Getting Over the Crud

I've been sick for so long, I'm not sure I remember what it feels like not to be. I've come down with that impossible to diagnose sore throat, hot and cold spells, and hacking cough that takes forever to heal from. I actually did go to the doctor after the first weekend and she did diagnose a sinus infection. I have never had one before and would cheerfully kill to never have another one. I was ready to cut off my own head, waiting for the day it would take the medication to kick in.

So I have entered my third week of this, and have been house suspended the last four weekends. Nuts!! Thinking that I was feeling a tad better, we went for a ride the weekend before last. But 60 miles down the road had me shaking and exhausted on energy. We turned around and went back home.

The only good thing that I can say is that the hammock has been nice. And I have gotten a lot of books read. The bad news is that what little energy I had was devoted to work (stupid!) and home has been horizontal on the sofa. That means I didn't read blogs, didn't write blogs, ignored the world in general because I've missed out on tons of fun things and great weather.

A couple of co-workers and friends of my doctor say that it takes about 4 weeks to get over this crud. I can't believe it, but seems to be true. Sheesh I hope this is the last week. But it also means that I have a ton of catching up to do! Reading about your lives, catching up with your packing plans, work on my own packing and travel plans.

I'm too late for George, but I really hope he has a wonderful time and the roads are smooth and obstacle free. Otherwise, I look forward to catching up with everyone else and maybe getting in a missing ride report or two of my own.

Hope you are all well and healthy staring down the last couple of weeks before vacation (for some of you).

P.S. Even if I am feeling better, this Saturday is supposed to be 99F (37C). I'm not sure how much riding I'm going to get in with those temps... :(

Tube-o-Healing

Yeah, yeah.  It ain't the fanciest sounding title, but I get a chuckle out of it.

Just because we are on motorbikes does not mean that we have all of the space in the world to pack everything we could possibly take on a trip.  More and more of my friends are getting their motorbikes in check, sorting gear, and getting ready to strap the bikes together with all they need for a long distance ride.

George from Riding the USA will be starting from darn near the Atlantic Ocean in Pennsylvania and traveling to Deadhorse, Alaska.

RichardM of Richard's Page will be motating from Fairbanks, Alaska to Santa Cruz, California.

Bobskoot from Riding the Wet Coast and the SonjaM with her intrepid hubby from Find Me On The Road will be cruising from Vancouver, British Columbia to Baker City, Oregon.

The motorbikes are seeing services for oil, brakes, and tires.  Camping gear is being gone through for sturdiness, weatherproofing, and packability.  (Or credit cards are being exercised for 4 star hotel swiping.)

But one thing commonly being collected are "items for the road".  This could be as simple as determining the best snacks to pack in the heat.  Or as complex as the tools required to perform routine maintenance, or for some all out full duty repair jobs.  For others, it is another exercise to limber up the credit card to summon the tow truck.  (Unh Hmhh....that would be me with Roadside Assistance!)

Everyone's list is incorporating a first aid kit or two.  Yes, if there is a big accident of some kind an ace bandage probably won't do the trick.  However, if you happen to snag some delicate skin between the tent poles and have a bleeding mess on your hands, literally, the band aids will come in nicely.

So I figured that I really needed to share this when I wandered across it the other day.  This is geared towards backpacking.  However, I find that it can be useful in everyday first aid kits on bicycles, motorbikes, in the car, for the Multiple Sclerosis ride, and the list goes on.

You wouldn't think a tube of antibiotic ointment would take up that much space.  And it doesn't.  On its own.  But when you add a tube for anti-itch cream for bug bites, and poison ivy cream, that kit is taking up more and more space.  What is the likelihood of needing it on the trip?  What are the chances that the heat it will experience might turn it bad by the end of the trip?

Enter: Single Use Antibiotic Packs.  I found this on Brian's Backpacking Blog, and have actually made my own at home.  Yes, you can purchase single use packs, but they are fairly expensive when broken down, and usually have way more than a single use in them.  You wind up tossing a large amount because it can't be sealed or saved.

So Brian came up with his own single use packs.  Ingenious!

 

Simple tools:  Straw, lighter, needle nose pliers, scissors, healing balm (mine was anti-itch cream because I didn't want to find the antibiotic stuff.  Anti-itch cream is good for my first aid kit since mosquitos and bugs love me, and this helps.)

Inject cream into the straw...to a desired amount.  My straw isn't quite transparent, but holding it up to the light will reveal how much is present.

