Teddy's New Adventures

[CyncySpyder]

Ok, Im gonna pause from the TRIP storyline here for a minute to discuss an anomaly that had me questioning my sanity (& to be honest, I still am-lol) The day before leaving for the road, I took Teds Red Sled up to Middletown Cycle (Awesome Dealer) to get the 9000 mile service done and the Firm-Ware Update. I had had trouble starting the byke twice in the previous week, with both times the byke starting and idling extremely rough & instead of smoothing out at 1300-1400 RPMs like usual, it was up around 4-5K RPMs & had almost no power upon acceleration & of course, the check engine light wouldn't stop flashing (but no Limp-Home Mode At first, I thought I was low on oil, and it's hard to get an accurate reading when you can't Ryde the byke to get it warmed up (are you noting this BRP Engineers?) So I went ahead and checked it cold with nothing showing on the dip-stick, so I added a little, still nothing, a little more, still not showing, a little more til I got to about a 1/4 of a quart & with nothing still showing, I thought it best to stop there. I had just checked it 3 days prior & then it was right below the top (full) line, so I figured I couldn't have used that much more without seeing a major leak on the floor of my garage or oil somewhere on the byke. After doing my research here on SpyderLovers.com, I found the problem most likely was related to the needed Firm-Ware Update &/or the Throttle Body. Ughh....... Work again....
SITA-MPG.jpg
OK, so look over this list of all my fill-ups on this trip. Notice anything odd? Any of you that have an RT out there, what do avg for your mpg's? Before I got the Firm-Ware update, I usually would average only 24-26 MPG's without pulling the Camper, and 22-24 with pulling the camper. After the Firm-Ware update, I decided to give BOB Denmans ryding style a try while on this trip. I would short-shift every chance I could, shifting at no more than 5000 when in trailer mode & no more than 4000 when in regular mode. Is this or the Firm-Ware update, or a combination of the two maybe, the reason I got some ASTRONOMICAL readings??? I mean, come on, 1 tank with pulling the fully loaded camper, I averaged 31MPG's!!!! I had NEVER done that well before, even when NOT pulling the Camper. I actually made 150 miles on one tank with pulling the Camper, & again, Ive never gotten that far before, even when not pulling the camper. Am I loosing my mind???

When I wasn't pulling the camper & we were hanging with Arntufun & holly, we got a lil aggressive in the twisties around White Face Mountain, so there was no short shifting then, but LOTS of fun! That WAS A BLAST!!! Tho, I did cause Randy to get a kidney punch from his passenger

[SnoWhite]

[CyncySpyder]

Yeah, it was kinda HOT, but the lil guy does great with his gimpy leg NOW as long as he doesn't think about it. As soon as he's not excited, he goes back into Gimp Mode 258.jpg276.jpg280.jpg

[CyncySpyder]

It was close to 3:30pm when we finished our lunch stop, so I programed the GPS for Tail 'O The Pup instead of the camp-grounds, cause Arntufun (Randy) sent me a text saying that they were heading there at 5 for the Meet-N-Greet & that I should just meet them their & when that was over, we'd all head back to camp & get us set-up for the night. I sent him back a text, stating the GPS shows 400 miles & 6 hours to go. Again, I forgot to take into account SpYder/Teddy time. At 9:20pm, I sent him another text, GPS shows 135 miles & 2 1/2 hours to go. Now I was certain we were going to miss the Registration & Meet-N-Greet, and that made me sad. That is, until Randy sent me another text at 9:54pm telling me to "look for the blue rope lights & a disco ball... Once I got to the Camp-Grounds.... That's us!" I couldn't help feeling better after reading that, but then I also wondered in the back of my mind, "what am I getting us into?"LMAO

Guess I should give a little backstory here. Teddy nor I had never met "Arntufun" or his girlfriend before & the only thing I knew about him was from reading his posts here on SpyderLovers.com. And as you all know, we only reveal a small part of ourselves (some more than others) and our personalities in an on-line forum. So, from that, I figured he was pretty much an aHole in general j/khe had really Mellowed Out in the past few weeks -lol- but really, not that bad of a guy Hey, he also liked camping, & when he wasn't bitch'n about BRP, he loves his SpYder as well, so I figured it couldn't hurt trying to share a camp-site with them & if we all didn't click, no big deal, I'd just pack Teddy up & we'd head off to another site. But as the event time got closer & closer, we PM'd each other more & more & we were all getting more excited by the day, almost as if we were kids with Christmas right around the corner. I started to get a really good feeling about the whole deal. Especially when he sent me a copy of the Menu ...... WOW!!! Homemade breakfast (bacon, eggs, French toast, sausage) & dinner (BBQ Ribs, Grilled Italian Sausage) every day (mmmmmmmm & it was good, really good) with lunch on the road. He even asked if I had any requests or special needs for Teddy, & if it was ok if he slipped the lil guy some of the good stuff under the table. Once Teddy heard this, It was no longer up to me, Teddy was all for it!

So yeah, I felt good heading in, but just not sure what all to expect. And I realized, hey, he's in the same boat as I am, as he doesn't know me from Adam & I could be his worst nightmare. But I also figured, if he's followed TEDDYS Adventures at all, then he should have a pretty good gist of who I am & I don't think Im all that bad, or Teddy would leave my butt on the side of the road as he took off on his SpYder -lol

work work work

[arntufun]

We just got home this morning from camping. Very tired and I'll get in on this later !!!

[Tiny1]

[pierrelogic]

I thought I was low on oil, and it's hard to get an accurate reading when you can't Ryde the byke to get it warmed up (are you noting this BRP Engineers?) So I went ahead and checked it cold with nothing showing on the dip-stick, so I added a little, still nothing, a little more, still not showing, a little more til I got to about a 1/4 of a quart & with nothing still showing, I thought it best to stop there. I had just checked it 3 days prior & then it was right below the top (full) line, so I figured I couldn't have used that much more without seeing a major leak on the floor of my garage or oil somewhere on the byke. After doing my research here on SpyderLovers.com, I found the problem most likely was related to the needed Firm-Ware Update &/or the Throttle Body. Ughh....... Work again....

Well, there's part of your problem(s). The manual is clear you have to properly warm up the engine before checking the oil.

You most likely have added too much now.

Man, you're hard on .

I'm just saying....

[ThreeFeet]

Ok, Im gonna pause from the TRIP storyline here for a minute to discuss an anomaly that had me questioning my sanity (& to be honest, I still am-lol) The day before leaving for the road, I took Teds Red Sled up to Middletown Cycle (Awesome Dealer) to get the 9000 mile service done and the Firm-Ware Update. I had had trouble starting the byke twice in the previous week, with both times the byke starting and idling extremely rough & instead of smoothing out at 1300-1400 RPMs like usual, it was up around 4-5K RPMs & had almost no power upon acceleration & of course, the check engine light wouldn't stop flashing (but no Limp-Home Mode At first, I thought I was low on oil, and it's hard to get an accurate reading when you can't Ryde the byke to get it warmed up (are you noting this BRP Engineers?) So I went ahead and checked it cold with nothing showing on the dip-stick, so I added a little, still nothing, a little more, still not showing, a little more til I got to about a 1/4 of a quart & with nothing still showing, I thought it best to stop there. I had just checked it 3 days prior & then it was right below the top (full) line, so I figured I couldn't have used that much more without seeing a major leak on the floor of my garage or oil somewhere on the byke. After doing my research here on SpyderLovers.com, I found the problem most likely was related to the needed Firm-Ware Update &/or the Throttle Body. Ughh....... Work again....
SITA-MPG.jpg
OK, so look over this list of all my fill-ups on this trip. Notice anything odd? Any of you that have an RT out there, what do avg for your mpg's? Before I got the Firm-Ware update, I usually would average only 24-26 MPG's without pulling the Camper, and 22-24 with pulling the camper. After the Firm-Ware update, I decided to give BOB Denmans ryding style a try while on this trip. I would short-shift every chance I could, shifting at no more than 5000 when in trailer mode & no more than 4000 when in regular mode. Is this or the Firm-Ware update, or a combination of the two maybe, the reason I got some ASTRONOMICAL readings??? I mean, come on, 1 tank with pulling the fully loaded camper, I averaged 31MPG's!!!! I had NEVER done that well before, even when NOT pulling the Camper. I actually made 150 miles on one tank with pulling the Camper, & again, Ive never gotten that far before, even when not pulling the camper. Am I loosing my mind???

