Life My, nearly, 5k roadtrip via motorcycle

**pr_capone** · 07-30-2016, 07:43 PM

Well.... 4,953 to be exact but is anyone going to begrudge me calling this a 5k mile trip? This trip consists of several stages and includes CP'ers, awesome fan outreach by the Braves, video of my trying to actively kill myself on my bike, some family stuff... and of course some stuff about my bike as she was asked to do a lot and deserves the recognition.

In order of how stuff happened... with the bike at the end.

Iron Butt:

My first goal was to complete the Saddle Sore 1000 challenge where I need to ride 1k miles in 24 hours. I started the trip on July 5th at 10PM MST with 31,961 on the odometer.

I left Denver on July 5th at 10pm. First I rode into Ft. Collins to add just a bit of mileage to the trip to ensure I went over 1,000 miles. I hung a right and stopped every 150-180 miles to gas up and walk around to get some soreness out.

I continued with this process really just concentrating nothing but being on the road. I was taking photos at every gas stop to post to facebook to let people know where I was and that I was doing well when I noticed that my left tail light had come off.

I first attempted to get the bolt back into the tail light but the threads were gone. This poses a problem as I cannot remove the bolt without removing the back wheel. I can't remove the rear wheel there and I cannot proceed with a bolt flying around my rear tire.

Thankfully I packed duct tape. I temporarily fixed the problem and rewarded my resourcefulness with a chair massage.

I continued on from there until I arrived at the home of Frazod. I officially "clocked out" of the challenge at 5:29PM CST. When I arrived at his home, I had put on exactly 1,100 miles in just under 19 hours.

Chicago:

At this point I have three concerns forefront in my mind. A shower, fixing my bike, and sleep. I immediately showered up and asked if he had any tools I could use to repair this and... he did not. He did, though, have a friend with a garage and all manner of tools. He let us know we were welcome to come by the following morning and do what I needed. That means that I would not be going to the Sears Tower but fixing the bike was more important.

At the garage and have access to tools. My prowess with tools is a fabled thing here on CP but I think you will be proud of me.

First... I was not about to remove the back wheel to get fix the light. Instead, I used an air powered a reciprocating saw to cut the bolt.

From there I bored out the threads, re-threaded the light, and put in a helicoil insert.

I then cut a piece of all-thread to the correct length and put it all back together.

I tried to give the guy money but he declined and just shook my hand. Great guy.

Now that we were done with the bike, and missed the Sears Tower and the greater part of Chicago... we did a mini tour from the vehicle and then headed to the ball park.

Along the way we saw the tunnels from The Dark Knight

Soldier Field

A decently high up shot of the sky line from his place of work

We finally got to Wrigley Field and did so in time to watch batting practice. This would be my first time watching the Braves live. Bonus... I got to do it in Wrigley which is a stadium I have long wanted to see a game played in.

Fun stuff... a guy tried to jump out into the field and his foot caught the basket and he went face first into the warning track. There was a rain delay of about an hour and a half. Braves won in the 11th inning and it was AWESOME

We got back to the house really late because of the rain delay plus the extra innings. We crashed out almost immediately. Got up the next morning and began the next stage of my journey where I traveled to Cleveland to visit family.

I will continue the story in the next post. Don't want to exceed character limits.

**pr_capone** · 07-30-2016, 07:44 PM

Oh yeah... the infamous fridge that was shot. It was repaired with bondo. The round traveled through a pantry before striking the fridge.

stumppy · 07-30-2016, 07:55 PM

who's that goofy looking guy you let ride your bike ?

**pr_capone** · 07-30-2016, 08:03 PM

Cleveland:

I left for Cleveland around 10:30 or so and made pretty good time. I covered around 380 miles on this leg of the trip and I was holding up pretty well. I ate a fair number of bugs in the last 100 miles into my cousin's home.

My cousin had a child that I'd not met yet and I brought her a stuffed penguin (my favorite animal). She loved it and they were inseparable the rest of the time I was there.

Now for the touristy things. First we went to the HoF.

We later went to Cleveland and I absolutely loved it. Everything you could possibly want is right there or within an hour at most. Mountain, beach, forest, decent weather, and all manner of sports.

