Milestone Ride

Last Wednesday, Baton Rouge had a power outage in the downtown area. I had ridden T.S. to work that day, and was leaving a little early after having returned from visiting in Alexandria all day. As I fought through traffic downtown, I kept thinking that as soon as I got across Government, the traffic would be better, as the lights would surely be on. Wrong. I got past Government and on to Nicholson past the Pastime, and still no lights. But I was certain that as soon as I got to LSU, the power would be on, because the campus has to be on a different grid, right? Wrong again!

Did I mention that on the way to work that morning, I was having to travel on the Reserve Fuel tank? I'd never ridden far on that part of the tank, but theoretically, there was a gallon of gas left, and I should have been able to travel at least 40 miles before running out of gas completely. Do I even have to say "wrong" again? As I passed not one, but two, gas stations going down Nicholson (I was still thinking that everything would be ok at LSU and beyond), the traffic really started bogging down. I was in my new rain jacket, helmet and leather gloves, and I was wondering where that promised cool front was. So after passing through the North gates of campus, and going about 2 blocks in about 20 minutes, T.S. sputtered and died. Even though I'd been sitting there for that long, I was still slightly in disbelief. I (fairly calmly) pushed the Start button again, and it almost got going, but then died. I thought, "Maybe it's flooded." So I 'duck-walked' it over to the side, hoping that people would think that I was just taking a break from the traffic (don't ask me why, but I was embarassed, and this was more on my mind than the thought that I was out of gas). After sitting for a minute, I tried again. Nothing doin'.

Very luckily for me, I was right next the Married Student Housing (a.k.a., Student Visa Village), so I was able to pull into a parking space in a lot. I called Ray and told him not to come down Nicholson because it was FUBAR. I told him that I'd walk up Nicholson to South Stadium and down past the Vet School to River Road. He said he thought that was way too far for me to walk, and that he'd get there well before I did. He was right - and wrong. It was close to 100 degrees, and I was fully dressed (black pants, shirt, jacket, rain jacket), and having to carry my helmet, purse and packet of papers from the bike. (I didn't want to leave ANYTHING with the bike, as I was not sure if it would be there when I returned.) As I started huffing it towards Alex Box, I realized that this was going to be a bit of a walk. Once I rounded the corner, I knew I was in trouble. I was carrying my jacket, but I stopped to fold it up into the pouch it came with, and stuffed it into my (heavy as hell) helmet. I started off again, sweat pouring into my eyes, sounding like an asthmatic, and the phone rings. It's Ray telling me how bad the traffic on River Road was. I was still worried that he'd get there before me, so I kept going, but by this point, the inserts in my riding boots had slid down, and I was in extreme pain. Do you realize how long that stretch of road is??? FINALLY, I made it. The traffic was moving as slow or slower than on Nicholson. I probably waited another 20 minutes before Ray got there. I didn't care - I was so happy to see him creeping around the bend!

Anyway, we went back much later, and T.S. was still there (thank goodness!). I refilled the gas, and it started up like nothing had ever happened. So, yes, that was a horrible experience, but I know that I was actually lucky, and that it could have been much worse. I could have been in the middle of nowhere, or it could have been raining, or Ray could have been AWOL. But, I've learned my lesson. As soon as the main tank runs out, I am heading straight to the gas station - I don't ever want to do that again!