When I wasn't pulling the camper & we were hanging with Arntufun & holly, we got a lil aggressive in the twisties around White Face Mountain, so there was no short shifting then, but LOTS of fun! That WAS A BLAST!!! Tho, I did cause Randy to get a kidney punch from his passenger

Looks like mine when I was on my trip. I stayed out of trailer mode more often than not tho. But either way I did great on that trip. Wind was a factor and I was always trying to get it into cruise. That seemed to help a lOT!!! Couldn't on some roads due to twistys and hills. Don't know what your wt combo is but mine was 1640Lbs. with me on it. I gotta loose wt!!!

[CyncySpyder]

Well, there's part of your problem(s). The manual is clear you have to properly warm up the engine before checking the oil.
You most likely have added too much now. Man, you're hard on I'm just saying....

I know the engine needs to be warm to get an accurate reading, but as I stated in my post, if you can't ryde the spyder to get it up to temp. what else can you do???

On Teddys 2010 RT-S, if it were low, any at all (even just below the top-fill line) it would start having intermitant shifting problems. I thought it could be related to that issue at first
I don't see how I'm "hard on " besides I ryde it on a daily basis & now have over 12000 miles in about 3 months . But I always check my vitals & get my service done at the proper intervals. So, just how am I being "hard" on the ?

(side note, it wasn't over-full but right at the upper full line when I was finally able to get it running & up to proper temp. so it was a 1/4 qt. low)

[pierrelogic]

If you know in advance you can't get an accurate oil level reading on a cold engine then why check it at all? Doesn't make good sense to me. That's what I meant by being hard on the machine. Owners/shop manuals are clear on the subject. Next time you were on the road you could have easily checked it (and you did). It is always better to be as sure about something as possible rather than leave it to guesswork.

I was only a pointing something out that caught my eye about your post and trying to be helpful Dave, that is all.

(side note, it wasn't over-full but right at the upper full line when I was finally able to get it running & up to proper temp. so it was a 1/4 qt. low)

That's good news.

[NancysToy]

In a situation like Dave's, when you are having issues and feel you may be low on oil, checking when the Spyder is cold can be useful. It is more diificult, and prone to error, though, so it should only be done when absolutely necessary. The best way is to use a longer object, such as a lean plastic straw, to check. If you hold the straw next to the dipstick, with the end about an inch or two longer than the dipstick, and place your thumb where the dipstick's flanged top is, you can then insert the straw to your thumb, and see how far the oil is below the dipstick. Lacking that, the idea is to fill cold to the point where the oil barely touches the very tip of the screwed in diptick. Without something like the straw to gauge, this is very hard to sneak up on...requiring repeated filling with small amounts of oil, followed by checking the level. As I said, it's a pain, but sometimes it is necessary.

[CyncySpyder]

12:30am, after a total of 19 hours (including Teddy Time) on the road, we finally made it to the Whispering Pines Campground in Lake Placid New York. Needless to say, I was tired but still wide awake with anticipation & adrenaline. The campground was completely dark when we arrived, so I thought it would be really easy to spot the blue rope lights & the disco ball that Randy had told me to look for, but that wasn't the case. After 2 trips around the "primitive tent sites", one of which the road was so rough, that we couldn't make it thru with pulling the camper & i had to give up & back down it. I finally stopped by the office, which of course was closed. But, they did have maps of the different camp-sites with so many different areas, I was just lost. So, I texted Randy again, asking where he was? He replied that he was really close because he could here our SpYder. Finally, after a couple more passes, I realized that what I thought (in total darkness) was a camp-site was actually part of the camp-road that lead to blue rope lights & a disco-ball & Randy's welcoming face. YAY!!! We had arrived!

Holly was fast asleep & Randy helped Teddy & I get everything set up & settled in & we said good night with plans of getting up early (around 9am) for Randys home cooked breakfast (& DAMN, WAS IT GOOD!) & then off to the poker-run spots to get our chips. I was concerned that since we didn't make to the registration the night before, that Teddy & I didn't have our credentials for all the festivities. Randy said that I needed to catch up with Mark (from SpyderTalk) & that he should have my goodie-bag with all our Festival Stuff.

Break-time... Oh, just saw where Rabbit Hash is having their "Dog Days of Summer" Festival (the mayor is a dog, seriously) starting right now & I've gotta take Teddy to it, so I'll continue the saga a little later
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OMG!!! We went to Rabbit Hash last night, but didnt make the Festival. I found new roads along the way & just couldnt stop myself. 2252 or something like that out that way is the Kentucky Scenic Byway, and the roads beg to be shredded, so we just had to ablige & man, did we have a BLAST!!! I just wish we had another SpyderRyder around to do these Awesome roads with. I mean, its a blast by ourselves, but even more fun when you got another Spyder shredding along with ya, like when we were in TN with Lamont & Deb or WhiteFace MT with Randy & Holly, just makes the experience all the more greater being able to share in it with friends

[CyncySpyder]

Randy had a map of all the Poker-Run stops, so we plugged all the addresses into TEDDYS Garmin & off we went. The closest stop to our campsite already had 3 Spyders sitting out front & we were excited to see other Spyders. Randy & Holly got to meet & see many of the other SpyderRyders the night before at the meet-n-greet, but this was a first (in NewYork at least) for Teddy & I. And lucky us, the Ryders were out in the parking lot talking with each other & just our luck, one of the ryders happened to be Mark from SpyderTalk.com, who organized SITA & just the guy we needed to see I have to admit, I knew almost nothing about Mark nor SpyderTalk.com, as SpyderLovers.com has been Teddy & my's home since our inception into the SpYder Family. But alas, Teddy is famous, & his reputation is known even beyond the bounds of SpyderLovers.com. As soon as we pulled up, one of the guys made the comment, "This must be the famous Teddy!" We made our introductions & let Teddy shmooze for a minute with his new fans, then we went into the restaurant to get our poker chips.

This was Holly & Randy's first experience to witness TEDDYS "Star Power" first hand. Once inside, the employees were all taken with the cute lil dog with a mow-hawk & doggles & one person would yell for another to come out & look & so on & on. After a few minutes of Teddy Pose'n for pics, we got our poker chips & back out to the parking lot we went. Randy commented that he was kind of surprised at all the attention the lil guy garners, to which all I could reply, was "It's like that everywhere we go."
I think He now fully understood "Teddy Time" & why we were so much later than what I had been updating him while in route.

So we talked a bit more with Mark & the other Ryders, as they were already discussing plans for next years SITA. Mark explained that he had our goodie bag for us, but not with him at the time & that we needed to catch up with him again & that he'd get it to us. Good deal, so we checked the map & gps& off to the next Poker-Run stop, which was right up the road. This was a neat little Adirondacks store with everything in the Indian/Adirondacks theme, very neat store. Luckily for us, not many ppl there, so it was easy to get in, get our chips, look around, & get out without too much Teddy fuss, then off to the next stop we go.

