embarassing moment #1

okay, let me set this up first...

joey is at work, so i end up bringing supper to her on the bike. i get there and we sit down to eat. we are still hammering out details about the upcoming trip and joey is asking me how far i can go on a tank of gas. i tell her that today i got 200 km racked up before i hit reserve. that also reminded me that i was on reserve and needed to fill up. at that time, i was into reserve by about 38 km.

we finish up and she hands me her debit card so i can get gas. there is a Shell station up the street and across the causeway that i always go to, so i get going.

i'm feeling particularly frisky, so as i'm going up the street i gun it. Selene gets all growlly and we cruise up to the lights just before the causeway. i'm smiling, knowing that the people having a smoke across the street heard me. as i'm sitting at the lights, Selene coughs. i'm thinking, oh no...you didn't. i sit, hoping that it was just a normal cough and try to ignore it. she coughs again, a couple of more times and then dies. i shake my head.

traffic was light, so i managed to get her pushed across the street and onto the sidewalk. i hit the starter a couple of times, knowing full well that she wasn't going to start. i wasn't quite sure what to do. the Shell station is still quite a distance away and pushing her there would be out of the question. i would have to cross four lanes of traffic, go up a steep hill, go through another lighted intersection and across four more lanes of traffic.

then it dawns on me, behind me and down the street is another gas station. i never go there, due to the fact that i hate the company that runs it, but hey...gas is gas right now.

i turn around, give a good hard push and off i go. it's a pretty steep hill, so i'm actually keeping up to the speed limit. i once again pass the smokers, but this time...i'm a little more quiet. i laugh to myself and keep on rolling.

the hill ends just past another intersection (all greens all the way...hehe) so i have to start pushing. Selene is a beautiful thing, but damn she's heavy! with a dry weight of 573.2 lbs, you are not going to push her around without breaking a sweat. and sweating was exactly what i was doing. leather gloves, leather jacket, bulky leather motorcycle boots and a big black helmet...damn i was hot.

i finally pull (read: push) into the gas station and almost drop from exhaustion. i couldn't help but think of the hell i would have gone through if i went to the Shell station. i take off the gloves and the helmet, unzip the jacket and take a deep breath. a guy, just finishing his transaction, says, "i hope you didn't have to go too far."

i look at him and say, "i'm just glad this place is downhill!"

we both laughed and i filled up the bike.

it took a bit to get her started. i guess i had completely drained the lines (or else she was mad at me...lol). i was actually getting worried about killing the battery, but after a bit of coaxing she started up.

on the way home, all i could do was laugh. i was laughing so hard there were tears rolling down my cheeks.

so there you have it. a lesson well learned and i now know exactly how far i can go on a tank of gas. please feel free to laugh. as a matter of fact, i encourage it! :)