later on for a spirited ride through the back country. Great, sounds like another awesome day in the fantasy that is currently my life.

 

Oops, it was dark when we got here last night and apparently I missed my kickstand puck. Glad the bike didn’t take a tumble eh?

 

Before I even left I could feel the photography bug in my bones and knew today would be laden with pictures. If you’re trying to load this report on dial-up…well good luck, there are going to be a lot of pics. About two miles down the road at “Sweet Feed” I found Rachel and her diligent employees, Jen and Amy, hard at work fixing delicious eats for the masses of Southern Pines.

 

Rachel joined my while I ate the best egg casserole dish, and the absolute best French toast I have ever eaten in my whole life.

 

 

 

So good in fact that I don’t think I can ever again have the what IHOP passes off as French toast. Rachel is new to riding and is completely eaten up with it, LOVES everything about it and is learning fast. Actually she has already slain the Dragon believe it or not. With Mike as her surrogate instructor she is learning quickly.

 

She actually wants to get a bike night started here in Southern Pines so, LISTEN UP!!, on May 3rd I am coming back here on my way to Utah for the first inaugural Sweet Feed bike night on May St. There will be a grill, plenty of space to park, and no fear of being run off by business owners since Rachel is the owner. It would be awesome if we could get some forum riders to show up, local or otherwise. Mark your calendars, kiss the wifey goodbye for the night, and head to gorgeous Southern Pines to help her kick it off right. If you have to come so far you can’t go home pack a tent because she has plenty of luscious, rock-free, lawn space to park your keyster for the night. Be there, or be unaware.

 

While we were eating Mike showed up in his super-studly bicycling gear, he was out doing a 30-40 miles tour, just enough to break a sweat. He was off to finish his ride and I was off to begin mine. My first stop was Walmart to replace some electronic gear destroyed by my clumsy packing during the torrential downpour in the Everglades and also to get some dry bags. These things are great and now I feel stupid for not buying them prior to leaving. Of course had I done that I never would’ve lost my vest, would not have met Whip, Louise and Bob, and would’ve been half way to Big Bend when the ZRX broke down so it worked out. So I headed down the road….

 

…and on the way to Walmart I was struck by the beauty of this church

 

 

I finished up at Walmart as quickly as possible, reorganized all my gear while parked in front of the building and headed back out to explore. Like I said, it is truly beautiful here…and I will shut my yapper and let the photos do the talking for a little bit.

 

This is the Malcolm Blue Farm..

 

 

 

In downtown I found this, Mike’s family business…stop by and get some new tacks put in your saddle.

 

And this old-timey toy store right next to it…

 

 

Somehow I accidently went through the front gates of Fort Bragg without noticing. The sign might as well have said, “No Kanemans Allowed.” With heart pounding I got a quick shot and hauled ass out of there

 

 

Of course, everything has a darker side and I did run through the less affluent part of town as well.

 

I look like a bum, yo my clothes ain't about shit

At the Salvation Army tryin to salvage an outfit

And it's cold, tryin to travel this road

 

 

 

Then, meet Charles, the town drunk…of course I didn’t know that at the time. I could however sense something a little “off” about him, lol. As I was taking the shot of the station he offered to take one with me next to the bike and I obliged him, somewhat nervous he would try to run off with my camera, of course he did not. After he finished I suggest I get a shot of him next to the bike as well. With a sly look in his eye he said that he would have to sit on it. I told him that was even better. So he hitched a gangly leg over the seat and looked happy as could be. Later they told me Charles is not homeless but has a home lined with tin-foil to keep the aliens out. Good man Charles, good man.

 

Right after I took this shot…

 

Charles got this one…

 

And I got this one…note the dual glasses…HELLA SWEET DUDE!

 

Poor guy, it must’ve taken him literally 10 minutes to get off the bike. As I moved in to offer assistance I inadvertently insulted his manhood or independence because he said, “I DO NOT require assistance from you sir.” I just laughed and stood by to catch the bike if he happened to knock it off. But eventually he made it, we talked about my travels, and he went on his way.

