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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Day 18: Tues., June 30: Riding near Halifax


Well, I tell yah, SUCH a day we had yesterday! OY!

It started off great -- Rhonda and I were up reasonably early and ready to go when Beth arrived on her 650 V-star and after some preliminary yakking, and with Rhonda 'coaching', I 'braved' the chore of backing out the Deluxe from Big Bob's shop. I did this with more than a little trepidation -- Delilah Deluxe can be capricious and it's a back-up down a ramp (thank goodness that was dry!) But it all turned out to look worse than it was, thank goodness and off we went.

We headed off on a nice coastal ride which took us down to Queensland and Chester (South Shore) (coffee at Timmies there) which I thoroughly enjoyed -- nice twisties and beautiful views (and sea smells to match) - it was grand.

Funny (peculiar) thing though. As we started our bikes at Timmie's, my battery warning light flashed on, as did the four-way flashers - just momentarily, but enough to worry me. Then I remembered that when I started the bike at Rhonda's that morning, the battery warning light had just flashed very briefly. THEN I remembered that, after we left Privateer HD the day before after I had Delilah serviced, just as we were merging onto the highway, the light had done just one flash ... hmmm, something to watch, I thought.

So, off we rode and as we went along, the light started to come on again -- about five or six times, all told. I was getting really concerned and we pulled over and decided to make for Privateer along the back road so they could have a look at it - I was quite concerned about having a breakdown on the fast highway route. (At the tiime, I thought maybe when they were putting the bike together after having taken the wheel off to check the balance, that they maybe they'd bumped the battery terminal connection or there was a loose wire or something of that nature. )

Anyway, we rode along, me getting tenser and more worried by the moment, and then suddenly, in a curve, Delilah lost all power for a split-second (seemed like an eternity) and then just as suddenly, the power came back on -- man was that a wobbly execution of a curve! Scared the bejeesus outta me and by the time we got back to Privateer and I got off the bike, my hands were shaking like a leaf -- NOT an experience I'd care to repeat.

So, the good news was that we made it to the shop safe 'n sound. The bad news was that we had a lot of waiting around to do, while they fit the bike exam into their schedule (which was great of them, considering they looked fairly busy). The next good news was that they were able to discover that the voltage regulator was not functioning properly and needed to be replaced. The REALLY bad news was that they didn't have the part in stock and it would take AT LEAST three days to get it from Toronto :-(

I could quickly see my holiday in NS going into the toilet and possibly not being able to make my ferry booking to Newfoundland. But, thank goodness for Rhonda - she phoned Big Bob and he did some phoning around and found a brand-new part at Power Trend in Halifax, an authorized HD dealer. Fabulous! But the kicker was that Privateer would not pick up the part for us - they WOULD install it, but I had to pay over the phone for the part and Power Trend got the part delivered to me by taxi. (The parts fella actually told Rhonda 'Power Trend buys from us; we don't buy from them'. Hmmm)

Great! At least we had the part. The Privateer service fellas installed it and test-rode the bike and it looks like it works fine now. HURRAH. But, without Rhonda and Big Bob stepping up and insisting that there was a better way to get the job done, I'd now be bikeless and who knows how long for. So I'm eternally grateful to 'Indie' (Rhonda's new nick is 'Indefatiguable') and Big Bob -- I learned a good lesson from watching these two in action, for sho'!

By this time, it was after five p.m. and I was bagged, I tell yah. I was glad we were going straight home -- I really needed that libation tonight, uhhuh! We headed off, as I thought, for home, and I was so disoriented, I didn't really realize we weren't anywhere near until we had been riding for ages and I saw a sign for Peggy's Cove. I had expressed the desire in the morning to do the Peggy's Cove loop and Indie was still going with Plan A of the a.m. while I thought we had segued to Plan B, which was to bugger off home and drink alcohol.

I was really pooped and stressed out, and when she realized it (my riding was getting pretty sloppy as I was sorta punchdrunk by that time), she headed for home pronto, the darling girl, so just had a brief stop at Peggy's Cove -- it truly is beautiful. But the seas are very powerful and dangerous there -- just recently, Indie said, a woman was swept into the sea when she ventured too close to the rocks ... and apparently it happens every year. NO TE TO SELF: stay away from Atlantic Ocean!

So we got home, did a brief liquor store run in her van and enjoyed another wonderful homecooked dinner (she IS a better cook than a navigator ;-) ), drank and yakked and laffed and generally de-stressed with her and Big Bob and had a great evening.

Today, we decided to to kick back and hang out at her place for Canada Day and just recharge MY batteries (Delilah's seems fine after all that LOL); I'm doing my blogging and uploading photos and a little laundry and Big Bob & Indie's kids and grandkids (3 two-year olds!) are coming for dinner, so that will be great fun too. We might even wash our bikes too -- how much more excitement could yah possibly ask for, eh??? ;-)

Then, tomorrow, weather permitting, we can hopefully get another ride in (and maybe meet up with my niece) before it's time to think about heading up to Cape Breton for the weekend and then on the 6th, on the ferry to Newfoundland ...

Have a Wonderful Canada Day Everyone! It's our 142nd birthday this year, isn't it???

Day 18: Riding near Halifax

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well once again dear Willi you have me sitting on the edge of me chair! I was going to mention to you not to go tooo close to the shore if ya made it to Peggy's Cove. But the cove is very beautiful. Reading about your little ride made me really miss the east coast even more! If ya think NS is awesome wait till you get to Newfoundland. Just watch out for the moose over there.
So good night Willi, and enjoy your day tomorrow! And as always RIDE SAFE!!!!!!!!!
Cindy

Bikerhen said...

Wonderful story again. That must have been frightening when the power cut out on the road. Glad all is well now and you had a well-deserved day off amongst a warm and loving east-coast family.