I believe the next stop was the LumberJack Inn & restaurant which was a different kinda place (at least to us) with Chain Saws adorning the walls all around. Can't say that I've ever been to a restaurant with chain saws as interior decorations before, that's for sure. But it was a cool little place & it was packed. OH BOY, HERE WE GO AGAIN-LOL. We parked right next to a mini-van that had 2 collies (I think) barking like crazy when they saw Teddy. I was a bit worried, see'n how it was a restaurant & packed that they'd have an issue about letting Teddy come in, but with the dogs going crazy next to us, I wasn't about to leave the lil guy strapped on the SpYder. Silly me, it's Teddy, of course their gonna let the star in. Again, same as before, but even more overwhelming, as one person after another would jockey for position to get a good pic of Teddy Pose'n for them in his doggles. Even customers were stopping their meals to get up & come over & get a pic. I gave my droid to Randy & asked him to take a couple for us with the chain-saws in the background, but they came out too dark. But we did get some good ones out front where the light was much better.
2011-07-29 SITAlumberJackINN 003.jpg2011-07-29 SITAlumberJackINN 012.jpg2011-07-29 SITAlumberJackINN 001.jpg2011-07-29 SITAlumberJackINN 008.jpg
Then we went across the street to the gas station to feed our Spyders & the scene somewhat repeated itself even there, with other motorists coming up to us in there cars asking if they could snap a pic? "Sure, why not, go ahead, everybody else does" lol

[CyncySpyder]

While at the gas station, TEDDYS Garmin Zumo 665 sounds a loud warning of "rain in the area" & sure enough, the sky was cloudy & it did look as if we were gonna get wet. We discussed donning our rain gear, as our next poker-run stop was the Adirondacks Inn & that was about 30 miles away. We decided to take our chances & if it got too bad, we could always pull over & put it on then, so off we went. It was a nice Ryde with great scenery all around us. We made it to the Inn right before the rain started, and there were many other Spyders already in the parking lot. Right across from the Inn was a beautiful mountain lake & they had water planes at the docks. This was the 1st time Teddy or I had ever seen a water plane up close & in person. Seen them all the time on travel shows & tv, but not like this. A blue one came in for a landing and tied up to the dock just as we were watching. The people working it seemed rushed, which I didn't understand at first, but just then, the rain started coming down in buckets. We all scurried to the shelter of the Inn's large deck out front, and we got to mingle & catch-up with many of the other SpYder Ryders that were already huddled there. It was good see'n so many familiar faces, & of course, they all loved see'n the Tedster. Seems their was a group of a dozen or so SpyderRyders making the Poker-Run as a group & this just so happened to be the stop where we caught up to them.

Randy, Holly, Teddy & I decided to go in to the bar & get appetizers to hold us over til we got back to camp for dinner. Again, I was a lil worried about what they might say about Teddy, but once again, the seen repeated itself, with overwhelming welcoming and pictures for all. The wait staff was particulary smitten with the lil SpYder Ryde'n Pooch sport'n a Mow-Hawk and a couple of them kept stating that they wanted to take him home. They were all very nice & even brought out a small glass of water for Teddy & I ordered him (us) some french fries for lunch, which he obliged everyone by doing his cute lil tricks of sit, lay, high-five & shake. Needless to say, Teddy was once again a HIT with the locals. They thought they had seen it all, til I decided since it was raining, that I should go out & get our (yes, Teddy has his own rain gear) rain gear so we were prepared when we leave, in case it was still raining. Well, if you thought the pictures of Teddy were great before, you should see him decked out in his leathers! (Vinyl actually) But yeah, he's got a black leather Trench complete with studs at the collar, and here we go again. Just about everyone that got a pic of him before, had to get another with him decked out in his leathers-LOL GOOD TIMES!!! Good thing the lil guy loves attention & is a born poser

We decided against hitting the last Poker-Run stop, as it was about 50 miles in the opposite direction of our camp, and it was still pouring down rain. We decided to hit the Adirondacks Tavern as our last stop for the day, as it wasn't too far from our camp-grounds. So, we all donned our rain gear, & I reassured Randy that the SpYder (at least I knew about the RT) was very stable in the rain & he shouldn't have any issues. He had never ridden his Mellow Yellow RS in the rain before, so I understood his hesitation. But since Teddy & I use his SpYder as our daily driver, get'n caught in the rain is a normal occurrence for us & as I told Randy, I'd honestly rather be on the SpYder than in my car when it comes to rain, it's just that stable & capable. Well, only time in the rain would prove me right or wrong, so off we went. Before we left, Randy commented that since it was still raining, that he guessed we wouldn't have gps to help guide us back to camp. But I explained, that was one reason we got the Zumo 665 as it is made for all weather conditions as a Motorcycle GPS & sure enough, even through the heavy downpour, it didn't miss a beat. We had another Poker-Run stop right around the corner from the Inn, and we made a quick in & out stop there, cause it was so crowded with ppl trying to get in out of the rain. I couldn't tell exactly where the driveway for this place was & had pulled in the driveway before, & Holly motioned to keep going, as she saw the sign for the stop before I did, so they led thru the driveway which at this time, looked more like a rushing creek. I wish I were able to get a pic of that, cause it looked as if Randy's SpYder turned into a Sea-doo and the waves and wake he was leaving behind him looked Amazing, especially knowing it was being made by a road-loving SpYder. He commented at that stop that he was impressed so far with his Spyders handling of the heavy rain & that he hadn't noticed any hydro-planing or slipping so far at all.

Now for Holly's rain gear, that another story. Seems her rain-pants had a tear in them right at the crotch & there wasn't anything she could do about it. This is where Randy came up with his new Invention idea of using Wal-Mart plastic bags for boot covers to keep his shoes dry. Holly decided to pass on the idea, & I was good with my mostly water-proof hiking boots. So he donned the bags around his shoes, & off we went to head back the 30 or so miles in pouring down rain. It was neat to look down at the two front wheels of the SpYder spitting out the water from the road in small rooster tails from both front wheels. When I would look down, I could see both sides spraying up at the same time, & it just looked really neat. I made sure to keep the speed reasonable, not going more than 5 MPH over the posted limit, for the most part. I kept an eye on Randy's SpYder, making sure that he didn't seem to be having any problems or issues with his handling & sure enough, the RS proved just as rain-capable as TEDDYS RT.

Once we got to the last Poker-Run spot for us, which I believe was called the Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, Randy did say he was Extremely Impressed with the Spyders handling in the rain, & that he would no longer hesitate taking her out in adverse weather if need be. We pulled right up to the tavern, where they had a large canopy smoking area out front, & I actually pulled up and under the canopy, so I could get Teddy in out of the rain. When Holly got off the RS, I couldn't help but laugh once she took off her crotchless rain-pants, as it looked just as if she had to go really bad, & couldn't hold it anymore. That was a good laugh & she was a good sport about it & even allowed us to take pics of her, front & back.
2011-07-29 SITArainStop 001.jpg2011-07-29 SITArainStop 003.jpg083.jpg Randy pulled off his new invention & proudly proclaimed success, as his shoes were still nice & dry, even tho he tore a whole in one the bags using his shifter. It was only open on the bottom, so the sole kept the rest of the shoe from getting soaked, so GOOD JOB! Unfortunately, Teddy didn't fair so well, & he was ONE WET DOGGY!-LOL- Oh the look of disgust on his face was priceless LMAO! I actually took him into the bathroom with me & tried to dry him off a little using the hand-blower, but the loud noise & strong wind just scared the out of him, so we just went with a rub down with hand towels & a fresh dry shirt for the lil guy. Once back outside to the tent, ppl were all around looking at both of the Spyders. Then, one by one, Spyders start coming out of the wood-work. The group that we met-up with at the Inn, went the long route to the Poker-Run stop we chose to skip, & now they were all catching up to us. It was cool to see so many Spyders pulling up in the rain, outside the tent, dismounting, and coming in to take cover.
092.jpg088.jpgAs soon as most of them all got there, the rain ended & the sun came back out. After Teddy posed for pics & we answered curious on-lookers' questions about our Spyders, we decided it was time for us to call it a day & head back to camp.

Once back to camp, we decided to take a little nap to recoup from the days adventures & then we could build a Bon-fire and get ready for dinner. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm! Did I mention that Randy is a Great Grill Master? He fixed grilled sausage with onions & peppers & of course you couldn't forget about a drink to go with dinner. Our neighbors, who are also SpyderLovers (Erags i believe is his screen-name) from Florida came over to shoot the breeze with us & have a drink as well & it was laugh after laugh all night long-GOOD TIMES with GREAT PEOPLE! He even took us over to show us their Home-On-Wheels with its own built-in garage (NO JOKE) He had to tell me more than once to close my mouth, cause my jaw just dropped in amazement! I've seen Toy-Haulers before, but never like this. This thing was a LUXURY (guessing 65') RV complete with all the bells & whistles with a huge added surprise. With the push of a button, the whole rear of the RV lays down to the ground to make a ramp that he drives his SpYder RS right up into a full one car (SpYder) garage, as big as my garage back home at my condo! Again, "Hey Dave, you might want to close your mouth before the bugs start fly'n in." I mean, WOW!!!

