I haven’t ridden in a while. However, one of the last times I was out, I noticed myself looking down when I should have been looking out level with the horizon, and I also noticed that I was looking at people or things longer than usual as I passed them instead of looking in the direction I wanted to go. Now, it wasn’t like I was all over the road, but just for a second or so my gaze wasn’t 100% focused.

One of the first things instructors teach you in Motorcycle Safety Foundation classes is to look in the direction you want to go. It makes so much difference. Sharp turns that once seemed impossible at a pretty good clip, are now easily accomplished simply by looking through the turn.

Look in the direction you want to go.
This is good advice — not only for riding motorcycles, but also for other areas of life too.

Duh. That’s obvious. Well how come we have so many problems with it?

I think more productive people train themselves — their mind and bodies — to be focused in the direction they want to go.

Right now, I’m focused on writing. I really do know–when I write every day, it’s easier to keep the momentum going–even if I have to keep reminding myself.

And, here’s another bike example: in times of stress, I think muscle memory can kick in. That is, daily safe operating habits work to compensate for times of high stress. For example, hitting a wet spot in the road could have a really different outcome, if, every day the rider didn’t let the clutch out smoothly. If the rider is poorly disciplined and pops the clutch all the time, then his habits are sloppy and might not see him safely through unfavorable road conditions.

It’s the same off the bike. I think we can practice being more productive, successful, kind, or whatever. Then, each day we get better and better at living our lives and managing the things that can stress us out.

I certainly don’t have things all figured out, but I was thinking of my practice, my bike and more favorable operating conditions.

When I started out riding, I spent a lot of time in an empty parking lot practicing stopping and starting and doing endless figure 8s, cutting the corners sharper and sharper.

What to do as a writer? Write every day and pay attention to your work habits every day.

From Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker, Ed.D.

You begin by learning to pay attention to yourself as a writer, by writing at every possible stage of your work process. You’ll note each day how your work has gone: how it felt, what you did and didn’t accomplish; you’ll ask yourself, in an internal dialogue that you record, what you think might have gotten in your way, what nagging question you’ve been trying to ignore, what you need to work on next, and how you might have to change your work space, whether you like or hate your topic on this particular day. You will take your own work habits as seriously as you take the material you’re working on, and you will scrutinize them frequently to see if they need revamping. (7)

Easily said. Harder done. But you can do it! I can do it! We can get where we need to be.

Where am I going to be?

One place I know I’ll be is at Missouri Western. They liked me so much the first time that they’ve invited me to come again. (G) This visit will have a little bit of a twist. On day 1, I’ll be facilitating a discussion among teachers, administrators, and network admins about blogging. On day 2, I’ll be blogging with some high school students. Sounds like fun!

Ok, back to my paper.

Today’s forecast:
“Abundant sunshine. Warm. High 87F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.” Fabulous.

Later!

When planning the trip, I tried to use Google Maps and the Beta Yahoo Maps, but at present, nothing beats the trip planner at RandMcNally.com. If you click through to their site now, their homepage graphic advertises a Harley Davidson atlas with the tagline: “There’s no such thing as a secondary road.” And, that statement expresses why I have such frustration with Yahoo and Google when trying to use their mapping tools. To Yahoo and Google, all main highways are the expected routes and I have to input smaller cities even in a direct route on a “secondary” road to prevent the program from circling around and back on a main highway, and in some cases, the tool will still refuse to use the secondary road as the preferred route even when I say I want directions between two small cities. While I still have to input smaller cities with RandMcNally, it is much less problematic and works the way I think it should while planning a trip.

Here is the approximate route I took:

Day 1
63 South to Jefferson City, MO

54 West to Camdenton

MO 5 South to Lebanon

44 West to Springfield

60 South ** I missed this exit because of the road construction. I just took the next main secondary road south to Monett

37 South to Washburn

90 West to Jane ** This short stretch of road had been recommended to ride on a motorcycle. It was nice and fun to try once, but I wouldn’t detour out of my way next time I come through here. One of the drawbacks of curves in Missouri is that they’re not marked by how slow/fast riders/drivers should take them so it’s harder to judge how fast to enter them when you’re not familiar with the roads.

71 South to Fayetteville **To the person in the black Mercedes: thanks ever so much for not looking over your shoulder and checking your blind spots when entering the highway. Since the left lane was packed with other traffic, I really needed the added excitement of braking really hard to avoid hitting you.

Day 2

62 West to 51 West **Five miles out of Fayetteville, I sat for about 15 minutes in traffic waiting for emergency crews to clear an accident in front of me. The dead Armadillo on the road beside me made for a wonderful view.

51 West to Hulbert, OK

SR 80 to Fort Gibson **This road is really tricky. Lots of different curves with different elevations, including a hairpin turn coming down out of the mountains at the Lake.

62 West to 64 South to Muskogee

Main Street/2/10/64 East to Warner **This road shows up multiple ways on the map and in online directions. Look for Main Street on street sign.

