Day 13 - Motorcycle Cannonball Run

LAURA ON THE ROAD WITH TEAM EFFIE – “On Fire! Not Literally.” (Day 13)

DAY 13 - We are getting so close to the finish line in Santa Monica, that we can almost smell the ocean air. Finishing is winning in this endurance run.

We were on fire today. No, not literally, well, we could easily have been at one point, but we weren't, let me explain.....

We are so close to the end of the journey. People are getting anxious, teams are stressed and personalities showing - sometimes clashing, bikes are TIRED, bolts aren't staying tight any more. Yet, there's excitement in the air too because we are nearing the end. It's a weird atmosphere right now. And first thing this morning, we faced some of those very issues.

We did all of our necessary daily maintenance last night, but when Pat took a test ride this am, for whatever reason, some of our chain adjustments went south. I happened to check the rear wheel just 15 minutes before takeoff, and it wasn't moving as freely as it should. I called Athena over and sure enough, the chain was too tight, and upon further inspection, the primary chain was way too tight also. No idea why other than it shifted during the test ride, or the adjustment didn't hold, or the extreme temperature change. Who knows? But we couldn't let Cris leave with Effie this way.

As we pulled out the tools, we tried to stay positive and not cause any undue stress. When Cris is ready to leave in the morning, she is very focused and anxious. She tells us that once she gets out on the road she lets her worries get carried away in the wind. But when something goes wrong right before she's supposed to leave, it can cause distress in all of us. Athena and I because we want everything to go well, not have her worry, and of course most importantly we need to make sure we've taken every precaution and checked every bolt so she is safe. Pat of course also puts the safety of his wife first. We had to re-adjust, there was no choice. And we needed to reassure Cris that it was going to be ok.

Ironically enough, Jim Petty, #55, who is now back on the road, had a rear brake issue during his test lap around the parking lot this morning. So, even though a delayed start can really suck, it all worked out. Looked like they could still ride together. We made the adjustments, and made sure we had a calm and assured rider. Everything was going to be fine. We just needed to take deep breathes and STICK TOGETHER because we are a team even when things aren't going as planned. These bikes are just plain tired. Bolts that haven't been taken out or adjusted in many many YEARS are being taken out and adjusted DAILY and sometimes more than once a day. The bolts are starting to wear and adjustments aren't holding as well. Things are bending from the stress of the roads they've traveled. Imagine taking your 95 year old grandmother out of her rocking chair, sprucing her up a bit with maybe some new tennis shoes, and then making her run 200 miles a day for 16 days in a row. Things are going to stop working so well, if you ever got her working like a 30 year old in the first place.

So, maybe an hour delayed, Cris and Effie, and Jim and his Indian named War Eagle headed out. Phew. Please God let the rest of this day go a little better. We were on fire...we went to work and got that repair done and off they went.

We got to gas stop 1, only like 25 miles out, and it looked rather chaotic. Vince Martinico and his crew, and even #44 Jon Szalay, were working on Vince's rear axle, making a new one somehow, because his had snapped completely off. Buzz Kanter was there, Selma was not running at all after a complete motor rebuild yesterday - suspected magneto problem. Cris and Jim were getting gas, and reported things to be ok, but Jim's rear brake was still not working great, and one of Effie's spark plugs had come out, but she got it back in. What the?!?! Come on!

DAY 13 - #53 Vince Martinico snapped the rear axle early in the ride today. This photo was taken at the first gas stop! After the morning we had, seeing this, I thought oh wow this is going to be a tough day. But as always, we all just did what we had to do to keep rolling. Vince got it back together and rolled in late tonight!

Smile. That's all you can do. Encourage the ones that are having way worse issues, and help out. So we loaded Selma into the Team Effie van and Buzz rode with us the rest of the day. We wished Vince well, we smiled and waved at Cris and Jim as they pulled out, and we kept going.

DAY 13 - Buzz Kanters beloved Selma got to ride in the Team Effie van today. Buzz made it about 25 miles after not being able to ride at all yesterday and Selma's magneto stopped working. We tried to cheer them both up. I think we did ok.

