My plan was Amarillo by evening, but I am still in Joplin waiting for mechanical rescue. If it’s electrical, I can fix it. If it’s very basic mechanical, I have a shot at fixing it, but clutches and such are beyond my knowledge. Annnnd that’s where I am. When I came in last night, the bike wouldn’t go into N. It does that sometimes when it’s been ridden all day, so I didn’t worry about it. Figured this morning after a cool down, it would be fine. It was not fine. I tried all the tricks the night before, tried a few this morning. Stubbornly stuck. A random guy who also rides gave me a hand and popped it into neutral. Thank you Jesus. So I finished gearing up, got the screwdriver out, started the bike, put everything away, got on the bike, dropped it into 1st and LURCH stall, dead. Sumbitch. Unlocked the saddlebag, got another screwdriver back out – one that will fit in my damn windshield bag – started it up again. Same thing. 1st, LURCH stall. Dead. Tried one more time, letting it warm up a bit longer, as if…. I was praying at this point… Nope. The angry soul refused to relent. 1st, LURCH stall. Sumbitch. So I thought mayyyyyybe with the primary still oozing, it needed a bit more fluid. The clutch was jenky on Wednesday when I kinda overfilled the primary… Oops…. So I went and got some oil. Meanwhile I posted on what is becoming my SOS page – the AMCA FB page – for help. I also called Marty Zavakos for input since he had been into my primary 2 days before, and may have an idea from something he saw. And I called my steady eddie pal Chris Tribbey , who asked me a few questions and said it was not likely a fluid/lack of fluid issue. Meanwhile an AMCA member who lives close to where I am saw my post, and is kindly and generously on his way to hopefully get this angry bike going. It takes a village…. It is a 9 hour ride to Amarillo. Not entirely sure what I am going to do. I may stay here another night, start out fresh tomorrow and just be a day late to the run.
Day 4, part 2…
Joplin, MO to Joplin, MO
Sometimes the universe gives you a rest day whether you think you want it or not. Truth be told, I had serious insomnia last night, so I am not well rested. The bike giving me problems was kind of a blessing. After I put the SOS out, Bill Daneke very kindly brought tools and his depth of experience, and quickly diagnosed the problem. The clutch plates were stuck together. He said that after riding all day, and then my parking spot was on an incline, front tire higher, so the fluid rolled into the plates, and as the bike cooled, the fluid stuck the plates together. He loosened them up and did some laps around the hotel parking lot, so the bike should be good to go – in theory. But he said this could be a thing, so he made sure I knew how to fix it myself next time. He also gave me a T27 – the ONLY fastener bit I did not have on the bike… Needed for my derby cover. So… It is a 9 hour ride to Amarillo. I am tired, I got a late start, and I don’t want to feel like I have to make a mad dash. I am staying in Joplin overnight, hopefully get a good night’s sleep, and head to Amarillo in the morning. I already pushed my reservation a day, same with Albuquerque, my next stop. So I will miss the registration day on Kanab, but it is what it is.
Today. Today was the kind of day that riding is all about for me. This doesn’t mean it was perfect. When I tried to start the bike this morning, the starter button wouldn’t work. I figured something in the ignition might still be soaked from the pressure washing the bike took yesterday. No matter. Pulled out a screwdriver, bridged the solenoid posts and she cranked right over. Yes! And of course, the weather absolutely sucked yet again. Rain again this morning for the first 100 miles. Not the wrathful stuff of the last two days – more like a steady, relentless drizzle. Like the last tears of a 2-year-old after an epic tantrum. They just won’t stop. But once they did stop… Wind. COLD wind. I had 20-30 mph winds – often a head wind that made acceleration and holding speed rough – but sometimes a cross wind, which made holding a line with that crate of a bike a little sketchy as well. REGARDLESS…. I got to ride portions of Route 66 today! ROUTE 66 baby!!! The Mother Road. The mystical, mythological, magical road to beat all roads. I have wanted to do Route 66 from end to end (as much as it is currently possible) for as long as I can remember. So tracing just portions of it today was so exciting. I did not have time to stop and take pictures, but the taste I got has inspired me to do the entire road, end to end. It has moved to the top of my list. Since it was drizzling this morning, and i was in no hurry to leave, I took a stroll to the Arch and took some photos. Opposite the arch was an old, government-looking building with a statue in front. I walked over to see what it was, and to get another shot of the arch. Turns out it was an old courthouse. The courthouse where the Dred Scott trial was held. I am embarrassed to say I had to read the plaque to recall the significance of the trial. The trial rendered the devastating ruling that African Americans were not U.S. citizens. It was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court’s ruling. So my day was bracketed by history – the shameful renunciation of freedom, and the exuberant freedom of the road. THIS is why I wanted to do this trip. I wanted to bump into things that made me feel, made me think. They aren’t all good. They aren’t all bad. But they all inspire me to do better, be better, appreciate everything I have, and love the people around me.
Because I have not landed yet… I had to wait a bit this morning for fog to burn off, but once it did, it was a beautiful ride thru southern Ohio and then southern Indiana. Missi DeBord Shoemaker and I were going to try to meet up when I passed through the Indy area, and she gave me a way nicer route through her state. Some windy roads, mixed with some nice straight ones, I made great time. Unfortunately she couldn’t make the meetup, but hopefully on my way back through. Lulled into the bliss of the roads, and a bike that was finally behaving, I was starting to relax out of the ball of anxiety I have been getting ready for this trip. Sadly, it was short lived. Heading down a 90 mile stretch of route 50 in southern IL, and the skies turned Wicked Witch of the West black. I had already been dealing with a heavy head wind, so I pulled off the shoulder and geared up. Bsck on the bike it dawned on me that I forgot to cover my seat and luggage, but there was a gas station – apparently the last outpost of humanity – so I rolled in, topped off my tanks, covered luggage and seat… Back on the road. The rain started almost immediately. Splat, splat, pause, splat, splat…. And then it all came down at once. I have never ridden in such bad rain, and I have done a lot of rain. It was so bad, my rain jacket failed. My T-shirt was soaked. I could not see anything but the white line to my right. There was nowhere to pull over – no way I was turning back. I did 15 miles at about 40mph white knuckling it. I kept to the right side of the lane, and just pressed on. Finally the rain let up a bit, and I was able to speed up to 50. But it started getting bad again, and by some miracle, I spotted a motel with an AWNING!!! Careful right turn in, and here I sit. There have been probably 20 emergency vehicles that have flown by in the opposite direction. Thankfully they are not for me. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 I am just going to wait this one out. Holy crap what a storm! In the south we called these frog stranglers… And I definitely felt like a strangled frog!