The grocery store downtown. It used to be a bank once upon a time but the building sat there empty for ages. The local grocer took it and runs it at a loss as a community service.

Viewa of Cleveland from the top of Terminal Tower

Yes... that is a barge going around a very bendy part of the Cuyahoga that eventually lets out into the lake.

We were beat after our big day out. We went inside, had dinner, then went to sleep. I had to head out around 7:30AM to get to New Jersey to visit more family.

**pr_capone** · 07-30-2016, 08:17 PM

New Jersey:

Cleveland to my Uncle's home was a mere 440 mile ride. The Illinois and Indiana DOT can kiss my ass. So many delays, shitty roads, all manner of rocks kicked into my face. It was horrible. AND THE TOLLS. $10 to get into Chicago, $10 to leave. $13.50 to cross Indiana. Tolls were ridiculous going through the northern states. Did not pay another toll upon leaving Virginia on my way back.

Arrived at my Uncle's place and found his bike parked out front. He was not there so I went inside and showered up. The first time I've arrived somewhere and I've been able to relish in the silence.

I went into Newark to meet my cousin at a pizza place she wanted to go to. I had to pay $15 dollars for event parking because there was a concert in town. I paid the parking and placed it at the front of my motorcycle... completely visible. In return, I get a parking ticket which I am contesting via mail.

The following day he and his friends met up and we went for a ride together.

They later split and my uncle and I headed out to a park with a great view of NYC across the Hudson.

We then grabbed some dinner, conversed for a bit longer, then headed to sleep because I went to Portsmuth, VA the following day.

____

I'm gonna go ahead and include Portsmuth in this post as well as there were few photos shot here either. My original intent was to put my bike on a ferry and cross the Delaware bay. It took too damn long so I decided to ride across. Lucky I did because my new path had me ride right in front of the home of a friend I met online about 16 years ago. This was our first time meeting face to face. It was perfect because I happened to be riding though a heat wave and I was not feeling my best. He fed me and placed a nice cold AC in front of me. It delayed me quite a bit in getting to Portsmuth but is was a great stop.

It was a 365 mile ride into Portsmuth and I did get to cross the bridge that spanned the ocean and went beneath it in tunnels. Unfortunately, I got a late start leaving New Jersey because I could not find my glasses and therefore arrived at dusk so I didn't get any good footage. It also went down to a single lane at one point due to construction. That delayed me a further hour before arriving at my friend's home. He is stationed there at the Naval hospital where he serves as a Corpsman.

I rested here more than anything else. I was only there for what amounted to a day and a half. I was exhausted but was attacked by basset hounds before going to sleep.

C3HIEF3S · 07-30-2016, 08:22 PM

You seem nice.

**pr_capone** · 07-30-2016, 08:35 PM

Tired... if you care I'll flesh it out further.

Atlanta was awesome. The Braves upgraded my seats because I was telling them about this trip on FB and I sat right behind home plate. Got on TV several times. Super cool.

Rode to Deal's Gap. Rode the Tail of the Dragon. Time of my life.

Rode to Sikeston... sucked balls. CrazyCoffey offered a place in St. Louis but I chose the southerly route due to family. Luv offered dinner in Springfield but I rode on into Wichita. Tires ****ed by the time I got there.

Stayed in Wichita longer than expected for a funeral... then headed home. All in all, just short of 5k miles.

HonestChieffan · 07-30-2016, 08:46 PM

Amazing trip!

**Meatloaf** · 07-30-2016, 08:49 PM

Looks like a wonderful time. Congrats!

Thanks for sharing.

**Indian Chief** · 07-30-2016, 09:31 PM

Awesome trip. Glad you are back safe.

I've done ToD in a car, but not on the bike. Not sure I want to play that game with all of the assholes that can't stay on their side of the double yellow.

I was trying to stay updated on your planning but unfortunately missed the final itinerary. Would have liked to join you for a ride in NJ. I have some amazing (and relatively empty) roads by me.

**Rain Man** · 07-30-2016, 09:52 PM

I'm glad the trip went well, even though you killed several thousand innocent insects along your path.

