What I hoped for and planned for today’s ride did not turn out at all as either.
I had planned a route for Kevin and I to take today to get back to the Holy Hill area now that the Fall colors were closer to prime and I had reformatted the memory stick for my good camera for taking awesome long distance shots of it.
We started at my place in case my bike wouldn't want to start after sitting for two weeks with pretty cool temps and not being plugged in. Thankfully it started right away. It was overcast, breezy and only in the low 50s when we left. However, I had my riding gear on for cooler weather: non-vented jacket, thermal top, thermal riding pants, double socks, balaclava and leather gauntlet gloves with liners. Yet, it was still a wee bit chilly.
When I turned left to continue on Cty T in Dotyville and again when I went to turn left onto Cty G by Baker’s Cheese I had the same clutch release issue I have had at least a handful of times since my cousin adjusted the tension on my lever. It was as though I couldn’t release it to fully engage the gears to take off and then I was afraid to completely release it, thinking it might pop or jump. I told Kevin what was going on because he definitely noticed.
After getting through some of the twisties in the Kettles and making stops to turn, it persisted and it literally scared the B’Jesus out of me because I also couldn’t turn well without the momentum. By the time we got to Cty D just north of West Bend, it did it again and this time it made me consider skipping the remainder of the trip all the way to Holy Hill. I wasn’t completely sure if it was just me or the bike. Kevin offered to take it for a spin in an effort to find out, but by this time I was so tense and chilled, that I said no and for him to keep going on the intended route while I headed home.
I am not sure if it was all me, that I got so tense, was cold and possibly not being used to the extra material on my gloves. I just knew I needed to get home. So, I continued on Cty D west and when I stopped at the four-way to cross over Cty W it happened again, and even more severely when I stopped to turn onto Hwy 175. I felt horribly scared by this point and I was thinking of all the roads to take without having to make a complete stop or that weren’t busy intersections. However by the time I got to Theresa I really had to pee and I was almost out of gas. So, I decided to head to Mayville and I took care of both issues at the gas station on the north end of town. I left there taking Cty Y north and when I turned onto it I downshifted once. Then as I proceeded up the hill, it was as if I couldn’t tell what gear I was in. The bike was revving extremely high so I started upshifting until I realized I was already in sixth gear and it was still revving high. Although I was going up a hill something still didn’t seem right. I made it to Brownsville and took back roads to Cty D just outside of Oakfield and by this point I was feeling some relief because I knew I was almost home and without any real complete stops to make.
It took me a while to calm down after I got off the bike, and to warm up. I was and am beside myself, including very upset this is how my last ride of the season turned out.
The map below is the route Kevin took and the green represents my route home after we separated.
He of course called me as I was supposed to let him know when I got home, but he didn’t know I was going to stop for gas.
I had an awesome season of riding and I most certainly won’t let this deter me. If mucking up my bike and myself didn’t do that, this most certainly won’t either!!!