Finally shelter from the blinding rain. Sketchy motel, but at least shelter.Emergency vehicles screamed down hwy. 50 for over an hour. Not sure what they were screaming about.
Day 2, Part 2
Dayton, OH to St. Louis, MO
Whence last I checked in, I was debating staying put in Salem, IL due to the massive washout rain storm, or pushing on to make my goal of St. Louis… Well if you know me even a little bit, you know I am a planner, I am stubborn, and I hate admitting defeat. (Although I am forced to do so from time to time.) So of course I pushed on and made it to my comfy room downtown by the arch. I will have to take arch pics in the morning before I leave. The Atomic Shovel is nicely bedded down in the Valet portion of the parking garage, which gives me a lot more comfort than it just being in the garage’s gen pop. Today. Wow. Crazy weather and sketchy roads day. Morning fog – burned off, but reappeared as I rode thru the Ohio countryside. No visibility issues, but fog nonetheless. Then beautiful sun! Grateful to see that break through. Until the aforementioned storm from hell. Even when I got back out on the road it was raining, but just normal rain, not le deluge. It finally tapered off as I got closer to MO. Sketchy roads… A really long stretch of one road was chipped – they do that in NY too, but they do a shitty job, and the stone stays loose forever. In Indiana, they were doing a really good job. It was really compacted, so right off the git go, the road is rideable. There wasn’t a lot of loose scrabble, but I was still a little cautious. Route 50 would have beat the crap out of me if I had been on a frame mounted seat. As it was, it only beat the crap out of my bike. Everything seems to be staying ON the bike tho. But 50 was rough. Concrete, patched a zillion times, little heaved “speed bumps.” But the best part was the detour off of 50. That put me on a narrow, paved farm road. A turn onto the same, then the pavement disappeared. But again, the surface was stone but it was packed so well, no ruts or holes, and pretty flat, but crowned. I stuck to the middle mostly, and a couple places it was flooded, so I stayed in the middle to lessen the pressure washing the underside of my fenders received. I don’t even want to check weather radar for tomorrow…
All the bike prep was in advance of an AMCA road run in Kanab, Utah, June 1, 2, 3, 2021. It is a 6-day ride for me to get there, 3 days of riding, and 6 days home.
These stories, like all of my blogs posts, began as Facebook posts.
Day 1
Lancaster, NY to Dayton, OH
The day started out well. Ran into rain somewhere in NY near PA. By the time I could pull off to gear up, I was pretty well drenched, but I geared up and kept going. Later when I stopped for gas, I noticed way too much primary fluid all over the right side of my bike. I knew there was a very small crack in the cover, but I hadn’t had any issues till today. Of course. Further down the road, I started hearing chain noise. SO not good. And of course I was in wherethef*ckamiohio. I needed to get some kind of fluid in the primary like now. About 10 miles and I found a gas station. Got some oil and sure enough, there wasn’t much left in the primary. But now I am kinda freaked out. I can’t stop every 200 miles and fill the stupid primary, and I don’t want my new clutch and primary chain to go crash bang. So I posted for help on the AMCA page. Within minutes, Jason Wadzinski replied, and not long after, Marty Zavakos also replied. They live literally minutes from where I was staying, so once I got to the Dayton area, they were ready to give me a hand. I still had 230-some miles to get there, and while I was trying to staunch the bleeding, it started pouring rain again. I figured I would just ride till I heard chain noise again, but the bike held together just fine till I got to Jason’s place. Jason hauled my bike up on the lift, and Marty pulled the primary cover off. Thank god and all that is shovelhead, no damage to the chain, or the clutch. No evidence of any real issues, actually, so Marty used some special sauce on the gasket, buttoned it back up, and we are all keeping our fingers crossed that it holds! Big HUGE thanks to Jason and Marty!! Another long day tomorrow, but hopefully not quite so grueling.
My starting mileage, the poster art for the road run, rain, repairs and wet clothes.
The Atomic Shovel is HOME!!! Thank you Ivy Vanessa Yapelli for giving me a lift, and for taking the beautiful pics of riding into the sunset! Feeling very John Wayne….pilgrim…. Got the bike home, popped the saddlebags on – they bit me – those damn springs. Cleaned and lowered the windshield, put most of the Red Fox jewels on – I need some Chicago screws to finish that job. Swapped my phone holder out for a larger one. Tried to put the chain guard on, but it was being fussy, so I will do that another day. Oh, and I had to adjust my right controls to get the right side mirror in the right position. Whoo!! Good bunch of little stuff done. The best part is how smooth the bike is now, compared to before. The vibration through the bike before was pretty violent, and very destructive. I did a post after my TN trip where I listed the 13 things that had fallen off or broken off the bike, or failed in some way due to the insane shovel shake. And with a brand new clutch and throw out bearing, the bike shifts like butter. Before, I literally had to stomp on the shifter to get the bike to go from one gear to the next. It was SO bad. Now it shifts just as nice as my 2011 Road King. I did forget how craptastic the brakes are though! Took a few stops for me to remember to leave myself space, and clamp the shit out of the front brake. OMG how I have missed this misfit bike! It is stubborn and crabby and crude – all torque and no top end – but I LOVE THIS BIKE. Utah, here we come!
Today certainly did not go as planned, but I am back on track. Minus a scratch and a chip in the brand new paint on my fender. Sumbitch. So I took the Atomic Shovel out for what was planned to be a 200-mile shakedown ride. It’s been running so good, I felt that was a reasonable goal. Until…… Rolling out of the driveway I heard a “rotational squeak.” As in, I had a squeak somewhere in the front wheel area that was related to wheel speed. WTF. Since I just put the front fender back on, I knew it was somehow related. I checked everything 6 times. Couldn’t find the source. Checked my tire. It looked fine. So I went. Screw it. I hit the gas station, and once I slowed down enough that the engine noise didn’t drown it out, there was that damn squeak again. At this point, I decided to stop over to the shop where the bike has lived and see if Dan could help me find the squeak. If it wasn’t life threatening, it would continue riding. If it was a problem, I was only 20 miles from home, so I could go back and fix it. Turns out it was the head of a ziptie I had used to lasso the tailgunner wires. I also noticed that I had lost the ring and lens for one of the same tailgunner lights. Sumbitch twice, and once more cuz it feels good. So I turned back and headed home. Shakedown aborted. Pulling that fender off and putting it back on by myself is a colossal pain in the ass. The first time was really bad. Today, I guess I figured out a couple things and it was slightly easier, but with the repairs and everything, I ended up gouging the paint in one spot and chipping it in another. Nothing I can do at this point. Also nothing I can do about the lost lens. I tried calling V-Twin to see if replacement parts are available, but could not get through to an actual human, so apparently for the moment, that answer is a hard no. Trying not to be super pissed about that. It isn’t really working tho. However, I did get the wires secured with a different strategy, got the fender reinstalled, tested the squeak (all gone), tested the lights, headlight back in and tested. All good. Tomorrow I have another shakedown planned. Hopefully that will go a bit more smoothly. I did take some better shots of the bike once I got it fixed. I swear I need to sage that damn bike. It has an angry soul.
