April 13th = EAOS

Woke up this morning in the house of Pete Conrad and his lovely wife-soon-to-be Kayla. Spent most of the day walking around Alameda California, and finally got a new phone! AND a new hat!

Then it was time to head back to Triquest Sidecar Motorcycles, pick up my bike, and hopefully pick up some more knowledge of Urals. Boy did I ever! There was also some changes made to the bike, including but not limited to:

Adjusted sidecar alignment/lean in
Checked carbs for proper balancing (also grabbed myself a TwinMax!)
Oil change (and regular 2500km service)
Timing checked and adjusted
Brakes adjusted

So, my goal was to get on the road in a timely manner and make some miles on my way to Coachella, but that is not what happened! Most of the time was spent talking to the owner, Ski, about anything and everything Ural. Actually, most of my time was listening. I felt like I was trying to take a sip of water from a firehose blasting me in the face, so much to absorb and remember.

A lot of time was spent looking at the things others have done on Urals. There is such a rich, interesting, and adventurous culture to the Ural community. If you havent, I recommend going to Urals website and clicking on the link at the bottom. I'll leave it at that so you can go explore it.

Before we knew it, it was dark outside. I knew I had to ride on the freeway, at night, and wasnt really looking forward to it. I'm not afraid of it, but its definately not something I enjoy!

I did it anyway! Thanks to the expert work done by Triquest, there was definately a boost in performance. Bike is very happy, and purred along the freeway. Truth is, I'm not sure exactly how or why, but before today I was used to the sound she makes at 55mph. Now, she makes that sound at 60mph. Might not sound like much, but its a lot for me!

I know a lot of this blog is me saying great things about people, but thats what happens when you meet great people! Hanging out at Triquest with Ski was fantastic, and I look forward to doing it again sometime. Ski if youre reading this, sincerely, thank you.

So I was on the road for about an hour and its 10:30pm... Turning in at a Motel 6 I had a fantastic surprise, right there across the street was an In-N-Out!!!!!!!! AWWW YEAH!

Also, today was my EAOS. I am no longer active duty in the United States Navy. Its been real, its been fun, and sometimes it was really fun. SOME times. For all that has served or is serving, thank you, I salute you and consider you family. Even if I dont like you!