Tire Be Healed!

Well today was the day to get Billie's tire issue sorted out. If it had been up to me I'd have pulled the screw which was lodged in Billie's front tire out right away. I agreed completely with Canajun's whose comment to my earlier post said pretty much the same thing. Mike was telling me to leave it be and see if it held air and he has much more experience than I do.

I discovered the screw sticking out of the tire a week ago today. The tire held air all week. Today I rode it over to Mike's.

I got to Mike's without incident. The tire continued to hold air. After we got Billie situated on the lift, Mike took a pair of pliers and pulled the little bugger out. And, nothing happened. The little sheet metal screw was more wedged into the tread then buried in the tire. Just like that, I was good to go. And, I was way too happy to feel much more than a tinge of self-satisfaction over having been right. Yes, I should have just pulled the damn thing out myself. Oh well, now I have a spare tube in my top box. This is probably a good thing.

Mike told me the Vespa dealer here in St. Louis has closed. I wasn't shocked by the news. The dealership has had a spotty reputation, still it is worrisome to have it close. The Genuine dealership here should close, but if it does the only scooters available will be from the Japanese motorcycle dealerships. It is a tough business.

Even with the unexpected extra time I gained when Mike didn't need to change the tire, it was still a busy day of shopping and errands.

Happily, Heather and I were able to meet up and get a nice walk around the local park before going out for dinner.

Tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, I may get in a ride. We'll see.

Whoops!

Isn't there an old saying that goes something like: "It is better to discover you've been screwed at bath time rather than during ride time"?

I took Billie over the the local coin car wash today to rinse off some of the road chemicals. I didn't go to the wash directly. I took the long way via Carondolet Park. After my little detour and finishing my rinse I did my weekly close inspection of my tires. During my inspection, I noticed I'd picked up a little something in my front tire. As I'm certain my friend Jim in Wichita would say, "Whoops!"

The good news is the tire seems to be holding air. Monday after work if the tire is still holding air I'll ride it over to Mike's and we'll put in a new tube and probably put a patch over the hole I'm expecting to find when we pull the screw out. And if the tire isn't holding air? We'll come up with a plan B.

No matter how you look at it, it's good to be lucky.

Turtles And Spring Cleaning

Today was Billie's day and we'll get to that. But first, yesterday was Heather and my first real land paddle of 2012. I don't know why we haven't been out sooner. The weather certainly hasn't been the problem. I'm guessing we've just been hiking more.

But yesterday the trails in Illinois were calling to us and we answered.

It seems it was turtle day. This is turtle #1.

This is turtle #2.

Turtle #3 was catching some sun on one end of this pond, while.....

Turtle #4 was doing much the same thing on the other edge of the pond.

In addition to turtles we saw deer, wild turkeys, and a white heron, but they all escaped the camera.  We think we may have spotted a bobcat as well, but aren't certain. Heather did get a photo, but it is of Loch Ness monster quality, so not very helpful or conclusive.

And, on the way back across the Mississippi River I took this photo of the Arch just for you (you know who you are).

Today was Billie's day.  Today Billie got her Spring bath. Chris over at Everyday Riding is on a seven week moto adventure which has already taken him to Alaska. He isn't fooling me. I'm thinking the real reason he took this trip was to postpone cleaning off the winter grime from his Ural. The stuff we spray on our bikes to keep them from becoming rust buckets does its job, but the Spring cleaning is no fun.

I'd like to think I've been busy and not practicing avoidance. That said, I will admit the springtime bath is not my favorite job.

This I can't blame on the ACF-50. This is caused by my lazy self not lifting my leg up enough when I mount Billie. Yep, those are boot scuff marks.

This is winter grime....

And, so is this.

It was much worse last spring. This winter was very mild and I had only a handful of "chemical days"--those days the road crews spray "ice melt" on the roads. Still, the grime builds up.

Gone are the smudges.

The chrome is shining

The grime is gone for now.

 

And, notice no rust on the wheels.

And here she is, ready to get dirty again.

I'm My Father's Son

I wasn't preaching today, which meant I could ride to Church, rather than drive. Actually, I wasn't scheduled to do anything at Church today other than be there. As I left the condo I found myself thinking it would be a most excellent day to play hooky. There even seemed to be a good reason to do so. Theoretically I retired May 1. It is theoretical because I've been pretty much retired from Church work for a few years now. I knew I was rationalizing, but still.....