Atomic update: Far better day today. Did about 200 miles with my girls today. Bike ran great, no front fender issues. Lost a screw out of my right hand controls, but I had extras with me, so a huge gob of loctite – no, I don’t care that you are only supposed to use a drop – and the new screw was in place. Tightened the others, loctited one of those. Tank badge screws were also loose. More loctite. Everything else appears to be holding tight. Huge thanks to my Stilettos sisters for all the love and support y’all give me. 💙💙💙💙
Atomic update: spent some quality time with the front fender today. I pulled it off for repair and repaint last year – thank you Todd Wilcox – so I have to put all the doodads back on it. It doesn’t seem like I got a lot done today, but getting the tailgunner lights reinstalled took some time. I tested them before I went too far. They are single wire, meaning the housing provides the ground, but when I tested them, nada. Even though they will probably work once the fender is bolted up to the bike, I didn’t feel like waiting to find out that maybe I still didn’t have a solid enough ground. So I just ran a ground for each light anyway. I took my time figuring out how and where to run the wires, but I got it done. Hooray. So I am about halfway done with fender duty.
A while back I got some “atomic stars” to decorate the front fender with. They are really just repop chrome bits that go on a Chevy, but that sounds so boring… I don’t have the stock strip that hugs the back of the front fender, so I decided that area needed a little shine. Thanks to Tom Delavan who answered my questions about how to attach them. Today I successfully drilled the fender and installed the atomic stars. Still have the fender ornament yet to do, but I feel a nap coming on.
A little more work on the front fender. I am almost done, but I need a 20-degree wedge, 1″ wide to mount the fender ornament sitting on the bench beside the fender. Dang it. I had a little wedge of aluminum but I tried getting fancy with it, and screwed it up. Twice. So I will have to wait till I can get that wedge made before I can finish the fender completely. I did get the stainless strip installed though. Sooooooooo close to done….
I needed a 20 degree perch for my fender ornament, so I swiped some aluminum from my old job, and enlisted Anna Szafranski to help me make it happen. She’s in a machining program, and I thought it would be cool to have a little piece from her hands on my bike. So yesterday, she popped by and got the perch made. Today I drilled it, and had to cut a D shaped hole in one side. Then I drilled the fender and mounted the fender ornament! I am SO HAPPY!!! Almost ready to bolt the fancy pants fender up to the bike….
Long, hard fought couple of days finishing the bike completely. I needed different hardware to make the red jewels work on the windshield because the brackets are so thick. So I waited for that to come in. Yesterday I put the battery cover back on, and in so doing, found the power wire for my heated gear had shaken loose, so I fixed that. I tightened up the right rear turn signal. Then I got busy putting the jewels on the windshield. Surprisingly, that took HOURS!! The shovel was fighting me at every turn. Today I installed the front fender, wired the tailgunner lights in and tested them. Closed up the headlight again, wiped the bike down, and then made an insert for the top of the left saddlebag to hold a few more tools that I realized I needed. I packed and repacked the saddlebags to get the best use of space, and by some small miracle, there is room for everything. Mostly… Sooooo the Atomic Shovel is unofficially ready for the Utah run. I have to get it inspected, and do a couple more serious shakedown rides. Then it goes back for a final check on the motor rebuild, and I am ready to go. I will take better pics tomorrow in the sunlight, but these will do for tonight.
Prepping the Atomic Shovel for a 5,000 mile trip to Utah. Even with a rebuilt motor, I am taking tools. When I traveled on this bike in 2019, tool storage in the bubble bags was quite the challenge. They are a funky shape, and I hated that the tool rolls were bouncing around in the bottom of the bags, which are somewhat fragile. Worse yet, when I did have to work on the bike, I would have to unpack BOTH bags to get at all the tools I needed. There had to be a better way…. Tonight I just finished a set of tool storage inserts for the bubble bags. My first run at this idea was with the leather bags on my ’73. That worked out pretty well, but I found what I think are some better strategies for securing the tools, so I tried them out on the Atomic bags. I will have 5,000 miles to learn whether or not they really work.
Tool holders from basic cutout to final installation in the bubble bags.
High adventures on the open road with the Atomic Shovel
I posted almost daily on this trip, so I will let my Facebook posts tell the story….
September 1, 2019:
Day 1 of Atomic Shovel road trip to Lebanon, TN. It was 55 degrees when I left at 7:30 a.m. It always seems like it takes an hour just to get out of Erie County, but overall, I think I made pretty good time. About 100 miles into my trip, I rounded a curve and heard this awful clatter, and the noise persisted, but quieter. I pulled to the side right away, and checked the bike over. I could not see a thing wrong. A guy stopped, and he checked the bike too. Nothing. Not a lot I could do. Couldn’t find the source. Motor sounded fine. Nothing was hanging, dragging, or flapping. At least nothing I could find. So I kept going. I figured I’d keep riding until I either found the problem, or went crazy from hearing a noise I couldn’t locate. A little further down the road, I saw my bike’s reflection in a truck tailgate, and I noticed one of my spots was out, and it looked like my headlight was out too. Seriously?! So next time I stopped, I checked, and sure enough, I only had one spot working and no headlight. F*ck. So I chitty chitty bang banged the rest of the 350 or so miles I had to go today, and got to my hotel. I checked in, hauled my luggage bag upstairs, and went right back out to find an AutoZone. I HAD to get that headlight working. Turns out the bulb and the pigtail were both shot. I don’t know if when the pigtail failed, it blew the bulb, or if the bulb blew and by some odd coincidence, the pigtail fried too. Definitely a bad ground. I pulled right up on their sidewalk, pulled my tools out of my saddlebag, and went after it. Before I went after the light though, I called Dan to see if he had any ideas about the rattle. After I described it, he said it sounded like maybe the chain was slapping the chain guard. So I took a look – now I had checked the saddlebags, and glanced at the chain guard, but I took a better look this time. The chain guard was completely detached. It was just floating in between the saddlebag, the chain and the tire. The rear bracket just broke at a bend, and the front bracket was sheared right off. The nut that had held the front bracket in place was completely gone. I was super lucky that the guard stayed put as well as it did. It didn’t do any damage to the bike that I can see. I’ll look more closely tomorrow to make sure. But it could have been pretty bad if the thing had either got jammed in my spokes, or in the chain somehow, or if it had flown out of its little space, because who knows where it would have gone, and what damage it could have done. All in all, I’m pretty happy with the day. It was a beautiful ride, even if it was a little noisy! And I got the bike fixed. Time for bed.
