Fog bound, tired, but home

After staying two days with my cousins Karen and Kathy (that's Karen on the left and Kathy on the right -- and the pix below are the really cool view from the patio at Kathy's condo), left Clarksville in Indiana yesterday morning for Ann Arbor.


The ride was a scorcher. The high in the Louisville area (Clarksville is just across the river from Louisville) for the day was 91F -- almost 33C.

Had to stop about every 150 kilometres to hydrate. It was so hot that after I parked Baby in Toledo her sidestand had sunk into the asphalt by the time I came back.

Every time I stopped I had to strip off my jacket immediately. Perforated leather isn't too hot as long as I'm moving but the minute I stopped I was baking. Every time I met up with another biker he'd ask me "Aren't you hot?" My standard response? "Well, yeah. But showers are faster, cheaper, and less painful than skin grafts."


Was too hot to eat, so by the time I got to Toledo around 5 I was starved. Spent an hour refueling Baby and myself and rolled into Ann Arbor about an hour after that. Filled Baby's tank, checked the tire pressure, lubed her chain, packed her to be ready to go, and crashed until midnight. Wanted to leave for Toronto at 1 a.m. to miss a thunderstorm that was forecast to be rolling through the city around 10.

Turned out I didn't have to -- while I was travelling the forecast had changed for the storm to hit late afternoon.

Still, I managed to get here without getting soaked -- although the fog was so bad on the 403 just west of Hamilton I had to stop by the side of the road for an hour and a half. Took that long to wait for the sun to rise to burn it off. Couldn't just follow the tail-lights of a truck or car because a fine mist from the fog kept condensing in a so quickly on my face shield I couldn't see ANYTHING.

I crashed for a couple of hours and am now catching up with friends. Brought back some bourbon balls -- every time I stopped to hydrate I grabbed a cup of ice to put in ziplock bags to keep them from melting!

A weird thing: almost every time I stopped for gas in Kentucky people kept proudly telling me that you don't have to wear a helmet in Kentucky. I always asked: "Why wouldn't you want to?" I just don't understand opponents of helmet laws. I'm kind of attached to *MY* head.