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| Lighthouse tower is 49 feet height |
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| Lighthouse was fully automated in 1988 and has a range of 21 miles (33 km) |
I love big water like ocean or sea: it's never the same, always shines with different forms and colors. You can almost hear it here:
In prospect wide,
The boundless tide!
Waves cease to foam, and winds to roar;
Without a breeze,
The curling seas
Dance on, in measure, to the shore.
Who sings the source
Of wealth and force?
Vast field of commerce and big war:
Where wonders dwell!
Where terrors swell!
And Neptune thunders from his car?
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| Ocean was quite calm that day |
In total, I spent about an hour or two there (had a lunch that I took with me, wandering by the shore). But since my plan was to get home without staying overnight in hotel I needed to head back early. So I washed my faceshield, attached my tank bag and off I went.
Riding back was quite inspiring: with every mile I made I grew more and more excited. Almost to the point that I didn't want to stop for more than just a few minutes to fill up the tank and leave. Partially because it was getting darker and I didn't want to stop for the night in CT or MA: it was too close to home. But that's where you can get into trouble because people often tend to disregard safety rules and are ignorant to vital indicators: like body heat or how tired they are, etc.
In my case, I needed some warm cloth to retain body heat. And I could easily buy it even in the gift shop near lighthouse or any shopping mall. But you would loose precious time, I thought. That's kinda dumb thinking since it could end up in an emergency in no time. Losing heat = getting exhausted faster = bad reaction time = higher risk of crash.
We managed to breeze through Massachusetts with the last sunlight. Rhode Island welcomed us with a chill and humid air but quickly introduced some traffic to help me stay warm. I was thankful as it entertained me for good 15 minutes and then I started to feel tired again. And one of the best solutions to boredom and sleepy feeling is signing aloud. So that I did. I was singing all the songs I remembered looping my playlist in my head over and over again. After 30 minutes or so I continued with my own creations to simplify lyrics and sync the beat with road speed and conditions.
Time passed by. I knew I was close, it was the last filling of the tank before I reached New York. My heart started to race and so I had nothing to do but start making a mental plan of what I'll do when I come home. My body was reminding me of all the hours I spent in cold North-Eastern summer winds. Ok, so I'll make a tub and hot black tea with milk. Or just milk and cookies :) Or just a shower and no tub. I actually didn't care anymore...
My Low Fuel light lit up and I started to look for a gas stations. But there was nothing for miles ahead. It's probably a good idea to create bigger fuel tanks for motorcycles. At least as an aftermarket part to add extra 2 gallons that will give additional 50-80 miles per tank. Believe me, that would be my first priority purchase on probably any motorcycle except Ducati Multistrada and BMW G1200GS Adventure. First one has decent range and bigger tank will probably make it look less sexy. And as for BMW, well it has a badge of the longest ride on a tank (7.3 gallons is a LOT of fu half a tank at night, outside of city/town - fill up at any gas station for a piece of mind. In this case, you'll actually save some time because businesses tend to close for some reasons and even if gas pumps are up and running you may need to see a cashier solve some technical issue. First two were closed so I drove further and further away from a highway to find a fuel. It took my 15 to 20 minutes to fill up. That's 2-3 stops in service areas with enough fuel to make it to the next one if something goes wrong. Just saying.
It was past midnight when I entered Manhattan: road construction was still in progress and cars packed the road. I support legal lane splitting but not in the case like this. The throughput is low and any accident may block few available lanes and stop people for hours from getting to their destinations. It's definitely not going to improve public image of motorcyclists or even provide a case to ban lane splitting completely. So I had to drag my feet for about an hour until I had a stretch to cool down myself.
Yes, you got it right, I was complaining about the heat just a few hours after I was begging for it. Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery from the city to outbacks, highway to narrow streets, forest to plains to miss what you had just 30 minutes ago. So I slowly rolled last miles to my apartment recalling all the fun that happened for last 24 hours.
I made it. 1500 miles in 24 hours. And who cares if I have a patch or not. I rode street bike to the easternmost point of USA. 3 more to go
.
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| Ready for a nice ride back |
In my case, I needed some warm cloth to retain body heat. And I could easily buy it even in the gift shop near lighthouse or any shopping mall. But you would loose precious time, I thought. That's kinda dumb thinking since it could end up in an emergency in no time. Losing heat = getting exhausted faster = bad reaction time = higher risk of crash.
 |
| Views are awesome |
We managed to breeze through Massachusetts with the last sunlight. Rhode Island welcomed us with a chill and humid air but quickly introduced some traffic to help me stay warm. I was thankful as it entertained me for good 15 minutes and then I started to feel tired again. And one of the best solutions to boredom and sleepy feeling is signing aloud. So that I did. I was singing all the songs I remembered looping my playlist in my head over and over again. After 30 minutes or so I continued with my own creations to simplify lyrics and sync the beat with road speed and conditions.
Time passed by. I knew I was close, it was the last filling of the tank before I reached New York. My heart started to race and so I had nothing to do but start making a mental plan of what I'll do when I come home. My body was reminding me of all the hours I spent in cold North-Eastern summer winds. Ok, so I'll make a tub and hot black tea with milk. Or just milk and cookies :) Or just a shower and no tub. I actually didn't care anymore...
My Low Fuel light lit up and I started to look for a gas stations. But there was nothing for miles ahead. It's probably a good idea to create bigger fuel tanks for motorcycles. At least as an aftermarket part to add extra 2 gallons that will give additional 50-80 miles per tank. Believe me, that would be my first priority purchase on probably any motorcycle except Ducati Multistrada and BMW G1200GS Adventure. First one has decent range and bigger tank will probably make it look less sexy. And as for BMW, well it has a badge of the longest ride on a tank (7.3 gallons is a LOT of fu half a tank at night, outside of city/town - fill up at any gas station for a piece of mind. In this case, you'll actually save some time because businesses tend to close for some reasons and even if gas pumps are up and running you may need to see a cashier solve some technical issue. First two were closed so I drove further and further away from a highway to find a fuel. It took my 15 to 20 minutes to fill up. That's 2-3 stops in service areas with enough fuel to make it to the next one if something goes wrong. Just saying.
It was past midnight when I entered Manhattan: road construction was still in progress and cars packed the road. I support legal lane splitting but not in the case like this. The throughput is low and any accident may block few available lanes and stop people for hours from getting to their destinations. It's definitely not going to improve public image of motorcyclists or even provide a case to ban lane splitting completely. So I had to drag my feet for about an hour until I had a stretch to cool down myself.
Yes, you got it right, I was complaining about the heat just a few hours after I was begging for it. Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery from the city to outbacks, highway to narrow streets, forest to plains to miss what you had just 30 minutes ago. So I slowly rolled last miles to my apartment recalling all the fun that happened for last 24 hours.
I made it. 1500 miles in 24 hours. And who cares if I have a patch or not. I rode street bike to the easternmost point of USA. 3 more to go
.
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