The broken chain guard that could have been my demise had it jammed itself into my wheel or chain. Lady Luck was with me today.I rolled right up on the sidewalk in front of AutoZone. It looked like rain, and even with the cigarette butts everywhere, it was preferable to the parking lot.
Day 2 of the Big Adventure with the Atomic Shovel… Well this morning it was supposed to rain early and clear off, so I didn’t even set my alarm. I’m up plenty early anyway. After the long day yesterday, I figured I’d sleep till I woke up. I only had about a 4-5 hour ride from Lancaster, OH to Lexington, KY. An easy day…. I checked the radar, and it looked like I had a window to get out between rain storms, so I dashed back to my room after breakfast, and grabbed my luggage – ready to make a break. By the time I got back to the bike, it was pouring small furry animals. I went ahead and got the bike ready, and as soon as it cleared, I was off. The bike was running good, no more clattering, the headlight was burning bright, all was good in the world. About 100 miles in, I decided to stop for fluid change – mine. I pulled into a gas station, and took a little break. Got back on the bike and it would start, but it wouldn’t stay running. I thought maybe I flooded it, so I waited and tried again. Still wouldn’t stay running. What else am I going to do but call shovel tech support – that would be Dan. After asking me a bunch of questions, he said very probably the bike was just hot, and also possibly flooded. I felt the coil cover and it was still smoking hot. So I rolled it into the shade, got another iced tea and some crackers, and waited. I gave it another try after the coil cover felt like it was at ambient temp, and the bike started right up. I had pushed the bike hard yesterday, but it was fairly cool out. I pushed it hard again that first 100 miles, but it was much warmer today. So the bike pushed back. I’ve still not ridden this bike that much, and not in the heat, so I had no reference point to go by. Now I know. From there on, I took it easier – went about 50-52 mph instead of 56-58. Sounds silly, but it does make a difference. About 20 miles from Lexington, I stopped for gas, and noticed quite a big oil splatter down the right side of the bike. Looking closer, it appears my front head gasket is leaking. I checked the oil, and the level was fine, so what looks like the Exxon Valdez down the side of my bike is really probably about 10 drops. I went ahead and rode it to my hotel in Lexington, and called tech support again. Wonder when he’s going to stop answering his phone… Lol! But he said what I hoped he’d say. As long as I’m not losing massive amounts of oil, and as long as the motor isn’t making bad noises, ride it. Yes sir!!! However, I was not in the mood to chase down my spotlights – maybe sometime this week I’ll have time. And I planned to visit a few places in Lexington – I lived here till I was 12, and have only been back twice. Scotched those plans, so I am currently finishing dinner and having a couple margs. That seems like the right thing to do. Stay tuned for Day 3.
The oil spatter is most evident on my Birch White saddlebags. Agh!
Days 3 and 4 of the Atomic Shovel’s big adventure. Been having too much fun to post, but day 3 I rode from Lexington, KY to Lebanon, TN. The morning was cool, and there was a light fog in the low areas. I had forgotten just how beautiful Kentucky is. Anyway, when we last left our story, I had thought I had a slight head gasket leak; however, I cleaned the bike up the night before I left Lex, and when I was warming it up to leave, I noticed a small stream of oil coming from one of the rocker box nut things – not sure what they are called, exactly. The gasket sealer and o-ring were failing. A far easier fix than a head gasket. So on the way, I stopped (yet again) at an AutoZone, and got gasket sealer, another set of Allen wrenches, because I didn’t have one large enough in the first set I bought, and some brake kleen. When I got to TN, I figured I’d goop the thing up and be done with it. So I was a bit more relaxed on the ride, and saw some beautiful country. When I got to Lebanon, my friend whom I met at the PA meet I did in June, was here. We were planning to ride into Nashville for the afternoon that day, but he had driven all night to get here, and I had this oil thing, so we debated what to do. We ended up fixing my oil leak with the gasket goop, and he showed me where the o-ring was pinched, so when I get home, I’ll have to fix it with a new one, but so far, this is holding. We let the gasket sealer set and went to lunch next door. When we came back and were getting ready to go, an older gentleman was sitting on a bench checking my bike out, and as I started it up, it was being a little crabby and backfired a couple times. It does that sometimes, so I didn’t think much about it. But he saw an exhaust puff come from the front of the motor, and noticed the bolt holding my front exhaust pipe was missing. Seriously. Now the shovel is just being a jerk. 🙄 So we rode over to the Home Desperate across the road, bought a bolt, and my pal popped it in. Come to find out the threads are beginning to strip, so he backed it back out, gooped it up with my gasket sealer, and put it back in. Take that! Then we rode in to Nashville and played on Lower Broad for a few hours. Side note, I had called the Hampton Inn downtown, and asked if we could park our bikes there for a few hours, and they said yes, so that worked out perfectly. So far, everything has held, so that’s good. I do still have another place oil is seeping. I think it’s coming from between the top of the front rocker box, and the head. So it bears watching, but it’s nothing like the leak we fixed. Day 4 was spent mostly nursing a hangover from blowing off some steam from days 1 thru 3, so not much to talk about there! However, we did ride over to the event registration, and I ran into quite a few folks from the Panhead Reunion last year, and the PA run in June. Everybody milled around each other’s bikes and then we went in for the opening banquet. Today, we do the first ride of the run. It’s supposed to be clear and hot. Should be fun!
