Here comes an update as we reach Internet cellphone coverage for the
first time in days. Unfortunately we are under this coverage due to
some bad news.
Josh and I are some fifty miles from the trail in Russellville,
Arkansas outside of the beautiful Ozark National Forest. We woke up
early after another huge thunderstorm, ate out oatmeal, then ducked
back in the tent avoiding the next lightning storm. It was a late
start after the storms calmed and the bikes ate up a rough hill climb
for breakfast. Cruising down a tree covered steamy dirt road my bike
made heaps of bad noise as it came to a halt. The bike was quickly
being disassembled as Josh and I ran through rough diagnostics.
Skipping ahead a few hours, Don and Jeannie Furr drove by in their
nice new white Chevy pickup truck. I ended up bugging my old boys back
at G&H Cycles in Portland for some over the phone diagnostic as we
exhausted the battery trying everything. We ended up taking the Furrs
up on their offer to haul the bike to town. This included a fabulous
lunch of fresh tomatoes, cantaloupe, and conversation about all our
travels.
Don and Jeannie took us into Jerusalem AR and introduced us to Mike
Shannon of Shannon's Small Engine repair. Josh and I disassembled the
carb and inspected everything to find that it was indeed an electrical
issue and it was one of two $750 parts.
Getting a tow to the Suzuki dealership 26mi away proved impossibly
expensive so Josh towed me all the way there with his bike. (video
coming soon? Computer still not fixed)
So here we are at Suzuki of Russellville in limbo, awaiting news on my
pickup coil and as I'm typing this, it sounds like they're trying to
solder in one from a Polaris found "out back".
Wish us luck, Josh and I are hurtin' to get back on the trail, we've
fallen back over three days now already!
No comments:
Post a Comment