I decided to swing by the Church and talk with Doris. Doris is the Priest I help out at St. Matthew's. It was 0730hr and I knew she'd already be in the office. When I walked in she said, "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be in Illinois this week." I told her I'd gone to Illinois last week after Church, but now that she had mentioned it, it did seem like it would be good for my soul to spend some time riding. She was good with that. And off I went.

I wasn't planning a very big ride. After Church, I'd planned to head up to Cabela's to pick up a couple of things. I decided I'd just add dropping down into the Missouri flood plain near where I lived when I first moved to St. Louis to the agenda.

I grew up on a farm and really am forlorn when I can't check out crops. I'm a total Flatlander at heart. I appreciate photos of mountains, but whenever I've traveled there I've found I'm my father's son. It just looks like bad farmland and I can't wait to get back to the areas most others call boring.

Notice the tree covered ridge in the distance. Just beyond that ridge is Olive Street Rd. with its urban sprawl. But, below the ridge there are nurseries and corn fields and truck farms.

I noticed this little garden. The leaf lettuce is ready, and even the sweet corn is up.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I couldn't pass up Creve Couer Lake.

I hung out for a while and took on some fluids. The temperature was 83F/28C and it wasn't even 1000hr yet.

On my way to Cabelas I've notice a road. There is a "Caution One Lane Bridge" sign visible from where I travel. Each time I've gone past it's intrigued me and I've been thinking I should see where it went. I decided today was the day to find out.

I discovered it ended up running along the northern boundary of Lambert International Airport. If you click on the photo hopefully it will enlarge and you can see the Control Tower and some of the runways.

The road ended at Lindbergh Ave. Back in February I'd taken a rainy day road trip. (Click here to view the post). I mentioned in the post I thought I'd found a way to cross the Missouri River on Billie. Lindbergh Ave. would lead me to that bridge. I decided I'd check it out, but wasn't sure I was going to try the crossing. Still I thought it would be a good idea to get gas.

It's a good thing I did. Not only did the crossing of the bridge go well, but I found myself turning onto West Missouri Rte.94. There was a welcoming committee waiting for me. How could I resist? I couldn't, nor did I try very hard.

The ride on 94 was gentle. I saw lots of Harleys and a couple of scooters. I didn't see any sportbikes. The road was mostly flat and straight. When there was a curve it was a sweeper. And, there wasn't much to look at other than the crops. I loved it.

When I got to the outskirts of St. Charles I decided I'd better stop and get something to eat. I'm not the carnivore I once was and I don't miss it much, but now and again I get a hankering for a all beef hotdog. When most folk see a Dairy Queen they think ice cream. Not me. I think hotdog.

When I walked into DQ a young man said to me, "What's up?" I never quite know how to respond to comments like that. I think I said, "Same old, same old." If not it was something equally un-clever I'm sure. The next time I passed them he said, "Aren't you hot in all that stuff?" My response? I pointed to the young woman he was with and said, "You'll have to ask her?" We laughed and this began a nice conversation.

Meet Houston and Kristen.

I got some directions from Houston. Since I hadn't really expected to end up in St. Charles County I hadn't a map. I'd been sort going from memory of the February drive and my sketchy knowledge of St. Charles. It all worked out. I made it through St. Charles without accidentally ending up on an Interstate and then I crossed back over the Missouri River on the Page Extension.

I still didn't go straight home. I made my way back to Olive Street Rd. and went west. This took me by Faust Park.

There is a Butterfly House in Faust Park. I never been., but Heather and I plan to remedy that very soon.

Next serendipity struck again. I knew Olive Street Rd West turned into Clarkson Rd., but I didn't know Clarkson Rd. turned into Kiefer Creek Rd. Kiefer Creek Rd. leads right into Castlewood State Park. I couldn't pass that up could I?

By this time the temperatures had risen to 92F/33C  Folks were enjoying the old swimming hole. I got to witness a little drama. A couple of Park Rangers came down and inspected the cooler of one of the parties on the beach.

I don't think they found anything, but it was enough to break up the party. It seemed like a good time for me to leave as well.

From Castlewood I headed straight home. When all was said and done this little ride up to Cabela's ended up being close to 150mi/240km. I left the condo at 0700hr and returned a little after 1600hr.

I got home in time to change gear and head to Grant's Trail and fit in a 7mi/11km inline skate. Is life good or what?

A Rainy Day Road Trip

Heather had to work last Saturday. It was a chilly and rainy day and seemed like the perfect sort of day to check out a few things I've been wanting to for awhile.

My destination was near Moscow Mills, Missouri a small town off of Hwy-61. It would be a relatively quick drive out there taking the Interstate and major divided highways, but what would the fun be in that. Besides one of the things I wanted to check out was an alternate route to St. Charles, Missouri where my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter live.