Then squidgy the contents into the straw a little so the end is accessible to get a good bite with the needle nose pliers and lighter.

Burn the end of the straw up to the pliers, and a good seal is made. 

Cut the other end of the tube.

Seal...  And Voila!!

Single serving, single use, compact, portable, light weight.  I could see these being super useful on a bicycle adventure.  I will be making some for my first aid kit for the Multiple Sclerosis marshaling.  I won't even have qualms about putting them in the small first aid kit on the motorbike, or to keep with the camping gear!

Some people questioned if the heat would ruin the contents.  Some replied that the needle nose pliers acted as heat sink and the contents didn't get hot.  I cut open my first one and the cream was in perfect condition.  No separation or discoloration.

If you intend on packaging multiple ointments or creams consider different colored straws or permanent marker to label.

Hope this might be useful to some of you out there.

Paraprosdokian

Absolutely no motorbike content. But these just tickle me and I have to share. Oilburner keeps saying number 5 applies to me... I turn around and tell him to reread 19.

PARAPROSDOKIANS (Winston Churchill loved them) are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous.

1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,' then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. Buses stop in bus stations. Trains stop in train stations. On my desk is a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.'

13. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

18. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

19. There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

20. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.

21. You're never too old to learn something stupid.

22. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

23. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

24. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

25. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

26. Where there's a will, there are relatives.

Does Anyone Else Have to Put Up With This?

I'm all for a clean bike, but this is taking it to extremes. Dismantling the bike, piece by piece, and washing it in the kitchen sink is not productive!

hehehe...ok...that isn't quite how the story goes...but it sounds good.

Funny the measures that Oilburner will go to to ride my bikes! This time around, he caught a big nasty screw in the rear tire.

The resulting situation looked like this:

Therefore the days ride looked like this:

Aahhhh...so nice to see the girls together. Luckily I was going to take the R1200R out today. Oilburner doesn't get to ride the R1200R. He is not responsible enough not to pop wheelies... It has been awhile since I have been able to ride the "R"...and it felt GREAT!! Such a smooth engine, so much power, aahhhh. Smiles all around.

But what I haven't told you is that this wasn't the first time. Back in March we had another day of perfect weather and hadn't been out for awhile. Again...Oilburner's bike looked like this:

Desperately waiting for a new pair of shoes. So the days ride looked Iike this:

The first time my girls were head to head. I'm so proud!!

Atlanta to Athens....again and again and again

It's that time of year again. The Multiple Sclerosis 150 from Atlanta to Athens, back to Atlanta.

The ride started Saturday in absolute downtown Atlanta, weaved through the various and sundry cities, mixed with narrow streets, road construction, bad drivers, and a full moon, to name a few obstacles. Within 15 miles the riders are farther into rural areas and aren't as harrowed, but that is a long 15 miles. I can barely survive it on the motorbike, I wouldn't want to attempt it on a bicycle. Then these riders headed out through the bucolic country side for another 65 or 85 miles to reach the little college town of Athens, GA.

If yesterday didn't do them in, they hit the start line and ride right back to downtown Atlanta the next day.

Needless to say, there are usually far fewer riders on Sunday than were present on Saturday. (And I don't blame them at all!)

The motorcycle marshals don't start downtown. We pick the riders up about 8 miles out. They get a police escort a portion of the way and don't need us getting in the way. But the police don't make any bones about when they stop the escort. We heard cyclists saying their absence was abrupt. Farther along they may not get an escort, but key intersections are manned by police or sheriff's that stop traffic for the larger groups of cyclists.

Our job as marshals isn't to stop traffic or escort the cyclists anywhere. We ride the route, faster than a cyclist, but generally slower than traffic, or posted speed limits, to keep an eye on the cyclists and help if they have any troubles. The most likely troubles are flat tires, broken spokes, derailed chains. We hope to never have to encounter a cyclist that hits something and is injured, or far worse, is hit by something and is injured. We have plans in place in the event that these are encountered, we just don't want to encounter them.

This years event was completely without events...with the cyclists.

Unfortunately, participation has dwindled each of the three years that Oilburner and I have been involved. (No, I don't believe there is a correlation there!) This event has only been in place for three years. So I can't say why participation is decreasing. I surmise it might be due to the location. I can't say that I would love to ride through downtown Atlanta, nor some of the outlying cities. Would participation increase if the start/end point was somewhere else?

