"Go West, Young Man!"

That famous quote has long been incorrectly attributed to former Amherst, NH resident Horace Greeley.

We had a planning meeting this past Tuesday night and took Joe Regan's advice to take the ferry 'cross the lake, thereby skipping The Windy City. For those interested in joining us, here's our route:



View Larger Map

For some unknown reason, the small map you see here does not show our ferry trip across Lake Michigan. If you click on the link that says "view larger map", it does. Hmm, maybe that means it will come down to a coin flip.

Presently, we're torn between making ferry reservations and casting our fate (along with our cell phones) to the wind. We'll see.

The new Mustang seat is a joy to my buns. I had no idea that it would resolve the suspension issues I thought I had. The new seat is made from such thick, dense foam that it soaks up almost all of the road shock on rough surfaces. That, along with the extra-wide seat and back rest, give me a very comfortable ride. I haven't had it on any long rides yet but I suspect that the back rest will be its saving grace.

The new lights work well too. I was a little leery of going with the OEM Honda lights but, they were the only ones that would fit around the Honda 'shield. Or, I would have had to go with caliper lights, with no guarantee of service. The lights throw out just enough additional light to make rural riding that much more safe. No more unseen road hazards (like that dead lump of porcupine we hit one night outside of Manchester, coming home from Hampton Beach).

Anyway, I think I have most of my gear now. I need to get some additional bungees in case my load needs to be restrained. You can't just dump your load all over the highway now! My Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket will keep me cool and looking cool, along with the TechWick gear from EMS.

I'm ready for a test-ride soon and may make a run north soon, loaded for bear, to squeeze in a practice camping trip. I'll need to make sure I have all I want to pack on the Sturgis ride, sans the extra clothes, in an attempt to balance the load.

Come five short weeks from now, I'm outta here. Gotto go now, I have plenty of real work ahead of me and I need to finish a very important work presentation for next week. I'll be thinking of this trip the whole time.

A low, slow wave,

Joe Rocket