So we both made it with flying colours! I have never been so proud of my wee bike, LRB, as he had nary a loose bolt or hiccup in all that heat and lots of miles.....gotta be 2500 at least. Instead of my earlier plan to head southeast to NC and beyond, I rode north outta that furnace. Of course, that provided 2 perfect temp. days then some rain going across s. of Lake Superior on the Wednesday. I laid up in a Soo Best Western at 1:30 p.m. on Wed. just to get outta the rain and I had no where that I had to be at a certain time so I got smart for once. Yes...this year I played smart....er....sometimes I don't, remember? Took the whole time at the motel just relaxing and drying out the gear. Boots, Forma adventure GT's, NOT waterproof and my Traverse KLIM pants let some water in too but passable. Frogg Toggs work as do the Aerostich lobster claw over mitts but still everything was damp. 4 hours of heavy rain. Even lower helmet lining all wet.
Now to the rally.....for a hot venue I gotta say that I think the organizers will get nothing but big kudos for this one. Air conditioning worked great, entertainment great, bathrooms everywhere with towels and paper, great, lots of sprinklers and water free, great vendors, seminars in cool spots....on and on.... trams...all great.....beer too! I even found a tree to camp under and with a wee bit of judicious compass work, aligned the tent for afternoon shade. Had 2 "D" cell tent fans thanks to David for lending me his as he was in A/C motel....these worked a charm. Never needed to change the batteries in 4 nights at say 5 hours per night steady. The temps. went down to the mid-70's at night later so that was a godsend and so different from last year's Bloomsburg rally where it boiled all night too. Humidity was probably more in the 20% level which to me is very dry. That helped. So what was the right thing to wear?? Hmmm. for me loose 100% cotton. I still can't bring myself to wear compressed nylon. Oh, I tried it too but not totally sold yet. Maybe I need to spend the $$ on some UnderArmor brand name stuff? For riding there and back....both mesh and just vented jacket with cool vest....awkward combo coming from the east.
Only glitch in the whole show was not meeting up with my fellow R65ers. Got to see Neal, R65guy, and Ron Sweet too but no Bengt and no Ken Truvman. I was in the beer tent but no time schedule. Had on my red R65 cap with the lights but didn't attract anyone so I guess we just were at different places different times. Really too hot for much thinking and planning...just wander and hope to see someone. Just ran into a friend from the '06 rally and from Finger Lakes rally back in 07 and '09.
I headed north immediately on the Sunday with Kelly and Val 2 vintage club friends from around here. Stayed with them for 3 days then they were in more of a hurry than me so we parted. They get up at 5:30 am. I got home Thursday at 5:30pm in time for Happy Hour but Derek had gone away to a funeral in old stomping grounds in E. Ont. So messed up the livingroom with all the gear and laid stuff out for more drying.
Front caliper survived fine. Never thought about it really. Just had brakes working. Gotta say LRB's brakes are not what the modern brakes are up to performance wise, are they. back wheel pretty dirty with brake dust mostly but needs some elbow grease.
I bought at the rally a SPOT tracker for future trips. That should be a help for Derek. Got a deal with the subscription free the first year at Cyclenutz. Also bought a TENS massage wee hand-held machine for sore knees and lots of other ailments to come where a physio is needed. Hope it works...but good manual and I am charging it up now so will let you know how it goes on the meniscus in the knee. When I tried it at the rally, the hammer effect and the pulsing was very strong...just like at the physios. So I have hope.
Salem Oregon is next year's venue so that might be kinda far for Derek to take....SPOT!! But brother Rich in Cape Breton talking Newfoundland next summer...hmmmm. I might think about renting a bike IF I went to Salem and just fly out and back. Chicken!!!!
Glad to hear everyone home safe too!!! Thanks Ron for the email!!!
Topic: LRB and Suecanada home safely and in one piece. (Read 1132 times)