I would have thought so, until I spoke with a rider Sunday morning that remarked on more cage drivers being more tolerant this year, thinking more drivers are becoming more aware of cyclists. Do events like these bring more awareness of cyclists (and possibly motorbikes)? Is it worthwhile to force the interaction, hoping nothing bad happens, to make ourselves (as bi-cyclists overall) more visible?

I'm just not sure of an answer to that.

I'm not going to say this is old hat for us. This was our fifth time volunteering as marshals for MS rides. We have progressively gained more experience overall, as well as increased our bag of tricks for what is needed or how to handle situations.

The big news is that this year we both received our HAM radio licenses (Amateur Radio). This was going to take our involvement to a new level. In past years communication had to occur through cell. Given where some of the routes took us cell coverage could be a bit sparse or command central could be busy with calls. Therefore, it could be difficult to contact the control dispatchers (Net Control) if we had a rider that needed to be picked up, or worse yet, had an emergency.

With our HAM radios we could just dial into the proper frequency and speak directly with Net Control. And even listen in to all of the chatter traffic. A few other marshals have their licenses, but all Support and Gear (SAG) vehicles have a driver and radio operator in the vehicle (two separate individuals). There is tight communication across the course of where the first riders are located along the route, to notify break points of when they should be ready. Or where the absolute last rider is on the course, since the Turtle van is right behind them. Or when another SAG is needed to pick up a rider that doesn't want to continue, needs a lift to the next break point that has a mechanic, all sorts of contingencies. Amateur Radio allows all of the people to be connected with each other to run as a tight unit and facilitate the event as a whole. You aren't going to get that if everyone is calling in to talk with operators on cell phones.

This year Oilburner and I get to be part of the "IN" crowd. We get to listen in, and participate when needed.

Right out of the gate the level of involvement was great! I took the first shift on the route when the first cyclists started to pass. As I was hitting every single stoplight I was able to call Net Control and have them inform my leads to spread the next marshal back farther than our original 10 min schedule. I wasnt going to get anywhere in 10 minutes, so the next marshal didn't need to get that close.

We were able to listen in when support vans were fending off loose dogs. In one instance, there was a request for a motorcycle marshal to sit with the dogs as the support van was needed to pick someone up on the course.

We learned when someone messed with the route signs. New signs were needed quickly. And oversight was needed when the second set of signs was removed.

I was able to inform Net Control the location of SAG #6, because it had just passed me. (The one support van that didn't have a radio operator on Sunday.) I was then dispatched to chase it down and tell it to phone into Net Control as it was desparately needed to pick up a cyclist. That was a fun one as I bent a few rules of the road to catch the van.

We were all on hand to listen to the Turtle van call in to report that it had stayed on the primary course, while the actual turtle cyclist had taken the Century route. (The Century refers to the 100 mile route.) We all got to hear the radio silence just before Net Control asked them to repeat. ;)

With so few attendees this year the riders were either bullet fast, finishing by 12:30, or turtle slow, coming across the finish line between 5 and 6. There wasn't much of an in between. It was the same thing on Sunday. There were large gaps between groups or riders, spreading thin, leaving us with very little job to perform. I was actually stopped by more non-involved cyclists, asking me what was going on, and sheriff's, asking me where everyone was, than I was by cyclists actually needing help!

We had been obsessing about the weather all week. I was hoping for intermittent rain showers since the temps were supposed to be in the 80's F. It would cool things of a little bit. And the weather patterns toyed with me as the predictions varied every day. Unfortunately the actual day of events say high 80's to low 90's with absolutely no rain. Of course, this had to be the hottest weekend that we have seen here this year. Murphy seems to be working overtime.

In all this was an extremely uneventful weekend. No accidents, no injuries, no flats. Many miles, many smiles, much sweat and some great people to ride with.

I took exactly four pictures the entire weekend. They were all the same shot and this was the best. ;)

 

 

Enjoying The Tours

We've actually been doing a fair bit of riding lately. They haven't been jaw-dropping or awe-inspiring,but they have been enjoyable. And we have found some interesting things along the road.

A couple weeks ago it was a trip to the east. No destination, so we headed towards some unknown roads to see where they would take us. It was a quiet, leisurely ride just choosing roads at random. As lunchtime neared and I came to an intersection I recognized, I knew Subway's was just down the way. Let's see if we could get some Subway's and see if we could find a park.

Ok, the park was out, but Elder Mill Covered Bridge was just down the road. I think the garden club might have a bench to sit on in their little gardens.

Missed out on that score too and wound up spreading our jackets on the gravel. Oilburner wanted to go sit on a rock in, or by, the water...

