CHECKS TO:
GAIL PURTAN FUND KARMANOS CANCER INSTITUTE 4100 JOHN R DETROIT, MI  48201
1-800-527-6266
"IN MEMORY OF MARY LOGSDON" - IN NOTE SECTION OF CHECK

JUNE 8, 2006

When I woke up this morning, the little brook that runs along the property that Patrick's house stands on was really moving fast. Water runoff from the mountains was finally reaching the little streams of the valley floors. All along the route to the shop, the small streams and creeks were acting like their big brothers and rushing along, moving rocks and generally having a wonderful time.

You can actually hear the rocks tumbling along the riverbed with a hollow thumping sound as they are pushed along by the onrushing water. I had only heard that one other time, and that was when I had camped at the foot of Mt. Blanc, up in the Aosta Valley of Italy.

It was raining this morning as I hooked the trailer up and got the bike ready to move. Have I mentioned the amount of rain that I have been riding in? I remembered to call Dick Purtan at WOMC this morning, as I had last Thursday morning, and told him that I believe I had dragged the rain with me. He agreed.

The mountains; in this case the Green Mountains (of Vermont), are still an awe inspiring sight as you move through them. I kept the rain gear on because you could see that there were low lying clouds that looked like they were being supported by the tops of some of the mountains. Sure enough, you would enter one of these clouds and it would rain.  The rain is now problematic for the farmers in this area, because they are not able to get into the fields to work them, without sinking the tractors up to the axles. This isn't good.

Winding route 100 is another recommended road to ride for the motorcycling crowd that may be reading this. It is a north/south road, which generally follows the valleys between the mountains, but does cause some excitement when the road does need to go over the top of these mountains. I rode into Waterbury, not intending to spend the night. I did notice a park with some of those "craft fair tents" set up. A sign in the street noted that there was going to be a concert in the park at 6:30 PM, so I was thinking about possibly grabbing some dinner and coming back to the park to watch.

When I got to the next intersection, I noticed a Best Western entrance, but it looked tricky to negotiate. A severe uphill grade of the street, coupled with another severe uphill grade of the drive (at a completely different angle) and the combination of not enough speed to negotiate both, caused me to lay the bike down on it's left side, DOWN HILL…… The bike weighs in at 800 pounds - DRY - plus the stuff in the saddlebags and trunk….. well, you get the picture. When it went down, it tossed me to the ground as well. Protective clothing and a helmet kept me from any injury, but when I got up, I happened to notice the line of cars unable to come up the hill, due to a large motorcycle with a trailer blocking both lanes.

I started to pick the bike up, which is easy to do, if you remember to lay it down on flat ground. When it is laying on a very difficult angle, you have to lift it far more than 90 degrees. Well, I was having some weight lifting fun, when the car door of the vehicle waiting patiently behind me opened up, and this rather skinny short kid came out of the car. His high squeaky voice asked if I needed help. I thought "Yeah, go find your dad to give me a hand here, cause you won't have enough body to help lift this thing". To make this long story short, That damned bike was up on the kickstand faster than I have ever done it myself. I turned around and asked him "Who are you really?". I thanked him, and off he went. The Harley, and most bikes, have a cut off switch that will not allow the bike to be turned on if the sensors think that it is not setting on the wheels. It took a few minutes to get the thing to react to the starter, but it did.

I decided to stay the night. I eventually went down to the park, to listen to the jazz band. They weren't bad, really, until they started doing vocals. The disharmony continued for a few songs, so I left and came back to the Motel. Thankfully, I made it back up the drive without incident this time.

I will be posting some more photos on the web site. I found out that when they are posted, they are not sent to the subscribers. So, if you wish to see them, you need to visit www.perimeterrun.info to take a peek.
Hopefully, I will be talking with you soon. Congratulations to the Graduates. Take care til Next Time……..

Mark