"R" called me at the hotel shortly after 8:00 this morning to let me know that my truck was finally ready at the engine shop and also that the fire truck I am hauling to Key West was ready to load. Cool, things are finally coming together.
I made a mad dash over to the yard and grabbed "J" to drive me down to get my truck. Once I signed the final bill I hopped into my truck and started back North to go get my load out of Oshkosh. Along the way I made a quick stop at Wally World to pick up that little folding bicycle I had seen there. It was a pretty quick purchase as I was in a hurry. I quickly looked it over, determined that everything was there and that they hadn't screwed up the assembly too badly, paid for it, and left. Folded up it fits neatly in front of my passenger seat just as I'd hoped that it would.
I picked up the fire truck right after lunch, scaled it out at the truck stop, measured it's height and width, and called all of the information in to the office so they could get busy ordering my oversize permits. I then went back to the yard to deflate the tires down to 30psi each and crank down on the chains to get it's height down below 14ft. I did pretty well, I dropped it down better than 4 inches and it's nicely below the 14 ft mark now.
Once I finished that I hopped in and started through the countryside. I wanted to be near the WI/IL line for a good start first light in the morning. Despite an unexpected construction detour that took me through parts of the WI countryside I'd never seen before and had me worried about any low bridges I might not know about, I made it down here well before dark.
Just as I sat down to eat dinner "R" called me and said that several of my permits had already come through. That's a good thing alright, but I'm busy eating right at the moment, I'll call you in the morning thank-you-very-much. I just don't like being bothered when I am eating. That's me time.
After eating I pulled my shiny new folding bicycle out of the truck, unfolded it, figured out how to set it up properly to fit me (naturally I never did read the instructions), and rode it around the parking lot here for abotu an hour. It felt pretty unstable and uncomfortable at first, probably due to my having spent so much time riding recumbents, but after a little while I got a feel for the little bike and had a good time riding it.
Naturally Wally World screwed up the adjustments a bit. No big deal. As soon as I have another few minutes to spare I'll tune the shifting system myself and have it shifting smooth as silk. I already examined the deraileur and it's a very easy type to adjust. Basically just two screws, one for the high end and one for the low.
While the little bike is no speed demon being as it only has 16" wheels, it'll come on very handy both for some aerobic exercise out here and for getting around when I want to go exploring. All in all it isn't so bad. With it's magnesium alloy frame it's quite light weight as well as sturdy. While I am home I'll try to get to my bike shop and pick up some things for it. I want to get a small tool bag for under the seat so I can carry a basic tool set, patches, and a spare tube or two. I am also going to pick up some Mr Tuffy tire liners to reduce flats. I haven't had a single flat on my recumbent since I installed them on it.
I also want to talk to the shop owner to see if there's a way to convert the wheel mounts on the thing. They're the old fashioned nuts that require a wrench and I would prefer to have quick release levers like on my bent. I am hoping there is some way to change it over without having to get into expensive wheel changes and such. Worse case, if the ting gets a flat it's so light I can just carry it back to the truck. But I'd rather not.
So I am now parked for the night, getting ready to spend my first night back in the truck since the middle of last week. I have a cold jug of Gatorade, some chocolate covered raisins, and am about to pop in a DVD to watch before getting some sleep. Sunrise will come around soon enough. The customer wants the fire truck delivered in Key West on Friday. I can do it, but it's gonna take some hard daytime running and no bad luck problems with the truck.
having just got the truck back out of the shop from a major engine repair my confidence in it is a bit thin right now. I'm hoping it won't let me down as I really would like to get home.