Today was cold. I think this may have been the longest cold ride I’ve ever taken.

I woke up at 6am and checked the outside temperature. 36 degrees. Things would need to warm up a bit before I’d get rolling. So I finished packing up and tying things down to the scooter. I stepped away from it and thought, “what am I doing?”

This is ridiculous. And that’s the theme for the whole day. What I’m about to do is making less and less sense.

By 10am, the temperature had risen to a whopping 48 degrees. I hoped on the bike and pulled out of the driveway. I noticed that the front end was wobbly. Through town, at slow speeds, it would wobble. I wasn’t sure if it was my nerves or the front end. I’m still not sure.

Before heading south on PA 104, I hung a left and dropped in on Nikki who was staying at her folks’ house. I traveled Route 66 twice with her and it was fitting to at least say hi/bye to her before taking off to see it by myself (a concept I’m not fully ready to face).

As New Berlin disappeared in my rearview mirror, the cold bit into me. The sky was over cast and offered no warmth. But in no time, I hit US 15 south, skipping old alignments, wishing I could be riding them instead of this 4 lane chunk of super slab. But I had to make time today.

Wheeling is about 350 miles away. I got a late start because of the weather, so there was no time to stop – even to eat.

That is, except at the BMW Motorcycle dealership in Mechanicsburg, PA. I wanted to get a helmet. I looked around a bit, tried on a few and finally picked out a silver Nolan. It’s the bee’s knees. I handed my old helmet to the parts guy and asked him if he could dispose of it.

I hate asking people to throw stuff away for me. When I ran the bookstore, people were always asking me to throw things away for them. I always found it rude. Always. But here I was asking some guy to throw away a helmet on my behalf. He did. Thank you, sir.

Seven hours to go.

Normally, the trip from New Berlin to Wheeling takes six hours. Normally, I’m in a car on an interstate. But on a scooter, no matter how fast it can go, you only do about 40mph average. All the starts and stops, the fueling up, my complete inability to take turns at speed, add up.

After buzzing through Carlise, I mistakenly took PA 34 south. I backtracked and found another road that went to Shippensburg. PA 174 is indeed a fine little road. Hardly any traffic. From Shippensburg, I took US 11 to Chambersburg and from Chambersburg I spend the next 80 miles on the Lincoln Highway, US 30.

I adore the Lincoln Highway through Pennsylvania. West of Chambersburg is great. I found some unmarked older alignments, but took no pictures.

The gloves I was wearing were huge snow gloves. It was cold. At this point, the temp was around 51 degrees. Huge gloves are a hassle to put on and take off. So taking a picture would require more effort and time than I could presently afford.

I road through McConnellsburg, Breezewood, Everett and Bedford, wanting to spend time in all of them, but unable to stop for more than gas and a quick (though failed) picture of The Coffee Pot just outside of Bedford.

Just after Bedford, I began to think that I had missed the turn off for PA 281 South. Luckily, I continued to press on, even though my “gut” told me I had passed it. I got a little worried, but figured if it were true, I could take Lincoln Highway some other road, take that south and follow 40 into Wheeling. To my surprise, my gut was wrong and 281 was waiting just for me.

When planning my trip through Pennsylvania, I looked for a “scenic route,” finding one in Jim Mountain Road. Yes, there is a mountain named Jim. And Jim has a road. Jim’s road was pretty special. Thirteen miles of smiles!

And though there were smiles, by this time, I was ready to be done for the day. I was cold, the temperature hadn’t creeped up too much and I was tired. Beat, really.

By the time I road around Uniontown (I have vowed to never stop foot nor wheel inside that horrible place), catching PA 21 to the West Virginia boarder, I was exhausted.

It doesn’t seem like it should, but riding takes a lot out of you. The upside is that you sleep really well at night. The downside is that you want to sleep right NOW.

I wasn’t sleepy – falling asleep on a bike is not for me, but I was ready to not be riding. However, at this point, it was a race against the daylight. I wanted to pull into Rati and Dwija’s, just south of Wheeling, by 7pm. I’m insanely punctual. You’ll see.

PA 21 is an old road. There are pot holes and twists and turns and some really very beautiful scenery. The entire day, I’ve had to deal with twisty roads. Most motorcyclists/scooterists love the twists. I do not. For some reason, I mentally block my ability to lean. I am always afraid the wheels will slide out from under me. Of course, they wouldn’t, but nevertheless, I’m scared of sharp turns. I slow down to 35 and lightly lean, sometimes throwing my foot out in the direction of the turn to act as a counter balance. The people stuck behind me are thrilled.