Day 5 of the Atomic Shovel’s big adventure. First day of the road run – hot, sunny, beautiful day to ride these old bikes. 125 vintage bikes on the roads in the Tennessee hills – it does not get better than this! Sadly, I have nothing more to report – the Shovel ran great, I did not have to fix anything, or re-fix anything, and this means I have probably just screwed myself for tomorrow’s ride. I’m out.
Getting ready for the first day’s run – Allen Robinson on his knuckle and the Atomic Shovel at the ready.
Days 6 and 7 of the Atomic Shovel’s big adventure. Beautiful riding in the Tennessee hills with great people. Again, the shovel is performing pretty well. Thinking the starter button or wiring may need some attention at some point. It is starting to take a couple tries before it responds.
Thursday’s ride took us to a lunch spot in a little park, and there were these spring animals there, just like the ones I used to play on as a little kid. Of course, me, being me, I hopped on the duck and started rockin’ it! If the shovel doesn’t start behaving, I might just rock the duck instead!!
Rockin’ the duck!
Friday is the last day of the run, and we have the closing banquet tonight. I will be sad to leave tomorrow, but I have had such a great time, and have met so many great people, and have seen friends I’ve made from previous vintage events. It doesn’t get any better than this!
Day 7 revised… Clearly, I posted too soon about a trouble-free Day 7. After the banquet, we went out to warm up our bikes, and I noticed that my hi-beam light wasn’t lit on my dash. I’d been running my hi since I left home for visibility, and that light was on when I parked the bike for the banquet. So I flicked the switch. Nothing. Hopped off the bike to look – nope – no headlight. Again. Nothing to do but ride back to the hotel – fortunately it wasn’t far, and the roads were very secondary, but well lit. I also relied on the headlight on Allen’s bike in front of me, and I got back just fine. So, here it was, maybe 9-9:30 p.m., and I was leaving for the first part of my ride home the next day. With no headlight. Nope. Not gonna happen. For the second time in a week, pulled the headlight apart. We determined it was the switch on the handlebars that was failing. I couldn’t fix that, since I didn’t have a replacement switch or soldering iron, so I didn’t even open up the housing to verify. Instead, I just hooked the hi-beam wire to my spotlight switch, and that gave me a headlight for the ride home. Done.
Hotel parking lot repairs – not an unusual situation for the vintage rider.
Day 8: The Atomic Shovel heads toward home. I got my headlight fixed yesterday, and was doing a once-over on the bike today. Somewhere, I lost a hitch pin that holds my saddlebag on. I have extras…. At home in my hardware box. There was a Home Desperate across the street from the hotel, so I just stopped there on my way out of town. I bought 4 of them, just in case any others decide to sproing off. Everything else was holding together, as far as I could tell, but the starter button is getting worse and worse. And then… I had just ridden through Lexington, and was out in the next county – gorgeous scenery… When I felt something nudge my foot. OK… I’m on a bike, there shouldn’t be anything nudging me. I looked down, and my horn was resting on top of my foot, hanging by the wires. Whattheeverlovingfuck! Lol! Seriously, this bike is STILL throwing tantrums! There was no good place to stop and pull off the road, so I reached down and disconnected the wires. I put the horn on the seat between my legs, and looked for the gas station that I knew was coming up soon. I had stopped here on my way down, so I knew where I was. Sure enough, a couple miles down was a gas station, and I pulled in and put the horn in my saddlebag. I have one more day. 10 more hours on the road. This bike is running out of peripheral things to throw off itself. Gonna have to sweet talk it to get me home. Meanwhile, the winter to-do list grows….
September 7, 2019:
On the ride from Lancaster, OH to Lexington, KY, I passed an old Shell station. It was so super-cool, and I wanted to stop and take pics, but I was kind of on a mission to get to Lexington (which later got delayed anyway), so I didn’t stop. On the way back today, I took the same route, and passed that station again. This time, I turned around and went back for a couple pics. Happy I did! If you look close, you can tell that this was after my horn fell off. Incidentally, shell was the first word I ever read on a sign out in the real world. There was a Shell station near our house when I was small, and I still remember reading that sign for the first time. Cool, huh?!
This station was built in 1949 – the first year of the Panhead motor.
September 7, 2019:
Just for fun, here’s a list of all the parts that have either broken, or shaken off the shovel on this trip: 1. Headlight 2. Headlight pigtail 3. Spotlight bulb blown 4. Chain guard broke loose 5. Rocker box oil seepage 6. Lost 1 screw out of right handlebar control housing 7. Oil seepage between front rocker box and head 8. Front exhaust bolt gone 9. Starter button failing 10. Headlight switch failed 11. Saddlebag hitch pin gone 12. Horn bracket broken
I think that’s it, maybe!
Day 9: Final day of the Atomic Shovel adventure: The last push home. It was cool when I left Lancaster, OH for Lancaster, NY. I gave the bike a once-over at the hotel, and nothing else looked like it was going to jettison itself off – although, nothing ever does, and all of a sudden, something is just gone. Regardless, I do my once-over, and I believe I am good. However… and I have already learned that there is ALWAYS a ‘however’… It was in this moment that the starter button no longer worked. I knew it was coming. Just a matter of time. So I had to use a screwdriver to bridge the posts on the solenoid mounted under the battery. Thankfully, it is exposed and easy to get to. So I started the bike, and while it was warming up, I checked everything once again. Apparently distracted by this situation, I didn’t think through the ambient temps, and didn’t dress warmly enough, so I ended up stopping for gas sooner than I planned so that I could put my heated jacket on. The rest of the ride was very comfy. In fact, the final 400 miles of the trip were mostly uneventful. Mostly. The bike ran great in the cooler air, and the route had beautiful scenery, charming small towns. However… yes, the however again… riding through this one small town, my GPS took me through a section of road paved with red brick. There were deep ruts from car and truck tires, and some places there were these weird uneven swales. The ruts were fairly easy to see, so I didn’t have any trouble with those, but one of the swales caught me off guard. I hit that thing HARD. I wasn’t going fast – I couldn’t – it was a residential street, I was heading uphill, and the bike doesn’t pull hills all that well – I think I was maybe doing 25 at most. But I hit that swale, and my entire self was off the seat – airborne! To the point where it pulled the plug from my heated jacket. I am pretty sure the bike lifted as well, but the front end smashed so hard that it bottomed out the front fork, which meant the tail of my rocket hood ornament smashed into the bottom of the nacelle. When I stopped later, I checked the front end, and indeed, the rocket’s tail is cracked. So I will add that to the list of repairs. Aside from that, I made it home, the shovel made it home, and our Atomic Adventure ends. Despite, or perhaps because of all the shovel’s tantrums, I had possibly the best time ever. I would do it again in a heartbeat, and in fact, I’ll put the shovel on the lift, and start working through my list of repairs, so that I CAN do it again… There are a couple runs next season that sound amazing, and would require a cross-country trek. Thinking I’m IN!
