A 44-46.65 MPG Weekend

From this weekend's run at about 300 total miles, I'm getting
44-46--almost 47mpg. Its creeping up as time goes on. I rode out to
Derby Cycles in Shelbyville on Saturday. It was rainy and cold, but I
was a little past the mark on the 600mi initial service (which
translates on Lois to an oil change). Shelby there is a nice guy.
They have some really cool gear I want to get, so I will be back soon.
I'm glad I finally had a chance to go into the store. I will give
him the majority of my service business, and probably get a lot of my
gear there too. His prices are fair and he seems to have a ton of
stuff in stock. His service rate is $65 per hour which is from what I
have found pretty good. He has a HUGE selection of Powerlet products
to hook up any electric farkle you want. He seems to have about any
Gerbing product for keeping you warm. Tons of gloves and helmets on
display, many scooters, bikes, and all the gear for them. On my want
list are: Gerbing vest or at least glove liners; really nice textile
saddle bags; Powerlet 12v outlet; a new balaclava. He has those
little cargo nets for your bike in any color you can imagine.

Sunday I said 'heck with it' and went out to Hoosier National Forest.
I had been wanting to do a long-haul out there with a group of folks
for a while, but could never get takers on a good day, so as a
last-minute decision, I just plowed down 64 to the Sulphur exit and
rode thru the Forest. It was a little cool and I stopped a couple
times to warm up. Next time I want to leave a little earlier, but I
had time to see a few things.

The first stop was the Ole Country Store in Sulphur. This place was
really cool. It was run by this feller in a Broaster Chicken apron
who was polite, let me sit in his store to drink my coffee and eat a
quick candy bar. While I was there, a local gardener came in from
working on his 'mater seedlings. He said he'd already sold 4 trays
today. The ball game was on (I'm not much of a basketball fan so I
didn't see who) and they were chatting idly about it when a group of
folks came in. The gardener said "prolly just looking for a bathroom"
but the man who came in looked like a farmer himself, and ordered
coldcut sandwiches, which the owner cut to order and put on fresh
white bread from a bag. This was the kind of place that people hang
out. He had a gas area stove with a pipe vented to the outside wall
that kept the place warm. Shelves stocked groceries and some
hardware. There was more cool stuff hanging on the wall behind the
counter...not like fashion lighters you see in today's Superamerica,
but like leather straps for tethering your pocket watch. Neat place.
If you're ever running thru there, I suggest you stop in. They have a
line of chairs at a windowside shelf-table where anyone is welcome to
sit and eat, and shoot the bull.

I checked out Indian-Celina Lake Campground which is a really nice
camping area I rode through scouting out where I might take the kids
this summer. From what I saw, it is isolated enough and has the lakes
to enjoy as well as lots of hiking trails. That's about all we'd be
there for. The whole area has various campgrounds and parks which
seem to have at least one or places where you can set your boat down
in the water. In fact, I saw a lot of fishing going on today.
Speaking of Indian Lake, there is also an Indian Creek in the area
(which I seem to remember riding over). Funny story... My Uncle Bill
who lived in the area (It's the type of area where you don't say "I
live in XXX city, or XXX town", you say "I live in Crawford County"
Well anyway, Uncle Bill said to me one day "Let's go fishin'". As a
boy I was always up for fishin'. On the way out the door, my stepdad
Jack says "You boys bring anything back, and I'll clean it for you."
In the pickup, Uncle Bill says to me with a smile on his face "We'll
show ol' Jackass." which is what he called him to get his goat.
Seems Uncle Bill (who did not live in a town, but a whole county) knew
of this little spillway off of Indian Creek that had good fishin'.
Come to find out, it had REALLY good fishing! We had one altercation
with a cotton mouth, but other than that, you put a cricket on your
line and before the bobber gets settled---BAM! You've got a fish.
They were only bluegill, but they were as big as Uncle Bill's hand.
We pulled out 60 of them, and Jack was up after midnight cleaning 'em.

After a while of the twisties, I wanted to go to Tell City. I don't
know why, I have just always liked the name. So I set the GPS and
noticed I didn't have much time for wandering, so I decided to chart
thru Tell City, over into Kentucky and home that way. After a while I
started seeing signs that said there was a prison nearby and "DO NOT
PICK UP HITCHIKERS". When I saw the sign for the Branchville
Corectional Facility, I just had to go down the road and see it.
Well, the sign is all I took a picture of because of two reasons. The
first is other than the fence with razorwire, it didn't look much like
a prison. The other is that guards were looking at me, and I was
pretty sure they had guns. I didn't stay long. I rode on in to Tell
City (named I believe after Wm Tell--the guy who shot the arrow that
was placed on his son's head). I got some cash at an ATM and went to
the gas station. Since I'm figuring my MPG, I wasn't ready for gas,
but I had to use the facilities. I bought a soda, drank it outside,
and rode on. I plotted the GPS to take me into Kentucky and the
bridge was 30MPH two-lane. That was nice for a change from
Louisville's mega-bridges. It's the little bridge that crosses from
Cannelton, IN to Hawesville, KY. Hawesville looks like a place frozen
in time. It's a small town, and it felt nice to ride thru there.

I headed for home down US-60. I had forgotten it runs though
Irvington. The first time out this way, I went with my friend
Heather. She was getting hungry and I couldn't find anything on the
GPS to eat other than fast food, so we saw a preacher coming out of
the back of the church (this was around noon or 1pm) and he said they
always go to The Green Valley Restaurant in Irvington after church.
He highly recommended the place. With a Name and Town, GPS picked it
up quick, and we ate there. Sure enough, he showed up later and waved
hello. This time, I did not get the buffet because I didn't have much
time. I hear people come from miles around (literally) for their
buffet and I would believe it. I did get a great Chuckwagon sandwich
though! After The Green Valley Restaurant, I beat it home quick. I
was getting low on gas though and needed one more stop before
Louisville. I just did a quick pay at the pump at a little BP on
US-60, then it was past Camp Carlson onto 31W, through Fort Knox and
then onto the Gene Snyder home. I did not (for once) stop at Dodge's
on 31 to get chicken or a deep-fried corn-on-the-cobb. I didn't have
the time.

Overall Lois did really well. The only thing I'd complain about was
cramped knees (that I could alleviate some by switching foot position)
and her gas mileage. If I could get into 150 miles per tank, I would
be happy. The last two times I stopped (when it was flashing low and
I had to stop) I was right around 129 miles.