Day 2 and 3

Hello, Followers.

I had intended, and tried hard, to post daily.  I am beginning to wonder if I am the best one to do this. I ride all day and work on the bikes as soon as we arrive at our hotel.  Then there is partying on top of that (great parties by the way)   This is leaving me exhausted.  This morning it was all I could do to have a coffee, grab a shower, pack up and get to the starting line.

Let me just summarize the hard news.  We started with 8 Vincents.  During Day 2, two went down including my ride with a blown clutch.  The other casualty was a California guy, Bob Reimer, whose magneto died.  The California group (profile pending) has their own backup bikes.  The Texas-based group, my guys, have backup bikes too.  We both went down at lunchtime on Day 2.  I ended up on a lovely Triumph T160 triple.  My California friend ended up on his own Norton 750 Commando.

The show went on.  Last night I stripped the bike.  We need parts and/or a new clutch.  Today, a new V3 multi-plate, bolt-on replacement was the way to go.  One of the guys happened to have a brand new V3 back at home.  It will be delivered to us on Monday.  Once installed, I will be back on a great Vincent.  We are doing everything we can to keep the ride on schedule and "Vincent".  The resourcefulness of this group is without equal.  

The territory we covered was amazing.  It is all mountainous, green and gorgeous.  A fantastic video has been put on Greg McBride's Facebook page.  Look him up.  It will give you a real view of how wonderful this event is.  As a newbie to this sort of thing, I am blown away.  How about coming back from your all-day ride to an air-conditioned shop trailer?  How about an outdoor Chinese buffet in the parking lot under the lights?  We are having the time of our lives, mechanical issues be damned.

The following is some eye candy,

From my hotel room, an early morning shot of the parking lot.  The white California truck and trailer, and the Norton mother home, etc. are all there.  Al the vehicles shown are part of Vincents Across America,  There are as many support people as riders.  As I said, this a major production. 

Gas stop.

My kind of selfie