The Bickering Hour

We have pinpointed the Bickering Hour. Actually, it starts to rear its ugly head at around 4:p.m. To be more specific, it kicks in at 3:50 p.m and by 4:15 p.m it is going full throttle. We made this discovery yesterday on our first day out at around the same time that I discovered that H's-- true intention is to make it to California in three days.
For those of you unfamiliar with the dynamic between H--and me, here's a brief overview. His personal philosophy is to live life in a state of constant acceleration. I mean this quite literally. H-- has never met a vehicle that he has not wished to overtake. The full realization of our situation hit me like the tractor trailer that he just HAD to pass on an unfamiliar highway with a solid yellow line running down the center. To be fair, the line did not begin as a solid one, but materialized due to a merging of lanes. H-- was in the lead and overtook the truck just as the dotted line ran out leaving me with nothing but a solid yellow line, oncoming traffic on one side and a very angry trucker on the other.
My apologies to the fine citizens of Wysop, PA. as we "discussed" the growing series of transgressions (without our usual discretion) in the parking lot of the General Store. I blame my bad behaviour on a predictable drop in my blood sugar level. Okay, that, and because I was still pissed that he had pulled an announced u-turn at a perpendicular angle to a hill in Middletown, NY. This would only have been mildly irritating had it not been for the extra 40lbs of dead weight on a bike that already weighs five times more than I do.
Here is the ensuing list of commandments:

1. THOU SHALL NOT EXCEED THE SPEED LIMIT BY MORE THAN 20 MILES PER HOUR. ESPECIALLY IN SMALL VILLAGES AND WORK ZONES.

2. THOU SHALL NOT EXCEED 80 MPH ON UNEVEN HIGHWAY

3.THOU SHALL YIELD AT ALL YIELD SIGNS AND COME TO A FULL HALT AT STOP SIGNS

4.THOU SHALL ACKNOWLEDGE EVERY RED LIGHT.

5. THOU SHALL PULL NO TIGHT AND UNANNOUNCED U-TURNS

6. THOU SHALL RESPECT ALL AGREEMENTS TO STOP AT SCHEDULED INTERVALS.

Needless to say, the management can and does reserve the right to add to this list when necessary.

YESTERDAY'S MAIN LESSON: AFTER YOU'VE PASSED THAT TRUCK , THERE'LL JUST BE ANOTHER TRUCK TO PASS, AND SO ON. SLOW DOWN AND GO WITH THE FLOW

After a restful night at the PENN WELLS HOTEL in Wellsboro, PA we are with friends in Cuyahoga Falls in Idaho. Hwy 62 through the Allegheny Forest is a rider's dream. If this is a sign of things to come, bring it on.