On 8/5/2023 10:21 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I didn't think it was a real thing until it happened to me. We had
loaded a couple bikes in the back of the truck and spent a week in a
resort up in Tahoe. I wasn't tired. We had a good week and did a lot of stuff. One day just for the fun of it we road all the way around the
lake.
I don't recall for sure, but I think we turned around somewhere, and
didn't actually ride ALL the way around the lake.
It was a lot colder than expected on the north side of the lake.
Coming home I decided to ride and let my wife drive the truck.
I had a walkie talkie (CB) tucked on a fairing pocket with an ear piece tucked in one ear. Mostly it was a pretty nice ride. We had decided to come back through Ca, instead of cutting over to Az the way we had gone
up. The sun was still up coming down out of the mountains, and the view
of the mountain and river was spectacular for long stretches of road.
Russian River maybe???
Somewhere south of nowhere, but maybe not yet back to the low desert
(not sure) I picked up the walkie talkie and let my wife know I was
going to need to stop for gas soon. I sort of got into a rhythm with my vision flickering from the white line to the gas gage. There were three things going through my mind and I don't remember what the third one
was. Something, white line, gas gage... something, white line, gas gage...
I still have that walkie talkie and it still works. An old Uniden I have
a few of them now, but I think that was the Uniden.
Then I heard somebody screaming in my ear. I had past three exits and
there was another one coming up. I didn't catch all of that. All I
heard was exit. I turned my head to the right and just barely saw the exit. I didn't slow down until I was halfway down the ramp. I vaguely recall having to turn my head back and forth to see everything as I maneuvered in to the gas station. I managed to make it inside and asked
the clerk where the coffee was. By then about all I could see was his
head and shoulders when I asked.
When I had my coffee I tried to pay the clerk refused to take my money.
I just stood there sipping my coffee, and it wasn't until I started to
unlock and my vision came back from that tiny little tunnel that I
realized how bad I'd been. I guess that clerk saw it when I came in the door.
I think truckers used to call it white line fever. The first time I had heard of it with bikers was when I was a kid watching an episode of
CHiPs. I never thought it was a real thing. I've been so tired I had
to pull over or crash a few times, but I'd never experienced road lock before. (or since) I think if I hadn't had a speaker in my ear and somebody screaming at me I'd have just kept riding until I ran out of
gas and fell over.
I was not really tired before or after, but my wife did insist we stop
at the next hotel we found.
--
Bob La Londe
Proffessional Hack, Hobbyist, Wannabe, Shade Tree, Button Pushing, Not a
real machinist
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