The broken rocket fender ornament. Another casualty of the Atomic Shovel.
At the closing banquet of the run, I received a really nice award. I was a lot surprised, and it took me the two days’ ride home to digest it and be able to write about it. Here is what I said when I finally posted:
September 9, 2019:
I’ve saved this news since Friday. I wanted to think about what it really means, and how to share it. I hope I do this honor justice. At the final banquet Friday night, they gave out awards for various accomplishments – oldest bike, oldest rider, youngest rider, longest distance, and a few others. These are standard road run awards. But this group added one. It is called “Girls Ride Too.” And it was to recognize the woman they felt best represented those of us who ride these old bikes. There were more women riders at this event than the previous road run I attended. I did not get to meet or talk to all of them, but there were women riding kickers – knuckles, pans, Indian Chiefs, etc. There were women on evos, and me on my shovel. There were other women who chose to ride two-up with their husbands for the meet, but who ride their own bikes normally. Out of all these incredible ladies, they chose to honor me with this first-time award. I am brand new to the vintage bike world, and these people have embraced me in a way that I could never have anticipated. There is a long and rich history of women riders, going back to the beginning of motorcycles as a mode of transportation. Many women riding today can, and do work on their own bikes. But the fact that the Music City AMCA Chapter felt that I represented these women is beyond humbling. I hear so many women riders (of modern bikes) comment that they are always dealing with ridiculous comments from men. I wish that they would come with me to a vintage event and see how REAL men feel about things. All these guys care about is that these old bikes are on the road, running, and that the knowledge about them gets passed to the next generation. This is why I get to learn so much – all I did was show some interest, and these guys just open their brains and dish out whatever I need to know. So, I cannot thank the Music City chapter enough for the honor, and I hope to see more women embrace this amazing culture of vintage bikes. I post frequently about my adventures working on my shovel, and part of the reason I do this, is because I have a lot of women rider friends, and I hope that maybe seeing me tackle this, someone else may get inspired and try it too. I cannot describe the feeling I get every time I get on that bike and ride it, knowing the work I’ve done, knowing that if something does break, I am not lost. If I can’t fix it, I can give a pretty good go at diagnosing the problem. The AMCA wants to see more women as riding members, and there is no reason why that should not happen. After all, internal combustion IS the ultimate accessory!
Unbeknownst to me, the miles to and from PA wreaked havoc on the bike. I rode it a few times after I returned, and started seeing issues pop up. The forks were leaking oil again, the kicker gasket was leaking fluid, I already knew I needed to replace the tires, and I lost my headlight, and my turn signals were not working properly. Anytime I pressed either turn signal button, they’d all go on 4-way flash. Uh-oh.
All of these things had to be fixed before I left for Tennessee, and I had very little time of my own to take care of all of these problems. I knew I could fix the electrical, but the rest of it I’d need help with, so the bike went back out to Dan’s shop and up on the lift.
Back at Dan’s, the shovel feels at home. The Valdez-size slick is NOT from my bike.
July 27, 2019:
I had a really productive couple days on the shovel. Found the culprit to my rear fender wiring problem. Where the harness went through the side of the fender, the tire rubbed right through the loom and insulation, right down to bare wire. Sumbitch. That ‘splains why my turn signals acted like 4-way flashers. Soooo, I got all the wiring removed last night, and made some headway on beginning the rewire. Finished up today. It’s all wired and tested, waterproofed, signed, sealed, delivered. This week, I’ll put the rear fender back on the bike, and make sure the harness is properly tucked close this time so the tire doesn’t shred it. Dan will get new tires on the bike this week, and fix the forks. Then the only thing left will be the kicker cover gasket.
Wires from the rear harness rubbed down to nothing. They had loom on them as well.
I knew that the rear fender had been wired incorrectly to begin with, and that I would have to address that eventually. I was hoping it would hold till winter, but since the harness itself was destroyed, I went ahead and just pulled the rear fender off and rewired it from scratch. I also took the time to swap incandescent bulbs in the rear turns for LED.
The mess of wiring under the rear fender. Dig the bits of grass stuck to the inside of the fender.
Once I rewired the rear fender correctly, it looked like this:
Nice and tidy. I ended up filling this cavity and covering all the wires with about a tube and a half of silicone to keep it watertight, and tucked where it belongs.
I ended up making a lot of my wiring connections inside the rear turn signal housings instead of up under the fender. This made for a neater end result, and kept the splices high and dry. Here’s the left signal housing in process:
We used a Drag Specialties LED signal and hard wired it inside the housing.
The rear fender was my biggest project, but I had a pretty decent list of smaller items I needed to tackle as well.
July 31, 2019:
Funny how sometimes you plan to do one thing, but you end up doing a bunch of other things instead. I thought I was going to hang the rewired rear fender on the shovel last night, but events conspired against that happening. However, a lot of stuff got done anyway. Some I did, and some Dan orchestrated, or did. He got the fork leaks fixed – that was big. And the bike has new tires. No more stinko Shinkos!!! I got the spotlight lenses secured so they won’t rotate in the housing. That drove me crazy. I have these really cool lens covers on them, and the whole thing would rotate as the bike shook, so they started out oriented the same way, and ended up all wonky. So I just dabbed some silicone on the edge and I’m hoping that will secure them from rotating. (Note: worked like a charm!) I also got the headlight visor secured for the same reason. When I’d ride, it would vibrate off center and kind of looked like a ghetto-style ballcap. So again, a bit of silicone between the visor and the beauty ring, and hopefully that will keep it centered. I also added some extra silicone to the rear fender cavity where the wiring lives. Apparently silicone is the new duct tape in my world. I won’t be able to work on the bike again till next week, but then, I should be able to hang the fender and reattach the wiring harness. After that, all I have to do is put the luggage rack and bags back on. Since I’m somewhat pressed for time, I’m going to have Dan and his guy do the kicker cover gasket, and replace an oil line that looks like it might let go. I wish I could at least help with those jobs, but my time is so limited, and it is more important to get these things done well before I leave for Nashville in September, than it is for me to have my hands in everything that gets done.
