in a follow-up to my earlier post about trying to make my bike too shiny, i've found that scotch-brite works well to removed the "slickness" from the footboards.
i was going out to lunch yesterday. being the "plan ahead" type of guy i am, i waited until the last possible minute before trying to clean the footboards. i didn't want to chance riding again with the slippery footboards. and i've known about this problem since sunday. so it's not like i haven't had plenty of time to get to this earlier.
i grabbed a scotch-brite pad and started scrubbing. in the back of my mind, i'm already debating whether i'm going to resort to the cage if i can't clean the footboards well enough. needless to say, the scotch-brite worked well. now i'll have to do the same thing to the passenger footboards. i should have enough time for that, right??
speaking of going out to lunch - that was another experience. i left a little later than i wanted. having to scrub the footboards put me a little further behind. as i'm leaving the neighborhood, i notice i'm low on gas. i think i have enough to get me to my destination.
as i come to stops, i check the gauge - the red light comes on. but as i take off, the gauge readjusts and turns amber. so now i'm balancing between low and very low. already being late, i decide to press on. until... i come upon a detour.
now you never really know about the detours around here. sometimes the road is blocked and sometimes it isn't. i haven't figured out the madness behind these detours, but i will one day. in my head i'm debating whether to take the detour or take my chances with the road being open. i don't know how far out of the way the detour will take me. these are back roads and i could be going miles and miles out of the way. or maybe it's just a short jaunt around the "closed" road.
this detour wasn't here the last time i drove this road. again, the way these people work, they'll put up the detour weeks before they actually close the road and start work... i decide to take the road. i go through the barriers, which are open enough to let cage traffic through for the people that live on that stretch of the road. i wind down the road through a couple curves and what do i see?? a couple pieces of heavy equipment moving a pile of gravel that covers both lanes of the road!!! great, i need to turn around and take the detour.
did i mention that i was already running late?? now i really hate to feel rushed when i'm riding the bike. so i decide to just ride easy and i'll get there when i get there. i go around the detour which was surprisingly short. it also showed me a couple more roads that i'll have to ride to see where they lead. nothing like discovering some new roads. i'm back on track - maybe not time-wise, but at least i'm heading in the right direction...
i get to my destination. or at least in the general area. i start riding around parking lots looking for the restaurant. no luck... then i start thinking that i really should have looked over the directions before i left. i probably would have but i didn't have time!!! i decide to call a friend, he could look it up and give me directions. i couldn't call anyone i was having lunch with because i didn't have any of their phone numbers. well - it appears my friend was out to lunch too because he didn't answer. i decide to stop into a grocery store and see if they know where the restaurant is - i'm figuring they probably know the stores/restaurants in the immediate vicinity. i talk to the manager - he doesn't know where it is. so he decides to ask one of the employees. now there are two employees standing close by. he asks the hispanic one - i'm figuring this is because i was looking for a mexican restaurant!!! i was wondering if that was a racist thing or not. anyway, she doesn't know where it is. then she asks if i'm looking for a different mexican restaurant. no, i do manage to know the name of the place, if not the location!!! then she remembers where it is. down another roar - about two miles away. cool - i'll only be about thirty minutes late. guess i'll order a drink and some chips and salsa. i am getting hungry.
jump on the bike and head out. only to find the restaurant she directed me to was the wrong one!!! damn!! at this point, i decide to just head home - starved. i start riding out and then think about another location the restaurant might be. i do remember seeing a mexican restaurant - but was it the same one?? can't hurt to try at this point. i head over only to discover, yet again, that it's not the right place. now i head home for good - no more searching.
when i get home, i find out that i was on the wrong street, of course. now if i would have only taken the time to look over the directions before i decided to head out. lesson learned.
while i didn't really plan to ride around on the bike, it did turn out to be a fairly nice ride. a little hot and disappointing since i couldn't find the place. but it was a lot better being on the bike instead of a cage!!! like i say - any reason to ride...
so that it, my unexpected ride.
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