Another day in paradise

There have been all extremes of thought for the last 17 days; emotional, practical, compulsive, rational, deliberation, and even a little intellectual. What intrigues me, though, is the constant fluctuation between lonely independence and extreme inspiration, determination, and the feeling that you all are with me through every step of this journey. There are times during which I feel that this journey is helplessly solitary, and others that remind me what an amazing group of people there are cheering me on from behind the scenes; and periodically being reminded of that is probably one of my saving graces.

The solitary vulnerability did not even occur to me until beginning to traverse the south-eastern portion of Texas.. I found myself in an area in which I had no interest in being, but the closest "safe" place to stop was a couple hours behind, and the destination for the day way several hours ahead. It was not a pretty site.. an environment with which I was completely unfamiliar, and frankly, rather scared of. (later I learned that I was in the town in which those two guys dragged an African American man behind their pickup for a couple of miles... remember that story? ) This was the day I crossed the windy bridge.. it seemed to play a metaphoric role in transcending me from solitary vulnerability to solitary independence and determination; a "deliverance", of sorts.. a right of passage, or the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

I've enjoyed the familiarity of Tucson for the past couple of days.. it came as a welcome change from the hardships I had been having in the previous couple of days. The places are familiar here.. the names.. the sky.. the air. It feels good. "At certain times in life, it's nice when you can say, things haven't changed that much..." and it feels good to be familiar. This thought, though, comes as a surprise to me.. after all, I AM an experiential junkie, and THAT was the intent for this journey.

While I always, as a way of life, try to limit my expectations (of people, of situations, and of circumstances), It's notable to be aware of our subconscious expectations and more importantly what becomes of them. Things are not usually what they seem, and certainly not what we want them to be. I believe the only way to be at peace is to truly accept each moment as it happens for what it is, nod our metaphorical heads in compliance, and move on to the next. And this journey has literally been a test of that philosophy for me; to expect nothing but the unexpected.. it's the only thing we can guarantee in this life.


With all of that said, I checked out of Hotel Congress this morning, shipped my long johns ahead to myself, and went to work on El Bandito's chain and sprocket replacement. Mary and the crew at Photographic Works (my former employer) have been nice enough to allow me to make the shop my "home away from home".. or more literally, my garage. As I got into the project I realized I didn't have a wrench big enough for the front sprocket.. so I consulted the factory service manual.. while looking for the size of that nut so that I could go buy or borrow the appropriate wrench, I stumbled across the rest of the specs for the bike.. low and behold, I happened to skim across the chain specs.. 530, 114 links.. right. WRONG... wait a minute.. The chain that just showed up for me is 110 links!

(Granted, I knew that the chain that I had installed in Lafayette was a 114 link chain (or so they said), but for some reason just kind of forgot.)
However.. in my defense, The Dennis Kirk.com website is pretty cool.. you can search by bike to find the appropriate parts.. so I did. There it was, 97 Suzuki GSF1200SA.. chain and sprocket kit.. 15t front, 45t rear and a 530 110 link chain. cool! (I thought) I'll take it! they've made this easy.. they packaged up all the appropriate pieces.. EXACTLY what I need.. no guess work.. the proverbial "no brainer". wrong. Dennis Kirk has their facts wrong. A 110 link chain will not work on the 1997 ABS model Bandit. (subsequently, I'm having to prove it to them by email a pdf of the factory service manual for them to change their damn website and save any future riders from finding themselves in my current shoes.)

So... the correct parts will be here.... Saturday. Of course it was too late in the day to get them overnighted. Dennis Kirk is picking up the return shipping and the 2nd day shipping to get the right crap here, but on the flip side... that's two more nights of hotel bills in Tucson. Their mistake is costing me dearly. (yeah yeah,, I should've known better and caught it in the first place.. but who's the professional parts retailer here???) I'm trying to get them to also either sell me the new crap at cost or issue me a store credit or something...


Good thing I like it here in Tucson.



*****************************UPDATE*****************************

For those of you guessing for final mileage.... I have just learned that a couple of days after arriving in California, I'll be leaving again for a three day 1,000 mile tour with Pashnit.. Since I wont actually go to the camp until after that tour.. I'm counting it! So if you've already guessed, you may want to revise! When it's all said and done, I'll do a post with everyone's guesses and announce the final number and the winner.. Good Luck! (little do you know the prize will be one of my old, dirty, greasy, worn out sprockets!... suckers!)