Live to Ride...Ride to Eat

[suhawk305]

You are tougher than I Stichill,I been on only 1 ride during this heat wave. Enjoyed your pictures and narrative. I need to get a picture of a high railr tressel my commuter train crossed over (with my CB in the picture of course).

[Cormanus]

Great report Stichill. I really like railway structures too, particularly that they don’t seem to need guard rails of any description. Not that it would be easy to make one strong enough to stop a falling train.

[Offroad]

Great Pictures! When hot, I'd almost rather have roads with shade (canopy) than curves! Too bad we don't have a map of those Lol

I talked to Empty Sea about the circle tour I'm planning about Lake Michigan the week of the 23rd and he mentioned the "tunnel of trees" I hope to ride between Cross Village and Harbor Springs MI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw1I2CJaPVc

[Stichill_imp]

Thanks, guys. It was a great day on the bike. I've been under a lot of pressure at work and it was cathartic to not have to listen to anyone talk about any kind of problem for me to deal with and to not have to be anywhere by any particular time to do anything for anyone else.

One nice benefit of riding on a holiday in the middle of the week: virtually zero traffic. Most people stayed home to relax and have their barbecue parties. There weren't any commuters or soccer moms or school buses or bumbling box trucks or mail carriers or garbage trucks or road crews to deal with. I saw very few police either, not that it mattered because most of the time I was mild on the throttle. And I didn't see many other riders, either. Pretty much had the roads to myself except when passing through one town that I should have avoided (Shelbyville).

By the way, forgot one more photo, something possibly more rare than hens' teeth in the US: 100% pure ethanol-free gasoline. I treated the GT to some sweet 91 octane "good stuff". This was not far from Taylorsville Lake, so that explains its availability (many marine engines require it).



Sounds like a fun trip, offroad. And Cormanus: I'm still working my way through your latest adventure! I will comment at some point!

[suhawk305]

Stichill, Non ethanol gas, aka: pure gas, E0 is getting more available throughout the country, except in metropolitan area like New York City. Your right about areas where you find boating and marinas.
I downloaded an app from pure-gas.org. It lists pure gas facilities by state and location. Handy when I am using my boat in different areas. My boat outboard hates corn. Here is their website:
https://www.pure-gas.org/

The app will tell you where the closest pure gas facility is to your location.

[Stichill_imp]

Thanks, suhawk!

Great report Stichill. I really like railway structures too, particularly that they don’t seem to need guard rails of any description. Not that it would be easy to make one strong enough to stop a falling train.

In my misspent youth I trespassed on many railroad properties and rights-of-way. One of them was this viaduct:



It was a busy double-tracked mainline heading north-south on the eastern seaboard of the US. The only refuge for a human on foot was found at every third arch support, where a shallow rectangular bump-out was located that had five-foot / 152 cm walls around it. There were many occasions where I literally ran for my life to one of them. One was never more than one-and-a-half arches away from safety, but in some instances the closest refuge meant that you had to run toward the oncoming train.

The default option in the event that making it to a bump-out wasn't possible was to leap onto the other track. Which wasn't a bad option, provided there wasn't another train on it or approaching. Thankfully, I never had to jump onto the other track and always made it safely to a bump-out. The welded rails would quietly "sing" a few moments before the train appeared, so there was plenty of notice if you were vigilant. I have to say: even motorcycling cannot compare to the rush of running away from an oncoming freight train and then standing three feet / 1 m away from the thundering locomotive and rushing cars as they roared past.

[Cormanus]

Thanks, suhawk!

Great report Stichill. I really like railway structures too, particularly that they don’t seem to need guard rails of any description. Not that it would be easy to make one strong enough to stop a falling train.

In my misspent youth I trespassed on many railroad properties and rights-of-way. One of them was this viaduct:



It was a busy double-tracked mainline heading north-south on the eastern seaboard of the US. The only refuge for a human on foot was found at every third arch support, where a shallow rectangular bump-out was located that had five-foot / 152 cm walls around it. There were many occasions where I literally ran for my life to one of them. One was never more than one-and-a-half arches away from safety, but in some instances the closest refuge meant that you had to run toward the oncoming train.

The default option in the event that making it to a bump-out wasn't possible was to leap onto the other track. Which wasn't a bad option, provided there wasn't another train on it or approaching. Thankfully, I never had to jump onto the other track and always made it safely to a bump-out. The welded rails would quietly "sing" a few moments before the train appeared, so there was plenty of notice if you were vigilant. I have to say: even motorcycling cannot compare to the rush of running away from an oncoming freight train and then standing three feet / 1 m away from the thundering locomotive and rushing cars as they roared past.

I can’t imagine it. You’re a braver man than me.

I do remember putting a 1¢ coin on a rail track and, after a train had passed, finding it fused into the track. I can’t think how, but I’m sure my memory is correct.

[Offroad]

Wow Stichill....that would be a rush! As with many past events, it's funny now because you lived to tell about it Lol

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Nothing like a good Aussie Pub Shnitty. Goes well with beer. And more beer. Always a favourite on a long ride.




Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nortoon_imp]

Thanks, suhawk!

Great report Stichill. I really like railway structures too, particularly that they don’t seem to need guard rails of any description. Not that it would be easy to make one strong enough to stop a falling train.

In my misspent youth I trespassed on many railroad properties and rights-of-way. One of them was this viaduct:



It was a busy double-tracked mainline heading north-south on the eastern seaboard of the US. The only refuge for a human on foot was found at every third arch support, where a shallow rectangular bump-out was located that had five-foot / 152 cm walls around it. There were many occasions where I literally ran for my life to one of them. One was never more than one-and-a-half arches away from safety, but in some instances the closest refuge meant that you had to run toward the oncoming train.

The default option in the event that making it to a bump-out wasn't possible was to leap onto the other track. Which wasn't a bad option, provided there wasn't another train on it or approaching. Thankfully, I never had to jump onto the other track and always made it safely to a bump-out. The welded rails would quietly "sing" a few moments before the train appeared, so there was plenty of notice if you were vigilant. I have to say: even motorcycling cannot compare to the rush of running away from an oncoming freight train and then standing three feet / 1 m away from the thundering locomotive and rushing cars as they roared past.

In the old days of wooden trestles these small platforms held water barrels in case the sparks from a steam engine ignited the creosote on the ties. No need for them on this concrete structure, so they must be preplanned for mischievous kids.

I walked a smaller trestle when I was 10 while fishing with friends.

They would always cross it quicker and start yelling train. I was so terrified of it, I had recurring dreams about falling off of it. It occurred so often I finally said to myself during a fall "you're dreaming". I woke up just as I felt the impact of hitting the rocks in the rapids. Took a while for my eyes to adjust enough to have me realize I was in my own bedroom. Never had that dream again.

That trestle is now part of the Carleton University Campus and has regular light rail passenger trains crossing it. Sure looked bigger to a 10 year old than the photo.