 

More of glorious Southern Pines North Carolina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Southern Pines completed I headed over to Carthage. Don’t know much about Carthage other than it was a nice place, but not quite as beautiful as Southern Pines.

 

 

 

 

And with that little tour wrapped up, and getting close to time to meet Mike, I headed back to Sweet Feed.

 

They had been talking about the ride there and Amy wanted to know if she could tag along. I figured it’d be nice to have a wing-woman to take over picture duties, and Mike had a spare helmet so I said sure thing. First though they made me do some woman’s work by checking out the local Fresh Market.

 

 

 

Then we did one of my favorite things in the world, got some icecream!

 

And with the forum always on my mind I got this shot just for you guys. Oh, and yes, that is a baby carriage, yes it was hers, and yes I’m going to hell.

 

Outside I saw one of my alltime favorite cars

 

Finally it was time to ride. We met back at Rachel’s, I got the bikes prepped, and Mike showed up and took a little nap

 

 

 

Then it was time for the asphalt baby!

 

Rachel’s ride was ready…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At our first stop…

…. Mike demonstrated the proper technique for slow speed turns for Rachel’s learning benefit. THEN, being the gentleman he is, he pretended to crash just so he could demonstrate the proper technique for picking a bike up as well

 

 

 

Crazy guy that Mike…

 

 

Even this deer thought it was funny…or maybe not.

 

The river was gorgeous, like most of the Carolinas

 

And before you guys get any funny ideas about Amy, she has a boyfriend, who happens to be a currently deployed Special Forces member…so show some respect ya bunch of hooligans!

 

Do you see fear in her eyes too?

 

Amy was a really good sport and great passenger. She had ridden two-up before but never on a real motorcycle, only a Harley. I told her this would be a little different. Move with the bike, don’t shift in the turns etc etc. She was such a good sport she didn’t even slap me or scream when the front wheel came off the ground. It was totally by accident Amy, I swear.

 

So we rode on…

 

 

 

 

 

And found this place…

 

 

 

It was closed, but we parked and went in to explore anyway. This was an Indian burial mound and quite fascinating actually. Mike wanted to camp there sometime, which kind of gave me the creeps, but probably would’ve been pretty cool.

 

The ladies had to take care of a little business and Mike, always the gentleman and merrymaker, cut his own sock for their “personal use.” We went in the fort and gave them some privacy…as much as the woods allowed.

 

 

Mike and I climbed the steps to this burial hut

 

And found peace inside…

 

 

 

When we heard the girls coming up we tried to get a shot of us scaring them…but Rachel was onto our little game of deception.

 

 

 

 

So finally our great day was coming to a close. Mike headed off to fill his role as family-man extraordinaire. And Rachel, Amy and I went back to Casa de Rachel. Amy had to rush home to clean whatever mess her dog had surely made and Rachel and I headed to Sweet Feed to get some grub. Afterward we just sat around talking and cruising ADV, I say cruising lightly because it is a dial-up connection…you guys remember dial-up right? Hahaha, anyway, there is so much more I could write about today but its 2am and I’m exhausted with a full day ahead of me tomorrow I am sure. So to all a good-night and a good-night to all.

 

[Whip]

Glad your back on the road...I thought you were gonna move in with that nice family.

 

Killer said he'll mow the lawn right before you get to Torrey so you don't have to sleep in the weeds.

 

Take care my friend.

 

Look forward to seein ya soon

 

Whip

[Kaneman]

Glad your back on the road...I thought you were gonna move in with that nice family.

 

Killer said he'll mow the lawn right before you get to Torrey so you don't have to sleep in the weeds.

 

Take care my friend.

 

Look forward to seein ya soon

 

Whip

 

Well Whip, I thought about it, but knew I had to finish my journey before I settle down somewhere.

 

Hey, BTW, you going to WestFest?

[Whip]

Glad your back on the road...I thought you were gonna move in with that nice family.

 

Killer said he'll mow the lawn right before you get to Torrey so you don't have to sleep in the weeds.

