JackFlash

the curve on two wheels.

mounted their Vespa's and sang

In less than 12 miles, your route will elevate to 4' shy of 500 feet. Pretty cool. From the 74.7 mile point to the 86 mile point, you will go from 652 feet above sea level to 1148 feet above sea level. The lowest point of the route is 643 feet above sea level, at mile 39.2 . .

That was the point of intercepting them at point B on Brownsville Rd. I just couldn't pinpoint a time they would be coming by. .

Thanks, Kent. It was a little hard getting out of bed this morning. I'm a little stiff and achy in places. .

Shell Nelsonville 1155 Chestnut St, Nelsonville OH 45764-1412 Phone Number: (937) 426-6670 Might want to call and see if they are still functional. .EDIT: I just went to street level at that address on Google Maps. It's a Marathon at street view. It must have been a Shell at one time. Shell was still listed under that address in an online phone book. .

or 90 wt. gear lube

Is this closer to what you had in mind? http://goo.gl/maps/35YCU .

Yeah, we missed the left turn onto 669 in Crooksville and ended up in Zanesville. .

Due to recent crashes, the Epic Ride route has been changed to this:http://goo.gl/maps/9Dj89 It has also been updated on the first page. .

Okay, Newark riders. If you read the above post, you know it's best not to wait for the NEO guys due to difficult timing on linking up and getting everyone to Logan in a timely fashion. You guys post up and figure out what you are going to do since I'm out of the running, with my crash. I'll meet you at KFC Saturday morning if you are still meeting there. But, what time? I wanted to leave Newark at 8:30 to allow enough time to relax a little once I got to Logan. It's up to you guys now. . .

Okay, Nivin. I'm not sure what they are doing because they are not active posters. I'll meet with them at KFC, Saturday morning and may even drive to Logan for the big send off. I hate to miss everything. I'll suggest to them that it's better to not wait for you guys. .

If you Newark riders want me to change anything on the first page of this thread, let me know. I might drive the car to meet you guys at KFC since I'm still going to be off work this weekend.

This was my 3rd trip on 555 but only my first traveling north on that stretch above Chesterhill. You might want to re-think that section. It got me even though I was alert to the road condition. You just can't see that dusty grit until it's too late to avoid. Today, it feels like I've been smacked on the hip bone by a 2X4. Other than that, my bike and my pride are suffering the most. It's not black and blue yet, but it feels black and blue. .

Thanks for all the kind words. Now, it's off to bed, as 3:30am comes quickly and I have to work tomorrow, provided I'm not too stiff to get out of bed. Goodnight folks. .

It happen so frigging quick! I was assholes over elbows before I could have a second thought. .

I wear a TourMaster riding jacket with mesh outer, and pads in the elbows, shoulders, and down the back. I took the wind liner out around noon because it was getting very warm. My pants are also TourMaster with pads on the hips (thankfully), and hard pads on the knees. They have removable panels to expose mesh for air flow on days like today. My helmet is simply an HJC $140 type full face with flip up and removeable shield. Different tints are available. .

The 555 was littered with this gritty, dusty, slippery stuff. It was almost invisible until you were right up on it. .

Yeah, thanks. Me too. I was probably only going about 20mph around that curve. .

Okay, here it is. Just got it typed up. http://www.ohioriders.net/showthread.php?t=103472 .

The 555 ate another bike today, picked up the rider and sent him spinning off through water, mud, and grass. Film at eleven. Yep! I was having a very good day. I thought it would be a wonderful day to go riding, and that's what I did. Everything was fine and going well, until... I was traveling north of Chesterhill, when not far south of 78, I was coming down a hill with a left hand curve. The road had a lot of slippery dust, and was gritty in many, many places. Knowing this, I was being cautious. I wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere. So, approaching this curve I discovered this debris well out into the roadway on my side. Attempting to slow a bit, my rear wheel slipped out from under me, I hit the road, the bike spun a 360, and I went flying through water and mud, and ended up in the grass. A few words were spoken, the kind you wouldn't say in front of your grandmother, and I lay there waiting to see if anything was going to begin to hurt. Thankfully, I could get up and walk without much of a wobble. The bike, the poor thing, was on the edge of the road on it's left side, turn signal flashing, and motor off. I attempted to pick it up but couldn't get my hand far enough under to get a grip. I was all alone. I got the bike spun around, and to where I could lift it onto it's wheels. It was a muddy mess, almost as bad as me. The left side of the handlebars is now bent into a racing style position. My concern was that I wouldn't be able to steer it if the handgrip hit the fairing. It didn't. Now, the bike wouldn't start. Crap! Thinking for a moment, I discovered the clutch safety switch had come unpluged. I pluged it in and cranked it. No start! F%&*K! I opened the throttle fully and tried again. Zoom, zoom! Things were looking less bad. Standing then walking beside the bike, I throttled it, and eased out the clutch hoping to be able to get it out of the mud. It worked. Hurt, you ask? Who me? People, I'm JackFlash! Whatayamean hurt? Well, my hip is a little sore from me landing on it when the road took a bite out of my day, but other than that, I think I'm okay. Ask me again tomorrow when things get a chance to get achy. I got on the bike and eased it on down the hill. Regaining my confidence, and sitting at a funny angle from a bent handlebar, I gave it some fuel and buzzed down the road. It wasn't for another mile that it occured to me that my face shield was missing from my helmet. I stopped, turned around, and went back to the scene of the crime. Sitting there in the water, unscratched, was my face shield. I picked it up and took off my helmet. Oh crap! The mechanism where the face shield attaches to the helmet was filled with mud. WTF now? I always carry a rag to check the oil, so I pulled it out of my saddlebag and soaked it with water. A long time later, I finally got enough mud and crap out of it for the faceshield to fasten on. Back on the bike and off I went. It was a beautiful day for a ride. I hope yours went better than mine. Unless I can find and replace the handlebars before Saturday, I'm going to be out of the running for the big ride this weekend. So, now the search for handlebars for an '08 Suzuki GS 500F. Any suggestions? I forgot to mention that the entire time I was there at the side of the road, after my spill, and when I went back, not one vehicle passed by. Not one. Here's a link to where it happened: http://goo.gl/maps/S9dtt .

I hate to say it too, but my bike went down today and unless I can replace the handlebars, I'm not going to make the ride, either. .

Brandon, I was just talking about you this morning. Go to page 33 of this thread, to post #660. Let's drum up some interest in some Sunday activities and make this a two-day event like it was originally meant to be. .

I may open a thread on it tomorrow since I haven't received any feedback on the idea. We'll see if anyone has an interest. I'm not riding all the back from Newark unless there's a solid plan in place for Sunday. .