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May 01, 2005
And so the real adventure begins
GETTYSBURG, PA -- May 1
The day started out serenely enough. After a very short night of excited half-sleep, I set out at 7:30 am in balmy 38 degree weather. With the jacket liner and my winter gloves, it was not too prolematic -- my last significant road trip to Philly last November began in 32, and never got above 48 even at the other end.
In a desire to push ahead to warmer climes, I put a good 70 miles between my bike and Ithaca before the first gas stop in Dushore, PA. Then panic struck. I went to start the bike again. Nothing. No starter rattle. Not even a 'dead battery' half-hearted effort. Ominously, Psychic TV's "Terminus" had just come up in the iPod random. Fresh off my opening night viewing of Hitchhiker's Guide in Ithaca, I saw the imaginary yellow DON'T PANIC leters emblazoned in my windshield and wheeled the bike over to a parking spot. Had I jiggled the wires along the stem hooking the tank bag safety strap in? I played with them a bit, got out my Clymer's Manual for the bike for ideas, then made a perfunctory attempt to start again. It roared to life in a split second, like it never happened.
Rattled but determined to press on, I geared up and took off for Rickett's Glen park and the eventual rejoining with the Susquehana in Bloomsburg. Rickett's Glen features a nice scenic overlook once the mountain pass is done. However, one of the annoying constants with Pennsylvania mountain passes -- especially ones that cross the Apallachain Trail -- is the thorough lack of pull-offs at the proverbial summit before the plummet. This is in sharp contrast to the scenic overlooks in NY, VA, NC, etc. That, combined with the inevitable cars right on my ass, resulted in a scarcity of pictures from some of the better views I got heading into Bloomsburg.
It soon became necessary to find a good breakfast, which began a series of points where I feared that stop would be my last should this starter/switch continue to act up. But with 15 miles until Bloomsburg, a raging appetite, and a cool sign for a restaurant called the Old Filling Station in the village of Benton, the pull-off was official. Over a wonderful plate of extremely sour buckwheat pancakes with sausage patties and extremely mediocre coffee, I got to share my present and future adventure plans with some of the curious locals as well as get recommendations on some roads I'd be hitting further South.
When I emerged from the station filled but not yet old, I got the first of many nervewracking "will it or won't it" moments. For the moment, Diana would be cooperative. Firing right up, we made for the lovely riverside town of Bloomsburg and the first of several Susquehana crossings. Once on the other side, I began my search for what promised to be one of the best (or at least most interesting) roads of this day's campaign. Mt Zion is its name as it breaks into an almost hidden intersection with PA 487, and its name changes to River Rd to Boyd Station Rd during the course of its path along the winding river itself. While lacking many actual potholes and seams, the road had an interesting almost wavy texture that resulted in some fun suspension action at 45 mph. I passed many ancient farmhouses right on the river as well as the main CSX rail line which follows 10 feet from the actual banks. One interesting new house on the other side had a bizarre miniature rail road loop in the front yard replete with scaffolding to deal with the steep slope of the lawn. I'm still kicking myself for not pulling off to grab a photo.
Sunbury was my next stop for gas, after winding my way back through town to find an actual gas station and ending up back at the first one I had passed on my way in 20 minutes and 20 stop signs later. Once again Diana started right up. Now I was inching closer to Harrisburg and Gettysburg beyond that. I decided to take the Peeler Mountain Rd into the city instead of remaining on the waterfront. In addition to the scenic views it affords, the road has the additional advantage of dumping its travellers off onto the mercurial 322/22 "super slab" expressway closer into the city, which is practically the only way to get into town from the Northwest.
On my way down the Harrisburg side of the mountain (where it crosses the Appalachain trail once again with no pull-off and a chain of cars in front of and behind me), I was treated to the best dopplereffect of the day when 3 sport bikers came raging up from the opposite direction, leaning at full tilt and showing zero caution to the upcoming hairpin and slow cars ahead of them. Oddly enough, these were practically the first bikers I had seen all day, but they opened the floodgates to a constant stream of riders in the other direction to give the courtesy wave to for the remainder of the day.
One of the great features of downtown Harrisburg is its river-hugging Front Street, which has a parkway-like multiple lanes flanked by grand houses and a lack of traffic lights what with most cross streets terminating there with stop signs. I ended up in the middle of a rally of Harleyers sitting with their highway pegs in uniform fashion. Joining me in the adjacent lane were the equally misfit riders of an old Yamha similar to Diana and a lime green Kawasaki crotch rocketer pretending to look comfortable leaning way forward at 30 mph in urban traffic.
I made for City Island, which is nice park right in the middle of the Susquehana that features the new minor league baseball stadium and lots of park area. There was actually a game going on, but that took second fiddle to meeting my first genuine crazy of the day. A woman lumbered up to me and proceeded to talk my ear off about her own road trips and fascination with motorcycles, many of her stories seeming vaguely contradictory and definitely schizophrenic. As she guided me to where the main park area was, she sent me off with an ominous "I'm sure we'll meet again". That prospect was greatly minimized by Diana's once again starting right up.