If I was taking Miss Billie this would have been an all day affair. I didn't have all day, so the Yaris was the ride of choice. I had "Googled" my destination and chose the options of no highways and no tolls.

The directions routed me down Kingshighway. I'd forgotten how many stoplights there are on Kingshighway. As far as the eye can see there are stoplights.

The first part of the drive was all urban. And, while I drove by some wonderful old structures, most of the route was through some of the more tattered and worn areas of the City.

I eventually crossed the Missouri River on Lindbergh Ave. This was the first time I'd ever crossed here. It appears it would be a good place for Miss Billie and I to cross this great river, but I certainly wasn't much fond of the route to get there. There has to be a better way.

Through the magic of photography I finally am leaning.

Once I turned on to Route 94 the terrain changed. I was on the flood plain between the two great rivers. It was wetlands, farmland, and all very, very flat.

The green isn't grass even though this was on a sod farm. I think it was some sort of  fertilizer they put on the grass to force it to grow pretty.

The mist and fog can even give an air of mystery to a power generating plant.



And, I didn't find this sign hard to believe at all.

I know what it is like to be snowed in. I suspect the folks who own this house have some experience with being flooded in.

West of St.Charles the terrain changed and it was more hilly and wooded.

My first destination was Lincoln Power Sports outside Moscow Mills.

But first a little history. One of the things I love about Miss Billie is her 16inch wheels. Another thing is her gas mileage. These were two of the three things which led me to chose the Symba. The third was the ability to experience shifting without having to bother with a clutch. Miss Billie has an automatic clutch. I wondered if I'd like shifting. I'd driven manual transmission cars and trucks up until a few years ago. I was convince if I got an automatic I'd miss the control that shifting gave me...that I'd miss going through the gears. When I did get an automatic I found I didn't miss any of that. I'd be quite happy to never own a manual shift car again.

But, what about scooters/motorcycles. I thought the Symba would be a nice way to experiment. My first scooter was a twist and go. I liked it and my suspicion was I wouldn't find shifting scooter/motorcycle any more essential than I found it to be in a car.

I will admit I've always felt Miss Billie was meant to be one of two scooters. The Symba is close to perfect for my daily commute and for puttering around the City.

But traveling across the Missouri River to get to St. Charles necessitates riding on the above road. It is rather an adventure. A bigger bike/scooter would certainly make riding over the Page Extension a much more enjoyable experience. Plus, I have in mind I want to photograph every Circuit Courthouse in Missouri. I could do that on the Symba, but it would take some time...some very long time.

I pretty broke, but it doesn't cost anything to look. Lincoln Power Sports had a new 2008 250 People S. I wanted to sit on it.

I didn't have them pull it out. I just wanted to sit on it. Last Fall I test rode a Genuine Blur 220i and my knees kept bumping into the handlebars. Not a good thing. I wondered how the People would be.

It fit me fine and it doesn't have a big bulbous butt like some maxi-scooters do. Also, it has 16 inch wheels and the color is certainly right.

While I was there I also sat on a Xciting 500i. I wasn't expecting too think much of this scooter.

I was surprised how comfortable it was. Heather thinks it looks to "insecty". That's not a problem for me. However, its butt is awfully close to being bulbous and its tires are smaller than the People. Heaven knows it would certainly take me anywhere I wanted to go. Truthfully, I suspect the People would take me anywhere I want to go and use less gasoline getting me there. And, gas mileage will be an important consideration in any future purchase I do make.

Perhaps on a day when it isn't raining I'll go back and  test ride the People.  It doesn't cost any more to test ride than to look does it?

I tore myself away from things that were shiny and made my way back to St. Charles and a visit with da' kids.

I suspect if I had a People 250 S or even that Xciting 500i I'd just have to ride it over to St. Charles more often to visit them, don't you?

Dead

Wednesday after work Billie, my Symba, wouldn't start. It sounded like the battery was low, but this seemed unlikely since the battery was less than a year old and I use a battery tender. Be that as it may, It certainly sounded like the battery was weak. Fortunately kickstarting was an option and Billie started right up on the first pump and away we went.

When I got home I hooked it up to the tender. When I came out the next morning I had a nice green light indicating a nice fully charged and healthy battery. When I hit the starter she started right up. After my morning bagel, no such luck. Back to the telltale low battery sound and then nothing. Again the Symba started right up with one kick. After work? Another kickstart. When I got home I didn't even bother plugging Billie into the tender.