 

Take care my friend.

 

Look forward to seein ya soon

 

Whip

 

Well Whip, I thought about it, but knew I had to finish my journey before I settle down somewhere.

 

Hey, BTW, you going to WestFest?

 

 

 

I don't think so....since I have no idea what your talking about.

[Kaneman]

April 12th 2007

 

Departure day, as sad as it was, it was time to leave Southern Pines. Of course, I wasn’t going far, only to Duncan, basically down the road. So I got out of bed, a little earlier than yesterday which was a little earlier still than the day before, showered the bar smell off from the previous night and went outside to a much warmer and drier day. I tried some different packing techniques, hoping to move ½ of my tank bag to the rear of the bike, but that didn’t work out so I stuck with what’s worked this entire time. I am still really impressed with my hi-vis dry bags as well.

 

Anyway, so I finished that up and left the red cottage that was my temporary home in Southern Pines. Notice all the available camping space for the May 3rd Southern Pines bike night…

 

I dropped by SweetFeed to say goodbye to my new friends and of course Rachel fed me like a king. I would have stopped her, but I think she can take me…so I just did as she asked!

 

It was good to be going somewhere new again. So good in fact that my subconscious took me the wrong way down US1 for a while before I noticed. Then I completely missed my exit off US1 and ended up about 30 miles north of where I needed to be, but it really didn’t matter. Clay, the gentleman I was to rendezvous with told me that US42 should be fairly curvy by Texan standards and he was right. Even though it was short, it was a great ride. I did actually take some pics from the road but the camera was on night mode (by accident) so they didn’t come out. At one point though, just outside of Sanford, right after I had opened it up I came around a corner to find two guys standing in the road attempting to stop oncoming traffic. Without seeing any hazards I hesitated to stop, growing weary of their intentions. At the last moment I decided to brake and had to do so heavily. I came to a sliding stop 5ft from the first guy, and he said, “Sorry about that man, we didn’t want you to get squished.” I looked to my left and noticed a big strap around a large pine tree and heard the cracking of shattering wood. They had already made the cut and were pulling it down. The guys did a good job and it went the right direction, away from the road, but better safe than sorry. I told him it was cool to watch, thanked him and continued on my way. The rest of my ride was just a nice, peaceful jaunt and I arrived without incident at my planned location.

 

Clay set me up on his wi-fi and I got to cruise the net for a bit before we headed out to the local community college parking lot to do a little riding. Clay’s son, Caleb, is fast on his way to a professional racing career, but I was confident I would be able to show him some real riding skill. We loaded up and Caleb got geared up.

 

 

After I watched him warm up on his Honda CRF50 I was losing my confidence…weren’t those knobbies he was railing on? Clay said I should hope on the KTM 65 just in case we got run off by the man. Cool! After a couple of “laps” I thought I was getting the hang of it…until I heard the lil’ 50cc 4-stroke closing in. No problem I thought as my competitive nature took hold, I’m on a faster bike and have as many years experience riding as this kid is old. I was literally riding a street bike when he was in the crib. The harder I rode, the more he closed in on me. My forearms pumped with fatigue, tunnel vision took over, and I was losing. Consciously I thought of what I knew about riding…lean, look, loosen up, roll it on…but my body wasn’t responding. I was holding the bars tight enough to crack a walnut in my hand and realized I have A LOT to learn.

 

 

 

 

Finally I figured I’d try a different method. I waved Caleb by and told myself, if he can go that fast on knobbies, I can easily go faster on race tires. It wasn’t to be though, lap by lap he put more distance between us and generally made me look pretty bad. All in good fun though, I couldn’t stop smiling.

 

At least I was looking through my turns, haha.

 

 

 

Seeing Caleb in action was pretty cool. Clay was a racer and I’ve seen his videos, he is fast. He is passing that knowledge onto his son and I thought of what an awesome opportunity that is not just for son, but for father as well. I never did catch the boy and eventually my forearms were cramped past a usable point so I conceded my loss and handed the KTM over to Clay.

