I stopped at noon in Sand Lake, a village that’s in a pitched battle for it’s existence… Or not. There’s a ballot initiative to disincorporate, leaving city services in the hands of the county. The current mayor has denounced the initiative as “domestic terrorism”, which at the least calls into question the mental competence of the local officials.
The big two-part storm system that I saw coming over Lake Michigan has nearly passed north of here. There’s another line of showers developing a ways behind it in Wisconsin, but I can’t keep waiting for it to pass and see if it’s the last one. And it’s not so big and bad as the system I’ve been watching, and might even pass to the north of my destination for the day. I’m pretty sure I’ve done everything I need to do before setting out, so…. I’m setting out.
Waking early to the sound of approaching thunder definitely qualifies as “ominous”.
On weather radar there’s a big red blotch crossing the Lake, gradually covering Michigan from St Joseph to the Sault Ste Marie. It will be very wet very soon. That’s the bad news.
The better news is that the whole system looks isolated, so if I can wait it out, I could have a mostly dry ride. Judging by the speed it’s moving that could mean a few hours.
Over the last few days I’ve been watching the long range weather forecast, for obvious reasons. The forecast for Thursday has gone from 20% chance of rain to 30% to 40% and now 60%. When you factor in the fact that I’ll be covering a bit of territory, the chances of staying dry are fairly low. Plus, temps will be in the 90s for the southern part of the ride (upper 80s up north).
Oh well. My first overnight scooter ride started with me following storm clouds as they slowly moved ahead of me, and the big scoot around Lake Michigan started in heavy rain. I have rain gear, and I know how to use it. And the forecast gets better on Friday, and stays pretty good (no more than 30% chance of rain) for the forecastable future after that. So nothing much to worry about.
I hope.
The scooter’s back from the shop with shiny new brake pads, but it still required a little bit of prep before it’d be ready for the road. The mirrors needed tightening, the air pressure in the tires needed checking, and the center stand needed a little WD40 so it’d fold up more freely. Done.
I’ve gone through my packing list and started putting things together. I can’t pack per se, because that means strapping and stuffing things into the scooter, and I can’t put stuff in my bag because I’m still using that for my commute the next few days. But the camping gear is laid out on the floor, and nearly everything else (except my clothes) is in a little huddle on the table. It took me half an hour, but earlier today I found my battery recharger (and the batteries in it) under the desk. I’ve printed out Google maps of my day-by-day itinerary, not so much for actual navigation (I plan to use the iPhone for that), but as a backup. I just got back from the gas station, where I filled up my spare-fuel bottle.
I’m doing laundry tonight, then I can assemble the clothes I’m bringing (a few specific items I want to take are already in the laundry basket, and one needs to take the correct t-shirts when traveling). And that’s pretty much everything.
There’s only one thing on the packing list that I don’t have: a charger for my new iPhone. The antique car-charger for the old one doesn’t work with this model, so I need to buy a newer model. I have a wall-outlet charger of course, which I could use at camp grounds, but I’d rather not be dependent on that; I want to be able to charge it on the road as well. So, to the Apple Store tomorrow. The iPhone 4 crowds should be gone by now, and I can pick up a few accessories for mine.
Then it’s just waiting until Thursday rolls around.
I was beginning to get worried that my big scooter trip of 2010 was going to be missing one key piece of equipment: a scooter.
When I dropped it off at the dealer’s last week, they said it’d be done by the end of the day Friday. When I called them at the end of the day Friday, they said it’d be the early part of the next week. When I called Wednesday afternoon, they said they were still waiting for the pads. Anticipating that I had entered Scooturgatory and was going to be waiting and wondering each day when/whether the scoot would be ready, I called late this afternoon to demand on a firm delivery date. “It’ll be ready at four,” was the answer. “Today?” I asked, doubtful. “Yep, we got the brake pads.”
So at the end of the work day I left the car in the parking lot at the office (I’ll walk or pedal back to get it this weekend), and walked the mile to the dealer. There was Flash, sitting outside the service area.
The guy who took my money advised me that the mechanic had inspected the rest of the scoot (one of the things I’d asked them to do) and said that the clutch was getting worn, and would need to be replaced in another thousand or two-thousand miles. I told him I’d see him in a few weeks. 🙂