30 miles to Gettysburg and it's only 2:30. But I have to ride the super slab of US 15 to get there. I was reminded just how much I hate travelling interstate type highways on a bike. Diana is in the awkward position of being just fast and big enough to be capable of cruising expressways at 60-70 mph, but not big or powerful enough to avoid the nasty crosswinds that are inevitable with such a wide and fast road or make sudden bursts forward at any comfort level to get around trucks and hostile lane chargers. The 25 miles I spent on this highway seemed every bit as long as the previous 50 of beautiful winding country scenery and occasional stoplights.
Just outside of Gettysburg I encountered Distelfink, one of those iconic purveyors of ice cream and sandwiches in every possible variety with picnic tables and a design right out of the 50's. The pack of middle-aged couples on decidedly un-aged Harley cruisers out for a Sunday ride seemed like a healthy endorsement as well. One dutch ham (the local specialty) sandwich later and I was finally ready to tour the park. Diana was ready to start immediately, making me think my problems were long behind me.
My mission in the historic Battlefield park was to find the statue for General G. K. Warren, whose brother Carrie's mother (with the Warren surname intact) is a male-line descendent from. Many historians credit him with saving the Union's asses in the battle due to his discovery and eventual shoring up of a key strategic vulnerability at Little Round Top, and the park planners were nice enough to reward him with a road named after him to say nothing of the most scenic area in the whole park for a statue and plaque site.
Alas, I realized once in the park how hard Little Round Top is to actually find without a map. It doesn't help that every vehicle road through the park ends up as a one-way street that directs you back north towards the Visitor's center, and no matter how far South I tried to re-enter the park and look for Warren Avenue, I always got routed onto the same road back towards the main area. To compound to the problem, the one time I parked to look around a bit, Diana had her second starter glitch of the day (but still came alive after 5 button-presses).
Now I was under pressure to find this damn monument and move on before I was stuck. So what do I do? I find the Devil's Den rocks near the Round Top hill and (like a complete idiot) park there at the absolute lowest elevation in the whole damn park instead of in the area up on the hill itself. You can probably see where this is going.
Sure enough, after a healthy hike on foot up to the hill and attendant respects (both photographic and otherwise) paid to General Warren's statue, I returned to find a bike that would simply not start no matter what I did. In hindsight I probably could have solicited help dragging or pushing it to a point where 15 mph momentum could be achieved to bump-start, but without those yellow flashing "DON'T PANIC" letters to guide me I decided to use my free AMA tow lifeline just to get back into town and explore my options. Plus, at the time I was convinced it was a failure of the ignition circuit loop since I knew the battery was fully charged and the starter motor came right up when it worked at all.
A gruelling hour of calling in to dispatchers in a bad cellphone reception area, I was faced with simply having it dropped off at the best downtown hotel with a vacancy to assess my problems the next morning when any motorcycle repair place would actually be open. As with most of my bad luck experiences, the circumstances resulted in a lot of good fortune as I found a very cool (and vaguely kitschy) hotel right near the business district with plenty of vacancies, a covered parking spot for the bike, and cheap $60 rates for AAA cardholders.
As the sun set on my first day, I knew more than anything else that I was continuing this trip no matter what happens. This is an electrical problem, not an engine or drivetrain issue. If I get it fixed Monday, I can be back on the road Tuesday morning at the latest. So I lose one flex day of the trip. And with my friend Bob slated to hit the area on his bike (and his own trip plans), I had an additional helper for possible rides to and from a service center. As it turns out, he hit the KOA that night and decided to stay there as I remained at my nice hotel room downtown.
Having confirmed plans for the next morning to find a shop to take it to, and confirmed I could bump start it in the nice slight slope of the empty motel rear parking lot, I set on putting enough food and booze in my system to forget the tribulations of the day. I will close this entry with a handy piece of advice for those not in the know, for which I have proof in the photo gallery: Almost all hotel rooms, no matter what the size or grade, have dresser and drawer handles designed -- either accidentally or on purpose -- to open beer bottles. I have never had this fail in the 10 hotel rooms I've been in since I discovered this handy trick. I didn't even have to open my tool apron for the crescent wrench.