[arntufun]

Your memory amazes me Dave. Maybe I did inhail as a teenager.

[CyncySpyder]

So, after a few drinks & much laughter, it was time to hit the hay.
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I was pretty happy with how well the rope-lites being mounted under the umbrella & mounted to the Moto-Mate Camper worked out. Was kinda neat, as I got an unexpected visual effect from the set-up. When your looking at it from any distance, the lights glow thru the red umbrella & they look like I have red lights mounted, & they show up very well from just about any distance. But in actuallity, they are clear, so they provide a good amount of light needed for a dark camp-site at night. Randy even mentioned that he was impressed with it. I remember one time, coming back on the SpYder at night after running an errand, I hadn't realized this, & I was wondering who had red rope lites under their umbrella, until I finally realized it was mine. DOAH!!! Then, I was like, hold up, I didn't put red lights up there? Then after getting closer, realized they were still clear, just illuminating the red canopy of the umbrella & looking red, DUH!!!
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When I'm not working, I like to sleep in, as I usually have to get up at 4:45am M-F. Sad thing is, I'm a night person, & despise having to work so early, but you do what ya gotta do! Anyways, Randy sent me a text around 9am saying if I wanted home-cooked breakfast, I better be get'n up soon. That's all the motivation I needed-lol. TEDDYS always ready to go, so I got him dressed & we headed to the showers, did our business & back to camp for some more good food. After breakfast, we decided to head out to the Casino for closing cerimonies, seeing as it was about an hour & a half Ryde. Erags was going to follow along, but said not to worry of he takes off, as he wanted to meet up with another group that was doing White Face Mountain in the morning. So, off we set, with the addy programmed into the GPS. Sure enough, about 2 miles into, I didn't see Erags following anymore. We made a stop for gas, & I asked Randy about Erags, & he said he took a different road than us, so it must have been to meet up with the other group. Ok, cool, just didn't want to loose anyone

This is where Randy noticed that we both had been going the same distance, but I was better on fuel then he was & that's with us having an RT. The RS has always gotten better fuel economy than a much heavier & larger RT, but not this time. At the beginning of our story, I mentioned that I had the Firm-Ware update done & also decided to try Bob Denmans Ryding style of short-shifting, basically shifting at 4000 RPMs or as close to it as possible. I was getting record breaking results from this. 1 tank, even with pulling a 400 pound camper, I still averaged 28MPGs, I didn't usually do that well, even without the camper before I tried this short-shifting Ryding style. I was BLOWED away. Randy didn't understand how I could be getting better fuel economy than him either. So, we both topped off & reset our trip odometers to see what we could figure out. So, back to our journey we go.

Along our route, we passed a parking area that must of had a dozen Spyders at it, I'm assuming so the group could take a break. Always great to see other Spyders when your out and about, especially a big group like that. Well, a little more ways down the road, we got stuck behind a pretty slow moving RV, & after a bit, I had had enough. I stuck my head out to make sure their was no on-coming traffic, and zip, we passed them like wind. Randy had no problem keeping up & at first I thought he was gonna pass us too -LoL But then he got right in behind us again. This repeated itself a few more times til we finally caught up to two other RTs, the lead one pulling the RT-622 trailer, so we made a 4some caravan out of it. I remember coming to a small town, that was having some kind of festival, & I swear, THE ENTIRE TOWN must have been there. Cars & trucks parked everywhere & lots of ppl at tents. Was good to see in such a rural area. So on-ward we go, til eventually we see the huge Indian Casino where the final festivities were being held. Into the parking lot we go, & are directed to the back area where theirs a HUGE white tent & bunches & bunches of Spyders! WOO HOO!!! We made it!


As usual, Teddy garners the attention of just about everyone around, Pose'n for pics & doing his tricks -LOL- kinda catchy, huh? A few wanted us to demonstrate how our set-up works on the RT for keep'n the lil guy tethered to the byke so he's safe from fly'n off & one guy (sorry, forgot yur name) even asked me to say it all over again, just this time, he was taking a video of it to post (anyone seen it?) somewhere on-line, tho I've not seen it myself yet. I absentmindedly left TEDDYS leash back at the camp-site & luckily Randy & Holly came to our rescue. Very creative couple & their good together too They gave me both of their lanyards to string together so I now had a makeshift leash. That is, till we met up with Mark from SpyderTalk, & he had our goody-bag with our own lanyards in it. Everyone seems surprised that I actually register Teddy, but that way, he's official and is included in everything. So we both had our own lanyards with name tags, so I strung them together & was able to give Randy & Holly theirs back. Mine said David (Driver) & Teds said Teddy (Passenger) I got a kick outta that.
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Our poker hand sucked, just a pair of 8s with queen high, so we didn't win anything their. At the Casino table, they were giving away miniature football helmets & I asked if they had any Bengals helmets, since we are from Cincinnati & are Bengals fans & they said they did, but they had just given away the last one so sadly, we had to opt for a Browns (Rivals) helmet. The casino staff were really friendly & they all loved Teddy & posed for pics with him while one after the other would take them. Then we mingled a little & had person after person come up & chat, many of whom we had met at either SpyderFest or the Maggie Valley Owners Events, so good to see familiar faces. To be honest, I'm horrible with names & with as many ppl approach us, it's very hard for me to remember them. I can usually remember screen names from here much better than actual names. So if I had forgotten your name when we met, my apologies & I hope you can understand it was not intentional or for lack of trying, just overwhelming. After a bit more schmoozing, one of the casino employees had tracked us down & handed me a Bengals helmet. He actually went inside & got one, just for Teddy. Man, does the pup have STAR*POWER or what? I thanked the man profusely, as he didn't have to do that & I knew he went out of his way for us. After a few others saw this happen, we actually had requests if we could get them certain team helmets that weren't available. I'm hoping it was in jest, cause I didn't even try -lol

Dinner Time. I had never seen bar-b-q chicken done up the way it was here. I'm guessing over a hundred chickens all bar-b-q'd & put into the largest cooler I've ever seen. I heard a few others comment on how unusual the set-up was, but it didn't matter, it was still good. The line was very long, and with Teddy being so food motivated, I decided to take him & go look at the BRP accessories tent for a little while, til the line dwindled & I could manage him and a plate at the same time. It can be challenging at times, as he'll do whatever he can to get at food. And if someone else has food, they are in control of his world, he won't even listen to me -lol But after a lil while, we got our plate (an extra one just for the Tedster) & drink and off to the tables to eat. While I was eating, everyone around was dicing up pieces of chicken & putting it on his plate under the table, along with the macaroni salad, potatoes & vegetables. He actually ate enough til he got full & he wouldn't eat any more (believe it or not-lol) Tho, the same thing happened at the Owners Event & he finally filled of chicken & pork & wouldn't eat anymore. It's rare, but it DOES happen.

After dinner it was time for the giveaways & Teddy actually had a shot at winning one. The usual ppl (Doc./Forest/the guy from Vertika) won prizes for the longest distance traveled, the most SpYder Events & best custom SpYder.

A couple suggestion here if I may?

1) Have a pro & novice category for custom bikes. I mean, how can your average SpYder enthusiast compete with a professional that does SpYder Mods for a living? Not taking anything away from that guy, he's got one nice Ryde, but give us novices a chance too.
2) How about one win per person, as there were a few ppl that won multiple prizes, leaving less for the rest of us.
3) Last suggestion, instead of giving a random prize to a certain winner (that may not fit or be wanted) have all the prizes on a table, & make it first win, first choice.

