#23 - Trials on Trips...
Lamont and I put a lot of miles on motorcycles together. The stories I've relayed here are just a sampling of our adventures. Over the years, I attempted, several times, to get him into helmet coms. But he was always adamantly opposed to the idea. In the beginning it was because he was wearing skid-lids. Really nowhere to hang a radio. Later, when he went to 3/4 and modular, he'd say...
‘I don’t want you jabbering in my ear all day when I’m trying to have a nice, quiet ride.’ And though I assured him I wouldn’t be filling his world with my voice, he just wouldn’t go for it.
We were coming back from one of our Quebec, Canada trips. It was a beautiful day, traffic was not all that heavy, and we were making good time. (We always made good time with Lamont leading the way since speed limits don’t apply to him). We arrived at the international check point going back into the USA. They waved Lamont through but decided I was the nefarious looking one. They had me get off my Spyder, open the Frunk (the only compartment my GS has), lift the seat, etc.
During all of this, I concentrated on the task at hand, failing to see what had become of Lamont. When the Canadian officials were done with me, I started out slowly looking intently to my right where there was a large parking area just past the border station. There were the usual vehicles from sedans to semis scattered throughout. I looked and looked, and even though I had a good view, I didn’t see Lamont & Spyder anywhere. Which gave me the idea that he’d kept going, probably well below the speed limit so that I could catch up.
I kicked up the speed and squinted as far down the road as I was able. Not seeing any Spyders ahead, I kept going faster and faster. After 8 or 10 minutes of running well over the speed limit without any sign of Lamont, I decided I was never going to catch him and settled into 5 over the speed limit and kept riding. I knew where the night’s hotel was and I just figured I'd meet up with him there.
I was surprised when I discovered that I’d arrived at the hotel before Lamont. That’s when I knew I was going to hear about it when I saw him next.
Turns out that Lamont had pulled into that large parking lot at the border crossing and had watched my proceedings with customs. He assumed I’d seen him go into the parking lot and stop in a position that afforded line of sight. When he saw me pull out going slow, he assumed I was doing so allowing for him to catch up. He said I looked right at him. So, he started out leasurly on the long frontage road intending to merge with me at the exit on the south end. There were semis parked along the outer edge of that roadway. While this left a clear view of the parking lot itself, it blocked view of the frontage road Lamont was on. That’s why I never saw him, nor did he see me speed up.
He said that once he cleared the semis and pulled from the exit to merge onto the freeway, he could no longer see me. And the rest is history.
I took the opportunity to reassert my request that we get helmet coms. And guess what! We did. Though he never said so, I could tell that he actually enjoyed the ability to communicate.