In an attempt to deal with the recalcitrant zipper on my Aerostich pants, I bought a roll of "Gorilla" tape (industrial strength duct tape), intending to wrap it around my leg where the zipper was missing the tooth, figuring that's where it was starting to pull apart.
Except that missing tooth was right at crotch level, meaning I couldn't really wrap it around my leg--but I tried, anyway. Didn't work. Toward the end of the day, it was feeling 'breezy' down there, and when I got off the bike, the top of the zipper had pulled apart all the way down to the tape wrap.
I'll try again today, but I'm afraid that tape alone won't do the trick. I may buy a sewing kit next time I'm at Wal*Mart for groceries and sew it shut, then climb in and out of the 'Stich without my boots. It's not like I take it off during the day, anyway.
I started the day with a short leg to the first gas stop at a corner station 15 miles up the road. I know most folks either fill up the night before, or before they start out, but at the end of the day I just want to stop, and in the morning, by the time I'm all packed and suited up, I'm already hot, and want to get some air going through me.
The ride was mostly uneventful, if mostly hot 'n' muggy. Tried (with varying results) to remember to drink often, but it's not like the desert, where you know you're dehydrating.
I rolled through a bunch of built-up areas, then Birmingham traffic (didn't wave at the Barber Museum, 10 miles to the east), before getting out into more open country and more consistent 65 mph limits.
My 'great circle' line crossed the Mississippi north of Memphis; not a lot of bridges cross the Big Muddy in the area--I didn't want to go through Memphis--one city a day is my limit, and Birmingham had filled the quota. Next crossing to the north was I-155, taking me 30 miles off my 'line,' guess it'll have to do.
I'd been watching a dark blob mostly off to my left, comparing it to where I thought the route was taking me, and hoping I'd miss whatever it had in store. But a couple miles before the Mississippi crossing, we met with predictable results--gloves came off, Nuvi into the tank bag (phone is packed away). I started the Virb recording, hoping for a better bridge than I'd been getting, and ... it's not bad, if a bit blurry.
By now it's late enough that I decided not to try for my last waypoint, particularly since it doesn't look like there's a lot of lodging choices there. The penultimate one has quite a few; I pick the Quality Inn, with a not-too-distant Wal*Mart; it's changed into a EconoLodge (same parent company) and as I'm checking in, notice real tablecloths in the breakfast area. "Omelets to order," the clerk says.
Motel: $74.92
Groceries: $9.72
Next
Home