They were gonna give Forrest a small pink shirt (woulda loved to seen that) and a medium sized lady won an XL helmet, that didn't fit. Another girl sitting next to us won a helmet that didn't fit her either, so she asked Holly what size helmet she wore & she just gave it to her (which was very nice) but the awards should be something you want or could use, in my opinion.

As for Teddy, he got a good laugh out of the entire crowd when they held a contest for the passenger that traveled the longest distance and I stood up holding him. Everyone busted out laughing & the speaker even commented, if he wins, I don't think we have his size -LOL But sadly, the lil guy didn't win, as our neighbors had been traveling ever since SpyderFest (albeit by RV, but the speaker didn't specify "on a SpYder") so she had over 4000 miles. But it still was a good laugh.

After the giveaways, it was time to go. The casino gave everyone cards for $10 worth of play for free, so everyone was encouraged to use them & go gambling. We decided not to & to instead, see if we could make White Face Mountain. Teddy nor I had ever been, and they said that they actually have an elevator in the middle of the mountain that takes you up to the summit, so I thought that would be a neat experience.

TBC...

[CyncySpyder]

So I set the GPS for the WhiteFace Mountain trail, got the Tedster doggled up & off we went with Randy & Holly following right behind. It was another great Ryde, but this time, we got to get into the twisties around WhitFace mountain, & Teddy told me to start shredding, so I had to oblige (after all, he is the Boss) I kept an eye on the mirrors, just to make sure Randy was keeping up, which for the most part, he was right on my tail.

I've never ridden a two-wheeler (not counting bicycles) and have no desire to & that was made even more clear to me during this spirited Ryde thru the twisties. All of a sudden, I was right on top of a Harley riding two up, going from around 45 down to 15. I was like, WTF is the problem? Then I realized there was gravel all about the sides of the roads & the recent rains had washed some onto the roads & for a 2 wheeler, that's a WIPE-OUT waiting to happen. I figured the Harley guy would move over a little to allow us to pass, especially after about 10 minutes of this, but that never happened. So, once we got a straight away & the coast was clear, we had to blow by them, which I'm sure he was throwing a few choice words our way, but if rolls we reversed, Id'a let them pass instead of making them go snail pace or have to over-take us, but again, that's just me.

So anyways, back to shredding we go & boy was it FUN!!! Til all of a sudden, no Mellow Yellow SpYder in my mirrors, HuH? What happened to Randy & Holly? I came to a turn in the road & pulled over to wait for them, hoping they just needed to catch-up & that nothing was wrong. Sure enough, within a few seconds, here they come, Whew!!! I was worried there for a few. Once they caught up, they pulled over next to me to chat & I asked if everything was ok? Randy said "Yeah, except for I got a kidney punch from the back on that last set of curves." UhOh, the better half wasn't all to happy with being tossed around like she was a sack of potatoes thru the twisties. (& being on an RS, I can understand that completely) It's just not the same when your not the Ryder, but the passenger, especially being almost wide open on the back of an RS. She said she was fine, but just needed to give him a lil reminder she was back there, & we all chuckled at that.

He also said that he was low on gas, which again surprised me, as he was down to 3 bars & I was still at 5, didn't make sense that an RT was getting better fuel economy than an RS, especially since we were both doing the same roads, same speeds, one right after the other. But ok, so I changed the GPS setting to take us to the closest gas station, just to make sure we didn't run out, seeing as we were on the side of a mountain in a very rural area & didn't know where anything was, besides what the GPS told us. We make a 9 mile detour head'n down the side of the mountain now & the smell in the air becomes heavy with the acrid smell of burning brakes. Just kick the gear down to 3rd & let the bike coast most the way with hardly having to hit our brakes at all. Til all of a sudden, the rural mountainside opens up to a lil slice of Adirondacks heaven with a year round Christmas shop on one side, a beautiful view of the Mountains on the other & a busy gas station at the bottom. We made it down & jockey for position with all the other cars, trucks & 2wheelers thirsty for gas as well. 2011-07-30 LakeStopwithArntufun 013.jpg2011-07-30 LakeStopwithArntufun 007.jpg2011-07-30 LakeStopwithArntufun 041.jpgAfter talking with some very kind locals & let'n Teddy once again pose for pics for them, we compared our trip-settings and notice that even tho we've been following each other, our miles traveled are off by about 4 in 100 miles & again, Randy's RS isn't getting as good fuel economy as Teddy RT-S. We both scratch our heads at that & wonder. Anyways, we saw a sign on the way down the mountainside that said the trail to the summit closes at 4pm & wouldn't you know it, it's 3:59 No WhiteFace Summit for us, maybe another time, so We decide to head back to camp for dinner & drinks.

Set the GPS for camp & off we go. We take a different way back that is filled with shear cliffs and breathtakingly beautiful, long clear mountain lakes that run right along the roadside. We pass a couple on a nicely decked out Honda Trike & they notice Teddy on the passenger seat & I can tell they want pictures, so I see up ahead that their are some pull-off parking areas & think it would be a nice place to pull over for a bit to take some pictures as well. Just then, as we are heading up the mountainside going about 10 over the limit, a motorist coming down flashes their brights and I immediately let off the throttle & sure enough, BOOM, there's a cop up ahead sitting with radar. Who over you are, thank you for flashing, as you probably saved us a lot of hassle. We get by the officer to the next pull-off area thats totally empty & make our pit-stop. Sure enough, the GW Trike pulls in, in front of us & the excited couple dismounts & wonders back to us full of smiles with disbelief in their eyes at what they saw on the road, with camera in hand to make a memory last for a lifetime. Very nice couple from CA, we chat for a couple, Teddy poses for pics & off they go back on their adventure. Randy & Holly also take the time to look over the beautiful scenery laid out all about us & snap a few pics as well. We all take some, of the scenery, each other, our Spyders & of course, the Tedster. I think Holly even got to take off her shoes and dip her feet in the clear waters of that awe inspiring mountainside lake.2011-07-30 LakeStopwithArntufun 017.jpg2011-07-30 LakeStopwithArntufun 029.jpg
Then, back to our journey of getting to camp. Little did we know, our camp was not even 10 minutes away from this beautiful sight.

[CyncySpyder]

We made it back to camp in just a few minutes & once again, compare our trip computers with the same results. Randy decided to throw some ribs on the grill, so Teddy & I made a quick dash into town to pick-up some dessert of soft-serve ice cream & an assortment of HUGE home-made cookies. It was a Great little shop in downtown Lake Placid & they even had a doggy sunday for Teddy. Of course, as usual, he was a BIG HIT with the locals there & along with his own soft-serve doggy sunday, he also got his own home-made doggy cookie, WOW!!! I'll say it again... I WISH I WERE MY DOG!!! This lil guys got it Made So, how do you take 3 soft-serve cones & a doggy sunday back to camp on a Spyder??? Well, you make them upside down & put them in a cup & put them all in a small card-board box, & yup, it worked like a charm

Back to camp we go for dinner of Grilled Spare Ribs and Grilled Asparagus....MMMMMMmmmmMMMMM.... Another great dinner with drinks and our neighbors came over & enjoyed some of the home-made cookies with us along with another great night of laughter and sharing stories. It was starting to get late, so I thought it best that since I was still wide awake, that Teddy & I should pack-up & take our leave & head out before it got dark, so we could make some time on the long road home. It took over 15 hours to get there & I had to be at work on Monday morning at 6am, so I couldn't afford to be running late.