Then the next "comedy of errors" as Pat called it happened. Selma was leaking gas, and it was not only stinking up the van, it was making a mess. So we pulled over and decided to drain some gas out of her tank. Pat started the siphon process into another gas can, and thought the gas wasn't flowing out of the siphon hose any more, but it was....and next thing we know we have gas EVERYWHERE! On our luggage, all over the floor. So I flung open the side door and started throwing luggage out onto the side of the road, Pat started trying to dry up all the gas, Buzz and Athena jump out to try to help. We filled a garbage bag full of the gas soaked towels. It was a ridiculous scene. All we needed was a match and the whole thing would have gone up in flames. We put everything back in after the floor of the van was relatively dried up, opened the windows (there are only 2) and headed back out. Then we had to laugh at the situation. What else can you do? I was still tasting gas from breathing it in all day by the time we got to Flagstaff tonight. Athena's suitcase was pretty well soaked, so, guess what our hotel room smells like.
What will be next? Just wait, there's more.

We get to the lunch stop and find Effie and War Eagle parked next to each other just enjoying their break. We all had lunch together and things seemed good. Cris reported that Effie was running really great today! And thankfully there weren't crazy steep hills, so Jim wasn't dealing with the brake issue too bad. The scenery was beautiful. The temperature was comfortable. Nice.

DAY 13 - Effie and Jim Petty's Indian, named "War Eagle" resting together at lunch. They love each other. And Effie wanted the lunch break to last longer so in desperation, she broke her rocker and spit out her pushrod just moments after their rest.

Then apparently Effie had another plan. She was enjoying this relaxation way too much. She started up without too must protesting, but then decided that she would like a longer break. She broke her rocker and spit out her pushrod onto the ground just as Cris was backing her out. We looked at it all in disbelief for a moment...shocked really....and then, got to work. It was a NASCAR style pushrod/rocker replacement. Everyone just focused on the task at hand and we got the job done. We've never taken the tank off before, but we had to loosen it to do this repair, so we learned some things again, and in about an hour, we were back on the road.

DAY 13 - Effie wanted the lunch break to last longer so in desperation, she broke her rocker and spit out her pushrod. Effie, Effie, Effie.

So with cautious anticipation we made our way up to a peak altitude of 7750', through the Coconino National Forest, had a view from the road of Humphrey's Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,633', and down into Flagstaff, Arizona. We didn't arrive too awful late...but then how would I know that anyway, because the time changed again and I really am not sure what day it is. I called my dear husband Brian tonight, not realizing its midnight at home, and what would that make it here, 10? Of course he answered worried something was wrong, but really, I was just getting done with dinner. Where am I?

It was nice and cool here tonight, and I love the smell of mountain air. The cool felt good and we cherish it because it's supposed to be HOT as we travel down into Laughlin tomorrow.
Our time today, was kind of, how do I describe it?...Weird. Athena was reflecting on what it must have been like for the settlers back in the covered wagon days to travel across this same wide open space, heading as far as we've traveled on foot, or horse, or wagon, wondering what they would find over the next hill. We didn't have cell phone service most of today...not that that puts us on the same level as the settlers of the old days, but it disconnects you some from the constant emails and knock knock of work and home. Gives you time to do that reflecting. Pat put in the new Doobie Brothers CD, Buzz got a flip video of him singing along with his own songs. The windows were open so we got to have the wind in our hair today too, even though they were open because the van reeked of gas. So while it all seemed a little like the Twilight Zone for a while, it was balanced with peaceful moments too.

We went to dinner with the Ruffians tonight and did a few toasts to this journey. As I clanked my glass of ice tea with theirs I wondered for a minute what it's going to be like next week when I'm not a part of this every day any more.

Good night!
Laura Klock

DAY 13 - After all these days on the road reading these route maps, this is the first time that there was a cow drawing with the word MOOO next to it. I think the organizers were getting as delirious towards the end of their planning journey as we are as we close in on the end of ours. Moo.


DAY 13 - Effie wanted the lunch break to last longer so in desperation, she broke her rocker and spit out her pushrod. Effie, Effie, Effie.So, here we are, in a familiar pose, wrenching roadside. I guess we were in a parking lot today, so that's a little better. Notice the smiles though. What are you going to do? Well, in the Cannonball, you FIX IT and keep going!