Awhile back I was having starting problems with Billie. I even had to kickstart it once, but when I took it into the shop the battery checked out fine. We checked all the connections, scratched our heads, and decided we'd just have to wait and see what happened. What happened was, Billie started up on the first try each and every time until last Wednesday.

Friday brought non-starts followed by kickstarts and a phone call to Mike my wonder working wizard at Maplewood Scooter Company. He told me to come in Saturday.

Saturday saw me kickstarting Billie and heading over to Maplewood. I know you know what happened when Mike tried to start the bike. Yep, he pushed the starter button and the engine purred to life. He shut it off and tried again. Again it started right up. He tried a third time and this time it made the noise that I had dreaded for the last three days, but now was music to my ears.

Out came the battery and it was deemed to be dead.

This was a high quality battery and it shouldn't have died such an early death. Definitely a warranty issue.

Mike didn't happen to have a battery in Billie's size in stock. If he had he would have changed it out under warranty. But, what he did have were these new batteries. He offered to sell me one at cost. This way I'd get a great battery and he'd have a great guinea pig. The battery comes with a three year warranty. I've never heard of suc a thing for a motorcycle battery. So, now I can add being a guinea pig for a new technology battery to my resume.

Because the battery was much smaller than the old battery some padding was needed. The Ballistic battery was not only smaller, but it was two pounds lighter. Mike figures with the weight reduction I should be able to hit seventy Symba miles per hour now. I think he was pulling my leg.

While I was there I took a Genuine Blur 220i for a test ride. It is a nice bike, but the seating position is wrong for me. Many folks have complained about the height of the bike. The height was fine for me. What wasn't fine for me was where my knees came in relation to the handlebars. There just was no room. When attempting slow speed maneuvers I kept bumping into my knees when turning. Not fun. The bike was very quick, felt quite stable on the road, and is reasonably priced. Overall I liked the bike, but not enough to go through the trouble of modifying the seat.

Also, I have an announcement of sorts. As an experiment I've started another blog. It is a diary of my daily commute. Ever since I've been commuting to work I've used my facebook status to give the weather conditions, whether I rode that morning or not, and often a comment or two about the ride. I've decided to expand this format a bit and start a blog around it. I'm doing this for two reasons: Some of my friends who aren't on facebook have mentioned a desire to keep up with my daily commute; and, I was increasingly finding the status line too confining. 

And to close . . .

This apparently is a rare short legged species of flamingo. The one in the background I think is stoned.

On the Road Again

This morning I went to see my Doctor. As I expected he released me for all activity. Come Monday I can go back to work. I can even skate, but I don't think I'll be doing any sprints for a while.

After lunch with Heather I came home and prepared to try out some new hot weather gear. It came the day I got hit by the car. I got a neck cooler which is just one of those things you put in the freezer and than tie around your neck. It didn't cost much and I figure I'd give it a dry. The other purchase was more of a risk. You can read about it here:  http://www.coolvest.com/RPCM_Cooling_Vest/Default.aspx

I had put the cool packs in the freezer to charge last evening. When I took them out they were the solid white color I was told to look for.

Here they are on the kitchen counter.

I placed them in the vest. The packs went in easily. The vest felt heavy until I got it on. I had hoped there would be less condensation with these packs than with other systems, and perhaps there was. That said these packs "sweat" quite a bit.

Obviously not a profession model.

It felt cool, but not freezing when I put it on. I thought it might feel heavy, but it didn't. I put my regular jacket on over it. And, I was good to go. 

I rode out to Castlewood State Park. It is one of my favorite places to ride to.

We stopped in the Park for water and a couple of photos. This is my first photo of Billie since the panniers were removed.

By the time I returned home I'd been wearing the vest for over two hours. I was still feeling some coolness from the vest as I waited at the last stop sign before pulling onto my street.

After two hours there was still some charge left. I was impressed.

It was triple digits here today so it was a good test. After my ride I wasn't worn out, not did I feel that overheated feeling that I nearly always feel after a ride in today's conditions.  The only negative so far was the condensation. As I expected I still did sweat quite a bit and hydration is still important, but the vest definitely kept my core temperature down. My initial reaction is: For the commute home and for longer summer rides this vest seems like it will be a good addition to my arsenal.

Changing the subject slightly, it was great to get on the bike again. It is difficult for me to comprehend that just a few days ago I was hit by a car. I was indeed one very lucky cat.

Billie Went Down, But . . . And, I Went Down, But . . .

Billie went down, but I was not with her.