This is where Teddy grabbed my ear & suggested that I forever ruin Randys life, by giving up his seat (Albeit, just for a few minutes) & that I take Holly for a ryde on his RT-S, just so she could see & compare the comfort that he rydes in on a daily basis. I asked Holly if she wanted to & you could see her face light up, but she said she thought it best that she didn't. Teddy was right there, double dog daring her to do it. Randy caught ear of this & (obviously without thinking it thru) ultimatly gave his blessing for Holly to take a ryde, Teddy Style. I think most of you have seen the pics that Randy posted in his thread "Teddy is a BAD, BAD Dog" with the smile on Holly's face, & I think that said it all. Even tho it was his idea, Teddy didn't like being left behind at the camp-site with Randy & watch'n his Ryde take off with someone else in his seat (guess he didn't think it thru either-LOL) Seeing as we were only 10 minutes from that great mountain lake, I took Holly for a quick spin around the Lake Placid Winter Games grounds & then down to the lake. Once at the lake, I hopped off & snapped a quick couple of pics of Holly on the back of the RT-S & of course, she was ALL SMILES
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We made it back to camp & Holly had one of those grins on her face that you couldn't wipe off. Teddy saw this & he suggested we pack-up & high-tail it outta there before all the fireworks begin so I took his advise & did just that. Randy helped us get everything packed up & our camper on the back of Teddys Spyder, we said our goodbyes (all the while Teddy is snickering) and off we went on the long journey home.

[CyncySpyder]

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I programmed Teddys GPS for home, but changed the settings to avoid Toll Roads, as I had learned my lesson about that On our trip there & didn't want to repeat getting financially raped again on the way home. We left the Whispering Pines CampGround in Lake Placid New York around 10pm. Around midnight, we had to stop for fuel. Mind you, this is midnight Sat. night, now starting Sunday morning. The gas station we stopped at was close to a teen hangout that had just ended a car show & their were tricked out cars everywhere you looked at the gas station. But wouldn't you know it, Teddy & his SpYder stole the attention of just about everyone at the station. I felt a little uncomfortable, with not knowing the area & we were literally surrounded by at least a couple dozen teen/early 20's gangsta car type gear-heads. Not that Im judging, just cautious & not knowing what to expect or how they were going to receive us. What seemed like the "leader of the pack" (so to speak) made his way thru the crowd of on-lookers and started asking questions about the SpYder & Teddy. He was a really nice guy actually & said that if we were their an hour earlier, we woulda won the competition for best in show by far, as he just loved TEDDYS SpYder with all the mods. I'll admit, that made me feel good, proud even and at ease with the overwhelming amount of people mauling over the byke and trying to get pics of Teddy. I actually felt bad for the lil guy, as there were so many flashes going off, you woulda thought he was a movie star on the red carpet surrounded by Popperozi. This went on for about 20 minutes, then, all of a sudden, it was like someone turned the light on & the cockroaches scattered, zoom zoom zoom, one after the other heading for the highway.
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Whew, that was over & none the worse for wear. Then, all of a sudden, a pick-up truck screeches to a halt, as they were about to leave the gas station parking lot & head for the highway when the driver spotted the SpYder & Teddy & slammed on the brakes. He just put it in park, left it running & hopped out right there and started making his way over to us. This guy was a bit older than the crowd that just departed, guessing late 20's early 30's, but you could see in his eyes that he was enamored with the SpYder (or tweaking-lol-j/k) He introduced himself and commented that he had seen the BRP/Spyder commercials on TV & had been researching the SpYder on-line and was enthralled with the looks, but had never actually seen one in person, til right now! (hence the reason for the abrupt stop) After talking for a few minutes, I was actually impressed with his knowledge of the SpYder, as most ppl are clueless, but he knew a lot about the machine already. I actually allowed him to sit on it & get a feel for the Ryding position (something I rarely have done before) to which he seemed eternally grateful. He also asked if he could see inside TEDDYS camper, as most ppl just don't understand that it literally IS A BED ON WHEELS. I told this guy, as I do most anyone that asks about the SpYder, that he should check out SpyderLovers.com for more info & real-world opinions on these great machines. This all took about 30 minutes & he again thanked us profusely & said that he had better be getting back to his girlfriend, who had been waiting alone in the truck this entire time-lol.
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Ok, so that stop took an hour, just for gas. I know most of you other SpYder owners have figured out SpYder time, but This is what I call "Teddy Time" cause whenever we travel, especially when pulling his camper (as we're an even more visible spectacle for the public to behold) this scene just repeats itself stop after stop. I know TEDDYS not an "OFFICIAL" SpYder Ambassador, but he DEFINITELY IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR "UN-OFFICIAL" ONE's out there, that's for sure!
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So it's now a little after 1am & I'm getting tired. Figure we'll hit the highway & pull off at the next rest area for a few hours sleep. About 2am, we pull off at a rest-area that's for the most part, pretty desolate of travelers, except for the large amount of semi's. Mind you, when we left Cincinnati, it was in the 90's daily & I packed thinking HOT weather. Well it was only in the low 50's now, so I was thankful that I always keep one set of cold weather gear for both, Teddy & I, or else we woulda been freezing. I let Teddy do his thing, stored & locked away all the Spyders electronics & we made our way back to the camper for some much needed sleep & warmth, as being such a small space, if you keep the windows & vents closed, it warms up well just from your own body heat. One thing I've failed to get for the camper yet, is a curtain for the huge side window. It's blacked out (for the most part) with window tinting, so ppl can't see in, but I can see out. Not usually a big deal, as I just usually sleep laying the other direction, facing the solid door. That is til, being in a strange place (this rest-area) at 4 or 5 am, I hear someone walking around outside of the camper & Teddy goes into Kujo mode -lol But hey, it worked, as I heard their footsteps quickly moving off in the distance. So I thank the lil guy for his guard-dog duty & try to get back to sleep, when I hear a semi stop right beside us. We were parked in the car parking area, so I knew he wasn't "parked" there, but just stopped, probably just to look & see. So, I turn over to look out the window & I'm a little confused as I couldn't see anything but gray. But he was right there, I could hear him plain as day, so why couldn't I see him? Then, next thing I know .... BAM!!! The loudest crunch I think I've ever heard! Teddy starts going crazy & I jumped up so hard, I actually hit my head. WTF just happened? The camper didn't move & I didn't feel anything hit us. So I open the door & stick my head out to see some of the thickest, most dense fog I think I've EVER seen in my entire life. I mean, literally, I couldn't see 5 feet in front of me. I hear doors open & close & 2 mens voices talking, but couldn't make out what was being said, as Teddy was in manic mode barking like crazy, seeing as I now got out & left him in the camper by himself & closed the door, cause I was afraid if he ran off in this fog, I'd never see him again. As I walked (barefooted mind you) a little closer to where I could hear the voices coming from, I could finally see what had just happened. Seems, the semi that had stopped along side of us to see what we were (as I'm sure, especially in the dense fog) the driver wasn't sure what he was looking at, with the SpYder & Camper combo. But then, another semi was about to leave & couldn't see that the first one had stopped & BAM!!! He ran right into the rear end of the 1st semi. Luckily, this all transpired at very low speed, so Im guessing no damage was done, cause about 5 minutes later, they were both gone. Whew!!!
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I knew their was no use in trying to go back to sleep, so I grabbed my bathroom supplies and headed to wash-up, wake up, change clothes & then head off on our continuing journey home. The fog was still really thick when we set out around 6am. Right before we left, one of the rest-area attendants came over to see & pet Teddy & told us to be careful & wished us well. I couldn't believe how thick the fog was, so I actually tried taking some pics so I had proof (DUH!!! have u ever tried taking pics of fog? Tell me Im not the only one, please?LOL) Needless to say, they didn't come out. Or I should say, they did come out, but all you can see is white -LOL- A while down the road, when the fog started to lift, I was actually able to get a couple of shots of the fog up ahead, but it wasn't anything like it had been earlier in the morning.
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After a couple more gas stops, the GPS had us routed to get back onto Highway 90, which is the dreaded toll-road we took to get to New York. But, it was just a short section of it around Lake Erie that the GPS showed that this portion wasn't tolled. So I thought to myself, ok, no big deal, right? ....... WRONG!!! We make the merge onto Highway 90 and all seems fine. Its now midday & the sun was blazing hot again, & all the fog was long gone. At the last fuel stop, I had stowed both of our cold weather gear away. We're cruising along doing about 65 when all of a sudden, about 30 cars in front of us, I see cop cars with their lights on stopping the traffic in the middle of the highway & everyone slamming on their brakes!!!!! Cars swerving every which way trying to avoid rear-ending the car in front of them. Thankfully, the SpYder RT has pretty good brakes with ABS (even when towing a Camper) & we were able to avoid all the mayhem & the guy behind us went off to the side of the road to avoid rear-ending us. I guess you could say that was an "OH SHT" moment for us. TEDDYS harness system worked well, and the little guy was tossed around a lil, but stayed planted right there in his carrier. So, after a few minutes, it seemed no one crunched anyone else, at least not around us & the cops start making everyone take the exit off the Highway. As soon as we all start moving to the exit, we can see West-Bound cars now driving on the East-Bound side of the highway. I still have no clue what happened, but it musta been something major to divert the entire flow of traffic like they did. Anyways, there was a McDonalds right off the exit, so we pulled in & I ordered lunch for us & when we were pulling off the highway, I noticed a camper & RV showroom right down the street from McDonalds, so we got our lunch & I headed there. I figured with it being Sunday, they'd be closed, so it wouldn't be a big deal if we stopped there & set up camp to enjoy our lunch. Since it was so blazing Hot, I got out the umbrella & set it up for instant shade & it worked perfectly.