 

Father giving son some pointers mid-ride.

 

 

 

 

And of course after a while “the man” did stop by and let us know because of “liability issues” we wouldn’t be able to continue our fun for the day.

 

“If something happens,” he said, “we can’t be held responsible.” I knew it is the way of the world now but inside I was infuriated. Once again good clean fun was cut short because of the over-bearing fear of lawsuits in this country. Lawyers, excluding you Mike, and whiny people unwilling to accept responsibility for their own actions have ruined it for the rest of us that just want to have a good time. When did it happen? Was it overnight, was it a period of decades? Did it start with the hot coffee spill at McDonalds? Is there anyway to go back to the way it was before people worried so much about being sued. I actually even remember not being able to have a trampoline as a kid because my parents worried about a friend getting injured and his parents suing. They were probably making the right decision, but what a horrible position to be forced in.

 

In my mind I compared it to Political Correctness. Is it not bred from the same beast? I imagine the same type of personality that would file a lawsuit because they got injured under their own power on your property would also get “offended” because you said “fo-shizzle.” The same type of personality to scream SEXUAL HARRASSMENT!!” because they overheard a joke that refers to (gasp!!) sex and their little baby feelings were so hurt, their emotions so distraught, they couldn’t go on without seeing to it that you get the discipline you deserve. Ahh, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The whiner that sells out his or her co-workers makes it to the top using human beings as a step-ladder. And the klutz that spills the coffee gets paid and retires.

 

No, its not the exact same thing, lawsuits and political correctness, but its on the same ship. If only we could find a way to sink it the world would be a much more fun place for us to live. Tragic really, if you think about it.

 

Anyway, glad to get that out of my system. Back at Clay’s house we unloaded the go-fast machines and I asked about a little pocket bike I saw in the garage. He said it was charged and I should take it for a spin….monkey-football reference anyone?

 

 

And guess what else…all the way up here in North Carolina, many, many miles from Texas, Clay managed to score some BEEF ribs baby! They went on the grill, sweet potato casserole went in the oven (followed by apple crisp) and I was so excited I forgot to take pictures!! But I ate it down and cleaned the bones like a rabid dog. Then I got a wonderful offer to race mini-motos with Clay and Caleb tomorrow in Alabama. It’s a 10 hour drive to the Baker’s Creek Raceway track, which will actually mark my first ever track experience. We will be there until Sunday competing in a 2 hour endurance race which we’ll treat like a relay, and then I’ll compete in a solo sprint race on Sunday! Good times on the way. What WOULD I do without the internet and all the awesome people I’ve met because of it? I hope I don’t let Caleb down…I have a feeling he’ll be critiquing my every move…

Edited April 14, 2007 by Kaneman

[Kaneman]

April 13th 2007

 

Didn’t even realize it was Friday the 13th until now, glad nothing bad went down! Clay was kind enough to lose a night’s worth of sleep so we could get to Barber before the museum closed on our way outside of Decatur GA.

 

Got up at 5am, went to bed around 3, working on very little sleep and pretty exhausted so will keep the commentary short here tonight.

 

Had a great car ride out today, the 12 hours blew by much faster than I thought it would and I never even fell asleep!

 

Anyway, onto the pics.

 

We left about 6am, stopped to get gas later on here. Funny thing, saw an obviously illegal Hispanic guy with his “blushing” bride. He was about 120lbs, she was easily 3 times that and bossy as could be…but he had the biggest grin on his face I have ever seen.

 

 

Later on we stopped at Wendy’s. And I woke up, and realized it was all a dream

 

Signs of home were everywhere

 

CNN heard I was going to be in the area and sent out a van!

 

An omen perhaps?

 

Just peachy

 

The BMW plant

 

And I saw Atlanta…again

 

 

Talledaga for the first time

 

And we rolled into another new state!

 

Then, we made it!

 

 

Guess what was right out front?