BryanBusby · 07-30-2016, 10:18 PM

Nice trip.

Good luck with the fine though. They will probably tell you to **** off because they just want the money.

I went through this shit in LA years ago and either you pay it or collections and they don't care if you're actually innocent. They got me for $53 dollars....well they got my wife because I wasn't going to pay it in hopes they would transport me back for a jail sentence.

**Bowser** · 07-30-2016, 10:36 PM

Very cool. Clay is going to have to step up his efforts on his "Gay Day" posts now.

Have you gotten any feeling back into your nutsack after all those miles on a bike?

**pr_capone** · 07-30-2016, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser

Very cool. Clay is going to have to step up his efforts on his "Gay Day" posts now.

Have you gotten any feeling back into your nutsack after all those miles on a bike?

Hands are the issue... surprisingly my bits feel just fine after the trip. I'm slowly regaining regular feeling but they have been mostly buzzing for the past 10 days or so. At first I thought its was numbness... but is now believe it to have just been incredibly sensitive to all touch.

---

So... I mentioned that I talked to the Braves, right?

I sent them a message on Facebook during the planning stages of all this and they responded by asking when I was going be there and where I was sitting. I let them know and they responded by asking me to advise them when I had arrived.

When I did arrive at the stadium I had some pretty nice seats to begin with. Only $29 for the ticket and $10 for parking right outside the stadium.

I let the Braves know I arrived after settling in for a bit. I went to get some food and when I came back there was a woman waiting for me. She asked if I minded sitting in the sun and I told her I didn't. So this is where we (I took my host in Atlanta to the game with me) sat.

They also gave us some caps and foam Tomahawks!

Braves won on a walk off in the 9th and it was awesome.

From there I went on to the Tail of the Dragon.

**Bowser** · 07-30-2016, 11:58 PM

Ok, that kicks ass by the Braves. Great move on their part. Glad it worked out for you!

07-30-2016, 07:43 PM
pr_capone ** SOC & ** YOU Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chiefs Hell Casino cash: $10018214	My, nearly, 5k roadtrip via motorcycle Well.... 4,953 to be exact but is anyone going to begrudge me calling this a 5k mile trip? This trip consists of several stages and includes CP'ers, awesome fan outreach by the Braves, video of my trying to actively kill myself on my bike, some family stuff... and of course some stuff about my bike as she was asked to do a lot and deserves the recognition. In order of how stuff happened... with the bike at the end. Iron Butt: My first goal was to complete the Saddle Sore 1000 challenge where I need to ride 1k miles in 24 hours. I started the trip on July 5th at 10PM MST with 31,961 on the odometer. I left Denver on July 5th at 10pm. First I rode into Ft. Collins to add just a bit of mileage to the trip to ensure I went over 1,000 miles. I hung a right and stopped every 150-180 miles to gas up and walk around to get some soreness out. I continued with this process really just concentrating nothing but being on the road. I was taking photos at every gas stop to post to facebook to let people know where I was and that I was doing well when I noticed that my left tail light had come off. I first attempted to get the bolt back into the tail light but the threads were gone. This poses a problem as I cannot remove the bolt without removing the back wheel. I can't remove the rear wheel there and I cannot proceed with a bolt flying around my rear tire. Thankfully I packed duct tape. I temporarily fixed the problem and rewarded my resourcefulness with a chair massage. I continued on from there until I arrived at the home of Frazod. I officially "clocked out" of the challenge at 5:29PM CST. When I arrived at his home, I had put on exactly 1,100 miles in just under 19 hours. Chicago: At this point I have three concerns forefront in my mind. A shower, fixing my bike, and sleep. I immediately showered up and asked if he had any tools I could use to repair this and... he did not. He did, though, have a friend with a garage and all manner of tools. He let us know we were welcome to come by the following morning and do what I needed. That means that I would not be going to the Sears Tower but fixing the bike was more important. At the garage and have access to tools. My prowess with tools is a fabled thing here on CP but I think you will be proud of me. First... I was not about to remove the back wheel to get fix the light. Instead, I used an air powered a reciprocating saw to cut the bolt. From there I bored out the threads, re-threaded the light, and put in a helicoil insert. I then cut a piece of all-thread to the correct length and put it all back together. I tried to give the guy money but he declined and just shook my hand. Great guy. Now that we were done with the bike, and missed the Sears Tower and the greater part of Chicago... we did a mini tour from the vehicle and then headed to the ball park. Along the way we saw the tunnels from The Dark Knight Soldier Field A decently high up shot of the sky line from his place of work We finally got to Wrigley Field and did so in time to watch batting practice. This would be my first time watching the Braves live. Bonus... I got to do it in Wrigley which is a stadium I have long wanted to see a game played in. Fun stuff... a guy tried to jump out into the field and his foot caught the basket and he went face first into the warning track. There was a rain delay of about an hour and a half. Braves won in the 11th inning and it was AWESOME We got back to the house really late because of the rain delay plus the extra innings. We crashed out almost immediately. Got up the next morning and began the next stage of my journey where I traveled to Cleveland to visit family. I will continue the story in the next post. Don't want to exceed character limits.
Posts: 19,884

