Day 1 (aka rookie day)

Today, I put more miles on my scooter in one day than I have in the entire 13 months I've owned it. The weather started out crappy, but not the torrential rains they were forecasting. I was out of it within a couple of hours. Should be pretty clear from here on out. Dave and I started out together, but he has 15 MPH on me and ultimately finished the day an hour ahead of me.
Now the interesting stuff. Today was a day where you learn things, really fast. Rather than a bunch of long winded paragraphs about what I screwed up, I am going to write myself a list for future reference. It's a list to remind myself (along with anyone who may attempt something like this) what not to do.

Here it is;

-Do not leave your gloves on the seat of the scooter at the hotel and drive away. Especially right from the get go. You will have to turn around and go search the streets of savannah for them. (I found them)

-Study your route. You know you aren't good with numbers. There may be 60 miles of highway and NOT 16. If you're lucky it will be 6:00 am on a Sunday morning and the highway will be empty.

-Pay closer attention to the electronics people lend to you. Especially, a $300 gopro Hero HD camera. The mounting bracket might have shitty glue and it will probably fall off on a road somewhere in Georgia. You will have to back track several miles hoping to find it, but you won't. (sorry Dan, it will be replaced).

-Pay attention to your fuel gauge. Also, plan your fuel burn more conservatively. If you don't, you might end up trucking down a hill at 65 mph and then the engine will quit because you ran it out of gas. You'll have to push it to someone's driveway and fill it up with the extra gallon you carry. This will cost you time. (it's a timed race you know!)

-Don't day dream. You will probably miss at least two turns. You will have to backtrack again, costing you even more time.

-Figure out your Bluetooth helmet setup before you leave. If its on the wrong setting, it will pause your music every time you try to sing along with it. Good luck trying to figure it out on the go.

-Wear sunblock on your neck. Too late.

The answer is yes, all of this happened today. On a whole (aside from losing the camera) it was a good day. Looking forward to a ride through Mississippi tomorrow!

Still trying to figure out the picture taking thing. Since the hero is gone I have to take them with my hand held camera. Not too much picture worthy stuff today. It was nice, just nothing exceptional (see picture below). Just a lot of road, a lot of trees and a lot of small towns. And a lot of cops. No tickets though!




















This is how you prove you were at a certain location at a certain time. High tech I know. (my camera won't hold date and time anymore, was going to get a new one but have to replace Dans now).




This is the official time sheet we hand in. Our scores and rankings should be posted at the end of each day when everyone gets to the hotel.




Dork