Down, But Not Out!
It is with great sadness that I have to let you know that about 3 hours short of my starting destination in California, my motorcycle's engine blew-up in the middle of the Mohave Desert.
Due to a combination of factors dealing with the bike's age, parts availability, and labor, it is not economically feasible to rebuild or try to replace the engine. Thus, I have buried my bike in the desert.
This has been a crushing blow to me personally. Losing such a fine, old, and loyal bike is like losing a fine, old, and loyal family dog. Plus, I will not get to participate in the start of my trip, nor will I be able to provide you with updates. However, far worse things could have happened, but thankfully did not. And, far worse things have happened to me in the past that I have overcome. I am currently working my way back to West Virginia in an overpriced (as is everything in the remote dessert) rental car with my gear and a few items that I was able to salvage off the bike.
Thus, for the short term, I will not be able to give a daily blog update as I had hoped. Yet, as the saying goes, I may be down, but I'm not out. A good friend of mine has graciously offered the use of a personal motorcycle that I will use for the latter part of Run For The Wall and I will be participating in the portion from Corydon/Louisville THROUGH West Virginia (as originally planned) and on to Washington, DC with the finale of riding in Rolling Thunder. Plus, at that time, I will do the daily blog updates as I had planned. This will occur beginning with Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
While waiting in the desert for almost two hours while a towing solution was worked out, I had the, shall we say, opportunity to observe the desert in detail. This led me to an interesting essential question for you students (and, you life-long learners, as well): What "creatures" inhabit the desert? And, as a follow-up, how do they survive? If you think you have the correct answers, submit them via a comment and we'll see what happens.
Due to a combination of factors dealing with the bike's age, parts availability, and labor, it is not economically feasible to rebuild or try to replace the engine. Thus, I have buried my bike in the desert.
This has been a crushing blow to me personally. Losing such a fine, old, and loyal bike is like losing a fine, old, and loyal family dog. Plus, I will not get to participate in the start of my trip, nor will I be able to provide you with updates. However, far worse things could have happened, but thankfully did not. And, far worse things have happened to me in the past that I have overcome. I am currently working my way back to West Virginia in an overpriced (as is everything in the remote dessert) rental car with my gear and a few items that I was able to salvage off the bike.
Thus, for the short term, I will not be able to give a daily blog update as I had hoped. Yet, as the saying goes, I may be down, but I'm not out. A good friend of mine has graciously offered the use of a personal motorcycle that I will use for the latter part of Run For The Wall and I will be participating in the portion from Corydon/Louisville THROUGH West Virginia (as originally planned) and on to Washington, DC with the finale of riding in Rolling Thunder. Plus, at that time, I will do the daily blog updates as I had planned. This will occur beginning with Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
While waiting in the desert for almost two hours while a towing solution was worked out, I had the, shall we say, opportunity to observe the desert in detail. This led me to an interesting essential question for you students (and, you life-long learners, as well): What "creatures" inhabit the desert? And, as a follow-up, how do they survive? If you think you have the correct answers, submit them via a comment and we'll see what happens.
2 comments:
May the remainder of your trip be an awesome adventure for you, as well as a great testimony! I want a picture of you and the bike at the Wall! Many blessings! KB
Sorry to hear about your problems with your motorcycle. the Suzuki 1000 was a fine motorcycle. Glad to hear you are able to still participate.
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