Salos Dafee
Well-known member
One fine day in August, I was riding through North Georgia on US-1. That highway goes through towns, open countryside, cities, and more countryside, so the speed limit varies all over the place, from 25 MPH to 65 MPH.
I was enjoying the ride, and concentrating on my destination, which was a couple of states away, when I topped a hill and saw a Georgia State Patrolman sitting in his car and waiting for people who were not paying attention to the speed limit, which was 55 MPH in his vicinity. Well, he turned on his red & blue lights and started after me, and clearly he had nobody else in mind, so I slowed down and stopped at once. Perhaps he appreciated my stopping so promptly. Perhaps he appreciated my producing the appropriate documents, all in good order, as soon as he requested them.
Anyway, he told me that 71 MPH was a tad rapid for a 55-MPH zone, even when nobody else was around, so would I please twist the handle less while riding through Georgia, then he left to resume his vigil.
I was astonished. That is not the reputation of Georgia's police. Then I took a look at my luggage, and I began to wonder ...
I do not spend much on luggage. $2 for saddlebags, made from Goodwill knapsacks. $2 for a box, bolted onto my luggage carrier, and another dollar for a large red satchel on the rear seat, still bearing the previous owner's name on the front, back, and both sides. That name is LEO, written in all caps. I wonder if that name had anything to do with the officer's charitable attitude toward a courteous tourist.
Maybe.
I was enjoying the ride, and concentrating on my destination, which was a couple of states away, when I topped a hill and saw a Georgia State Patrolman sitting in his car and waiting for people who were not paying attention to the speed limit, which was 55 MPH in his vicinity. Well, he turned on his red & blue lights and started after me, and clearly he had nobody else in mind, so I slowed down and stopped at once. Perhaps he appreciated my stopping so promptly. Perhaps he appreciated my producing the appropriate documents, all in good order, as soon as he requested them.
Anyway, he told me that 71 MPH was a tad rapid for a 55-MPH zone, even when nobody else was around, so would I please twist the handle less while riding through Georgia, then he left to resume his vigil.
I was astonished. That is not the reputation of Georgia's police. Then I took a look at my luggage, and I began to wonder ...
I do not spend much on luggage. $2 for saddlebags, made from Goodwill knapsacks. $2 for a box, bolted onto my luggage carrier, and another dollar for a large red satchel on the rear seat, still bearing the previous owner's name on the front, back, and both sides. That name is LEO, written in all caps. I wonder if that name had anything to do with the officer's charitable attitude toward a courteous tourist.
Maybe.