Fifty miles of PA 21 later and I’m at the border of West Virginia and the lamest three miles of crappy road ever invented. PA 21 magically turns into WV 891. It’s a three mile stretch of road connecting PA 21 to US 250 – the windiest road in the universe.

The speed limit on US 250 is 55mph. I have no idea how you are supposed to achieve that. There are no straight stretches. None. It is 100% curves. Most riders would love it. Again, I did not.

Lucky for me Palace Road was not too far away. And a mile down that was Rati and Dwija’s house. It’s been like my home for the past few months. And it was really nice to be here. I was welcomed with smiles and was finally warm (it got up to 60 somewhere around Uniontown – probably hotter there because Uniontown can burn in hell).

For the next two days, I will be hanging out here. I hope to see a friend or two and maybe I’ll even write about it.

My next stop is Auburn, Indiana. Nothing special there, it’s just 300 miles away from here and 200 miles away from Joliet (via Chicago).

Today was hard. Much harder than I expected. I’m completely exhausted and am now wondering if I can actually pull this off. Too many more days like today and I don’t see how I can. Fortunately, most days are much shorter and on much less twisty ground.

And that sums up today. Thanks for reading.

Check out my pics.

Miles traveled: 350ish (not sure, too tired to check)
Miles Total: 350ish (not sure, too tired to check)

Ending location: Near Wheeling, WV

High temp: 60
Low temp: 48

Things I forgot: Phone charger – so my phone is turned off right now. If you’re trying to call me, you won’t get through because the phone is turned off. So don’t try. Well… you can try if you like, you know, leave a funny message on my voicemail or something. Sure, you can do that, but really, I won’t answer because I don’t want to run down my crappy battery. I’ll get a charger soon. Sorry.

Today, I spent much of my time in Cherry Alley Cafe, Lewisburg. I told folks that if they wanted to say good-bye, I’d be there.

A bunch of people did drop by. Rodger and Gary had breakfast with me and that was a bunch of fun. Jessie from Cherry Alley joined us for a bit. After that, I quickly ducked out to hit the Natural Food Store. Chris and Kate helped me out with some amazing trail mix and such. They’re great. Thanks!

I wandered back into the cafe and met up with Marjorie and Leo. Later, Freddie, Jeff and Jen showed up. I also got to see Wes and Gillian who work at the Cafe. I wanted to see DJ, but his car was sickly. Feel better, little Focus.

After the Cafe, I headed up to Sarah’s. She couldn’t make it to the cafe, so I drove to Bloom. We took in Becky’s art show and then had pizza. Nikki also called. She forgot that I would be at the Cafe. I doubt I’ll see her before taking off tomorrow morning at 9am.

Tomorrow morning at 9am, it’s supposed to be cold. Tonight could set records, they say. It’ll possibly dip into the 20’s. There may be frost in the morning. I’d like to leave at 9am, but am very ok with waiting till it warms up a bit.

The number one question today was “are you ready?” Yes. I’m physically ready. The bags are packed. There is a place for everything and everything is in its place. But I’m not mentally ready.

Thankfully, after a long ride to West Virginia, I have two days off to visit. Olivia is up and it’ll be nice to see her. Those two days will give me time to buy what I’ve no doubt forgotten in Pennsylvania and basically just get mentally prepared for Scoot 66 to start in earnest.

Of course, there’s no way to really tell – anything can happen to mess up a schedule. But for now, here are the projected dates.

