Bird & a Bridge......105 to Port Clinton

[Fonzie]

Writeup I did awhile back from another board............

Went to visit one of the guys I started at the railroad with today. He quit/retired last year, moved up to his condo on Lake Erie full time after a FAT divorce settlement, & has been living the life of leisure ever since.

Back in the spring, he apparently was getting bored/restless & got a job with the city of Port Clinton as their drawbridge operator. He opens the bridge at the top & bottom of the hour so all the high mast sailboats/cruisers can get through. He's been asking me to come see him as he's allowed visitors while he's working, and I finally decided to go today.

Ride up to Port Clinton is fun........you pick up 105 just outside Bowling Green, and follow the Portage River north. 25+/- miles of nice twisties......both tight ones & rolling, with some good straightaways mixed in as well. :icon_evilgrin:

I've been wanting to get one of these pictures ever since I saw Randy's??? last year. Saw a great sign in the Irish Hills on my birthday ride, but we had crammed so much into that day already, didn't want to take the time to pull over and snap it.

Shortly after this was taken, while on a VERY short stretch of Rte. 20 in Woodville, OH......local cop pulled me over after I'd just stopped & turned back onto 105 N. Claims I was doing 43 in a 25, even though in the less than 1/4 mile I was on that road, I had to stop for 2 different red lights, and had to stop to wait for traffic to clear before I could turn north again. :icon_evil: Whatever........he admitted he had a little radar trap setup in the Subway parking lot. He comes up & asks me "Are you a volunteer fireman"?? I say "noooooo......why???" He says "Oh...I just wondered where the fire you were going to was" :icon_rolleyes: Greeeeaaat.........dude thinks he's funny :icon_naughty: Anyways he writes me the ticket, then asks me if I have a phone number the court can contact me at if they need to. I tell him no. He says "you don't have a phone???" I say "nope"........fuck him.....I'm done cooperating & wondering why I just didn't outrun Barney Fife at this point :icon_wall:

Anyways.........just before he pulls me over, lady backs out of her driveway a short ways in front of me. She shoulda waited, but it wasn't so close I couldn't react. So I brake, and then start to pass her on her left. Then just as I'm coming up on the bitch's bumper, she decides to pull into her neighbors driveway!! :icon_duh: I whipped the bike hard right and fortunately missed T-boning her/hitting her rear end. Of course Barney Fife was no where to be found when one of his yocals decided to play bumper cars :icon_snooty:

Rest of my ride north is uneventful except for a sheriff who goes by while I just finished passing a slow truck in hypothetical no-passing zone. Needless to say I "may have" pulled the clutch in and held it 'til he was gone by :icon_shifty:

Surprised Bob when I got there.....I never told him I was coming. He was happy to see me. We haven't seen each other in about 6 months since the IBS in Cleveland back in January. Had a nice visit for a few hours. Got to see the inner workings of the drawbridge and how it operates. He's definately got a cush gig (works about 12 minutes out of every hour) to add to his resume of odd jobs......Marine, VP/Controller of the major media company here in Findlay/Hancock County, then with me at the railroad, and now this. Rest of time on his shift he just hangs out, watches TV, whatever. Had an ambulance radio us while I was there giving us an ETA of 2 minutes and wanting to make sure the bridge would be down. He says it gets pretty interesting on weekend nights sometimes when the drunks come back from Put-In-Bay on the Jet Express and get in fights or try jumping off the bridge!! :icon_dance:

Bad lighting on the Bird in that pic......but he was opening the bridge while I was leaving, and I thought it'd make a neat shot. Just missed getting a BIG sailboat in the background while I was getting the camera out of the case :icon_confused:

Bridge is pretty neat. Originally built in 1933, at a cost of $195,000!!! :icon_eek: Bob says they put about $2 mill into it a bit ago just on renovations. Took me down below to show me the mechanics of it.....the thing still uses the original "electrics" from when it was built! Very cool......a real testament to the people who built/designed it & the quality of their workmanship!! :icon_clap: Almost wished I'd left the bike at home & brought the kids to see it......not something the average Joe gets to check out. Oh well........I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I brought them with me next time.

Here's the man in his tower...........

Ride home fortunately was much quieter, though I almost ran out of gas........reserve light came on just as I headed south out of BG, and of course next town/gas station that I knew of was 15-20 miles away!! :icon_eek: Smart thing to do would've just been to turn around......buuuuttttt not me! Must...keep...moving ...forward :icon_razz: My bunghole was tight for about 10-15 miles 'til I got to the next station. Other than that........fun day on the bike. About 150 miles. Just try to remember Mac's slogan on the other stuff...."No such thing's as bad days....." :icon_wink: