DAY 14 (al fine)
9/18/2015 – Wilkes-Barre, PA to HOME
~ 309 miles
The tire pressure was again pretty low by morning. I packed up and used my trusty compressor to inflate the tire – it was low enough that I didn’t want to chance riding the bike down the hill to the service station next to the main road. I stopped for my final photo of the trip and what will be my final “Talk Like a Pirate” grand tour photo, for the city of Wilkes-Barre.
The goal today was to make time on the interstate and stop frequently to monitor the tire status. Not really knowing the rush hour traffic patterns around Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, I decided to cut directly eastward on some secondary roads in the morning, away from the city and link up with I-84 near Greentown. I just picked some roads at random in Basecamp to get from A to B, and luckily they turned out to be good choices: Rte 115, to Bald Mountain Rd next to Lake Aleda, then through Thornhurst, linking to 507 which brought me eventually to I-84. About 50 miles total from hotel to Interstate. I checked the tire pressure prior to joining the Interstate and it was holding OK.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful highway riding, stopping roughly every hour at an off-ramp service station to pump up the tire (about 3-4 times total that day). I-84 isn’t too bad to ride on through PA and I was in NY before I knew it. Paid my only toll of the trip crossing the Hudson. I cut across into Rhode Island on Rte 44, now on familiar roads and feeling that construction crews and slow drivers were being placed deliberately in my path to delay my final push to get home. I remained as patient as I could and pulled in to the homestead around 2:30
EPILOGUE
The day after arriving home, I pulled the rear wheel and took it with my new tire to Bettancourt’s. There was probably another few thousand miles left in the tread, but they won’t fix punctures due to liability. Before they pulled the old tire, I asked them to check for the source of the slow leak and they confirmed it was coming from the plug I’d installed back in Alabama. Perhaps I should look into the mushroom shaped plugs for my kit on the next trip. Ahhh, new rubber and peace of mind:
We had a blast on this trip and I learned a lot about dealing with issues on the road and about my own limitations as a rider. Looking forward to a track day next year to get more comfortable trusting the rubber. Overall, I felt pretty well-prepared for the trip.
Thanks to all NER folks who share their stories and tips online and in person – I keep trying to absorb and learn whenever I can. A special thank you to Ed Conde for all his efforts riding and cataloging the great roads and stops of the northeast and Appalachians – the NER website is an amazing source of information and inspiration. Thanks for reading!
Trip Stats:
Days Riding: 12
Mileage Ridden: 3186
Interstate Miles: 634
States Ridden: 13
NER Recommended Roads Ridden: 18
Pirate Towns Pillaged: 19
Whispering Giant Bonuses: 5
Photographs Taken on the Road (estimated): 1500
Bike Malfunctions: 2
Unintended Get-offs: 1
Smiles: still counting…