 

From the window inside we could watch the shifter karts racing

 

 

And then. Then there were motorcycles. I could say a lot of things about Barber but the one that sticks out is that this place was built by a true motorcyclist and people lover. All these hundred thousand dollar machines and no ropes to keep you away. Immaculately restored, beautiful machines that could bring a tear to a motorcycle lovers eye. Now for the pictures…

 

 

The look like models!

 

 

 

 

Awww…so cute

 

My long lost love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHEW!! That was for you guys that might never make it to Barber. Hope you enjoyed it!

 

After another hour we made it to La Quinta and I talked with Clay’s father for a while. One more great person to add to the list of many, I look forward to some more great conversations from him. I will absorb as much knowledge as possible during my short time around him.

 

Clay wasn’t as tough as me, but to be fair he did drive the entire time!

 

We chilled for a bit, the wi-fi was working and I was happy. Then it was time for dinner at the famous Steak N Shake…my first time actually

 

 

From there we headed to Walmart to get some rain gear for Caleb’s race tomorrow. We will be practicing for 2 hours and racing for 2 hours…all in the rain it looks like!

 

I wondered, how the hell does this pertain to a rain bib…read the print…

 

 

The day was good and long. I am going to sleep now. Good night all, enjoy the pictures.

 

[Whip]

Nice pix of Barber.

 

Thanks

 

Don't head north yet. Big storm on the way.

 

Whip

[keithb]

Josh

Thanks for the tour of the Barber Museum (spelled the name wrong, should be Barbour-hee, hee). Awesome pictures by the way. I felt I was there with you. The layout reminded of the exhibit in Las Vegas a few years back. Enjoy N.C. I lived in Raleigh for 7 years and most of my family is still there. If you have time you should take a trip out to the Outer Banks and check it checkout Beaufort, Ocracoke, Hatteras, Nags Head. It would be well worth the trip and now is the perfect time to be in that area. There is a huge amount of history there to be enjoyed. You can take a bunch of pics and make me homesick. Thanks for sharing your ride tales. We working stiffs envy the hell out of your "little U.S. tour" and are living out own tour vicariously through your stories.

KB

Edited April 14, 2007 by keithb

[Kaneman]

Nice pix of Barber.

 

Thanks

 

Don't head north yet. Big storm on the way.

 

Whip

 

Storms don't bother Kaneman, Kaneman bothers the storms.

 

Josh

Thanks for the tour of the Barber Museum (spelled the name wrong, should be Barbour-hee, hee). Awesome pictures by the way. I felt I was there with you. The layout reminded of the exhibit in Las Vegas a few years back. Enjoy N.C. I lived in Raleigh for 7 years and most of my family is still there. If you have time you should take a trip out to the Outer Banks and check it checkout Beaufort, Ocracoke, Hatteras, Nags Head. It would be well worth the trip and now is the perfect time to be in that area. There is a huge amount of history there to be enjoyed. You can take a bunch of pics and make me homesick. Thanks for sharing your ride tales. We working stiffs envy the hell out of your "little U.S. tour" and are living out own tour vicariously through your stories.

KB

 

Hey no problem bud, glad you are enjoying it! I wasn't sure anyone over here was still reading these things.

 

BTW, It is the "Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, looking at the patch I bought there now.

[PRC]

I wasn't sure anyone over here was still reading these things

 

We are...we are...I'm tracking you on both this and the ADV site. Keep on going you young celebrity, keep on !

[s3steve]

All I can say is keep it up! This is something I've always wanted to do but as you get older and have a bills to pay and a mortgage to pay and 20+ years at the same job. It's just not happening! Did I mention the WIFE! Do it while you can. This is something you will always remember (well at least most of it)!!! I look forward to many more tails! Thanks for sharing it with us all!

[Kaneman]

April 14th 2007

 

The weather forecast was for 100% chance of rain, and it did not “disappoint.” From the moment we arrived at the track, (after our continental breakfast) it was pouring rain. Not just heavy rain really, but a full-on Monsoon of biblical proportions. At least by motorcycle racing standards. The standing water on the track was probably 3” deep in some places…and you know how poorly my rainsuit performs.