Route 66
Date    Start                       End                      Miles
4/30	Lewisburg, PA	         Wheeling, WV	   350
5/1	Day off in Wheeling!                                 20
5/2	Day off in Wheeling!                                 20
5/3	Wheeling, WV	        Auburn, IN	           300
5/4	Auburn, IN	                Joliet, IL	           200
5/5	Joliet, IL	               Springfield, IL	   165
5/6	Springfield, IL	       St. Louis, MO	     90
5/7	St. Louis, MO	        Lebanon, MO	    170
5/8	Lebanon, MO	       Springfield, MO	     60
5/9	Springfield, MO	       Tulsa, OK	            200
5/10	Tulsa, OK	               Oklahoma City, OK     130
5/11	Oklahoma City, OK       Mena, AR	            235
5/12	Mena, AR	               Bonham, TX	            217
5/13	Bonham, TX	              Oklahoma City, OK	    207
5/14	Oklahoma City, OK       Elk City, OK	            100
5/15	Elk City, OK	               Amarillo, TX	            155
5/16	Amarillo, TX	               Tucumcari, NM	     125
5/17	Tucumcari, NM	       Santa Rosa, NM	     80
5/18	Santa Rosa, NM	       Santa Fe, NM	    120
5/19	Santa Fe, NM	      Albuquerque, NM	    100
5/20	Day trip to Moriarty, NM                     	    100
5/21	Albuquerque, NM	       Gallup, NM	           160
5/22	Gallop, NM	               Holbrook, AZ	           110
5/23	Holbrook, AZ	       Flagstaff, AZ	   100
5/24	Flagstaff, AZ	       Kanab, UT	           225
5/25	Kanab, UT	               Mexican Hat, UT	   277
5/26	Mexican Hat, UT	      Canyon de Chelly, AZ 172
5/27	Canyon de Chelly, AZ	Flagstaff, AZ	  233
5/28	Flagstaff, AZ	         Kingman, AZ	   165
5/29	Kingman, AZ	       Needles, CA	            75
5/30	Needles, CA	               Barstow, CA	           175
5/31	Side Trip to Tehachapi Loop, CA		    200
6/1	Barstow, CA	      Los Angeles, CA	   120

Total 5232

The Return Trip
Day    Start                       End                      Miles
6/2	Day Off in Malibu Creek State Park                0
6/3	Los Angeles, CA	      San Luis Obispo, CA   270
6/4	San Luis Obispo, CA    Berkeley, CA	            261
6/5	Day Off in Berkeley	                               0
6/6	Day Off in Berkeley		                       0
6/7	Berkeley, CA	       Donner Pass, CA	    253
6/8	Donner Pass, CA	       Austin, NV	            220
6/9	Austin, NV	               Delta, UT	            300
6/10	Delta, UT	               Salt Lake City, UT	    109
6/11	Day off in SLC / Trip to Orem                     100
6/12	Day off in SLC                                           0
6/13	Salt Lake City, UT 	Logan, UT	            172
6/14	Logan, UT	                Jackson, WY	    195
6/15	Jackson, WY	        Bozeman, MT	    211
6/16	Bozeman, MT	       Forsyth, MT	            304
6/17	Forsyth, MT	        Bowman, ND	    177
6/18	Bowman, ND	       Aberdeen, SD	    263
6/19	Aberdeen, SD	       Pipestone, MN	    237
6/20	Pipestone, MN	       West Bend, IA	    177
6/21	West Bend, IA	       Mt. Zion, WI	            244
6/22	Mt. Zion, WI	        Kenosha, WI	    175
6/23	Day off in Kenosha, WI                               0
6/24	Kenosha, WI	       Plymouth, IN	            161
6/25	Plymouth, IN	       Wheeling, WV	    343
6/26	Day off in Wheeling                                   20
6/27	Wheeling, WV	      Parkersburg, WV	     90
6/28	Parkersburg, WV	      Hungry Mother, VA	     272
6/29	Hungry Mother, VA      Lexington, VA	     234
6/30	Lexington, VA	      Gettysburg, PA	     253
7/1	Gettysburg, PA for Anniversary                    40
7/2	Gettysburg, PA for Anniversary                    40
7/3	Gettysburg, PA for Anniversary                    40
7/4	Gettysburg, PA	       Lewisburg, Pa	     100

Total 5261

GRAND TOTAL  10493

My crappy blog is broken. I woke up on Friday morning to it being all messed up. It’s mostly a sidebar issue. I don’t know what happened, but it’s weird since I didn’t mess with it. It just happened magically. The Scoot 66 one was too. So I decided to make a change. I changed the theme of the Scoot 66 one and after a whole bunch of tweaking, I really dig it.

I think I’ll be using the same theme here, but will wait till I get back from the trip.

So feel free to check out the new blog. Let me know your thoughts.
Or else.

A couple of days ago, I read an article about the $100 fill up. Some folks were bitching that their 10 mile per gallon truck wasn’t as cost-effective as they hoped it would be.

Seriously?

Listen, if you drive anything that gets worse than 30 – 35mpg, you have no right to bitch about gas prices. Ever.

At this point, if you can afford a car, you can get one (even a mid-80’s compact) that gets 30 – 35mpg.

Or better yet, get a scooter. My Vespa gets 75mpg. My fill ups cost about $6. Sure, maybe I’ll someday have to deal with the horror of a $7 fill up, but I’m ready for it! What I’m *really* hoping for is the $10 fill up.

