CMIII day two

day two started out groggier than day one. We all woke up and shook off the libations that were consumed the evening before, and tried to go about the day.

a quick stop off for "coffee and honeybuns" and we pulled out of wolf lake headed north. Yard Sale of course lost his brand new pack of smokes 50ft from the gas station driveway.

I told you this kid is nuts! feet on passenger pegs, oncoming traffic, doesn't matter. looks like alot of work for a picture, but when you see the results, it's almost worth the death-defying effort!

one of the many waiting sessions. i think this is the one where Yard Sales tank bolt fell out.

Warren..... you're leaning man.

haha check out the hole in the crotch.

so this is where my trip got interesting... Warren decided he needed a new pair of pants and somehow our group got split into a few groups. in an attempt to catch up to the second group, we wandered around the mall parking lot trying to find the rest of the gang. no luck... but whats that? a nice tight turn in a mall parking lot?!?!? SWEET! i whack the throttle and lean the bike over as far as she will go to the left.... interesting fact kids: though it is a round, spinning part on your motorcycle, you actually CANNOT ride on your clutch hub! trust me i found this out the hard way after i began a 30ft skid across the parking lot. I can still see in my head my bike and i sliding backwards in a cloud of all kinds of crap. luckily i had a helmet on cause my head hit the curb with some decent force. damage assessment: bent handlebars, gouged clutch hub, broken clutch lever, torn up new shoes, a gaping hole in the side of my hand, and a bruised ego. I'll be the first to admit when i screw up and this was it. It seems i have no problem riding a bike on the street... but put me in a parking lot or dirt road and i'm determined to do something stupid that results in me and my motorcycle in a breakdance competition.

 

so after getting a new clutch lever from a dealer (thanks shawn!), we met up with the other half of the group. they just got finished putting a new primary belt on harlows bike. we sat for a few minutes and swapped comedic stories before hitting the road and continuing on towards the mackinaw bridge.

Then i see brad on the side of the road. bike smoking, oil everywhere, he jumps off and says his pushrod clip fell out. I wish. upon closer observation, brad finds that he actually snapped the adjuster on the front cyclinder exhaust lifter.

ho.lee.crap.

I've never seen so many bikes pass by without a single one stopping. a man in a jeep cherokee stops and asks if we need anything. turns out he's a machinist and has a few numbers to some shops in town. he offers to make the part, but brad tracks one down at a local shop and he and shawn split to go get it.  

in the meantime, Rob runs to McDonalds for 1/4pounders and him, me, and Yard Sale enjoy them in the bed of grass beneath the tree. I think the total elapsed time on this breakdown was something like 4 hours. by this time the rest of the group is at the foot of the Mackinaw Bridge waiting for us.

It got late quick and by the time we got near the bridge, it was well after dark. The boys decided they didn't want to cross the big bridge without the entire group so they found a non-official campsite and waited for us. by the time we got there tired, frustrated, ready for a beer, the other half was already three sheets to the wind. They'd been waiting on us to light the evenings ceremonial tequila lime wrapped blunt. I stood and looked at the circle of dirty nasty hooligans in front of me and could do nothing but smile. I realized that nite just how special this ride was. 15 different people. 15 different bikes. 1 goal: fun. everyone laughing, swapping stories, sharing beer, sangria, smoke, and food. its where i realized we are all in this together and that we're all looking out for eachother to make sure everyone is ok, has a full belly, a good buzz, and a smile on their face. I slipped into my sleeping bag near the fire and drifted off to laughter and conversation.

day three tomorrow.

i hate birthdays. just reminds me how old i'm getting to be. on the upside- Night of the Living Dead is playing at the lake front tonite...... IN THREE-DEE!!!!! come hang out- just sniff around and you'll find us.

oh, and part deux of the country mile coming shortly. 

