There’s an old chinese curse that goes, “may your life be interesting.” While I’ve always found a way to make almost every day of my life on both sides of the “interesting” scale I haven’t had to try very hard since I’ve started traveling with Gracie – my motorcycle.
Rolling around thousands of miles on two wheels provides a heavy dose of adventure. Many of these adventures come while buzzing through a mountain pass with a big smile on my face or tasting the ocean air while riding up a coast. Other forms of excitement come from constantly taking a self-taught crash course on motorcycle mechanics. Before embarking on this trip I joked with several people about coming back to Texas as a certified bike mechanic. At least I had hoped it was a joke.
Today I fixed my motorcycle. I located a new starter by calling the different motorcycle shops in the area (as well as some not so much “in the area.” While I couldn’t find a single one that carried a quarter of a century old motorcyle starter I did manage to locate one through a workmate of very new friend. He had a motorcycle junkyard and dealt in refurbished parts. At 7am this morning I drove out to the Pine Mountain post office, where the motorcycle parts provider also worked, and picked up my new starter.
It didn’t work. Well, I at least thought it didn’t. Finally I decided to do something I should have done three days ago. I pulled off the battery and had it tested at the local auto parts store. No juice. So after a quick recharge of the battery Gracie fired up as good as new with the original starter. Lesson learned: don’t take anything for granted.
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updated Aug 5
I made it from Margaret’s house in Pine Mountain, Georgia, stopped over in Pendleton, SC for a night at George’s house, and onto my current layover in Lexington, Kentucky. Tomorrow I’ll be at Lacy’s place in Huntington, West Virginia. Roanoke, Virginia isn’t far away. Check back soon for new pictures!