Rt 2 South to Kinta, Wilburton, and Clayton

271 South past Antlers **Lovely road, except watch for deer coming out of the forest. When I stopped in Clayton, the woman at the convenience store, who I asked for directions warned me to be on alert. And, I did see a dead deer by the side of the road.

70 West to Durant

69/75 South to exit 38A to TX-121 S **To the ASS in the red Suburban: fix and *USE* your turn signal! Do you not get that I have zero metal around me to protect me from idiots like you who deliberately pull in front of me and allow almost **zero** room for clearance?!? Do you understand you could kill me by such inconsiderate driving?!? It was ever (not) so much fun to brake really hard to avoid splatting into your rear bumper, and then when that car pulled in front of you and I had to brake even harder it could have turned out so much worse if I was as stressed and as stupid as you to get where I was going! I HATE riding on 75 between Sherman and Plano. Most of you people drive like idiots!! Slow down and show a little compassion please!

Tip: If you’re sitting in a nicely air conditioned car and stopped in bumper-to-bumper traffic and you see a biker exposed to 90+ degree weather, you might not try to pull in front of them on every occsasion you might. A biker deserves as much space as a car people! If you’re really compassionate, you might offer a bottle of water even. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, hot asphalt, running motors, blarring sun–while I try to avoid such situations, sometimes there is quite some distance between safe places to pull over, cool off, and hydrate.

More to come on the Texas biker wedding I attended…

I took Stadium Dr. north out of Columbia, which turns into Route E, then 124 West to Harrisburg and south on J to 40/240, which turns into I-70 and east to Columbia. That circle was about 40 miles and took me about an hour, including some off bike time to snap a couple of pictures in Harrisburg.

This picture is of the local barber shop. It is open limited hours, but from all of the notices and flyers taped to the front window, it appears to serve as the town bulletin board.

Then, just east of the barber shop is Chalkboard Antiques & Gifts. They were closed today. I can’t remember what the hours were, but if I go through here again, it might be fun to poke around and see what I can find. Their sign advises they’ve been in business since 1897 if you count, as they do, the time when it was Mueller (Beasley) Hardware.

E has some nice curves of all different types–lots of tighter 30 mph curves to both the left and right, including a few just after each other and some longer sweepers at 40-50 mph. I didn’t push any of them too fast as it had been a while since I’d ridden, and it was still fun to just laze my way through them.

There was no shoulder to pull onto and most of the driveways were gravel so I couldn’t stop enroute to take pictures. The surrounding area is nice. I bet during the summer and fall it is really pretty. Today the hills were that brownish green-grey of winter. I saw some really nice log cabins and even a Victorian. There were quite a few small private ponds.

When I got back to Columbia, I wasn’t ready to go in yet so I took 63 North past the Bass Pro Shop to 124 West and then south this time on Route E to Columbia. This circle was about 38 miles and took me another hour.

Next time I want to try YY. When I looked at it this morning on Mapquest, it didn’t look like it went all the way through. However, on the map I’m looking at now it looks continuous and runs somewhat parallel to E, only it is much more curvy, including what looks to be a couple hairpin turns. I didn’t think the area had any such turns, but I’ll check it out next time.

I was pleasantly surprised by these roads. I didn’t think there were any nice roads like this (curvy, light traffic, somewhat smooth pavement, just a few road kill, and only one deer crossing sign), close to where I live. When I need a break from studying next semester, I can take either of these circular routes for an hour’s break.

Before I left Effingham yesterday, I checked all the weather reports. The weather channel showed a line of thunderstorms in a somewhat horrizontal line crossing the state of Missouri. I thought if the line was south of Columbia there was a chance that I might stay dry if I rode back early in the day. However, an online radar report showed a diagonal line crossing the state, which meant that no matter what, I was getting wet. I managed to stay dry and reasonably comfortable yesterday until just prior to reaching Danville, Missouri.

At this point, it started to rain. It wasn’t a thunderstorm and I was already dressed in my rain suit, so I just concentrated on riding safe, watching for slick spots, and keeping extra viligent about the traffic in front me so that I could slow down safely if I needed to.
I needed to stop.

Just prior to reaching Danville, traffic slowed to a stop. A traffic truck came toward us on the left hand side of the road and the driver ordered us via loudspeaker to make one lane of traffic. I turned the bike off and waited for traffic to move. We did move, finally, 5 feet at a time. Do you know how hard it is to ride a motorcycle in bumper-to-bumper traffic? It’s not much fun squeezing the clutch and brake in 500 times over the course of a couple of hours. Plus, it was raining. My clutch hand cramped a bit after the first 200 times and I warmed it as best I could under my jacket on a dry piece of shirt whenever I could.