But I nixed that idea when I discovered all of the paths down were overgrown with poison ivy. I can't help it, with all of the poison ivy in this state, I am always singing the Coasters song of the same name throughout summer.

Much greener now than when we have ever visited here in the past. It was nice and overgrown. But definitely not a forgotten road by the locals. And I wouldn't have minded owning the house right above the river.

Heading home on yet more previously untraveled roads we spotted some insanely ornate structure surrounded by a fence. The slightly run down appearance had me thinking it was some old school. But I wanted a closer look. We found the main entrance to the "Church"...

This structure wasn't the church itself, but rather was originally built to be the pastors residence. When it was completed he said it was too large and ornate and became the "guest" house. This place was a marvel. I just couldn't get over all of the wrought iron, staircases, walkways...everything!

Some members came upon us as we were getting ready to leave. They offered to show us inside, which I readily accepted.

Wow! I was speechless. Thosed curved railings are a marvel. They had quite a few craftsman in the congregation. And the model house is actually of 'The Little White House', FDR's Georigia home in Warm Springs when he came to partake of the geothermal baths. The model is on loan from the state. Why? I don't know. And yes, there are lights behind all the white and red ceiling panels. ;)

---

Yesterday was another one of those days that didn't have any hope of coming up with a destination, so it was another thought to just hit the back roads. Oilburner didn't know where to go, and all I knew was that I wanted to leave the state. He was thinking Lake Hartwell on the border of South Carolina. And I thought I would rather enjoy it from the other side. (I was right. The SC side was more likely to follow the river and lake line. GA reserved that for the rich on their dead end streets, or the hill people they were never able to evict and their land would be a superfund site with all of the dead and rotting cars slowly sinking back into the ground.)

We hit the highway (the paved one) to get out of dodge and make tracks towards the border. Close to 40 miles up the road Oilburner's bike and my tummy both need fuel. Two birds, one stone when we stop for bike fuel and there is an attached cafe. Yes, the cafe was on the corner...

After filling everyone up we headed out to find our adventure. I took the GPS out and selected to just head towards a road that sat on the lake, crossed the state line, and wasn't an interstate. This was interesting. I enjoyed turning down a first never traveled road before. Enjoyed going through town, by the newer looking courthouse and along the back of the businesses on Main Street. I don't think we were missing much being on the "wrong" side. I think most of those businesses were empty.

However, I kept seeing a sign for "Traveler's Rest State Historic Site". And it just happened to be in the direction we were headed. So when the sign deviated from our path I had a decision to make. It was actually quite easy...

This place was AMAZING!! The Traveler's Rest was an Inn to service the travelers on the Unicoi Turnpike in the early 1800's. The initial portion of the inn was built in 1815. The size was doubled in 1835. And 85% of that wood is original. Wow!

Now these are rules that I can live by:

The hidden drawers where the owner kept his gold were a little more hidden before someone in the past put drawer pulls on them. Can you identify the hidden drawers?

One of 11 fireplaces in the Inn that are not safe for fires.

How do you make cranberry colored glass? Mix a little gold in during the manufacturing process, of course.

Interesting little bathtub, completely with curves for soaking comfort.

Handrail was carved from a single log.

The cradle was carved from a solid log of Black Cherry

Ghost in the mirror. But I'm more interested in the men's [top] hat box. Never seen one before.

No more than 5 to these beds? No problem!

It's the little things...I've never seen window locks like these. I want!

I uploaded tons of pictures of the Traveler's Rest to Flickr.

We hit the road again and took a wrong turn. Actually...didn't turn, and that was the problem. But the road meandered along the river and I hoped it would be a nice opportunity to cross over into South Carolina. Yeah, that wasn't in the cars, but we stopped to turn around at the old power plant.

So serene!!

The ride through South Carolina was peaceful. We were amazed at how low the water level was. The GPS said we were supposed to be over water. The long grasses convinced me there hadn't been water here for a season or two. We didn't stop for pictures. Wasn't much interesting to photograph, but the views will live in my mind.

The return trip home still held something in store for us. The long way home took us through the granite capital of Georgia...and again past the Guidestones. We were up for a quick stop.

Remember, it's not the destination...it's the journey. Hope you find some special places on your adventures.

Highway Fines

Unfortunately some people can't seem to be responsible and dispose of their waste in a reasonable and adult manner.

No. They have to take their crap to the nearest uninhabited, or merely unlit, road and quickly offload. Therefore I agree with trying to curtail activities like this along beautiful back roads.

But seriously...would you call this a highway??