07-30-2016, 07:44 PM	#2
pr_capone ** SOC & ** YOU Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chiefs Hell Casino cash: $10018214	Oh yeah... the infamous fridge that was shot. It was repaired with bondo. The round traveled through a pantry before striking the fridge.
Posts: 19,884

07-30-2016, 07:55 PM	#3
stumppy New and Improved Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Springfield, Mo. Casino cash: $1578590	who's that goofy looking guy you let ride your bike ? __________________ “As a nation, we can endure damaging policies for a four-year term. But we cannot survive a president willing to terminate our Constitution”
Posts: 21,038

07-30-2016, 08:03 PM	#4
pr_capone ** SOC & ** YOU Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chiefs Hell Casino cash: $10018214	Cleveland: I left for Cleveland around 10:30 or so and made pretty good time. I covered around 380 miles on this leg of the trip and I was holding up pretty well. I ate a fair number of bugs in the last 100 miles into my cousin's home. My cousin had a child that I'd not met yet and I brought her a stuffed penguin (my favorite animal). She loved it and they were inseparable the rest of the time I was there. Now for the touristy things. First we went to the HoF. We later went to Cleveland and I absolutely loved it. Everything you could possibly want is right there or within an hour at most. Mountain, beach, forest, decent weather, and all manner of sports. The grocery store downtown. It used to be a bank once upon a time but the building sat there empty for ages. The local grocer took it and runs it at a loss as a community service. Viewa of Cleveland from the top of Terminal Tower Yes... that is a barge going around a very bendy part of the Cuyahoga that eventually lets out into the lake. We were beat after our big day out. We went inside, had dinner, then went to sleep. I had to head out around 7:30AM to get to New Jersey to visit more family.
Posts: 19,884

07-30-2016, 08:17 PM	#5
pr_capone ** SOC & ** YOU Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chiefs Hell Casino cash: $10018214	New Jersey: Cleveland to my Uncle's home was a mere 440 mile ride. The Illinois and Indiana DOT can kiss my ass. So many delays, shitty roads, all manner of rocks kicked into my face. It was horrible. AND THE TOLLS. $10 to get into Chicago, $10 to leave. $13.50 to cross Indiana. Tolls were ridiculous going through the northern states. Did not pay another toll upon leaving Virginia on my way back. Arrived at my Uncle's place and found his bike parked out front. He was not there so I went inside and showered up. The first time I've arrived somewhere and I've been able to relish in the silence. I went into Newark to meet my cousin at a pizza place she wanted to go to. I had to pay $15 dollars for event parking because there was a concert in town. I paid the parking and placed it at the front of my motorcycle... completely visible. In return, I get a parking ticket which I am contesting via mail. The following day he and his friends met up and we went for a ride together. They later split and my uncle and I headed out to a park with a great view of NYC across the Hudson. We then grabbed some dinner, conversed for a bit longer, then headed to sleep because I went to Portsmuth, VA the following day. ____ I'm gonna go ahead and include Portsmuth in this post as well as there were few photos shot here either. My original intent was to put my bike on a ferry and cross the Delaware bay. It took too damn long so I decided to ride across. Lucky I did because my new path had me ride right in front of the home of a friend I met online about 16 years ago. This was our first time meeting face to face. It was perfect because I happened to be riding though a heat wave and I was not feeling my best. He fed me and placed a nice cold AC in front of me. It delayed me quite a bit in getting to Portsmuth but is was a great stop. It was a 365 mile ride into Portsmuth and I did get to cross the bridge that spanned the ocean and went beneath it in tunnels. Unfortunately, I got a late start leaving New Jersey because I could not find my glasses and therefore arrived at dusk so I didn't get any good footage. It also went down to a single lane at one point due to construction. That delayed me a further hour before arriving at my friend's home. He is stationed there at the Naval hospital where he serves as a Corpsman. I rested here more than anything else. I was only there for what amounted to a day and a half. I was exhausted but was attacked by basset hounds before going to sleep. Last edited by pr_capone; 07-30-2016 at 08:27 PM..
Posts: 19,884