CMIII day one

*****OK DUDES, I THINK ALL THE LINKS ARE FIXED NOW TO THE FULL SIZE PICS. CLICK AND ENJOY!!!!****

so there were a lot of different factors surrounding this trip and my decision as to whether i was going to go or not. emotions told me no. the need for the road told me go. the wallet said no. the mind needed the time to figure out a lot of things in life. on thursday i sent a few text messages out informing everyone that i couldn't make it cause it came down to not having the money to go. Eugene wasn't having it- he told me to get to chicago and he would cover my gas. Everyone volunteered to make sure i was covered. I was floored. I checked with Harlow to see what kinda money i would need for camping and food- nothing he replies. sweet. 4 cans of beans, 6 cans of tuna, and a boda bag full of water would be my steady diet for the trip. I put a 20dollar bill in my wallet and left the plastic at home. Warren, Cody, and Kurpius met up at my place and we split for chicago to get a buzz on and meet up with everyone that would be going.

friday morning, rolling the bikes out into the sunrise. 15 bikes total would be on the trip. all rigids beside the softail and an ironhead sportster. the softail was the newest bike on the trip.

you know this bike.

shawn.

Lake Shore drive. this road is so cool and goes right along the lakefront. especially gorgeous at nite!

ok, so 15 bikes, you might as well get to see each one and get a brief rundown. This is Eugene a.k.a. Eugenius, Mean Eugene, Eugene the Machine, Eu-asshole... without him, you would be looking at pictures of me sitting on my couch right now. the seat on that ironhead was a straight-up recliner.

Rob "you got a friend in Metal" Hulz on Shawn's softail. At every stop, the amount of shrubbery hanging off his bike continued to grow for some unknow reason.

Shawn on his shovel. this bike looks indestructable and it pretty much is... until you tag a cone with the footpeg at 70mph.

Brad on probably my favorite bike of the trip. check out that front drum! Brad rode up from kentucky and was headed to colorado then vegas after the mile. his ultimate goal was to end up in Canada where he will be staying from here on out.

Johnny Ratchet on his pan. open to the in the wind section of any Easyrider circa 1984 and you will see this exact dude and this bike. he kept dropping so much stuff off the bike that by the end of the trip we we're calling him Yard Sale.

Mitch Codie and his evo. Joe said it best: "Mitch's bike looks like it eats people and doesn't even care." solid, reliable, and quick- this bike does what he needs it to do and does it well.

Harlan on his McQueen Machine. this bike didn't miss a beat the entire trip and neither did her rider. solid bike, solid dude. see him if you are in chicago and need a tattoo.

Joe on the only japanese bike of the trip. He rides the crap out of this bike all over the country. he built it to be fast and travel, and thats just what he does with it.

Alex on the first Triumph that has ever finished the Country Mile. its his first bike and he bought it from a dude that set it up for 2-up long distance rides.... and thats exactly what the bike did. 80mph like it was a slow tuesday.

Hot Rod on his shovel. The only other bike besides Harlan's that didn't have lick of problems. Rod owns his own shop in Dubois, Il called Stripped Down Cycles and this bike is a testament to him knowing what he's doing. He's run The Stampede twice on this bike.

like you don't know who this guy and this bike is. I heard he rides it like a champ, but didn't believe it till i saw it. I got pictures of him taking shots that will blow you away. his ironhead went through all 10quarts of oil he brought with him by the end of the trip.

Warren Jr of Jr's Cycle Products. what more can you say about this bike. Warren preps for a trip too. spare belts, regulators, stators, tubes, you name it. I thought i brought everything... Warren had me beat.

Cody got t-boned on his shovel earlier in the summer and didn't think he was gonna make this ride. luckily he got the bike back together in time to go and she ran really good the whole way.

Brian was the one that asked me if i wanted to come along on this run. Thanks man. i knew this ride was going to be fun, but i didn't have a clue how much fun.

So now that you know the bikes, the rest of the pics are mostly them in motion. I didn't take a lot of photos of breakdowns and hang out times, mostly just riding. here's the rest of what i got for day one. enjoy and stay tuned for day two and all the fun!

Eugene lovingly called Josh's ironhead the missing bike from the "Wheelie and the chopper bunch" cartoon. It quivered and bounced down the highway, all the while huffing smoke like a cartoon chopper would.

80mph on the freeway.....

.....ten minutes later. Johnnys clutch plates glazed over. The chopper Gods were smiling when a dude rolls up in a dakota and says he was in the process of re-building his 4speed and has the plates out if we needed them. hour later, we were back on the road.

yea, we ended up in some dirt and sand for sure.

my favorite photo from the entire trip.

Stay tuned.