Today was another cold one. I got up late and the pups told me about it. As I let them out I noticed that it had rained last night. Glad the temperature hadn't gotten way down last night.
This was going to be a "real" morning. I discovered that I was out of coffee. Cold and no coffee... That wouldn't do. I finished dressing, got the pups in and headed out to the nearest store.
It really didn't seem too bad once I got out. There wasn't any wind and I figured what the heck, jumped on the bike and fired it up.
While I warmed up the bike I heard the sound of another bike coming and saw another bike down on the road go by. It was a couple and they seemed to be doing OK. Now convinced that it wasn't too cold to ride I plowed down my drive.
The first couple of hundred yards wasn't bad at all. As soon as I hit speed I began to change my mind and seriously thought about turning back. The wind chill had brought the temperature down to at least the middle teens. As I was starting to really decide to turn around I saw the big sign for the Conoco station pop up. I decided that I could tough it out and cranked on the throttle and hit 70 then let it just the bike wind itself down as I come into town. Pulling into the Conoco station I noticed that a couple of people looked me over real good. They had this look to them like they knew I wasn't playing with a full deck. Oh well, There was coffee inside and they could just live with it. Once inside I headed over and got a cup of hot coffee and sipped it continuously until it was gone. Now, slightly warmer I got another cup and took a little more time with it.
The girl at the counter has known me for years and just shook her head at me and with a little laugh said "who you tryin to impress"? I chuckle at hearing this and said "everybody".
After a couple or four cups of coffee and a cheese danish. I was ready to go and do battle once again. Filling up a couple of large cups with coffee for the road I settled up. Heading for the door I noticed the bike that I had seen earlier pull in. The riders were frozen! Thinking real fast I stepped out, nodded and handed a cup to each. Turning back to the store I got another couple of cups to go and told the girl to be easy on them when they come in. I walked out to my bike and tied on the coffee and gave her a gentle kick to life and eased out on to Highway45. Thinking that it was the same distance home no mater which way I went I opted to ride up through the Jay sub division and let some of my buddies see that I was out and riding. Also it would be a slower ride and therefore less cold.
Pulling back in at the house I noticed that my Little Republican Quartet were all in the window looking at me. I like them even more this morning as they didn't look at me like I had lost good sense. Setting the coffee in the microwave and thinking that I need to shower and all that I looked around at my pups and they all looked at me as if to say "ahemmm, you forgettin something?" I kind of laughed and fished them out a treat.
After getting all my normal morning routine back on schedule I thought I'd jump in the car and go get a few groceries. The Grocery store was it's usual and I loaded up and headed back to the house. As I came into town I noticed that I needed some gas and slid in to the Conoco station and topped off. When I went in to pay the girl at the counter started laughing. This was the same girl from earlier and my coffee run. Thinking I had left my zipper down or something else like that I asked here "what"?
She told me that the couple on the bike from earlier had finally gotten off their bike and came in to warm up and got another cup of coffee. She said that they were from Fayetteville and confessed that they weren't cold weather riders. They also said that they had seen me riding the other day, That they had followed me over to Springdale, and figured that if I could ride without a windshield then they could with one. According the clerk the woman said "boy was we wrong!"
They stood around for a while and finally started zipping back up and getting ready to head home when they both asked at the same time. Who was that guy on the bike that gave us the coffee? The clerk said it struck her as being too funny and she drew a blank. Finally, she told me that it just sorta popped into her head and she said nobody knows who he is. He's the "Lonesome stranger". She also said that a few of the locals were in there and it was all they could do to keep from cracking up as they laid a business card on the counter asking her to give it to me. She handed me their card and really busted up laughing. I paid for my gas and picked up the card and headed out.
At least they had the stuff to get out and try. Think Ill give it a few days and give them a call. Maybe on a warmer weekend?
Looks like I'm going to have to get some chrome head bolts to leave behind.
Hope to catch ya on the road
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