Todd & Diana
Gallery forthcoming, but here's today's playlist:
| Title | Artist | CD |
|---|---|---|
| Have A Good Life Baby | Dusty Springfield | Dusty In Memphis |
| Face To Face | Daft Punk | Discovery |
| Connection Machine | Clock DVA | Buried Dreams |
| Paradise | The Supremes featuring The Four Tops | The Best of (Disc 2) |
| From the Inside | Tindersticks | Simple Pleasure |
| Abyss | Claire Voyant | Love Is Blind |
| Crowleymass Unveiled | Current 93 | Island |
| Get Off Of My Cloud | The Rolling Stones | Singles Collection: The London Years (Disc 1) |
| Say Again | DoMe | Dome 12 |
| Burning Bridge | Kate Bush | The Back Sides |
| Dupree Blues | Willie Walker and Sam Brooks | Broke, Black & Blue: Volume Three - Good Whiskey Blues |
| Don't You Want Me Anymore? | Pulp | Separations |
| Square...No Corners | Dose One & Boom Bip | Circle |
| Evil | Stevie Wonder | Music Of My Mind |
| Water | Silver Apples | Silver Apples |
| The Tears Of A Clown | Smokey Robinson & The Miracles | Hitsville USA, The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 (Disc 4) |
| Everyday People | Sly & The Family Stone | Greatest Hits |
| Damned Don't Cry | Visage | Fade To Gray / The Best Of Visage |
| Greed | Swans | Greed / Holy Money |
| Live It Down | Medicine | The Buried Life |
| Because She Was | Angels Of Light | Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home |
| Where The Wild Roses Grow | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Murder Ballads |
| I Want You | Pulp | Freaks |
| Terminus-xtul | Psychic TV | Force Thee Hands Ov Chants / Blinded Eye In Thee Pyramid |
| The Chameleons - Up the Down Escalator | The Chameleons | Script of the bridge |
| The Stagnant Pool | Felt | Absolute Classic Masterpieces |
| Power House | Money Mark | Push The Button |
| Oh, Pretty Woman | Roy Orbison | The All-Time Greatest Hits Of Roy Orbison |
| Woollen numbness of anæsthesia | Nurse With Wound | Who Can I Turn To Stereo (Two Golden Microphones) |
| B Line | Lamb | Fear Of Fours |
| Shake With Me | The Puppets | The Joe Meek Story-The PYE Years |
| Nightime | Big Star | Third - Sister Lovers |
| Kirby Workers Dream Fades | The Teardrop Explodes | Piano |
| Dry Bones In The Valley | Gastr Del Sol | Upgrade & Afterlife |
| Swinging London | The Magnetic Fields | Holiday |
| Buffalo Stance | Neneh Cherry | Raw Like Sushi |
| Hand So Small | Low & Spring Heel Jack | Bombscare |
| From Black To Blue | Yo La Tengo | And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out |
| The Mountain of God | Incredible String Band | The Big Huge |
| Anni | Alva | Fair-Haired Guillotine |
| Little By Little | The Rolling Stones | Singles Collection: The London Years (Disc 1) |
| The Mating Game | The Monochrome Set | Chaps (A History 1979-1997) (Disc 1) |
| Blessing | Current 93 | Swastikas For Noddy |
| Lucifer Over London | Current 93 | Calling For Vanished Faces - Love, Sleep And Dreams |
| In Every Dream Home a Heartach | Roxy Music | The Thrill of it All (disc one |
| Tonada De Tarka Con Callaguas | BOLIVIA Alberto Ruiz | The Secret Museum Of Mankind Vol. 4: Ethnic Music Classics: 1925-1948 |
| Funny Face | The Kinks | Something Else + 8 |
| Questions Over Coffee | Dose One & Boom Bip | Circle |
| I’ve seen the light and it’s dark | The Third Eye Foundation | Ghost |
| Der Baum | Faust | Tapes |
| Go! | Soffy O/Tokotok | This Is Tech-Pop: 21st Century Electro and New Wave |
| The Dreaming | Kate Bush | The Whole Story |
| Rollin' And Tumblin' | Muddy Waters | Country Blues |
| 4-Neu | Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark | Navigation |
| Vapour Trail | Ride | OX4_ The Best Of Ride |
| Arch Carrier | Autechre | LP5 |
| Viewfinder | Dose One & Boom Bip | Circle |
| Dark River | COIL | Love's Secret Domain |
| When The Cat's Away | Liliput | LiLiPUT/Kleenex (Disc 1) |
| Sacred Heart | Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark | Navigation |
| Claudine | The Geraldine Fibbers | Butch |
| There Is A Mountain | Donovan | Donovan In Concert |
| Night Falls On Hoboken | Yo La Tengo | And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out |
| Hey Ladies | Beastie Boys | Paul's Boutique |
| Tin Soldier Man | The Kinks | Something Else + 8 |
| Can'T Be Bothered With No Sheiks | Rosa Henderson | Ladies Of Blues : Vol. 2 |
| Caroline's Supposed Demon | His Name Is Alive | Livonia |
| Little Star (Shine On Us Tonight) | Lea and Chess | Let's Go! |
| Gold Hick | Guided By Voices | Alien Lanes |
| The Waiter | The Black Heart Procession | 1 |
| A New England | Billy Bragg | Postpunk Chronicles: Going Underground |
| Life Must Be So Wonderful | Pulp | Freaks |
| My 1st Song | Jay-Z | The Black Album |
| Frog One Is In That Room | Don Ellis | The French Connection |
| Sugar World | The Magnetic Fields | Holiday |
| Nature's Way | This Mortal Coil | Blood |
| You And Your Sister | This Mortal Coil | Blood |
| Dream Is Gone | American Music Club | United Kingdom/California |
Posted by Todd at May 1, 2005 10:58 PM