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I had intended to leave
on Monday, October 13th, but several things delayed me. So it was on
Tuesday that I got a very early start. I was up and on the road long
before dawn and had the great pleasure of getting out of New York in
record time. I also enjoyed a beautiful sunrise on my left as a crystal
clear day dawned and the road stretched ahead of me.
My plan was to take the New Jersey Turnpike down to Delaware and then take less heavily trafficked roads from there. I knew I needed to get gas at the first stop I came across, since my odometer was reading about 100 miles when I left, which is really stretching it in the city. Sure enough, I didn't get 18 miles down the road before the familiar sputtering of the engine signaled me to a lack of gas. No problem. A Sporty's reserve will take it a good 20 or 30 miles on the highway, and I could see a sign saying the next gas stop was three miles ahead.
I reached
down to flip the petcock. It was already on reserve!
I've not made this mistake before and I instantly remembered when and where I failed to flip it back to "on". Now I was truly running on fumes. The engine was sputtering and coughing and finally died altogether with a good two and a half miles left 'til the exit. But on a gentle uphill, I guess enough fueld sloshed into the line and she started up again, briefly.
In the next few minutes, I also discovered that by twisting the throttle, as if to prime the carb, I could get a little more fuel into the engine and get a little further. Believe it or not, I made it over two miles on this method! But finally, not even that was enough and I was left to coast in an eerie silence. Fortunately, Roxie quit for good JUST as the I got to the exit and I had enough momentum to coast up and over the hill of the exit ramp, down into the service plaza, and coasted to a stop on the proverbial dime in front of the pump.
Apparently, someone up there is looking out for me.
After gassing up, I got
back on the road and had no further problems with fuel the rest of the
trip, except for some low octane crap later on.
One of the highlights of this first day was my stop at Mike's Famous HD just past the Delaware bridge. I was on the hunt for a decent flag I could mount to my square-tube rack. Mike's had nothing suitable, but they do have a very nice store and a cute little bike parking circle out front. They have all kinds of bikes on the floor, though at the prices they were asking for some of the used ones, I imagine they will be there for some time.
After Mike's, I continued on. I knew that if I was to make my appointed meeting time with my sister, Becca, the next day, I had to keep moving, if not too quickly. I meandered down along highway 13, then 113, then state route 1. I traveled along the coast and to Ocean City, which I can see is a great place to spend a couple weekends in the summer, but was very very empty when I rolled through. The long, long main drag was well populated with hotels on the beach side and various shops, gas stations, and restaurants on the other side. It was in this area that I came across these odd concrete cylinders that look something like an artifact from WWII. Perhaps somebody can tell me what these are:
Click the thumbnail for a slideshow.!
