June 4th 2023 Day Two

 June 4^th- Damiansville Il – Day Two

 

On to Day Two and still in Damiansville Illinois at my cousin Diane’s place, but no Diane so I am on my own. It was great being able to sleep in on a long first day ride and I took advantage of that. May have woken up a few times during the night after having hit it hard at the local waterhole, but ready to do something today.

 

Well, this is where the day may not have started as I would’ve hoped. Since I got in and was low on gas, I figured I would need to find a gas station quick since my bike was showing me, I was low and only had about 25 miles before I was dry, I knew there was a Casey’s in the town next door that would have gas. Sure enough they have gas, but nothing over 87 octane and this bike needs higher that the next gas station is only about 4 miles away that I might as well try that one. Sure enough, they had 93 which was just what I wanted that parked the bike even though it was the wrong side that I normally use to fill up on, but no big deal, I can get gas on both sides. 

 

No problems with the pump and getting the gas that it was time to head back and figure out what I was going to do for the day that all I have to do is crawl on the bike and I’ll be good to go. This is where things didn’t go as expected. Since I left my backpack of cloths on the back seat thinking that I would save my time packing the bike for my next day’s trip, all I have to do is swing a leg over the seat to get in the saddle and sure enough as I was doing just that I didn’t get my leg all the way over the seat before the bike decides to tip over.  Ok, I guess you have to drop it a few times to make it a trip with things happening, that no problem since I have a crash bar that should save the paint. This is where that didn’t work as expected because of the heavy pack on the back, the bike was too top heavy that the damn thing tipped over further that it should that now I have scratches along the side of my saddle bag, a mirror knocked out of place and a few more scraps that I otherwise would have if the crash bar would’ve been good enough. 

 

Ok, so the guy next to me asked if I was ok, yes, except for my pride that he offered to help and yes, I will definitely need help lifting this beast. Well, with the both of us giving our all we couldn’t hardly budge it that fortunately another guy came to the rescue. He did ask if he could touch the bike before just doing so, thanks for asking, but I just have to get it back on two wheels that with the 3 of us we finally got it back up, me on it and I’m ready to ride way with my tail between the legs to headed back to Diane’s to assess the damage. Not as bad as it may sound, but again I’m ok and even though there are a few scratches, not too noticeable and like I had said before wouldn’t be a trip without a mishap.

 

Had to let it go that ok, even though I still left the pack on the back, decided to ride to another town close just to do some riding and let the spill go. As I was heading into town there were a lot of bikes heading the opposite way that I thought I should probably get turned around and follow them, but once I got into town I found where all the bikes were and sure enough there is a poker run today and this is the first stop. I’m in, so got a map of all the other stops to make along the way that I can do this. Meet other bikers and talk about the travels that I have something to take my mind off the dropped bike. Ok, got the first stop in, headed to the second and eventually the third that I do have something to do for the day. Well, after the third stop and the text’s that my sister had been sending about my dad’s condition in the hospital, I figured a brain check and figure out what I should do since I was only a day away from home was the thing to do. After a talk with Shelley about it and some better news from my sister, I figured I might as well keep going and if worse comes to worse I can park the bike somewhere and fly home if I need to, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.

 

Now to close out the day decided on a local bar for some food and then back to the local haunt for another night of drinking that at least I got my day one blog written and loaded. Also learned while packing the bike for my next day’s travel that I have to remove the pack to be able to pack again, that I should’ve taken the pack off in the first place that I might not have gotten the scratches I did. It’s always 20/20 after the fact. On to Chattanooga for day three that although I’m writing this on day 4, I need a few more beers for all this story telling.