Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Berea after a lecture about using the right kind of oil

I woke up In bowling green and rode the moped through bowling green past the old district along the river. At the hertz I picked up an suv which may have been the tiniest suv I ve ever seen a Nissan rogue. The only thing it had in common with SUVs I m used to was gas mileage an abysmal 19 mpg. The moped with my toolbox luggage on back just barely fit. I made the 90 mile trip to Louisville only to find that the dealership tomos lists on there site is in the process of winding down. He said he couldnt afford to keep a mechanic on payroll. I was on the brink of giving up. And driving the rest of the way home even as Irene was making landfall just south of home. I found a moped repair shop number in Lexington Kentucky Fayette moped and lawnmower repair. The owner answered and because of the time change he was getting ready to close up for the weekend. I explained my situation and he told me to come on he d give me some parts frOm a wrecked bike he had. When I got there the shop was full of old mopeds and new twist and go scooters. Like Myron's mopeds he'd been in the same space for 30 years. Catching the tail end of the fist moped boom. He didn't have any tomos in stock but he scavenged some parts and between a used clutch and part of the gear cluster he got me back on the road. The gear clusters Had galled on the shafts and cold welded themselves together. One of the countershafts felt like a fancy candle holder it was full of divots. When I reassembled the case the day before a gear had been modalities and the teeth had eaten off and the oil in the transmission was full of metal shavings. When the owner saw this he decided he had better do the work himself. I can't say enough good things about the fact that h gave up his Saturday to help me. The transmission is way louder now it vibrates badly it is even more reluctant to shift in second and only stays in first up to 7 mph since it now has the original transmission spring in it. All that being said I m back on the road.
Lexington is a nice city it reminds me of richmond i think it is just starting to see the urban revitalization that richmond recieved over the last two decades Leaving the rental car at the airport i headed south to berea to pjck the bikecentenial trail back up it was apparently an hour and a half ride but I lost my navigation when cellphone coverage dropped off and my paper map lacked the detail needed to find my way. The first part of the journey was on a busy fourlane which was going through major renovation so it was down to two lanes at most points with an 18 inch dropped the shoulders scary on a Saturday night around 10 o'clock. I picked up some backeoads and quickly realized they don't use street signs out here. I spent the next three hours driving through the landscape of winters bones I got chased for a mile by a boa kept which might have been some hellhound from the crossroads. That was one fast dog. I road up some hills which dropped my speed to the point where I had to pedal. All in all it was fun but I ran a whole tank of gas out going the wrong way and around in circles. I didn't get to berea till after two. I almost over slept my checkout the next morning. I left berea after enjoying the Kentucky folk art center and a good plate of tomatoe pie.

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