The emergency workers diverted us to a road that ran somewhat parallel to I-70. Occasionally, we would catch glimpses of traffic moving slowly Eastbound. Then, after we (me and the other 200 drivers in the same position) had gone about 20 miles, traffic along the route we were diverted on, also slowed to a stop. I switched the bike off again and shook my head. Actually, I cried a few tears of frustration. I was cold and wet and tired. I now had about 90 miles on my tank that usually lasts about 140, but I had no idea what all this stop and go traffic had done to my gas mileage (Most bikes do not have gas gauges that show empty to full–riders guestimate by using the trip meter and knowing how many miles they can usually get on one tank). This was such a depressing ending to an otherwise wonderful time visiting with family.

A short while later, a lady coming from the opposite direction stopped beside me and told me that a truck had gotten stuck on a bridge and unless I wanted to wait another hour and a half, I might be better off turning around. She also stopped at the car behind me, but the drivers of vehicles behind her honked their frustration again.

Come. On.

Riding a bike, I’ve learned to watch out for irrate drivers. When people get tired and they’re behind the wheel of a car, or worse yet, a big truck or SUV, they can behave so irresponsibly. A case in point: This lady stopped to help a biker who was exposed to the elements when you were safe and warm in your big white SUV. You could listen to the radio, drink water or coffee, and generally spend a couple of inconvenient hours not physically exerting yourself much. On the other hand, I spent my time straddling a 600 pound wet bike trying to keep it upright on slippery pavement. I wobbled a bit when my foot touched down on painted pavement and again when I touched the metal center divider embedded in the asphalt. Of course, duck-walking a bike forward 6-10 feet while squeezing in the clutch and brake 500 times over the course of a couple of hours is not much fun either. I was cold and tired and your honking didn’t help my mood any, or leave a very good impression.

I decided to turn around. At this point, I needed gas. I didn’t know if the lettered route signs I had seen could eventually lead to the Interstate, but none of them sounded familiar, and if they led back to the highway, then I reasoned, why didn’t the emergency workers direct us that way in the beginning. I rode back 20 miles to the gas station in Danville and competed for gas with another 25 vehicles. Luckily, most of them had already gotten gas and from the look of the line stretching out the store, were waiting for their female occupants to return from the ladies restroom.

The last 48 miles were slow going in the continuing rain. It was mostly 30-50 miles a hour the whole way to Columbia. I didn’t mind the slow traffic so much, because it kept my wet rain suit from slapping against my skin and extracting any more of my body heat. Plus, when it’s raining, I feel a little more confident at slower speeds.

Eight hours after leaving Effingham, I finally made it home. Next time, I will just camp out under a bridge or at a gas station for an hour or whatever until traffic lessens or can resume. That would have been much easier than traveling along unfamiliar roads for an indeterminate number of miles in a rainstorm. Also, I learned again, that it would be helpful to pack a pair of rubber gloves like they wear in hospitals. If I had done so, and worn them as liners, then I might have avoided getting black hands and fingernails from my black leather gloves. Heck, I wonder if they would work over leather gloves to keep my hands drier?? Oh well. It’s all good. I’ve lived and learned enough to ride again another day.

Leaving St. Louis I got lost. Well, not lost, because I knew where I was, but just not which direction to go to get to Effingham the quickest, for you see, the sky was starting to get dark. 255, 270, 70, 40, 55–all these highways and I wasn’t sure how they split and which direction they went.

I stopped to ask for directions, but that didn’t help much. The directions they gave me were right into the storm. I stopped for gas and ask a guy in the truck next to me and he told me a different route. He sounded much more sure than the last person I asked. Note to self: buy a map and look for myself next time!

Thunder, lightening, and rain. More rain. Pulled off the road under a bridge and talked with a couple of Harley riders. After about 15 minutes the downpour lessened to a mere shower and so I decided to start out again towards Effingham. I rode out of it in 5-10 miles, but I was already soaked. I had put my raincoat on, but I was already wet underneath so it didn’t help much to keep me warm. Usually, when it’s hot out, riders will soak their underneath layer and it acts like an evaporated cooler to keep the body cool. So, since I was soaked, the raincoat was keeping me cool until my clothes dried out a bit from the sun. Another 30-40 miles go by before I finally start to feel a little warm.

I made it to Effingham last night. I was a little soggy, but I made it. But, then…
I jump in the shower to try and warm up and the hot water is almost non-existent. I’ve got the knob turned all the way to hot, but it’s not working. I go to the desk to inquire and they say since we’re in the back building the water has to travel a long distance so if you leave it running for 10 minutes, it will start to warm up. Not. I was in the shower for 10 minutes and time didn’t help things at all.

I guess the desk clerk, Prisilla, could tell that I was shivering for real, and she felt sorry for me. She upgraded us to a suite in the front building. How wonderful! Plenty of hot water. A queen and a king bed and a pull-out sofa, refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, two tvs. Yeah, this will work. Thanks Prisilla. Thanks Ramada! Oh, and did I mention the free Wireless? This will work.

Mom and I are off to downtown Effingham. We’re going to see the old courthouse, check out the sidewalk sculptures, an art gallery, and maybe go to the winery. We’ll see how much we have time for today. Mom is making salads as I type. She brought lettuce and tomatos and cukes from her garden. Yum. Go Mom!

Later.