Last week during one of those "Scattered Thunderstorms, Some Possibly Severe" that "pop" up from time to time here in St. Louis during the Summer, the wind blew Billie, my Symba, over. One of the maintenance guys called the Fileroom trying to contact me, but I was in the other Courthouse at the time. So, my boss and Walter went down and set Billie back upright. When I got back, I went down and found her mostly damage free. It's good to be taken care of. I really appreciate Mark and Walter for being Billie's guardian angels.

The only real damage to Billie was to one of the panniers. I must admit to having a love hate affair with these panniers. I got them as part of a special deal when I bought the bike. They had to be ordered. When I first saw them they seemed very flimsy. Later, when they were installed the service techs said they couldn't hook up the lights in the panniers. This meant the original tail lights could only be seen by the person directly behind me. I didn't like this and eventually got them to install another set of lights in addition to the regular lights at my expense. These lights quit working after a month or two. Not a pleasant customer service or product quality experience.

I mentioned how flimsy these panniers seemed, yes? Well, they were plastic and the lids rubbed together. It was hard plastic on hard plastic. They were noisy and there was a trail of plastic dust on the panniers from the lid and the bottom of the panniers grinding away on each other. I lined both the lid and base with electrical tape and it stopped the rattling. Another annoyance was the need to remove the top box to open the panniers. Needless to say I didn't use them for storage very much.

Ah, but when Mike took over the service department at Maplewood Scooter my relationship to the panniers was transformed. He said it would be no problem to wire up the lights. And, when I finally got a chance to see how cool they were, well, all the pannier's past sins and shortcomings were forgiven, but not forgotten.

Flimsy?

Yes.

I will miss the lights, but we'll come up with something. And, I will miss the place to put stickers, but other than that: Good riddance!

 

And, I went down, but Billie wasn't with me.

Last Monday evening I was inline skating on Grant's Trail. The previous Saturday I'd done a nice long slow skate of twenty miles (32.1km) and was doing intervals -- nearly full out sprints followed by recovery time. One cyclist had clocked me on one of my sprints as doing 18mph (29km/h).

As I approached where the trail crosses Union Road I had sprinting on my mind. I was due to begin one shortly after crossing Union. When I saw in the distance the clock on the crossing sign showed eight seconds. I figured if I began my sprint it would be tight but I could complete the crossing before the light changed . . . and I could have. What I hadn't allowed for was the car preparing to run a red light. We suspect he was going 35 to 40mph when he hit me. I remember impact and remember as much as is possible in such instances of what happened during the impact. I pretty well trashed his windshield. The first responders think my head hit there. I'm not so sure, but I know I was thrown ten or fifteen feet down the road after impact. I'm sure my head hit the pavement.

Importantly, given my head injury past, I was lucid all the time. There was no unconscious time. The helmet did its job. So, after an ambulance ride to St. Anthony's Hospital. I got to spend the evening meeting X-Ray and CAT scan technicians. I had an EKG. Everything checked out. I spent a couple of additional hours trying to give a urine specimen to rule out bleeding from the kidneys. That took forever, but I was finally successful and was released.

Yesterday, I was sore, but not as sore as I expected. I have had days after an American Rules Football game where I felt worse. I've felt no need to take any pain medication.

Today, I'm even less sore overall, but it is becoming clear to me where the points of contact were. I'm getting out and about. I drove over to have breakfast with Heather before she left for work. She took yesterday off to make sure I behaved myself. I, also, went by the the eyeglasses place to begin the process of replacing my glasses. The glasses didn't break and the vision technician said I did a good job of straightening them out, but the lenses are scratched pretty badly. Oh well, it was time for new glasses anyway.

My face is swelled up on one side where the glasses seem to have been jammed into my face, but it looks like I will avoid having a black eye. I still suspect the whole of my left leg will eventually blossom into one gigantic bruise. My right elbow has a scape on it. One small area of concern is some vertigo I'm experiencing, but that seems to be lessening. I took at least one major blow to the right side of the head and suspect this may be balance related and not concussion since it only happens when I bend over to get something or rollover in bed. In bed if I keep my head elevated as I roll no dizziness.


Tomorrow? I may actually go back to work. It is hard to believe I was hit by a car just two days ago.

The ER Physician, Dr. Vincent, saw some pictures one of the EMT's had taken of the car and of the scene of the accident. He was amazed I walked away from it. I was lucky. And, Dr. Vincent also pointed out being in really good physical condition certainly helped. Needless to say, wearing protective gear helped perhaps most of all. In addition to the helmet I was wearing knee and wrist guards.

Heather took these photos of my helmet . It has a major owie. Time for a new helmet.

Oh well, add being hit by a car whilst inline skating to my resume.