Well that was some trip and your lines and pics have inspired me to get out and start some of the trips    I' ve been thinking about . I'd say you were thinking exactly what I find myself yearning for often, more miles on the road riding, meeting folk and exploring what's round that next bend. I'm with you quiet happy to go out in the saddle doing what I love but intending to be in the saddle for a long time to come.  Many thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us fellow 2 wheel crazies.        Much appreciated.  Cheers AUSBRICK

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After Dave took the picture of me by the fisherman statue, we hugged and parted way. I rode to the Milliken House where Mary was waiting for me with even more food.





She even saved a copy of the newspaper article for me also!



We sat there for over an hour talking about everything from the ride to how she tracked me via SPOT and the events around Eastport while I was gone.

The next morning it was all I could do to propel myself to get back on the bike. I just didn't want to ride. I procrastinated as long as I dared while sharing the last few hours with my hosts.



I was very impressed with the beautiful  scroll work all over the home. Mary told me  he late husband made them all. I wish I had noticed the camera setting, sadly many are out of focus.

This home harkens back to a time of multigenerational households. Faces not Facebook. Story time, not Prime time. When the only voices in the rooms were those of your family and friends.





























Mary taking bookings.



Mary and Vonda insisted on taking me down to Quaddy Bay Lobster to buy me one last lobster roll (are you see a pattern here, I LOVE those things!)





Mary ordered a crab roll.









I felt a twinge of sadness and a little regret as I mounted up. I was leaving a little bit of my heart in Eastport and I promised myself I would be back.



I cannot say enough good things about Mary and her Millikan House Bed & Breakfast. If you are ever in Eastport, I highly recommend staying there!


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The ride south was brutal but at least the pressure was off so I allowed myself all the freedom to stop and go as I wished. My left arm was almost useless with weakness and any attempt to use to lit the fire and pressure across my left shoulder blade.

I stopped for a nap very close to a fuel station. Rarely will you find a better Iron Butt Motel than this. Closed for business, open for napping!



After about an hour, I rode over to the fuel station to top off my coffee and fuel tanks.
I dropped my bike on the left side while at a fuel station because my left foot stepped on a wet paint stripe. Jason, the nice young man I had been talking with for some time, again delaying having to ride, helped me lift it.



Then I had to fill my coffee again!



When I arrived at Augie’s in Waltham, I was pretty done.  I ate a snack while Jeff and I did a little catching up then hit the bed. The next morning the sweetheart dragged / rode the blue boat anchor up to the street.



I love ya Caveman!

Thank you for all you have done for me on this trip and over all the years we’ve been friends.
I was very thankful he allowed me the use of his 478 to get home

I dropped my bike again while lifting it on the center stand at the fuel pump and in retrospect I feel the weakness in my left arm may have contributed to that. At some point in my riding history I stopped caring if anyone saw me dropping my bike and have just been glad someone was around to help me pick it up.

Again, I didn't push myself too hard and I didn't feel like dealing with heavy traffic so I routed down I-81. I stopped often to rest and twice for blown fuse issues that needed sorting out. When the fuse blew the second time, I exited to a shady parking lot to have a closer look. I found the front right turn signal socket and bulb damaged and guessed it was shorting out so I cut the wires to the socket, taped them off and had no more blown fuses.

It wasn't until I was south of Front Royal, VA did I experience my first hint of rain. I ridden over 10,500 miles without even a drop and this lasted for about 30 min. Many years ago an old woman in a nursing home told me one of the things she missed the most was the feel of rain on her face. She had been there for nine years. I was so moved, I swore off packing or wearing rain gear except in the winter. Thank you Mrs. Dobson.

I arrived home late in the evening to an open garage and my wonderful husband snapping pictures as I pulled in. It was so very good to be safely home.

The words of my friend Charlie Smith came back to me; he said, ".....picture the landing" It is an aviation thing, I have MORE than a little experience with that - it is not about the ride (or the flight) - it's about LANDING......picture yourself home and safe in Culpeper AFTER the ride - if you see that, then you are good to go - if you DON'T see that.........you may want to rethink the trip."
Charlie, I did and I never lost sight of it, thank you.

