Saturday, April 14, 2012

My lucky Day!

Today, the temps up here in the north woods of WI were headed for the upper 70's with bright, clear skies. A great day to take the Wr250x on a ride down some fire lanes and through the woods. I left home with 60 miles already on the last fill up, so I gassed up in town. The little 2 gallon tank is only good for about 90 miles before the low fuel light comes on. I drove 12 miles and turned off the main road and onto Mosquito Brook Road. I followed it down to Phipps and turned east onto Phipps Fire Lane. A mile or so later and I was on gravel. I stayed on gravel for the next 19 miles. I saw no one, no cars, no bicycles, no ATV's. Parts of the Phipps and Rock Lake Fire Lanes are not much more than a bulldozer trail through the woods. I had a great time!


I ended up coming out of the Chequamegon National Forest and onto a paved road about 3 miles from home.
The whole area around Cable is loaded with bicycle trails and ATV trails, but for some reason, motorcycles are not allowed on the ATV trails. I guess that's OK, there are plenty of Forrest Service Roads and Fire Lanes to ride on. I have a LOT more exploring to do!

So why was it my lucky day? I got home, stopped at the mail box, stuffed the mail in my jacked and rode up the driveway. I got off the bike and started to unload my things. I couldn't find my wallet. I had it with me when I stopped for gas. I checked all my pockets, my driveway, by the mail box, the tank bag... Nothing. I got back on the bike and started to retrace my ride backwards. So, driving along CR-M, about 2 and a half miles from home, I catch a glimpse of something on the east bound shoulder... I turned around and....

I'll probably never be that lucky again!!! I had visions of it lying in a ditch and never being able to find it again. A good lesson learned, zip all pockets and keep the wallet in an inside pocket. I'll have to make a record of all the credit cards and their contact numbers. It would've been such a huge pain to go through, if I had lost it.

12 comments:

  1. Wow how lucky was that! It would have been a pain to cancel and renew all those cards and licenses.

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    1. I was so worried that it was gone. I was dreading having to call all the card companies. I was so relieved to find it!!

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  2. Don't you just hate that panicky feeling while looking for that wallet? I am glad you found it. You certainly are one lucky bloke.

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    1. That's the worst feeling. I was hoping that if it was lost, no one would find it. It only had $2.00 in it, but the cards were what I was worried about

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  3. Wow, sure glad you found your wallet okay. I can imagine your heart rate when you found it gone.

    But it looks as though you had a great day. Beautiful warm sunshine and deserted roads. Sounds perfect.

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    1. The panic set in fast, and went away just as fast when I found it!

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  4. You are also lucky to have some great gravel roads close by. Losing a wallet is a nightmare, trust me I know.

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  5. The funny thing is, when I lived close to the city, I had a bike with knobbies and couldn't find any gravel. Now, I move to the woods and I end up with a dirt bike with street tires... Go figure. Maybe the next set of tires will be less street, more off road?

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  6. I don't know how many times I've meant to zip my pocket shut after putting my wallet back in after a gas stop......and SO far, have been lucky to still find it tucked deep in my pocket when I did remember and ran the zipper closed. One of these times.....

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  7. Be careful up there Erik, like yours my TW200 OEM tank was small and it's not like you're always an impossible distance from gas, but it seems I'm too often a long ways from convenient and along-my-route gas. I put one of those ATV Kolpin tanks on the back and that was good insurance if a bit inconvenient. Finally the Clarke company came out with a plastic tank and though not the promised ~4 gallons, at a bit over 3, so now I've got a lot more flexibility to stop when I choose.

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    1. I've been getting just about 58 MPG over the last few fills. That's on the road. I suppose the mileage will drop riding off road. I know that a better seat or a cushion is going to be required in order to ride tank to tank. A larger fuel tank or a rack with one of those Rotopax fuel cells might be a good idea. I'd hate to have to push it out of the woods!

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  8. Erik:

    I had one of those lost wallet moments too. but then I found it buried in my inside pocket. The problem is replacing all those plastic cards. You were very lucky it was on the side of the road. It would never happen here in the big city

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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