[draboo]

Thanks for the update,Dave! Sounds like U-2 are having a great time!

Oh, and Kiddo says.."Arf"

Brad

[CyncySpyder]

So, we're sit'n in the parking lot of the RV dealers having our lunch, & I pull out TEDDYS IPad and get on SpyderLovers.com to entertain myself, cause to be honest, I was start'n to stress a little, with knowing we were still so far away from home. And with not knowing how long the Highway was going to be closed, that I may not end up getting us home in time for me to get to work early the next morning. While cruising thru the threads, I read one by (I think) VTSpyder about their trip home from SITA in which they chose to take all backroads & even took a ferry over to somewhere & how wonderful & beautiful the experience was. Well, that got my gears turning. Before I read this, I was thinking we were stuck there, waiting for the highway to reopen, and due to time restraints, that was my only option. But after their Inspiration, I start playing with the GPS & route our way home avoiding all highways. I knew going in, this wasn't really theisable cause it would take too long, but I also figure it was better than just sitting there for who knows how long, & it would at least get us down the road further than we were & we'd also get to see some of the great little towns & beautiful Ohio countryside to boot. Just as we finished our meal, a Harley made it's way down to us & the Ryder commented "Nice Rig" & that if we were waiting for the highway to reopen, we might us well head on down the side road in front of us, cause it ended about 2 miles down at a park on Lake Erie & it was a nice place to kill some time & hang-out. I thanked him for the advice & off he went. It did sound nice, but we really didn't have "Time to Kill", so with our new plan set, I quickly packed up our camp & off we went.
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It was really neat to see all the little towns dotting the countryside & landscape. We'd go from 55 down to 35 quite often, as we'd head into one little town after another. We stopped to gas up & get ice for the cooler to keep our water bottles nice & cold & every stop, the locals were full of questions about the SpYder, the Camper & of course Teddy. At one stop for gas tho, in the middle of no-where, I actually had a bit of an uneasy feeling. The few locals sitting out front didn't budge or say a word, just gave us a "yur not from round here, are ya?" kinda of look. If you've ever seen the movie "Deliverance" I was actually expecting to hear banjos start playing in the background. Yeah, I kinda hurried & got us out of their as quickly as possible, but I'm sure it was all "just in my head" -LOL
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So we get a couple hundred miles down the side roads & I notice it's starting to get late. I quickly pull over & change the settings on the GPS again, this time, set to "HOME" the fastest route possible. After about 30 more minutes of side roads, we're merging onto I71 South heading toward Columbus. Dang, I thought we'd had been much further south than we were, but that's what taking side roads does, great scenery but not usually a lot of distance for the time traveled. Oh well, at least we weren't still sitting up at Lake Erie waiting for that Highway to reopen.
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After a while of doing 70Mph, I see we're start'n to get low on fuel & decide to stop at a Dairy Queen that also has gas that I saw right off the highway. Teddy loves soft-serve, so I figured we'd gas up & have a quick ice-cream break. Well, I come to the 4way stop-sign intersection to turn into DQ, and another car is already sitting at the on-coming stop sign with his turn signal on. He was there 1st, so it's his turn to go. After sitting for a few, he doesn't go, but just sits there staring at us. I motion him to go on but he doesn't respond, just stares. Since we're pulling the camper, I always try to be cautious in accelerating & especially braking, leaving a good distance between myself & the next vehicle, as we're not as nimble as the byke is by itself. After I realize this guy isn't going to go, I start to accelerate into the turn & just as I start, (I'm guessing) the kid in the car behind this guy got fed-up of just sitting there & decided he wasn't going to wait any longer, so he pulls out from behind him & tries to make the turn himself, which puts him directly heading into the side of TEDDYS Camper Here we go again, another "OH SHT" moment! I see him & he finally sees us. I gun the throttle, throwing Teddy back against his back-rest and making the SpYder & Camper "JUMP" forward quickly. Im assuming this guy didn't think we'd make it out of his way in time, so he turns his wheel hard & runs right into the side of the car of the guy that he just tried going around ..... with SMASHING RESULTS!!!
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We pull up to the gas pump & I quickly dismount the SpYder and check my shorts. Wow, I was impressed, still clean -lol- Teddy was clearly stressing, with his ears back & he was visibly shaking. I think the loud screeching of smashing metal just scared him, cause he was physically ok. Once again, his restraint system worked like a charm, allowing him to get shaken up a little, but nothing more than that. Can't say the same for the other guys tho, as no one was physically hurt from the low speed crash, but there was a lot of damage done to both vehicles. Seeing Teddy being so stressed, I figured he needed a well deserved intervention. I popped the rear trunk & pulled out the emergency stash of Beef-Jerky that I keep hidden in there for just such an occasion. Being that Teddy is EXTREMELY food motivated, I knew as soon as he got a whiff of the jerky, he wouldn't be thinking about what just happened, but only about what he was about to get ..... MMMMMMMMMM ....... Jerky!!! Yup, works like a charm every time. I get the lil guy out of his carrier, cause he's now going bonkers for Jerky, and take him over to a grassy area where they have a couple of pic-nic benches & I start giving him piece after piece after he successfully completes my commands of sit, lay, shake & high-five, Good Boy!!! Accident, what accident??? That's one good thing about dogs having rather short attention spans, it makes it easy to get over something & quickly onto something else. We sit there playing & eat'n jerky for a little while, while we watch the cops & tow-trucks asses the situation & start clearing the intersection. Once Teddy seemed back to his normal Happy Camper self, I put him into the camper for a few so I could gas up the SpYder & go into DQ to get us some ice-cream. After fueling, I pulled the SpYder & camper right up to in front of the doors, so I could keep an eye on everything. Well, Teddy being Teddy, he wasn't happy that he didn't get to go inside with me, so he was barking like a Banshee & drawing a lot of attention to the camper. I could see thru the windows that at least 5 or 6 ppl that had gone out to see what all the comotion from the wreck was about, were now all standing around the SpYder & camper. Oh Boy, here we go again -lol- look, the circus is in town! LOL I give the on-lookers a quick once over of everything while Teddy & I eat our soft-serve & explain that we're running late & have to go. They all wish us well on our journey & thank us for sharing our time with them. I thought the cops would have wanted a statement from us, but they never approached us, so we set out & gave them a wave as we drove by the still chaotic mess at the intersection. I'm not sure, but it looked like they had the "kid" that caused the accident in hand-cuffs ..... hmmmmmmmmm ???
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Back to the interstate we go & we NEED to make up some time. So, I'm cruising along doing 73 in a 65 when all of a sudden, a caravan of about 5 or 6 vehicles go blowing past us like we're sit'n still. Hmmmmm ... I think, we need to make better time, so I decide to follow along with the caravan. I've now got cruise set on 86 & I'm barely keeping pace with them, pulling up the rear. I'm guessing this "caravan" was a group of ppl that knew each other, cause it seemed one after another, one would slow a little allowing me to go by them while they were looking us over contently, some giving us the "thumbs up" as we went by. This repeated itself til all 5 vehicles did the once-around. Then it started to repeat itself again, only this time, I notice every single vehicle has a camera phone aimed right at us (or more likely, Teddy) which was no big deal as long as it's the passenger doing the shooting & not the driver, especially at almost 90MPH! Then, All of a sudden, & out of the blue, a full-size Chevy Silverado pick-up truck (that wasn't originally part of the group) joined in, but this guy was just a TOTAL A!!! He started blocking the other cars off & almost causing a huge pile up. Some of them were flashing their lights at him & I could see him flipping them off. Oh Boy, this isn't what we need right now! Well, this guy decides to get in front of us & make us slow down to 60 miles an hour ... WTF??? At least do the frig'n speed limit, which was 65, but he wouldn't! This was a younger guy (18-24 I'm guessing) with his girlfriend (& camera phone) sit'n next to him. Every time I'd go to pass him, he'd block me in so I couldn't. I'm usually pretty laid back & patient, but this was getting really frustrating, fast. But what could I do, I'm on a SpYder with a camper & he's in a jacked up pick-up truck showing off for his girlfriend. Ok, calm down, think. So I slow down even slower, thinking if I start going like 50 that he'd at least keep on going at 60, right? But Wouldn't you know it, I was lucky enough to get stuck with the ROYAL AHOLE of all AHOLES!!! He matched my speed at 50 & he wouldn't get to where I could make eye contact with him in the cab of the truck, but just staying along my side right even with the front of the camper. Talking about Road-Rage, I was there. This MF'r NEEDED TO BE SHOT!!! I'm so glad I don't carry a gun with me, or I'd be in prison right now. Tho I think any jury in the land would agree that it was "Justifiable Homicide" & I was doing civilization a favor by taking this A-Hole out!!! Sorry, just remembering it now brings the raw emotions right back. UGH!!! So, now what to do, dead stop on the highway & risk getting slammed from the rear??? Think Dave. GPS shows an off-ramp up ahead with a on-ramp right across the stop. Hmmmmm .... Ok, keep going til the last second & I pull off the highway & take the off-ramp ..... YES!!! Success!!! He didn't plan on that & had no choice but to keep going. So we now stop at the on-ramp & I just sit there for a few seconds watching to see what he does next. Sure enough, finally ... Game Over & the keeps going. So I decide to wait a couple more minutes, cause I really don't want to deal with him again. After a few, I decide to hit the highway again, & low & behold, no sign of him anywhere. Sadly tho, we lost our speedy caravan & I set cruise back to 70, & onward we went, hoping for a nice, drama-free rest of the Ryde home, but that wasn't in the cards for us this day.
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[BLUE MULE]

