NJ Gas Pumping Safey

The transition to the new job was bittersweet - I'm going to miss the folks I worked with even as I look forward to the new challenges.  To celebrate the past/future job situation, Rebecca surprised me on my last day with a trip to New York to see Cyrano de Bergerac.  I'll try to write about that trip later, but the New Jersey gas pumping situation was so ironic that I felt compelled to write about it first.  

Now, we've driven to New York across the turnpike a few times and I've always found it strange that I couldn't pump my own gas.  So, this trip was no exception, we needed to fuel up on one of those service exits on the turnpike.  While I was waiting in line - and Becca retrieved the Starbucks - I notice this fine fellow helping out.  

Now, I'd seen him before walking around the line of cars, directing traffic etc.  By his actions and the clipboard in his hand I assume he must be some sort of supervisor - presumably responsible for the smooth operation and safety of the gas pumps.   Wait a minute, he's actually going to pump the gas too?  

What a good supervisor - helping out when things get really busy.

Now, I should pause a minute to give my understanding of the insanity that disallows people from pumping their own petrol.  I have assumed all along that it is for our own safety.  To protect us from ourselves.  I supposed perhaps it could be just to employ more people so I figured I'd look it up.  It turns out Yahoo Ask, agrees with me:

The ban on self-service gas stations is a highly combustible issue and makes for some heated debates. New Jersey passed the law making it illegal to pump your own gas in 1949. At the time, legislators felt it was too dangerous to have untrained people dispensing such a flammable liquid.

Having said all this, let's take a closer look at the photo:

Ok, not the best photograph, but you can probably tell  - it's a cigar.  To be fair to the gentleman, I never actually saw him smoke it.  Now each trip I live by the rules and let the clowns pump gas for me; making me feel about the same as I would in asking another man for directions.  I understand that I may not be the safest person at the gas pump - heck, I don't touch metal prior to grabbing the pump to remove the static electricity - but I can do much better than this apparent supervisor.  I'd really love to make a bold statement banning New Jersey from my future travel plans on principle but, unfortunately, it's the only reasonable way to get from D.C. to N.Y. 

Sunday C&O Canal Ride

Pablo and I took the bicycles for a trip down the tow path. We rode it from Georgetown, D.C. to Great Falls, Md - a total of around 28 miles round trip. It was a gorgeous day, a little cool in the morning but warming to a perfect low-70s by afternoon.

We picked up the tow path off of Wisconsin Ave in Georgetown.

The majority of this section of the canal is well maintained clay and crushed stone. This was one of the rare opportunities to get a little dirty - on the way out, I took the bridge - Pablo took the water; coming back, we both got wet.


I don't remember exactly where this was so I couldn't geotag it, but this was the first lock that we encountered. We'd both seen locks before up on the Virginia side of Great Falls, but they have fallen into disrepair so it requires some imagination to appreciate what a feat they truly are. All along the tow path, you get to see great examples of the locks in pretty good condition.


Locktenders were responsible for efficiently getting the boat traffic through the lock at all hours of the night. For their efforts, they received a small house and an acre of land...



... and a sweet commute.


I'd love to see how the gears actually worked to open and close each of the upstream lock doors. I suspect the park service would frown on a can of WD-40 and some genuine curiosity though.


This was a more sophisticated "double-lock" that flows into a basin. We didn't stop to read what it was all about though.


And finally... Great Falls... Either the falls look much more dramatic from the Virginia side or the water is really low.


A trout? No. A salmon? No. Just some dood thinking he's gonna be the one to beat the odds;) In our 15 minutes of observing, I calculated the score to be:
- man-in-little-boat = 0
- thousands-of-gallons-of-water-per-second = 8


more pictures here.

and map view too!

L.L. Bean Ride Plan

Well, I'm at it again. I'm taking a long weekend to do some real mileage on the bike. The plan right now is to leave from L.L. Bean in Tysons Corner, Virginia at 6am this Friday and head [the long way] towards L.L. Bean, Freeport, Maine - hopefully by Saturday;) The route will take us through Pennsylvania to Hancock, NY, then take 30 across the northern border of the Catskills. 30 then turns north and will lead us directly into Adirondacks. The current plan has us camping overnight somewhere in the Adirondacks but we'll see how inviting the ground looks after that many hours on a bike.

The next morning we'll head east through Vermont and New Hampshire arriving in the afternoon at L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine. From there we'll head home. My "plan" pretty much ends there other than we'll get home sometime Sunday - and even that, I reckon, is somewhat flexible. I'd like to hug the coast as much as possible but we'll just see how we're doing on time as we get there. Anyway, that's the plan, I'll try to post along the way and certainly post pictures at the end.

