Strongsville Ohio, July 3rd

Strongsville Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland so made it further than I thought would, but less than hoped, that was because today I spent most of it at my home away from home – a Harley shop. Spent almost 8 hours at the shop, but got a new bike so am pretty happy. Yep, after 20,000 miles it was time for a new one…well, close enough to new because it got 2 new tires, brake pads, oil and filter, spark plugs, speakers and radio, about the only thing that wasn’t new was the frame, motor and body work itself, but after the wash, hell it looked as good as new. After my late night with the Brit’s and Aussie’s woke up and called the shop to make sure I could get the bike in as a traveler for the 20k maintenance and they said they’d work me in and it’d take about 3 ½ hours and what’dya know, they had 06 speakers so I could get my stereo fixed too. Ok, will be there in an hour so showered and packed up, could’ve still used another hour of sleep, but can do that while I wait. Well, pulled into the service shop and was met by Brandon and Evan and not quite sure what Evan’s role was, but knew that Brandon was going to take care of me and became a good salesman, that was after he sold me two new tires and brake pads, the rest was part of the 20k maintenance and I told him they were holding a pair of speaker since the ones I had were blown so that was the new I requested. It’ll take 3 ½ to 4 hours and I asked if they had a shuttle that might be able to take me to Indy track to check it out while I waited, but no luck…I’ll just have to sit around and wait for it. That’ll give me time to get my blog from last night written since that didn’t happen with the Brit’s so got my Mt Dew and found a table and outlet to plug into.

Made a few calls cuz wasn’t in the mood to type yet and was still pretty tired from the night before, but eventually got going and wrote what you read for Indianapolis, so at least got that out of the way. No internet connection so that’ll have to wait and maybe something that the Harley shops’ll have to add, but I’m sure they don’t have too many people coming thru looking for an internet connection. Still plenty of time before my bike’ll be done and ran into Evan so asked him where the couch or bed was so I could crash for a little bit, well, now I found out who he was cuz he said I could use his office, he’s the GM and said I could crash on the floor, so grabbed a couple of chairs to lay out on…I knew there was a reason he met me in the service bay. Got a little bit of a snooze, for as comfortable as you can get on a couple of chairs and then checked on the bike and hey, new tires are on, but it’ll still be awhile and plenty of places in the area to eat, so did the Steak and Shake, nothing but a burger joint…ok, I didn’t know that – so had an ok burger.

Now how’s the bike coming along…still working on it, so spent some more time hanging around and ran into Bob who helped me out with a route to New Hampshire. Had a great time talking with him and really appreciated hearing him say how awesome it is that someone, me, is doing what is everyone’s dream, traveling around the country, so hey Bob, now that you have my website you can come along for the ride. It’s hearing things like that from people along the way that keep me going, but like I tell everyone, it gets pretty lonely on the road by yourself…yea, I meet a lot of great people and enjoy the visits and everything, but they all come and go just like the cities…some though are becoming friends who will remain friends and that is greatly appreciated. Ok, time to talk it up with the hot chicks working in the clothing and don’t call them hen’s they’re not that old. Ok, so when is a hottie considered a hen or a chic…I’m sure the boyz have some ideas on that. Thanks ‘hot chicks’ for helping me pick out a shirt and suggesting I choose the one to show off my muscles…now we’ll see whether it works or not.

Still more time on the bike and now I really wished I would have taken a taxi or something to the track, but it should only be another half hour cuz it’s pretty close to time for it’s wash…well, this is already past the 3 ½ hours, but the only time its gotten a decent cleaning on the road is when it’s been serviced so Shane went to work on it and did a great job getting rid of all the bugs and even waxed it…thanks Shane and for you Jon out in Seattle, Shane said his secret is hot water with the bug remover…works great from what I’ve seen. Almost time for me to get going, but wait, after the bath the stereo and display aren’t working. Shane feels bad cuz he’s thinking the wash ruined the stereo, but I’m sure that wasn’t the problem, well, Jim and Joey check it out and the only thing to do is taking a stereo out of a new street glide and replacing it, but hell, as long as I’ll get my tunes, I’ll be happy. Oh, by the way there’s a cd, one of two which exist in the bad stereo that I really need and since the stereo isn’t working the cd isn’t so the damn thing won’t spit it up. Well, Jim spent some time tearing the thing apart just to get my cd out and I really appreciate it, like I said this is only one of 2 cd’s like it that it means a lot to me. Finally, almost 8 hours later, everything is done and time for me to go and on my way out Bob helps show me the way, but wait again…a couple of miles down the road I realized that I never got my key back and it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to be on the road without it that had to back track to where I almost started, the Harley shop and after a little bit of searching they finally found it.

On the road again so let’s see what the race track has to offer. Now why is everything closed up? Stopped into the administrative office and found out everything closed a few minutes ago, 6:00 and that’s everything, so can’t even get into the in field. Well, if you know me there’s a way and sure enough, found a way into the inland. Was greeted by security, but they heard my story and let me take my time taking pictures and then the big man came along, yep he’s in the pickup behind the other security guy and maybe I should talk to him about getting on the track, but oh well, he takes off too quick, maybe next time. Ok, now what do I do, stay the night and checkout the museum and take a tour, or get on my way…the way I see it, there was a reason I missed seeing the museum and stuff that it’s time to hit the road, besides, I kinda like NASCAR…so that brings me here, Strongsville. Was fortunate with the weather and knew that some thunderstorms came thru this area earlier, but by the time I got a room and checkout some of the other eating establishments it was already midnight that someone said McCarthy’s might be able to help me out…I’m sure glad they pointed me here too, cuz got to meet the owner Jeremy and he made up a great batch of wings for me. Had fun talking with him and working on my blog, so got to hang out until bar time…what was that around here, 2:00? Great another late night after the one I had last night, but it was just in time cuz it was just starting to rain so made it back to the hotel before it really started coming down. Oh well, have a warm dry room and hopefully the thunderstorms will be gone tomorrow. On my way to New Hampshire so let’s see how far I get tomorrow. Harley shop pictures.