the day everything happened

this is going to be a long one folks. bear with me.

we'll flash through the morning by saying that even though the weather said it was going to be mostly clear and around 70, fall decided to come early and it was 55-60 with occasional drizzles all morning. i layered up at my first gas stop, but i was fine. it didn't take me long to figure out a) my route paralleling 95 was barely different than 95, and b) when it's cold and dreary i care much less about scenic routes. so i jumped on 95.

it would have been a super quick day had it not been for a few things, some good, some bad. first was the good when, having so much time to spare, i decided to stop in fredericksburg VA to see some civil war stuff. i stopped at the site for the battle of fredericksburg and arrived just in time for a guided tour, which was very cool. i learned far more than i would have just walking around reading the signs, and i got to stretch my legs a bit. here are some highlights:

this is the original wall the confederate infantry used for cover during the union's attack. they estimate it was built in 1812. in addition to this, the confederates had one of their top artillery units (the washington artillery) on the hill above this area with 9 cannon. it was a confederate victory.

this is inside the innis house, which was owned by a local woman who may or may not have run a house of ill-repute (gasp). it was used as one of the headquarters by the confederates, with sharpshooters positioned on the second story. these are actual bullet holes made by union sharpshooters during the battle that are still in the walls. pretty cool stuff.

finally, the cemetery. this is the willis hill cemetery, which has over 33,000 soldiers buried, almost 20,000 are unknowns. it was a little humbling, to tell the truth.

after walking around a bit i had lunch and gassed up for the final leg into DC. i was only about 50 miles out, so this should have been a nice easy ride to finish up the day. unfortunately, this was when the fun began.

as i headed out onto the freeway, i noticed that my handling was maybe a little sluggish. nothing major or panic-worthy, but i had to pull a little extra for some of those turns. well, some time just south of alexandria one of the sadistic truck drivers who love tailgating me turned out to not be tailgating but trying to signal me. when i pulled over to check things out i found that my rear tire was at least half flat. yikes. needless to say i carefully rode to the nearest exit and found a station at which to fill it up (for a hefty $1).

now, when i got the oil changed yesterday in greenville, they mentioned that the pressure was a bit low in the rear tire, but they said they just filled it and didn't seem too worried about it. now i was thinking that maybe they should have looked a little harder. anyway, i stopped to check the air a few times as i continued on to DC (actually hyattsville maryland), and it seemed to be holding up fine. after getting a little lost on my way to my friend's house, i arrive very frustrated at the facts that a) my tire has a leak, and b) it's sunday, so nothing will be open. plus, my tire is audibly hissing, which usually means that it is not a slow leak. anyway, i park the bike and start making some phone calls. sure enough, nothing to be done until tomorrow morning at 10am, when the nearest dealer opens. i'm lucky they're even open on mondays, as many dealers take a sunday/monday weekend.

so, with nothing more to be done on that, i shower up and we all head in to DC to see the sights. this was the other good part of the day. i've never been to DC before, and so i wanted to do the whole monument tour, the white house, you know, the big stuff. turns out that is a lot of walking. and we didn't even get to the capital building. but we made the whole monument circuit, walked around the mall (and the white house) and even got to the jefferson memorial. again, here are some picture highlights:


the vietnam memorial, one of my favorites. reflections of the living in the names of the dead. very simple, very powerful. a lot of names.

the reflecting pool. such a pretty sight. you can almost imagine MLK (or forrest gump) commanding the crowds in such an impressive venue.


here's me rubbing the ears of FDR's dog at his memorial (FDR's, not the dog's). apparently this is good luck, and accounts for the very shiny dog ears.


and finally, a nice view from across the basin (i think that's what it's called) of the washington monument and jefferson memorial. yup, we walked around the whole thing. like i said, we did the entire circuit, except for the capital building. by that time it was time for dinner (and beer).

then, upon arriving back at the apartment, i check the rear tire again. noticeably flat. damn.

so what happens now? i get up tomorrow and get all ready to go as usual, just not quite as early. i check the tire and see if i need to pump it up before heading to the dealer (luckily, my friend has a pump). at the dealer they can hopefully either patch or (more likely) replace the tire. hopefully they'll have the right kind in stock, and hopefully they can get to it that day. otherwise i could be in DC a little longer than planned. i'm not too happy about that. not that i don't like this town (and my friends), but i don't want to have to cut out any visits in order to get home in time for work, and i'm already antsy enough to get on the road.

hopefully this will be a relatively easy fix and they can help me out at the dealer. i'm really hoping it doesn't turn into a huge layover/headache. i guess we'll just have to see.

i'm tired, i'm going to crash. hopefully i'll have good news tomorrow.

rftc,

scott