You can see how the decorative covers on my spotlights aren’t oriented the same. They started out that way, but after all the vibration, this is how the ended up. A little dab of silicone on them keeps them oriented in the same position.
There were even a few more items we took care of while the bike was at Dan’s, including new brake lines.
August 6, 2019:
I should already be asleep – tomorrow is going to be another long day. But… The infamous Shovel Update returns! So. Dan and I got the rear fender mounted tonight, and I connected the harness to the rear block. Looks awesome! Everything works. No splices under the fender, and everything is water tight up undah theyah! WIN! I also put a shorter bolt in the chain guard. The previous one actually punched a hole in my brand new saddlebag. Not a win. So I at least removed the clearance issue there. The hole in the saddlebag remains.
NOTE: I’d noticed when I pulled the saddlebags off that there was a hole pinched in the left bag. I looked, and sure enough there was a long, decorative acorn nut that I hadn’t noticed was a clearance issue, so it ripped right through my bag. The bags are from B&B Reproductions, and when I contacted them to see if they could repair the bag and what it would cost, he said just send the bag to him and he would repair it no charge. All I had to do what ship it both ways. Gotta love good customer relations.
Both tires are now on, kicker cover gasket is fixed, and the seals inside were completely wrong, so those are now correct. Scary oil line replaced. Dan noticed my brake lines were getting rubbed through to the metal, so those will get replaced as well. Next week the bike should be buttoned up and I can ride it again! I can’t wait. I freakin LOVE that bike. 💜💜💜
Shovelove!
August 16, 2019:
So, apparently yesterday was “battle with inanimate objects” day. I went to pick up my shovel, which had been on a lift for 4-5 weeks. It started up fine and ran fine – I even asked Dan about the battery, and he said that by the time it runs a bit, it should fully charge. So he took it for a test run, adjusted the clutch, took it out again, and then handed it over to me. I took off, stopped at a gas station and put a couple gallons in, since he said he’d had to put it on reserve when he was riding it, then headed home. About 5 miles from home, at a traffic light, the bike stalled and died. Wouldn’t start. Just dead. Awesome. So here I am at a traffic light with a semi right on my ass (he’d been following too close for miles already), and my bike won’t start. I tried a couple times, quick, then just rolled off to the side to let Mister Semi-in-a-Hurry pass me. Tried a few more times, and it just got more sluggish. I have AAA, but with a bike, you’re always looking at about a 2-hour wait because they have to free up a flatbed, and make sure they have the wheel chock on board. Plus, I was on a main road, 55 mph, with not a lot of shoulder. The road was crested as well, and because my kickstand is so low, I couldn’t get it down without putting the bike too far off balance, and the last thing I needed to do was drop the damn bike on top of everything else. Did I mention this was awesome?
So I just started pushing the bike. There was a park entrance ahead that was flat, so I could get it to there, put the damn kickstand down, and figure out my next move. All I really wanted to do was get the thing home. Five more miles, and I was home free. But 5 miles with a bike that doesn’t start, is a VERY VERY LONG 5 miles… While I was pushing the bike, this man stopped and offered to help, so he helped me push it to the park entrance, and I tried the ignition one more time, just for the hell of it. It STARTED. Thank you Jesus and all that’s holy. So I said, look, it’s running, I’m riding it home. He shook his head and insisted on following to make sure it didn’t stall or die again, which it didn’t, and I got it home. This afternoon, it’s going on the charger. I do not want to deal with anything else mechanical today.
August 17, 2019:
Took the shovel out today to see if the battery situation was resolved. I believe it’s all good. Got back and gave it a good scrubbing. There she sits, buddy just a gleamin’ in the sun…
August 20, 2019:
Shovel update: The Atomic Shovel is officially back on the road!! I charged the battery and did about 70 miles on it just to see how it held. Everything was just fine. So between Dan and me, we got all the things on my to-do list, to-done (LOL). Rear fender rewired, new seal on taillight lens, new LED rear turn signals, replaced small LEDs in the rear running lights, secured the spotlight lenses so they no longer rotate when the bike shakes like a wet dog, ditto on the headlight visor, fork seals replaced, odd crossover oil line (previous moron used windshield wiper/washer tubing) replaced, brake lines replaced, headlight bulb replaced, new tires, kicker cover gasket and seals replaced, coil cover screws replaced with hex bolts, taillight hermetically sealed from the elements. And yes, even with all this, I have a winter list to tackle! However, I’m going to spend the next week and a half putting some miles on it, and then I’m riding it to Lebanon, TN (outside Nashvegas) for a vintage run. I can’t wait! There is nothing I love more than packing a bike up and heading out of town. I never really thought of this bike as a road tripper, but as much work as I’ve done to it, there’s no reason not to travel on it. I have to take surface roads, since this bike is happy right in the 50-55 mph groove, so it makes the trip longer, but a lot more scenic, and relaxing. On the Road King, I pound the highway miles out. On the Shovel, I cruise through small towns, see the country, enjoy the journey. There is something about how crude and mechanical this bike is, that I love. I can’t explain it, but even though it can be stubborn and difficult, and riding it is a very physical experience, compared to a modern bike, I just love this bike.
August 22, 2019:
Shovel update: Yeah, still doing stuff. I realized yesterday that I’m going to be doing some night riding on my trip, which is great except the light in my speedo wasn’t working. So in true “me” fashion, I pulled the dash, and saw that the bulb had fallen out and was flopping around under the dash. It was a crappy light anyway, so I pulled the speedo, and fitted up some small LED bulbs in the spot where the “dim bulb” was supposed to go. Originally I was going to ground the lights to the dash, but I didn’t have a large enough ring terminal, so I decided to ground it to the speedo case. Which was a great idea till it didn’t work because the speedo is rubber mounted. Oops! So I had to find the right size ring terminal and redo it. This afternoon I finished it up and now I have a working light in my speedo! Hooray! Since I’m not sure exactly when, the horn has decided not to work. Not sure what’s up with that, but if I’m feeling cute, maybe I’ll chase it down later, idk.
August 28, 2019:
SO chuffed! Rode out to visit my shovelhead mentor, had a nice chat, and headed home about 9:15. It was dark, so I could see how well the Speedo lights worked – I haven’t seen them lit up in complete darkness since I installed them last week. I also got to see how far my new headlight bulb reaches on low and high beam. Both were a win! The Speedo light is AWESOME!!! Far better than the original, and the way I put it together, the lights won’t be falling out of the Speedo and rattle around under the dash. The headlight, even on low beam has good reach, both out front, and side to side. The high beam is even better. I don’t do much riding after dark because of the very active deer population here. Doe party time starts about dusk, so I’m usually home and parked by then. But I wanted to make sure the shovel had effective lighting on it for the times when I do ride after dark. Nailed it. The Atomic Shovel rides at night.