[CyncySpyder]

So now, we're in the home stretch, just south of Dayton Ohio, about an hours ryde left & we're home free. Its now past sunset, a little after 10pm on Sunday night. Got the cruise set to 70, kicked back, loving the Utopia Backrest with my legs up on the highway pegs enjoying the nice leisurly ryde when something catches my attention outta the corner of my eye & I look over at the up coming, elevated on-ramp that merges with the highway just a few hundred yards up ahead. I thought I saw a flash of light but when I look, all I see is nothing but a small cloud of dust. Huh? Im scanning the side of the highway quickly while trying to keep an eye on the road ahead at the same time. Dang it, I know something bright caught my attention, but there's nothing there, besides that cloud of dust. Could that be what caught my eye? Hold up, what's a cloud of dust doing there on the merging on-ramp of a highway? Then, all of a sudden, I have a de-ja-vu moment & everything seems to stop, & my memory takes me back a few years, before I had Teddy or a Spyder and a day when my car was in the shop, & I had my neice come & pick me up at work.

On the ride home on I75S, just north of downtown Cincinnati, I'm sitting in the passenger seat, small talking with my niece who is driving. I glance over at the merging on-ramp & see this car coming onto it too fast & loosing control, taking the curving ramp too fast for the cars tires/suspension & they start sliding off the side of the ramp, going thru the grassy median area, running over small trees that had just been planted recently. This is all happening in slow-motion, and my niece & I are both watching this unfold in front of us. It was kind of like watching a train wreck, something you don't really want to see, but you just can't stop looking. I realize we're on a collision path with the trajectory the car is heading. If he keeps going the direction & speed that he currently is going, and we do as well, we're going to be a major part of this slow-motion drama. Without taking my eyes off the car, I ask my niece, "Are you seeing this?" She calmly replied, "Yes" & I quickly glance in the rear view mirror & see that a car is directly behind us. So, I ask, "Well, are you gonna gun it, or what?" We were both strangly calm at this, I wasn't yelling, just calmly asking her the question, cause at present, she hadn't made any change in our speed & we couldn't change lanes due to other cars around us. After another moment or two, almost as if she was timing it, challenging this other car to really run into us, she gunned it just in time. The out-of-control car slides thru the remainder of the median and onto the highway & I hear loud screeches from the brakes of the cars behind us, then the loud sound of crunching metal & shattering glass. We didn't stop, we just kept on going, looking back at the carnage in the rear view mirror. After we were out of site, I picked up my cell phone & called 911 to report the accident & probable injuries or fatalities.

TBC ...

[Yazz]

[CyncySpyder]

This de-ja-vu memory flashed thru my head in an instant, even tho, for me, it was all in slow-motion. You know that sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach at such an experience? That was now overwhelming for me at this point. As I glance over again at the elevated on-ramp, my fears materialize into dreaded reality. The cause of the flash of light that originally caught my eye, & then of the cloud of dust on the side of the elevated on-ramp was once again visible. Tho, now, in disbelief, I see the airborne undercarriage of a sub-compact as the momentum has launched it off the elevated on-ramp, down the side of the highway culvert & now back up the other side & throwing it back up & heading right for us on the highway.

REALLY? I MEAN, REALLY, COME ON??? After everything else we had been thru on this trip home, we now have an out of control car flying thru the air, heading right for us! Their had to be cameras filming this, right? Ashton Kutcher had to be around the corner with his "Punked" crew in tow, otherwise this isn't something that "just" happens, right???

Disbelief aside, I yell for Teddy to hold on & I do the only thing I can do. With everything happening in agonizingly slow motion, I brace myself, tensing my legs to the saddle & my feet to the pegs, grasping the handlebars tightly in preparation for the worse & rip full-throttle while aggressively swerving to the left, hoping that the camper doesn't go flying off & that I can maintain control long enough for us to escape without injury or destruction. I hear Teddy let out a yelp as the emergency maneuver slams him into the side of his carrier & my heart sinks as low as my stomach.

In my head, I'm picturing the scene in the newspaper the following day, under the heading, "SpYder Ryding Pooch Smashed Under Out-of-Control Car." Oddly, (I'm not sure what this says about me) but I honestly didn't even think about the loss of myself, but the feeling I got about Teddy being hurt, or worse, killed, was more than I care to admit.

Back to reality once again we go. We were lucky that there were no other cars around us at this time. So, the emergency maneuver got us far away from the right side of the highway where the out-of-control car reached the apex of it's momentum and slammed back down to earth, barely making it onto the side of the highway, and with no I'll effects to anyone else, besides of course the unfortunate driver. Which after a few seconds, we see stumble out & strangely he starts kicking at the mangled mess of metal. Another car comes to a stop & I see this driver get out to check out things. Normally, I stop to see if any other stranded motorists need assistance, but not this time. This time, I had had enough & just wanted to get home & in one piece.

At 2am, Monday morning, I'm thankfully pulling into our driveway, with both of us safe & sound & in one piece. I don't worry about un-packing, just grab Teddy & we both head to bed. I get a couple of hours of sleep & drag my tired, sore butt outta bed at 5am & get ready for work at 6am. Not sure how, but I made it & without being late to work. Needless to say, I was drag'n butt, but hey, after the last couple of days, at least I made it.

And you know something, we had a blast & we'd do it all againJust hopefully, without so much drama