Utah Road Run with the Atomic Shovel: Day 16 – Final Day

Posted byKaran AndreaPosted inUncategorized

Day 16

Dayton, OH to Lancaster, NY

HOME!!!!!!


Today I just really wanted to get home. My plan was to continue my back road, two lane adventure all the way back home. I love riding through Ohio. So many charming small towns, and beautiful countryside in between. And it promised to be a beautiful day, although there was some fog in the fields this morning, but not on the road.
However, after I started out on this path, I kept glancing at the GPS readout… 9 plus hours, arrival at 5:22 p.m. But that didn’t include time taken for stops, so it would be 6:30 or after before I get home. So I weighed a long, but really enjoyable ride against a much shorter (by three hours), but totally miserable ride on the interstate. Took me 40 miles to make up my mind, but the miserable interstate ride won.
I did NOT want to ride hard today. I did not want to get blown around by semis. And I did not want to ride with the throttle pegged all damn day. But I did like the idea of rolling into my driveway at 3 p.m., not 6:30 or 7.
So I stopped and changed my GPS settings, and ended up doing that ridiculous b o r i n g ride. The bike ran perfectly today except for one tiny protest early in the day. I also adjusted the idle up just a bit this morning to see if that would improve the stalling at stops. There were no stalls, but honestly, there were very few stops!
I AM HOME!
I parked the bike, grabbed my car and went to get miss Maizie from the kennel. I was so happy to see my little furbaby, and she was very happy to be released from the kennel. She will be even happier when my dad comes to visit us tonight. 💙💙💙
My neighbor cut my grass twice while I was away, and she left me the cutest welcome home drawing on my door! So sweet!
I am too tired at the moment to wax philosophical about this amazing trip, but I am sure I will at some point.
Thanks to everyone who followed my story, and who have sent prayers and kind words for my dad. Maizie and I will be in our natural habitat until I leave for the Shovel Reunion… Shhhhhh! Don’t tell her!
I almost forgot! 4,746 miles door to door!

Maizie was very happy to be liberated from doggie playcare!
My final odometer reading, miss Maizie, and the sweet welcome home from my neighbor.

Published by Karan Andrea

I ride motorcycles, I live motorcycles, and I write about motorcycles. Both of my blogs are written for motorcyclists: atomicshovel.blog tells the never-ending story of my 1974 Harley-Davidson FLH, which I have named the Atomic Shovel. My other blog coachk.home.blog is written for riders of all skill levels, but is primarily aimed toward the rider who is transitioning from the riding range where they learned basic skills, to the open road. This blog address the most common questions I see in the online groups and forums: dealing with anxiety - yes, that is the number one question, navigating traffic, parking, holding your bike on an incline, just to mention a few. Much of what I write is simply drawn from my own experiences - successes, failures, do-overs. Nothing in either blog should be construed as the absolute one and only approach; rather, look at them as a starting point for your own discovery process.

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