The Allegheny Mountain Chapter Road Run. June 10-12, 2019 Ligonier. PA
This is a compilation of my Facebook posts from this road run. Even with the weather and the issues I had with the bike, it was a fabulous trip that gave me even more confidence in myself and my bike.
June 7, 2019:
So the day approaches. Tomorrow I leave for PA on my shovel. I’ve been planning and working toward this trip since December. Kind of gave a specific purpose and deadline to the shovel project. My plan was to finish the bike by the end of March, get it on the dyno in April, and then have it waiting in my garage for any decent day in May to test ride. I wanted to have about 500 miles on the bike before I took it out of state. However, a few unplanned delays pretty much destroyed that dream. The reality is that I have been able to put about 160 miles on the bike after I finally finished it May 31. They have been uneventful miles, with the exception of having a little trouble popping the bike into neutral once. After I let it cool down, it went right in, and I haven’t had any trouble since. So that is good. All the work we’ve done is holding together, and the bike is running great. But I’m still a bit anxious about taking what is still, to me, an unproven bike, on a 230 mile ride to PA, do probably another 300+ miles of riding there over 3 days, and another 230 miles home. 800 miles on a relatively unproven bike. I’m not anxious enough to scotch my plans – it has been a real champ in those 160 miles. But it’s an old bike. I’ve done a lot to it, but there is a lot I haven’t done. And it’s not a bike that I can just pull into a dealer and say, hey, I need a part for a ’74 FLH. That doesn’t happen. Ever. So I’m going for it with the attitude that whatever happens, happens, and I will deal with it. I’m not the kind to borrow trouble, but I’m not foolish enough to think that nothing could happen. If I happen to cross your mind this next week, just send me a good thought, or prayer, or whatever you might do to wish me well. Life is too short to sit home, and this bike is too damn cool NOT to ride.
The Atomic Shovel on the Ligonier Diamond. So far, so good.
The ride to PA was relatively uneventful; however, I had one scramble moment just before I saddled up to go. I had added a 12v outlet in behind the headlight to plug my phone in to use GPS, and the vibration of the bike shook the USB connection loose. So as I was getting ready to leave the driveway, I noticed that the phone wasn’t on charge like it should have been.
I knew right away what the problem was. I’d already had it shake loose once, but I thought I’d taped it together tight enough. Nope. So here I was at the last minute, taking my headlight apart to fix the situation. No way my phone would make it powered up for 6 hours without a constant power source. I hate getting in and out of that headlight nacelle. It has steel screws going into aluminum holes. You have to be super careful re-tightening the screws – get them tight enough to not rattle loose, but don’t reef down on them and strip the threaded holes. I’m nervous as a cat every time, and it seems I have been constantly in and out of that damn nacelle.
So I taped the connections together yet again, and headed out. A little nervous – some butterflies. I still had no idea what my gas tank range was before I hit reserve, and I still felt the bike was unproven, but off I went. I found my range was around 180 miles. The first time. I’ve hit reserve as low as 135 miles, and as high as 180.
The ride was uneventful, really. Just a kick to be riding the bike that I’d tilted with for the better part of six months. I was actually so proud of myself, I could hardly feel the ground under my boots when I walked, in all honesty.
On the ride, I had a lot of time to think about how I was going to actually fix that 12v port and connections so it wouldn’t loosen up again. I knew that my electrical tape job was a hack. Actually, my final fix was also a hack, albeit a permanent one. When I got to PA and checked in, I pulled my luggage off the bike, put it in the room, and immediately got my tools out. Pulled the headlight nacelle apart again, and set about cobbling that power connection together.
I had brought a tube of silicone with me, so I pulled all the electrical tape off the connections, and tested the entire thing. It was good. No issues with the components. So I pulled the first connection apart – the 12v port and the USB adapter. I siliconed around the two components, then wrapped the entire thing in electrical tape. Tested, and I still had power through the connection.
I pulled the second connection apart – the USB adapter and the USB charging cable that ran to my handlebars. I silicone those two components together, wrapped them in electrical tape and tested for power again. All good. Done. Buttoned up the headlight, and I was all set.
At the host hotel, in good company.
The road run was a lot of fun. I saw some people I knew, met some new friends, and did some challenging rides. I’m not much for mountain riding. I simply don’t like near any real mountainous routes, so when I get into that kind of riding, I have to slow down and kind of think my way through the curves until I get the hang of it again. I have to do this every time. It is what it is, and I don’t lose sleep over it.
However, the tires that were on my bike from the previous owner were kind of squared off like a car or sidecar tire. They made for some sketchy handling in the PA mountains with riders easily sweeping through the mountain curves. There was no easy sweeping on my bike. It felt really weird to lean the bike too far – it felt like the tires were pushing back on me when I’d lean too far into that square corner of the tire. So I had to slow way down and kind of counter steer the bike. I dealt with it, but I definitely decided to pull those tires off that bike when I got home and put some daggone Dunlops on it.
Add to the square tire situation the fact that we had rain the very first day of the ride. I’d never ridden this bike in the rain, so I had no idea how it would handle. I’m a veteran of rain riding in general, but never on this bike. The bike did pretty well, but I learned that it was a combination of rain and certain types of road surfaces that affected how the bike felt. Most surfaces were fine. Other surfaces made the bike feel like it was dancing under me.
All in all, it was fine. Better than I anticipated, which was good since the day I rode home, it rained the entire day across my entire route. That morning it was pouring pretty good, so I just waited it out. They were calling for about an hour window where it would lighten up a bit, so I took my time getting ready. Packed the bike, then got into full battle rattle against the elements. Even my luggage has rain gear!
The ride home was wet, but again, uneventful. When I pulled into my driveway, I was the happiest girl in the world! I had just pulled off what many thought I could not do. What I wasn’t totally confident I could do. But here I was. In my driveway. Successful.
Never one to be satisfied with what I’ve accomplished, I’d already begun formulating a plan to ride the Atomic Shovel to the Music City Road Run in Lebanon, TN in September.
Dressed in full rain gear for the 6-hour ride home. It rained the entire way. The. Entire. Way.
The Atomic Shovel 