2011's first 'big one' is done!

Each ride is certainly a mystery. Most experienced riders will agree with me on that point. This one was no different.

A reminder for you: Fort Wayne, Indiana to St. Paris, Ohio to Indian Valley, Virginia. And back, obviously. 946 miles or so.

I started out Thursday night for the quick 110 mile jaunt from the Fort to St. Paris, Ohio. I had a couple hours to get adjusted to riding Cheeto II (at some point she'll just be 'Cheeto' again, but probably after I sell the original Cheeto).

She rode like a dream, and I got the chance to adjust to having music blasting at me from the stereo instead of from ear buds and an Ipod. Love my Ipod, but there was something nice about being able to still clearly hear things around me, including the new 'bike noises' when accelerating or decelerating. Again, still getting used to the VTX.

Friday morning, Matt and I got underway a bit after 7am. I was a bit mesmerized by the Royal Wedding, so while I was rip-roaring and ready to go, I was glued to Kate & William's big day. Temps were a bit chilly, but not bad. Overcast skies stayed with us all the way to Oak Hill, West Virginia, where Matt & I picked up Scotty for the rest of the trip.

By about 2pm, we were hitting the tunnels near the Virginia border. Lo and behold, this big orange ball appeared in the sky just as we emerged from the tunnel and nearly blinded me. Finally the temps got up into the low 70's (okay, maybe high 60's) and the rest of the mountainous trip was beautiful. We arrived around 4pm and surveyed our job for the next day. While I was far more comfortable than I've ever been after riding 400 miles, I was still ready to stand on ground that wasn't rushing by.

Saturday was a non-riding day, of course. Which meant the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine, temps in the high 70's or low 80's and calm winds. Did I mention that we didn't ride? Yeah. That was just silly of us. On the other hand, we helped Matt's mom out and she was quite appreciative of all we did.

Now on to Sunday. What a crap shoot.

We knew the weather would be iffy. We'd been watching a storm system move across the Midwest right toward us. Now, this isn't nice but with Scotty heading back north to Pittsburgh, we all kinda figured this system would move there with him, and while I didn't wish it on him, I just hoped we'd all skirt through the rain without much ado.

Things started out fine. Overcast skies, but they clouds were still relatively high and not too dark. Remember the tunnels? Yeah, apparently they are portals to and from hell. Or at least to and from good weather to bad.

So we entered the tunnels full of hope that we'd remain somewhat dry. Even a brief light shower or two.

Not a chance.

We got light rain. Then heavier rain. Then misty rain. Then steady rain. And more rain. Enter Oak Hill, West Virginia, where Scotty peeled off for Pittsburgh.

Scotty later reported that he had rain the whole way home.

Now, I'm quite certain the previous owner of Cheeto II rarely rode in the rain. I can say that with some certainty because my 'marine grade' radio decided that after a particular deluge it lit up like a Christmas tree before I shut it down. On top of that, my beautiful Baron tachometer fogged up light a priest's glasses at a strip club. I do believe it's ruined. But that's the end of the damage. The rest is just grime and filth. But Matt's boy Shane is earning a $10 spot to clean that up for me.

Out of the 400 miles home on Sunday, we estimate we had 250 miles of rain. Just when we thought we were done with the rain (about 100 miles from St. Paris) we had the chance to dry out for about 50 miles before it's started heavy and steady again. So it was the last 50 miles that soaked us again.

But the end of the ride was still delightful. Matt and I opened up the Apple Pie (much more about this in a later post) and we 'partook'. Heck, I was done driving, and so was he. Plus I had Monday off.

Of course, it took until Tuesday night for my boots to dry out enough to re-condition and polish.

But all in all, this was a great first trip of the season, and one I know will prepare me a little better for future wet weather rides.