Willie is a Dirty Boy

Riding in 98°F in full leathers and a full-face helmet is horrible. Around 14:00 yesterday, instead of a nap, I took my daily 5-Hour Energy shot, ate a sandwich in the gas station's Beer Cave with a couple of bikers headed to Florida, and soaked my cool vest in water. (Thanks, Ben!) I didn't even wring out the vest much when I put it on, yet it was so hot that my soaked clothes barely held back the heat. Ugh. The vest and all of my clothes were completely dry by the time I got to my hotel.

The highlight of yesterday afternoon was my stop in Metropolis. Yes, Metropolis, Illinois. The town has a Superman statue in the center square, which is the photo stop for Illinois's 50 Rides 1 Nation. Bonus: It was a really nice back roads ride to get there.

Out of Metropolis, I took more back roads to cross the Mississippi River again into Cape Girardeau, Missouri. During a gas stop, Willie's check engine light came. I thought he was just got hot, but when I got to the Jonesboro HD around 20:00, I checked the error codes and found they were the same old false ones. So, we hit US 167 to get to Little Rock for the evening.

I didn't make it that far though before I started yawning. At 21:30 I stopped for gas in Searcy, Arkansas, and got a room across the street. Stopping in Searcy left just under 400 miles to get into Dallas, which would get me into the city traffic during lunchtime instead of the Friday evening rush hours. Once in the hotel, I used a wet washcloth to loosen up the coating of dead bugs on Willie's windscreen. What a mess! 🤣 Then I covered him up, took a shower, and instantly fell asleep.

My alarm went off at 05:00, but I must've hit off instead of snooze because I woke up at 06:00 🤣. No problem though. I uncovered Willie, cleaned off the remaining bug residue, and was on the road at 06:45. US 167 to I-30 and I got to my mother's home just a few minutes ago.

I off-loaded the bike and went straight to Texas HD across the highway, where they're going to service the neck bearings and forks--the two items from my 50,000-mile service that I couldn't get done in Gillette--and replace the rear tire (10,000) and front brake pads (25,000). This will be expensive. But it keeps Willie and I healthy and whole, so worth it.

I didn't realize how filthy he was until I parked him next to a bike that is literally the same color Wicked Red. Both the customers and staff were looking at me like I was crazy. 🤣🤣🤣

So long [for now], and thanks for all the fish! ✌️

Day 146 mileage: 688.8 (total 37400.0)En savoir plus