So Hurricane Dorian has decided to head north and it would be just my luck to ride 4000 miles to Newfoundland just to be in a dying hurricane... when I headed for South America, I had to wait out a hurricane in South Texas and then stay away from the Mexican, Guatemalan and Honduran coastlines for other hurricanes, so I guess I should’ve expected it :D
Didn't sleep well last night and ended up getting up at 5:30 again. There were thunderstorms all night and it was raining pretty heavily when I got up. I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of riding in the rain all day, which was forecast for all of my northern-ish destinations. The skies were threatening and sprinkling, and about 30 minutes in on the freeway I got hit with such a deluge I had to exit the freeway and find shelter under an overhang for a few minutes. I used the time to put my Pinlock anti-fog insert in the helmet, which I’d forgotten to do upon leaving.
The rain came and went in heavy downpours and sprinkling's for the next several hours. Occasionally the clouds would lighten and patches of blue would be seen. The temps were in the low 60’s and my Klim jacket did it's job well in terms of keeping rain out. The bike is running good and functioning like the big battleship it is. About the only excitement was when I stopped to get gas and a cup of coffee and somehow managed turn the GPS completely off and put it in a deep sleep state. For those with a BMW NAV V and others I'm sure, if the unit gets turned off, it takes about a fifteen second long press to get it to turn on again. I'm in the habit of bringing the unit inside for reprogramming destinations and such when I take a break, and somehow I accidentally turned it completely off. Apparently I wasn't holding the button long enough and the unit still wouldn't fire up when placed in the cradle, so I assumed the unit had bricked itself. A few hours later at the next gas stop, I held the button down long enough for it to start and was pleasantly surprised that wasn't dead. More first world problems lol.
And speaking of first world problems, I failed to mention that I managed to find a pair of running shoes at a Marshall’s in Gettysburg, so the whale blubber and fish skins are safe - though I may make some sandals. The unfortunate aspect of the story is that Marshall's only had one size 13 pair to choose from... which were some sort of day-glo yellow and pale blue. Not exactly my style, but the upside is I can use them as traffic safety cones in case I break down on the highway. And most importantly they were cheap. (Just remember, I told you to keep your expectations of this ride report low and everything would be fine)
McDonald's and a one dollar cup of coffee have once again become my home-away-from-home it seems. The weather and rain actually made me stop and warm-up with a cup today. Since my X-Lite X-551 helmet is in the picture, I'll use that as an excuse to talk about it for filler material.
This was my helmet previous to buying the Shuberth E1 Guardian I used for my 16 month trek. Schuberth was the only company producing a flip-face helmet with an adventure peak at the time. I really liked being able to pop the face open at border crossings or to take a drink or have a conversation. It wasn't long before the shortcomings became apparent. The peak vibrated badly, at least for me and with my particular motorcycle windscreen. I lived with it, but was disappointed. Recently, on a couple of rides in Texas, the peak vibration was so bad it literally blurred my vision and made me nauseous. And yes, the peak can be removed for highway use but neither my Arai or X-Lite have those issues. So as I've mentioned before, I brought the X-Lite for this trip and I am finding myself far less fatigued at the end of the day. I'm neither recommending the X-Lite, or recommending against the Schuberth. I miss the ability to open the face, however the X-551 is lightweight and flows through the air with almost zero vibration or head torque.
But despite the rain today, the landscape through Pennsylvania was beautiful, as was New York, and certainly Vermont, which was my final destination. The northeastern US is absolutely a beautiful place and I really enjoyed getting to see it again. Yesterday and today were the first days when I felt like I was getting back in the groove again, the familiar comfort and feelings of long-distance travel.
I ended the day in Brattleboro, VT, a really beautiful town, sucking down a hot coffee in a downtown café and watching the rain come and go as it has all day.
Tomorrow should find me somewhere on the coast of Maine... Lobstah!