2.5 hours till pick up....Nothing but time.

First off, I'm OK.  I started off today in Atlanta GA at 5am, fresh from an excellent stay in Bentonville AR.

The little voice inside my head was chatting away at all the people I need to thank, and about something funny to write in the blog.  Well I heard a lyric to a song once, that said "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans".

Well somebody laughed at me as the little voice was crafting the rough draft...But all is well:

I rolled through Vicksburg MS, passed the mighty Mississippi River and started a long fast pace towards Dallas TX.  Let me tell you there isn't much but heat and flat land between Vicksburg and Monroe LA.
Attempting to roll through downtown Monroe, I heard something..."eh, could just be the road" I thought. Another 1/2 mile I heard AND felt something.  I scouted for a safe place to pull over without getting taken out by traffic (mostly semi-trucks at 2pm here in Monroe).  Found a spot 1/2 mile from an exit, and decided it was safe enough, just as lights started flashing.  What those lights mean, hell if I know, it's just not good when any lights are flashing urgently at a rider.  I coasted over to the side of the road, and turned the bike off.  Just then a jolly gent pulled over behind me to block traffic.  I walked over to him and and more or less explained I had no idea what was going on.  The jolly gent offered to follow me with his hazards, to the exit, which we did as the noise progressively got worse. I limped the machine into a Super 8.  The jolly gent said he could see my rear tire wobbling.  I believed him as I could feel it.  I told the good Samaritan thank you as I reached out with my hand introducing myself.  He shook my hand and said "My name is Santa".  There is no denying his resemblance to Santa.  I refined my thank you to be "Thank you Santa", and off he went.  My guess with the help of a phone call to BMW dealerships is the rear wheel bearing, and final drive are shot.  Or so the leak on my rim told me, and the dealer.

The Super 8 on Glenwood Dr. in West Monroe has world class employees.  While they do not have any rooms available, they are allowing me to hang in their A/C and wait for the roadside assistance folks to come get me.  

So I have 2.5 hours, and then a tow to Dallas, as that's the closest BMW dealership with the parts.  I better call Harmon and let him know I'm gonna be a bit off schedule, and he's gonna have to fetch me from Plano.

While this maybe an irritation to most, I have some pretty powerful guardian angels.  I'm good.  I could have been stuck in the middle of BFE.  I could have gotten the el'cheap roadside assistance plan (good old Tereck Hallsey insured I have the best roadside plan one can have).  I could have really hurt myself on that bad rear wheel.  But I'm just fine, the tow to Plano TX is covered, and I'm hanging out in a Super 8 lobby with A/C.  The bike is just a machine, and parts for those are replaceable.  The human body and mind is not so easily replaceable.

I will be writing a letter to Santa this year thanking him.  Plus I'm gonna buy the nice folks here at the Super 8 some pizza for being so kind.

That dark leak is not good....Very much BAD

Broken

.  Oh...And I gotta call Matt Harmon to tell him where to fetch me.

Cheers to the road