Click the "View Larger Map" link to see the rough route.


View Larger Map

Shenandoah River Ride

A little late posting my ride last Sunday. I headed west on Rt 50 with no clear route in mind. Immediately after crossing the Shenandoah River, I noticed a nice dirt road running parallel so it was an obvious choice. The road was well maintained:


Shortly, the fun alongside the river ended with this bridge:

Which had a view like this:

The dirt then gave way to unlined old roads higher in elevation:

Noticing those mountains in the distance made me want to see them closer. So, I went back up Rt 50 and took Blue Ridge Mountain Rd. which was a nice way to finish up. Unfortunately, I put the camera away and just enjoyed the curves of the mountain roads.

Sunday Mountain Ride...

I rode west today out past Shenandoah into West Virginia. To give me more time at the destination, I took all highway miles (66W->81S) to 42S (exit 283) in Woodstock, Va. Well, rather than listing the whole directions which won't mean much anyway, you can get a feel for the ride here.

While the route encompassed a lot of highway-ish miles, there were plenty of miles on roads like this:


and eventually I was fortunate enough for those to give way to roads more like this:


shortly I climbed towards the top of the hill:


and a better look at the road:



views like this, with only the hum of the beast, are nice:


honestly, it looked steeper as I was riding along;)


Eventually, I had to face forward and head back home - I knew there was a really good beef brisket awaiting;)


So, back down the mountain and into the valley below:


For the most part, these were some well-maintained dirt/gravel roads and worth the ride to get there. The access to the views could have been better but the ride was great. All but the very last bit are worth a try on any bike, but I think from Mathias on are probably most comfortable on some sort of enduro machine.

Cheesesteak Ride

Had a hunkering yesterday for a cheesesteak so I took the bike out and got one - in Philly. I left out a little after 8am and, taking I-95 the whole way, got there by about 11:15 or so. The original plan was to try Pat's early, then after a couple hours try Geno's. I got a Whiz wit-out from Pat's and it was pretty tasty. The steak itself was good and juicy with apparently minced onions (maybe some garlic) providing the only enhancement to the natural flavor. I was a little dissappointed with the bun though - it as a little over done and rather tasteless. Not in an offensive way, it just didn't bring anything to the flavor party - if saltine crackers were bread, this is what it would taste like. Anyway, I took my steak over to the baseball field next door and watched some locals play softball for a while. When I finally decided I could handle at least a couple bites of another one, I walked over to Genos. Unfortunately, the line had grown considerably (~40 people) since I'd seen it before so I decided it wasn't worth it since Becca and I will likely re-do this trip again soon. Anyway, it was more about the bike ride anyway, so I decided to use the time to try a more interesting route home. After some significant traffic leaving Philly, I took 301 heading south towards the Bay Bridge. All and all, the ride home was unremarkable but nice. I was in bumper-to-fender traffic on the bay bridge which is a little nerve racking on a bike with the significant cross-winds and ease at which I could look over the side. I got home right at 5pm and just in time for a nice Italian dinner.

Total distance: ~340 miles.
States: (4 1/2) Va, D.C, Md, De, Pa

Last day revisited...

So I was quite short and infrequent posting on the last day - I'll explain. I left Oklahoma City, Ok on I-40 heading east towards Arkansas. It seems to me the geography of Oklahoma can be divided in two right at Oklahoma City. Late the previous afternoon riding to Oklahoma City, I was under the impression that Oklahoma was just an extension of the dry, hot, flat plains I'd just left in Texas. When I left out the next morning heading east from Oklahoma City, the plains were gone and trees began to appear. Turns out the eastern side seems just like Arkansas. It was kinda strange to wake up and begin the ride with the land looking that drastically different than what I'd left when I went to sleep.

I stayed at the Sleep Inn in Oklahoma City. It was there that I had my first goof of the trip - though I didn't realize it until the sun came up a couple hours later. I guess at some point when I was packing the bike to head out my sunglasses must have fallen out of my riding jacket pocket, since I left at zero-dark-thirty I didn't realize it. A couple hours later I was frantically digging with no luck. Given the truth behind the "sun rises in the east..." thing, I was forced to shell out 12.99 for a cheapo pair at a local gas station.

I stopped in the Arkansas welcome center, which is quite nice - no pictures, sorry. The lady at the center talked me through the best motorcycle route through the Ozarks to "just get a taste" of it. I heeded her advice (23N->16E->21S) and headed out.