 

#119 Caleb was ready to rock!

 

Today, Caleb, Clay and I were running in a 2hr Endurance race and going to treat it like a relay. Run until you get tired then come in and switch riders. This was everyone’s strategy. Because a lot of riders didn’t show due to the weather they merged the 2hr and 3hr endurance race so we had an extra hour to run for free. Sweet, or so I thought. So, I got my very first track ride on a KTM65 during the 2hr practice session. It was bad, real bad. It had been a very long time since I last rode a two-stroke motorcycle and the power-band was killing me. At first I thought water was getting into the intake and making the bike run poorly, but it was just me. After a couple sessions though I got the hang of it and did “decent.” Now, I say “decent” because this KTM is set up for Caleb, who is 7. It has clip-ons which means you are leaned pretty far forward. Great for Caleb at his size, bad for us adults. Most of the weight was on the front tire causing the front to wash very easily. Turn-in was impossible and I wasn’t able to keep pace with anyone. Well that’s not true, there was one guy wearing a garbage bag as a rainsuit that I passed a couple of times. I was satisfied with that. Oh, speaking of rain-suits…mine is a little more “holey” thanks to two low-sides

 

I didn’t get a lot of pics that I wanted to today because of the rain…

 

 

I was disappointed with my riding ability until Clay said he was having the same problems. Now this guy has been racing for a while so he knows his stuff. Caleb was without the benefit of rain-gear and became miserable early on. He left Clay and I to finish the race allowing us little time to rest between turns. The first hour was ok, we weren’t going very fast, but we were crashing less often than a lot of the guys and ticking the laps off one by one. After that first hour was a different story. Riding with our hands between our knees, unable to lean properly and with all our weight on our wrists it was only taking about 10 laps before the cramps were bad enough to kill all fine motor control for throttle purposes. Fine motor control is very necessary on a 2-stroke…especially in the river of a race-track we were on.

 

There was a lot of this all day…

 

Finally after two and a half hours of racing I pulled in to relay to Clay and he was done. Thank GOD! I thought to myself. I rode back to our pit and literally pryed my fingers off the throttle with my left hand. My forearms were dead, my fingers rigidly curved and I was completely soaking wet from head to toe. You could have fished out of my boots. We came in second in our class…out of two riders, with 130 laps completed. But we still got a trophy for it so more power!! With all that being said I really had a blast, and I learned a lot about riding in the rain. My second session was my fastest and I even managed to hang with some really fast riders through some turns after they had passed me. Throughout the day fewer and fewer people went buzzing by me so I knew I was getting faster. No matter the skill level though there was no way to overcome not being able to properly hang off the bike and the poor weight distribution.

 

Lots of race pics...

 

This is Kris Turner, if you keep up with upcoming MotoGP stars you have no doubt heard of him.

 

 

 

This is 9 year old Michael Scot. He set the fastest track time of the day…out of everyone, adults and kids. He was unreal

 

 

 

One more of Scot

 

One of Clay

 

And me tearing it up. “It” would be my rainsuit and the bike, haha

 

 

 

 

 

And some random pics…

 

 

WOOOHOOO!!

 

 

Exhausted from the ride and only having about 3 hrs sleep the night before I helped Clay secure our awning and we headed back to the motel. After a long, hot shower and a shave of the ol’ noggin I felt like a completely new man. Since there were no Bennigan’s around I could use to buy my new friends a good meal Clay found a BBQ place in the phone book advertising numerous awards for their food. I can’t remember the exact name of the place but it was like “Big Bob’s BBQ” in Decatur AL off 31. I recommend the ribs and pulled pork, very tasty.

 

 

With a very full stomach we went back to La Quinta (Spanish for bed). Everyone crashed out…except for me. I was still bleeding off adrenaline from the day and somewhat jittery it took me a while to pass out. I considered my first track experience a success and looked forward to riding the next day in better weather. That said, I wouldn’t have traded today for a dry one just because of how much I learned about traction. Good times!