Electrics at the Dragon - Day 5: Pittsburgh to Charleston

Day 5: Pittsburgh to Charleston

Stats and Map:

Intended mileage

254

Actual mileage

270

Cumulative mileage

789

Number of charge stops

4

Charging cost

$3.02

Charging energy (kWh)

8.6 paid and ~ 19 free

Route

The route took me back roads into West Virginia and mostly along the Ohio River to a friend's house for lunch in New Martinsville, and then on to another friend's house in Charleston, WV.  One of my Michigan friends calls this my "sponge tour" since I'm apparently sponging off a good chunk of my friends in the areas I'm riding through.  

First Stops

My first stop was at Racoon State Park which was really just a pit stop, but they happened to have a free Level 2 charger so I got about 10 miles of additional range while I stopped.  

The first intended real stop was at Oglebay Resort where there are destination chargers, both Tesla and J1772.  

Bike Down

It was a particularly blustery day and I parked my motorcycle on a slight sideways incline.  It's the "wrong" way for a kickstand so that the motorcycle is slightly more upright than it would be on level ground.  I thought that for the 15 minutes I was inside to use the loo and maybe use the loo, it would be fine.  

I was wrong.

It turns out that both my idea of coffee (the resort is going through a refurbishment) and that the wind couldn't push over my 500+ lb motorcycle with another 200 lbs of gear were incorrect.  I came back to the scene above with the bike on its side, helmet and a few other things cascaded down the hill, but the bike was still charging.  The first good sign.

Damage Report

The right brake lever end and the handlebar end cap were snapped off, there's cosmetic damage to the side cases (yay for side cases!) and a small chip on the front edge of the fairing, but otherwise the biggest bruise is to my ego.  

I picked up the bike by removing all the luggage to reduce weight and then using a tried and true method where you squat down, back up to the bike's seat, grab a frame member on one side and the handlebars on the other, and then lift with the strongest muscles in your body:  your legs.  

When the adrenaline stopped pumping and my heart rate came down, I was gratified that the bike started and charged fine, there was no front wheel or handlebar alignment issue and basically everything was ridable and the journey could continue

A Lovely Lunch

In another "sponge stop", my former colleague and friend Don and his wife Jan prepared a wonderful lunch for me at their place in New Martinsville.  We shot the breeze for a while while the bike charged on a 240V outlet in his wood shop. 

Parkersburg WV

The blustery day continued and it was payback for my tailwind from the previous day.  The flags and bushes along the way confirmed I had a pretty stiff headwind coming at me and it made itself known on my range.  I opted for charging at at Mercedes dealership in Parkersburg which, although being closed on a Sunday, had a ChargePoint unit that allowed me to maximize charging with 2 J1772 plugs.  I set up my folding chair since I was still too rattled to walk into town and caught up on my phone.  

Charleston, WV

A bit delayed by my tip over mishap, a longer than anticipated lunch, and a bit of extra charge time means I had just enough time to change out of my motorcycle gear at my former boss and friend Vinay's house before we met up with some former Bayer Institute Site retirees for dinner (Vinay paid for us all, so the sponge tour continues).

I was whipped after all that and slept like a baby.

The day's video goes into more detail.

Stop Soldier Suicide Fundraiser

As part of this ride, I'm participating in a Facebook Stop Soldier Suicide fundraiser.  If this issue is important to you, please chip in a few dollars to a worthy cause.  I will post my mileage updates on that page as well as this page.


See you on the road!

In This Series


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