Laughing Now

[gaijin]

In my early '20 and early spring, I decided to ride to Texas via Julian, CA toward Yuma, AZ.

On the 1st day of my riding, I got caught in the rain and going up the mountain, cold. All I had back then were goose down jacket and a pair of jean, wet. I decided to stop for a night (small hotel) at Julian, expect to get good weather the next day.

Little that I know, rain turned to snow (18" or more) when I woke up next morning. I wanted to get out of town before it got worst. Looking down from 2nd floor window, I could not see my bike anywhere, stolen?? Suck!! I went down to look for it; it was covered under 3 feet of snow, thank Buddha!! I packed my stuffs on the bike and try to start it. NO START. I pushed it across the street to gas station and used air hose to blow away snow that stuck between fins. I got it to start. Now What?? Should I go or I stay, a foot of packed snow on the street and down hill??

I took a chance, rode the bike (Honda 250 Elsinore) out of town with both of my feet on the ground, dragging on winding road. The driver must say, that guy is an idiot. It is snow and why the hell is he riding in such condition.

As soon as I came to 3000 feet elevation, NO SNOW, DRY AND HOT. I mean hot hot. My goose down jacket came off and I was very happy all the way to Yuma, AZ.

It was very stressful and stupid with little money. I could not afford to hang around in the hotel and hope for good weather.

I am now in Mid' 50. Do I want to do that again? Hell NO!! But it was fun and adventure then.

This is why I am laughing now.

[wncbmw]

We do things when we are young, stupid and broke that we would never do as we get older, wiser and more affluent!

What doesn't kill you - makes you stronger. And makes for better stories!

[Ric]

I did similar things.
When about 23 yrs old I was given a free hotel room one night out of pity by the hotel manager.
It was way cold outside.

[gaijin]

Life is much simple back then.

I mentioned about my adventurous times to wife and coworkers; they said that I am crazy, slept next to cemetery, front of post office (somewhere in North Dakota). I was tired when I slept near the gate of cemetery (dead do not harm me, only the living); I was running out of gas, gas station was closed and post office has roof for me to sleep under.

I have been out of US of A over 18 years and two short visits. US is a strange place for me now. I like slow pace in northern japan, small town feeling community. Most shops and stores are closed by 7 PM. Tokyo is nice place to visit but I would not want to live there.

[jonberm]

Well..... This topic made me laugh, as I have many of those "Laughing now moments". But, when I was 25 I had my first bike, a 1982 HD Sportster. Amazing bike, but needed more TLC than I knew how to give at the moment. I kept it about 15 miles away at my friends, parents garage. I was single and living alone..... As I was getting dressed to leave for a ride one day, I realized I had not done laundry for who knows how long, and I had no clean socks. So...... I figured...who needs socks... On with the combat boots.
Long story short.... I rode for about 2 miles and fouled a spark plug, and I could not her going enough on one cylinder to ride back. While walking the bike back to my buddies place I felt fine. Just a little tired and sweaty. Then.....The pain set in. I had the nastiest most painful blisters EVER! All over my feet. It took weeks to finally heal up.
Needless to say I took months of verbal abuse.
Lesson well learned. Always check the plugs on a Shovelhead or earlier HD motor, before going off for a ride.

[gaijin]

"Young and Stupid", we are invincible/no harm done!!

In late '70 (1978), I did a marathon walking in Holland ( Nijmengen) when I was stationed in Germany. It is 100 miles within 4 days with 50 pounds of backpacking and no running allowed. I walked 25 miles each day via different towns and enjoyed sightseeing. I walked so fast on the first day; my whole body ached so bad on 2nd day. To keep me going, I took two Aspirins every 6 hours for the next 3 days. I MADE IT.

There are some people that walked this event very year. This event started before WW II until today. Only time this event cancelled, it was during WW II.

If you have a chance to visit Holland, try this walking stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internatio ... h_Nijmegen