Sometimes only one road will do.

So staying in Cleveland one more night turned out to be a damn good choice. With a massive storm coming up the coast I missed riding through it by delaying departure. The road which seem to be the best selection was route 322. Running from Cleveland to Philadelphia. I got into Clarion Pa that evening from leaving Cleveland around noon. It turn out the college town had a carnival that night and that brought on the strange looks as I came riding through. Not feeling there was going to be a spot to camp out at, I was once more on the bike in search of a spot. I came upon a spot in a town called Corsica Pa. Now at this point I've gotten pretty good at setting up the tent in the dark. And since it was quite chilly out I was in the sleeping bag and sleeping by 21:00. The next day I was on the road early, I had 310 miles to go and knew it would take most of the day. Just outside of State College I had my first scary moment of the trip. Now I ran out of the gallon of two stroke oil I started with and bought a quart of two stroke oil you find in a car parts store. Mixing two different oils isn't really that good. The second oil takes some time to lubricate the parts. While I was coming down a hill the back wheel locked up and I started to fish tail left an right before I grabbed the clutch and coasted to a stop. With the amount of weight on the bike, I'm amazed I didn't crash. I change the gearbox oil giving the bike time to cool down. Kicked over the bike and a sign of relief came over me. So once more I was back on the road and with in a few miles the back wheel lock up again. I thought let me get to State College and I'll let it cool down for 90 minutes. After the bike sat for a bit, I thought, am I really going to make Philly today? So once more the bike started up and I roded in a bit of tension the rest of the way. Riding through 322 from State College to Harrisburg was a major highway and the thought of "don't be breaking down on me now" came in my head more then once. Got into Philly around 21:00. After riding for 10 hours I was pooped. But there was a rally tonight, no time for being tired. So I met up with a friend and loaded more things on the bike. And Jordana and I were riding to a friend of a friends place to crash. But not before we headed to New Jersey. So heading through Philly and taking a wrong turn can land you on the Ben Franklin bridge and $4.00 cheaper. New Jersey will let you in for nothing, but it gonna cost yea to leave. So after that journey we made it to our place to stay. But then it was rally time.

Cleveland Cleveland Cleveland

While staying in Cleveland at my friend Bill's place, I got to paint a mansion of a house. Now getting on ladders 20 or so feet high is quite nerve racking and great at the same time. But a few days of rain, stop me from helping to get the last 25% of the house finished. Saw the Gentleman Jessie and His Men band at Now That's Class, which is a great dive bar. There where two other bands that were playing Natural Child and Strange Boys. Both were pretty great to see live. But the Strange Boys drew me in. The lead singer voice is so raw and emotional, you can't but be sucked in. There's a great little coffee shop in the Tremont area called The Loop. The things that cool about this place is they sell vinyl and cd's upstairs and a some down on the main floor. Over the 24th-26th of September was Ingenuity Fest. It's held below the Superior bridge. It use to be where the trollys would operate back in the day. Lots of music, art, and invented ideas that tackled things like energy use and better ways to use them. Met a lot of great folks while in Cleveland. Kinda hard leave, but another rally laid ahead in Philadelphia.

You can't really go far without fuel.

After bit of time I was gassed up and I was back on the road heading for Cleveland. Heading up route 3 with a few hours of daylight left, I knew I'd be in for a night ride. And riding back roads at night can be filled with all sorts of unknowns. Like Mr groundhog. Most of the ride was nice, passing by a Halloween cemetery, I knew I had to stop and go back to take some photos. A lot of time went into it and it wouldn't be right not to stop and check it out. The sun was setting and once more I made one of those countless stops on the side of the rode to take more photos. It hard not to watch the sky when it's that beautiful. Feeling that it was time to refill the gastank I stopped at the nearest gas station. Pull out the spare tank and as with most stops, I have the curious driver pullup next to me and say " you riding on that thing". After saying I'm riding for world peace, they start asking more question. Ok I've really haven't been telling people that, but I wonder what they say if I did. So I'm all filled up an take off when my Vespa suddenly stops. What the f-ers is racing through my head. I look down and gasoline is spilling out onto the road. Turn the gas lever to the off position and look inside the carb to find the gas line had come slighty off. I get the line connected and back on the road. After few miles I start thinking, did I connect that line really good? After crossing a pair road tracks going 50 mph told me no, you didn't fix that gas line right. So I was once more stopping to fix that gas line. Things get a lot easier, when you do them more then once. Start the bike and those railroad tracks knock more then the gas line loose. One of the wires connectors that make the lights work had come apart. Easy fix and the last 30 miles were pretty damn chilly.