As we hit the road again in the sweltering heat (it shouldn't be this hot in this part of Cali.), our next destination was our lunch stop, up in the hills and about another hour or so away. The terrain continued in much the same vane until we found ourselves outside our lunch stop. Well, most of us did. As we pulled up, there was a report that two bikes had broken down. Then it was that one had broken down and one stopped to assist. Never far from the action, it was Dud who had gone AWOL and Steve had stopped. When they finally arrived, with Larry, it transpired that Dud had been feeling the effects of the extreme heat and was feeling drowsy, so he decided to pull over. Some refreshment and a dowsing of cold water and he was able to continue. Happy Dud was OK, we set about lunch, yet another ceasar salad for me, the sixth of the tour.
Rested and rest roomed, we were ready to face the heat again. Larry gave us a spray of water to help combat the heat, whilst Dud soaked his t-shirt in the restroom. Then we were back in the saddle. Dean had said that we would need to get on the interstate to get into LA, which would be 'fun' but before that we would have one more stop at a little diner, to cool down and get refreshments.
Just over a dollar gets you a small but refillable, (I don't get that size thing when refillable) drink, so I downed a cup of lemonade then refilled with added ice. The beauty, well one of them, with the RK, is that with a screen fitted (take note Paul) you can pop a drink between the screen and the headlamp shell. It is then easy, if you are wearing an open face helmet, to take a cooling swig of beverage whilst in motion. Doesn't take long for it to heat up in the temperatures we were riding in mind.
And so we set off on our final leg into LA and Glendale Harley Davidson. Larry reported that there was a twenty minute delay on the Interstate, so I think we may have taken another route (Dean could confirm), heading a little further eastwards first of all, then picking up I5 all the way into Glendale. I5 was as frenetic as you would expect on a Friday afternoon but we all managed to stick together and move along at a good pace. Before we knew it, we were in Glendale, with no holdups to speak of. Good Job!
The final act before returning the bikes was to fill them up with fuel. Such amusement! It is quite funny to watch the mayhem that 12 or so bikes can cause when hitting the gas station forecourt en-masse. It's even funnier when said gas station has more than one in and out route, such as this one. There were cars all over the place, vying for the next free pump, reversing here, dodging round there. I was first filled up, so it was quite entertaining watching them all, from a place in the shade.
We rode a couple of blocks round the corner and parked the bikes up outside Glendale Harley. Our adventure, on the bikes at least, was over! :-(
A mileage check was taken, from the Honda of Carl (2,738.8 miles) and from the Harley of Graham (2,737 miles). so it looks as though that is what we covered during the fortnight. I saw my RK's odometer go past 4, 5 and 6 thousand miles and by my reckoning, we covered about 3,100 miles!! Don't you just love Harleys? Someone suggested (maybe Larry) that someone was riding my bike at night and Steve (ironically) said it was because I was taking all the bends wide! Whatever the true mileage, it was in excess, we reckon, of 2,500 in the fortnight.
With the bikes checked out (don't look at Dudley's footboards too closely!), the remaining beers in the cooler drunk, Andi and Petra arrived to welcome us back and leave us with 4 bottles of something white and sparkling for the courtesy bus trip back to LAX Hilton. A nice touch, spoilt only by the bumpiness of the road and the sharp movements made by our driver (a lady!), ensuring we lost some to inevitable spillage. A toast.....to us, oops!
Checked in and showered, we prepared for our farewell dinner.
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