I went up 23 mostly wondering whether I should have topped off the tank before leaving the interstate as it wasn't looking very promising that a Shell station would be around the next turn. The road quality wasn't great so I didn't really enjoy the curviness of the road as much as I might otherwise have. When I reached the intersection of 16, I saw two older gents - one on a cruiser (HD?) and the other on a trike - and decided to pull over and ask where the nearest gas station was. Turns out it was only about 3 miles further up the road which was quite a relief. The one fellow said they were heading that direction and they'd be on the lookout for me. Said if I needed it, they'd "suck some out of our tank and spit it in yours to make sure you get there". Turns out no sucking or spitting was necessary and I safely made it to a gas station that would have made Goober of Mayberry look like a modern day operation. There were two pumps, old-style. The store shelving appeared homemade and the operation was clearly family owned, humble, and warm. I went to pay for the gas and the lady asked how much I had gotten. After realizing that she was serious, I walked back outside to check. Came back and said "looks like $8.56". She said, "O.k., that'll be $8.56". Cool. As I went back to the bike there was a little boy (2yrs?) that ran past me to his dad that had been standing in the store. As he ran up, I heard him say "Hey Dad-dy" in a familiar drawn out sort of way. Hearing him made me instantly, overwhelmingly, homesick. As I put my gear back on I decided I wanted to wake up the next morning hearing that sound again from John.

I'm not sure whether it was the home-sickness that had just kicked in or the fact that I had just left the Rocky Mountains, but the Ozarks were a bit of a dissappointment. I'm sure this isn't fair but if what I saw was any indicator, I'd just assume ride US-52 through the N Ga mountains or Skyline Drive through Shenandoah. But it was an experience. Shortly after leaving the gas station the blue skies were covered by thick dark gray clouds, then the familiar large infrequent sprinkles. Knowing what was in store for me, I turned back for a mile or so to buy me some time, pulled over and donned my rain gear. My rain gear is comprised of liners to my normal riding gear so I have to take things off, then put back on. It wasn't until I was halfway through this rather awkward operation that I realized I had an audience across the street. Just a tad embarrassing. So I finished up the Ozarks in the pooring rain. The rain let up by the time I made it back to I-40 so I took the gear off and headed east, determined to make it home that night.

This determination led to short fuel stops and infrequent updates. I followed Rebecca's rule and did call her at least every 3 hours though. Those calls were really short just to let her know I was doing well. I assured her that if I got sleepy tired at any point that I wouldn't hesitate to find a hotel and sleep for the night - even if that was in Chattanooga.

I stopped in Little Rock for lunch - a healthy Whopper for fuel and a vanilla milkshake for coolness. If the diners in a fast food establishment are any indication, Little Rock has to be the more friendliest of places that I went through. From a group of local firefighters asking about my trip to the restaurant workers asking about my riding gear, they were all the friendliest strangers I've encountered in a while.

Sadly, because I was now trying to get home so quickly, I didn't get to stop in the Clinton Library and Museum in Little Rock where I'd hoped to pick up a "We Miss You Bill" bumper sticker for my dad*.

So the rest of the trip from Little Rock, to Memphis, to Nashville, to Chattanooga was fast and - save some rain - uneventful. I was desparately trying to make it through Chattanooga before dark but that didn't end up happening. I hate riding through the mountains of Chattanooga in the dark because, even though it's an interstate, the road is still fairly curvy and cars begin to think they're professional drivers or something and can't resist the urge to speed like crazy through there. Personally, I wouldn't mind that so much since on a bike I can handle the curves much faster they they can but since we share this same curvy road with the tractor trailers who have to drive in low (slow) gear, it's not a good combination. I hadn't seen the "run-away-truck" ramps before and that wasn't exactly confidence inspiring either. Apparently, if these trucks get out of control (run-away), they can use the dirt ramps that go up the mountain to stop. I've got to wonder how often these ramps get used - hopefully rarely.

Anyway, I made it home Saturday night and cured my home-sickness.

It was an incredible trip even if all my goals weren't met. I had hoped to ride more through the Rockies on the way home, which didn't happen because of weather. I had hoped to spend some time on Route 66 which didn't happen partly due to weather. I guess maybe the real reason these didn't happen was because taking a return trip home slow and easy isn't really in my nature. If I were to have taken leave on the front side of the trip and had work to look forward to, perhaps it would have been easier to take it slower and enjoy sites along the way I don't know. I do know that taking it slow and easy on the way home was a really nice and exciting idea that was ultimately not as appealing as seeing my family again. So next time (hear that Rebecca?), I'll try taking extra time on the way out, as opposed to the return.

