Day 2

What a day. I got up in the morning and the weather looked great. I cleaned off the bike from the wet ride on Tuesday and got everything packed up to go. My plan was to head out back to Carlinville, IL and get on IL-4 which is Route 66 heading to St. Louis. After taking a few pictures in Carlinville, which has a really picturesque town square. After a few pictures, I headed south on Route 66. Although there are signs telling you that you are on Historic Route 66, the signs are really few and far between and it is easy to get off track. Having gotten off track a few times as I neared St. Louis I figured I would just head toward the Mississippi River, get to Missouri, and try to get my bearings from there. In Alton, IL I got on a bridge to cross the river just north of St. Louis. As soon as I got to the Missouri side I could feel the rear tire begin a very unsettling wobble. I immediately thought, "flat tire," and sure enough it was. I was doing about 50 mph when I first noticed it but I was able to get the bike slowed down without any incident. It was 11:00 a.m., 95 degrees, and here I was stuck on the side of the road. I immediately took out my cell phone and my HOG card to call for road side assistance. The lady from HOG was really great and within 5 minutes she had all the information she needed. With the 95 degree heat I needed to get out of the sun while I waited, so I walked up a hill and settled down in some bushes. At 11:45 the truck showed up. I was amazed that they got there that quickly. The driver loaded me up and by 12:30 he had me at Doc's Harley-Davidson in Kirkwood, MO. As we were in route to the dealer, he called ahead and arranged to have my bike worked on right away. By 3:15 p.m. I was back on the road again. I cannot say enough about the great service that HOG Road Side Assistance provided and Doc's Harley-Davidson. Following that ordeal, I got back on Route 66 with the hope of making Springfield, MO which was about 210 miles away. This was short of my goal for the day, but it would put me back on track without too much lost time, but reaching Springfield would be a stretch if I stayed on Route 66 for the entire time, especially since it is not always clear where Route 66 is at all times. Every once in a while 66 just dissappears and you need to get on I-44. After a few times of that happening, I decided to stay on I-44 for the last 90 miles so that I could get to Springfield before 8:00 p.m. Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful. I will say this though, "I would rather put up with the inconvenience of a flat tire than to be back at work. Retirement is great and inspite of the difficulties of the first two day, I am having a GREAT TIME."