No rain after all

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – For all of my whining and worrying this morning, I never put my rain suit on once today as I rode 408 miles from Dodge City, Kans. to Springfield, Mo.

But I did discover and resolve a different kind of problem – a missing bolt from my right saddlebag mount. I was putting the bags back on the bike this morning and noted that the right bag, which has a greater capacity than the left, is pretty heavy. That caused me to glance over the bag mount and notice that one of the three rear assembly bolts was missing. The upper one was partially unscrewed and about to fall out and the third one was loose.

I dug out the Allen wrench from my toolkit and tightened the remaining bolts on both sides. Then I consulted my GPS database for a listing of BMW dealers to see if any were in my path. The add-on list that I found somewhere online said there was one in Wichita – Mid-America Powersports. Wichita was on my way, so I locked in the dealer coordinates and hit the road.

I rode of town under a low deck of gray cloud and in fog and occasional very light drizzle.

Much of the morning ride involved pavement that showed signs of very recent rain, with dry stripes from passing traffic. Flooded fields, swollen streams and water-filled side ditches bore witness to the heavy downpour I was following.

But I broke into bright sunshine as I neared Wichita and pulled over to change my clear Gargoyles for sunglasses before pressing on to the dealer.

Once there, I quickly learned Mid-America is no longer a BMW dealer. When their relationship with BMW ended, they shipped back all of their BMW parts, the parts department guy told me. Nevertheless, he came up with a bolt that is a perfect fit. It’s silver-colored with a Phillips head instead of gray with an Allen head, but what the hell.

Mid-America has a huge inventory under roof. I shot a photo of one of their two monster showrooms jammed so full of bikes that navigating through them to the parts department is like walking through a maze.

I grabbed a quick McDonald’s lunch on the east side of Wichita and headed east on U.S. 400. About six miles east of Cherokee, Kans., I misread the Garmin’s directions and spent the next hour or so working my way south and east on a series of Kansas and Missouri state and county roads, bypassing Joplin and finally linking with I-44 about 25 miles west of Springfield. It was an interesting digression and I saw roads I never would have ridden otherwise.

I usually phone ahead for motel reservations. I called the Comfort Inn in Springfield from my last gas stop at Parsons, Kans. and declined to make a reservation because I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $90+ for a motel room. I tried the Budget Host and recoiled at the freakishly low price and the fact that they had plenty of rooms and there was no need to make a reservation.

I knew there were lots of motels at Exit 80A, so I gambled on finding a reasonable room. It paid off when I dropped my sidestand at the oddly-named Eagle’s Lodge and got a $50 ground-floor non-smoking room.

There are lots of restaurants within easy walking distance, so I had grilled salmon and rice pilaf at Shoney’s.

Garmin estimates I only have about four hours of riding to get home tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to an easy day. I may go check out the Bass ProShops gigando mothership store here before I leave town in the morning.