While I was riding home, I was already making lists of things I did right or wrong and what worked or failed or needed adjusting. Assessing myself, mentally, this was a very satisfying ride I'm content with. Physically, I don't believe I could do another LD ride until I have my C6-C7  addressed. I've put it off for several years and as high a tolerance of pain as I have, this ride may have put me over the edge. 20% was pain free, 70% of the ride I was in mild pain (scale 4 to 5) but for 10%, I was in tearful agony. The nerve compression causes deep, searing, unrelenting upper back, left shoulder and left arm pain. Pain does not in and of it's self kill, but allowing it to win would be something I couldn't have lived with. Anaïs Nin wrote, “The secret of joy is the mastery of pain.” She was never more proven in my mind than this ride. I also need to continue to lose weight and I need to be in better general condition.
I would add these suggestions; I do not use a wallet while riding; instead I drill small holes in all my credit cards in the middle of the short side, tie a little loop of fishing line through the hole then attach a small clasp through the loop. I modify a retractable name badge so that I can attach all my credit cards on one, and then attach the badge holder to the inside of my safety vest pocket. This provides extremely rapid access to them at all times (on or off the bike) and reduces the chance of losing them. The system allows me to easily unsnap them if needed to hand them over for payment.

Random musing on things that need work: I use water proof notebooks and pens, but I would add a pen on my jacket so that I wouldn’t need to access my tank bag. I’m still not happy with my receipt management, so I’ll keep my eyes open to learn how others deal with them. Having dropped the bike on the left side, damaging the J&M switch, I’ll work on finding a better way to mount it.  Because I lost the use of the J&M on the west coast, I had to ride all the way home without audio. So my to-do-list will also include a backup audio input for my iPod or XM that will by-pass the CB. The oilcaddy worked great and now I don’t have to worry about oil leaks inside my panniers anymore. The loose wires for charging or powering things inside my tank bag drove me nuts so I’ll work on cleaning that up. The LED inside the tank bag was beyond awesome; no more having to find or hold a flashlight just to look inside. And made looking inside the bag while riding easy and safe.

On dropped the bike, I know I'll do it again so I'm working the a metal man near Bristol, TN to help me developed either frame sliders and/or crash bars for the K1100RS.

I believe my biggest routing/riding mistake was not giving myself more time between Syracuse and Eastport. I underestimated the traffic and decreased rate of travel. I should have only set aside six to seven hours for sleep after the BBG3K, not ten.

Again I wish to thank everyone who supported and encouraged me and Watt for setting the hook. I just piloted the bike, YOU all made it possible!


That’s all I have time for today. I’ll post about how the bike faired and give a full damage report later.

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Thanks for taking us on the ride with you Gwen. It's been a real pleasure to read about it.

Yet again, another fascinating account, Gwen.
Could you remember to explain to us Europeans as you write, about some of the things we wouldn't be familiar with. Would help us to follow the storyline and might find useful ideas for ourselves.
What exactly is a 478 or SPOT?

I would say the 478 is Gwen's GPS with her mileage data that was stolen. Perhaps https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-water/discontinued/gpsmap-478/prod402.html

SPOT might be http://www.findmespot.com/en/

Or perhaps not!

Thanks for posting this great and inspiring story Gwen.

Thanks Gwen, great riding and reporting, I love to read these epic stories, inspiring.

Klamityboy, you are correct. Thank you for posting that.

Also thank you all for the kind words.

I'm off today and working on this http://k11og.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12080&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

But should have the wrap up written by the weekend.

- Gwen

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Damage assessment

The left saddle bag is basically toast.





The upper fairing is badly damaged.





I had a lot of oil to clean up from the belly pan. I still need to replace the rear main seal. I'll get to it around June.





This is how the EZ-Pass worked perfectly.



Lost a bolt that held the rear fender on.



The oil caddy was made un-square from a left side drop. It was easy to bent back to a squarish shape.





10,000+ miles on PR2's

Rear



Front



Of course the damaged J&M switch.



And the MIA belly pan bracket.



Overall I have to say the bike faired very well with the exception of all the dropped damage, and even with that abuse I still stand by the fact these old K-bikes are about as bullet-proof as anything on two wheels.

Ride it like you stole it!
-Shogs

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