KRATZMC

15 June 2008

Well I decided to get a little head start and left the ranch at 1900 hrs Central time Sunday, for the first leg of the 1500 mile trip to SLC Ut. I decided to ride 186 miles to Abilene Tx, to knock a 3 hr chunk of my ride out early. My plan is to link up with Paul Dejoy Tuesday in Pueblo Co, for a nice steak dinner and a trip to the local Air Museum there. Of course I will stop to see anything interesting I may find along the way.

I made a decision to ride an hour and find a spot to eat, so 62 miles into the ride, I stopped in Goldthwaite Tx at the only open eatery, Subway. I had a quick lunch with a life sized card board cut out of Jared and took a picture of the Bar None Coffee hat on the main street.

Goldthwaite Tx and Barney, the Bar None Coffee hat.

There won’t be many pictures of me as I am solo, unless I find some Japanese tourists along the way. I rode another hour and stopped for a drink in Santa Ana Tx at 2200 hrs, as it was a nice cool 95 degrees. Having left the Hill Country, I traversed into more desert like terrain, where the evenings don’t cool down as much, or should I say at all.

As soon as I pulled into the gas station, a patrol car pulled into the parking lot and stopped behind me. Wondering if I had done something wrong, the Santa Ana PD Officer (Rick Hochman) rolled down his window and said he wanted to check out my bike. I told him I was stopping for a drink and that I was a retired LEO and asked him to stop and chat if he had time. Since the town looked pretty much shut down, I think Rick had plenty of time to spare. I admired his uniform pants(Blue Jeans), a far cry from the wool uniform pants I wore on duty. We quickly exchanged business cards and talked motorcycles and police work. It was a great way to pass the time and make the most of the short break. Plus, I made a new friend.

Santa Ana PD’s finest, Rich Hochman.

After some entertaining conversation, I wished Rick well and finished the last hour leg of my nights ride. You just gotta love those PIAA lights. My 540’s lit up the road and shoulders, giving me a lot of confidence in this game rich country. Those lights in concert with my deer whistles, gave me the illusion the rest of my night ride would be deer free.

An hour later, I arrived in Abilene and checked into the Best Western, my motel of choice when riding. I made a quick call to Tony Delgado, for advice on how to reset my ABS brakes. The GS is notorious for having the ABS system go out when you dump it or do electrical work on it. I had to recharge my battery before leaving, which requires unbolting the tank and lifting it up to get to the battery. This probably caused by ABS malady. Normal protocol is to go to the BMW dealership but there is a quick fix which requires only an Alligator clip. This fix can me found on the Adventure Rider Website, which Tony directed me to. I brought an Alligator clip with me, just in case.

Anyway, I will try to get a good nights rest and try to knock out 500 miles tomorrow. I hope I can time my ride through Amarillo for a meal at the Big Texan Steak Ranch.

Here is the spot tracker map for today.

Day #1 186 miles

Take care and stay tuned. I am going to try to something different and Post everyday. It will give you something to look forward too, yeah right. Then I will convert it all into a single story and page later, instead of trying to recount the whole trip when I get back.

Stay tuned………………………

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