To all that provided encouraging comments along the way, thank you.

Total Distance: 3,234 miles.
Total States (11): Ar, Co, Ga, Il, Ks, Ky, Mo, Nm, Ok, Tn, Tx.

* - Merely for humor.

Done

I'm home now. 963 miles today. More later - to bed now...

Fuel for me and bike

Gased up and eating lunch here in N Little Rock, Ar.

Fueling up

Got gas and a jumbo honey bun here in Webber Falls, Ok. Off to Arkansas...

Heading out...

About to leave the room and get started. I'll just head out on I-40
straight to Arkansas instead of going through Tulsa.

Random road trivia

1) I passed multiple cities with, I think, an elevation higher than Denver.
It caused me to wonder what the highest U.S. City is?

2) My bike's speedometer and my GPS are almost always 3 mph different.
Which is more likely to be the more accurate of the two? ("The faster one."
Is not a valid answer.

Return Day 1 Complete

After a dissappointing start not going through the mountains and pikes peak, it turned out to be a really nice ride. New mexico was quite a pleasant surprise to me. After my entire ride in Colorado being drizzle overcast, as soon as I crossed the mountain (rotan pass?) The sky was a deep blue and the mountains were different - more blocky than round. 87 was a great road for mostly until dumas, when it turned interstate-like - until then, it was a 2 lane road with little traffic and a 70mph limit. Texas and Oklahoma have a lot in common so far - they are both hot, dry, flat, and boring. Texas kept it interesting with some incredible wind gusts - unsettling to say the least. I made it to Ok City where I'm staying the night. A little over 700 miles for the day. I'll start out tomorrow towards Tulsa, then on into
Arkansas. Haven't really done the mileage but my arbitrary goal is to stay in Little Rock tomorrow.

Amarillo by late afternoon...

In Amarillo filling up and there is front behind me. I'm pushing on to
Oklahoma. We'll see how far I get. It's been a real nice ride so far.
Little hot lately, but the road (87) was nice until I got to Dumas. Thanks
to the dude at the NM welcome center that suggested I just take it all the
way to Amarillo. Now I-40 to Ok.

Lunch and gas

Forgot to record stopping for lunch in Clayton, NM. Now I'm in Dalhart, TX
fueling up...

Gas stop

Stopped for gas in Raton, NM. I'm off 25 now and heading east/se on 87
towards clayton.

No pikes peak for me

Well coming through colorado springs was pretty rainy and the mountains
peaks were in the clouds. That, combined with the anticipated bad weather
this afternoon made me decide to skip it and try to get some solid miles
covered. I had to stop for gas here in Pueblo, Co., which is just south of
colo springs. I'm skipping the mountain highway (24/285) and just going
straight to New Mexico via I-25. More later...

St Louis...

Posting the pictures from St. Louis. Sorry these are out of chronological order...

The bike and the Arch...


Neat building just down the street from the Arch...


Just a couple blocks from the manicured lawns and new buildings around the Arch is this rusted train track and alley.



Look closely and you can see the Arch in the background...

In Denver...

The last 150 miles or so had the cloudy rain give way to deep blue skies with puffy white clouds which made for a nice welcome to Denver. When I think of Colorado, I think mountains and snow. I guess I've never thought beyond the stereo-type. In fact, there are hundreds of miles of beautiful rolling fields in Colorado before you get to the mountains.

At the last fuel stop as I pumped the gas I watched two little boys (the youngest probably Grant's age) strolling along on two ponies. They were wearing blue jeans and cowboy hats and boots. The oldest was leading the way and looked over at me in my funny-looking space suit and tipped his hat and said "Howdy." I smiled and returned the greeting. My arrival picture:

Last night as I settled into the hotel, I planned to wake up first thing this morning and take the bike up to Rocky Mountain National Park. When I woke, I decided instead to give my backside a rest and chose to walk to Starbucks for a good cup of coffee. I walked around the streets of Denver looking like a typical tourist and snapping pictures of random things. Below is a sample...

I got quite a few shots of Union Station, I think it looked really cool with the deep blue sky...

And the "Rio Grande" train parked on the tracks behind it...

Just a block away was this Ice House/Creamery building. I thought it was a neat looking building.




I have no clue what this thing is supposed to be but was kinda neat it s just really big pole sticking up out of a platform.



Clock tower in the middle of the 16th Street Mall. This is a cool pedestrian friendly area with tons of shops, restaurants and a Starbucks every 3 blocks or so.

I have to work this afternoon but hope to make it to Rocky Mountain National Park this evening...