I have a two gallon tank. I usually fill up when it’s about 1.75 gallons. A $6 fill up means that gas is around $3.45ish. A $7 fill up would bring gas to an even $4, something I’m likely to see on my trip.

But a $10 fill up would be $5.75 per gallon. Hell, let’s go for an even $6.00 per gallon. It’s still over $2 cheaper than gas in England.

What would gas that’s $6 a gallon do to SUV drivers? Hell, probably not much. It would pretty much double their gas expenditures. However, I can’t imagine many would drive less. The folks in the article would pay around $150 per fill up. $150 for 200 miles (they said that’s their range). That’s $.75 per mile.

My range is 150 miles. With fill ups around $6.00, I pay a whopping $.04 a mile. Sure, I can’t pull a trailer full of horses, but I can cross the country a couple of times with a fuel budget of $400 for $10,000 miles. If the folks in the article were to do my trip, it would cost them $7,500.

Again, if you drive anything that gets less than 30 – 35mpg, you have no right to bitch about gas prices. And if you drive anything that gets 75mpg, you don’t have a whole lot to bitch about.

Even better yet, if you live in a city, there’s public transit, ride share, bikes, etc. A scooter or motorcycle is great because it can go pretty much anywhere a car goes (if you have a fast enough one) for a fraction of the cost.

So what will I do if gas prices climb to $7.00 a gallon? Nothing at all. My $.04 per mile will go up to $.07 per mile. But nobody is predicted $7.00 a gallon anytime soon. They’re predicting $4. And with such a slight increase, I’ll never even notice it.

-

Incidentally, here’s a fun article from Time Magazine (from almost a year ago) explaining that 100 years ago, gas was 18 cents a gallon—or about $4 in today’s currency.

A couple of days ago, I read an article about the $100 fill up. Some folks were bitching that their 10 mile per gallon truck wasn’t as cost-effective as they hoped it would be.

Seriously?

Listen, if you drive anything that gets worse than 30 – 35mpg, you have no right to bitch about gas prices. Ever.

At this point, if you can afford a car, you can get one (even a mid-80’s compact) that gets 30 – 35mpg.

Or better yet, get a scooter. My Vespa gets 75mpg. My fill ups cost about $6. Sure, maybe I’ll someday have to deal with the horror of a $7 fill up, but I’m ready for it! What I’m *really* hoping for is the $10 fill up.

I have a two gallon tank. I usually fill up when it’s about 1.75 gallons. A $6 fill up means that gas is around $3.45ish. A $7 fill up would bring gas to an even $4, something I’m likely to see on my trip.

But a $10 fill up would be $5.75 per gallon. Hell, let’s go for an even $6.00 per gallon. It’s still over $2 cheaper than gas in England.

What would gas that’s $6 a gallon do to SUV drivers? Hell, probably not much. It would pretty much double their gas expenditures. However, I can’t imagine many would drive less. The folks in the article would pay around $150 per fill up. $150 for 200 miles (they said that’s their range). That’s $.75 per mile.

My range is 150 miles. With fill ups around $6.00, I pay a whopping $.04 a mile. Sure, I can’t pull a trailer full of horses, but I can cross the country a couple of times with a fuel budget of $400 for $10,000 miles. If the folks in the article were to do my trip, it would cost them $7,500.

Again, if you drive anything that gets less than 30 – 35mpg, you have no right to bitch about gas prices. And if you drive anything that gets 75mpg, you don’t have a whole lot to bitch about.

Even better yet, if you live in a city, there’s public transit, ride share, bikes, etc. A scooter or motorcycle is great because it can go pretty much anywhere a car goes (if you have a fast enough one) for a fraction of the cost.

So what will I do if gas prices climb to $7.00 a gallon? Nothing at all. My $.04 per mile will go up to $.07 per mile. But nobody is predicting $7.00 a gallon anytime soon. They’re predicting $4. And with such a slight increase, I’ll never even notice it.

-

Incidentally, here’s a fun article from Time Magazine (from almost a year ago) explaining that 100 years ago, gas was 18 cents a gallon—or about $4 in today’s currency.

Spurting Ganesha Lingham Fountain Sends Shockwaves through ISKCON

NEW YORK – For years, resin figurines of Hindu deities have adorned the houses and even altars of ISKCON devotees. While these hand painted miniatures of Siva, Laxmi and baby Krishna go unnoticed, collecting dust upon countless whatnot shelves, the most recent edition from Hindu-Tacki Collectibles has stirred undeniable controversy and, according to some, has led the the degradation of the human race.

Click here to read on…