07-30-2016, 08:22 PM	#6
C3HIEF3S Let's Get Weird Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Austin Casino cash: $9990098	You seem nice.
Posts: 15,229

07-30-2016, 08:35 PM	#7
pr_capone ** SOC & ** YOU Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chiefs Hell Casino cash: $10018214	Tired... if you care I'll flesh it out further. Atlanta was awesome. The Braves upgraded my seats because I was telling them about this trip on FB and I sat right behind home plate. Got on TV several times. Super cool. Rode to Deal's Gap. Rode the Tail of the Dragon. Time of my life. Rode to Sikeston... sucked balls. CrazyCoffey offered a place in St. Louis but I chose the southerly route due to family. Luv offered dinner in Springfield but I rode on into Wichita. Tires ****ed by the time I got there. Stayed in Wichita longer than expected for a funeral... then headed home. All in all, just short of 5k miles.
Posts: 19,884

07-30-2016, 08:46 PM	#8
HonestChieffan Seeking the Truth daily Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the Country in MO Casino cash: $2314309	Amazing trip! __________________ “Make no mistake. If you try anything to raise the cost of vishessavatubs, I will veto it.” - Joe Biden, SOTU 2023
Posts: 53,298

07-30-2016, 08:49 PM	#9
Meatloaf Supporter Join Date: Feb 2013 Casino cash: $4270359	Looks like a wonderful time. Congrats! Thanks for sharing.
Posts: 3,118

07-30-2016, 09:31 PM	#10
Indian Chief Supporter Join Date: Jan 2014 Casino cash: $2109236	Awesome trip. Glad you are back safe. I've done ToD in a car, but not on the bike. Not sure I want to play that game with all of the assholes that can't stay on their side of the double yellow. I was trying to stay updated on your planning but unfortunately missed the final itinerary. Would have liked to join you for a ride in NJ. I have some amazing (and relatively empty) roads by me.
Posts: 1,852

07-30-2016, 09:52 PM	#11
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3408491 VARSITY	I'm glad the trip went well, even though you killed several thousand innocent insects along your path. __________________ I'm putting random letters here as a celebration of free speech: xigrakgrah misorojeq rkemeseit.
Posts: 141,202

07-30-2016, 10:18 PM	#12
BryanBusby In Search of a Life Join Date: Mar 2006 Casino cash: $3839900 VARSITY	Nice trip. Good luck with the fine though. They will probably tell you to **** off because they just want the money. I went through this shit in LA years ago and either you pay it or collections and they don't care if you're actually innocent. They got me for $53 dollars....well they got my wife because I wasn't going to pay it in hopes they would transport me back for a jail sentence.
Posts: 22,102

07-30-2016, 10:36 PM	#13
Bowser sorta mod-ish Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: KC North Casino cash: $3521616	Very cool. Clay is going to have to step up his efforts on his "Gay Day" posts now. Have you gotten any feeling back into your nutsack after all those miles on a bike?
Posts: 100,455

07-30-2016, 11:58 PM	#15
Bowser sorta mod-ish Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: KC North Casino cash: $3521616	Ok, that kicks ass by the Braves. Great move on their part. Glad it worked out for you!
Posts: 100,455