The Great Snail Ride (Riding Behind Granny and Grandpa)
You know, I've never been able to figure this one out - people will either drive ten or fifteen miles over the limit or ten or fifteen below, nobody seems to be able to do the speed limit. Such is the case this evening after resetting my carburetor. At dusk I decide, after adjusting itty bitty screws, to take RB for a little shake down ride on a nearby road. Through the neighborhood I get on it a little, not a bunch but just a little and coming to my first stop a block down I can tell the idle is now to low. Blipping the throttle to keep RB running I pull cleanly away easing my way around the curves in the neighborhood, make a left at the next road and head to the bigger road. No cars have I seen on the road thus far as I approach the bigger road while coming to a stop at the sign. I look right and see nothing but clear road then look left, a mini van is coming with nothing behind it. I wait...blipping the throttle. I'm still waiting...blipping the throttle. Finally they pass going the way I want to go and I let them get a little ahead before pulling out. RB pulls pulls along fine, no stumble or stutter as I shift gears hoping the van gets up to speed so I can do some throttle ups and downs for testing the range. I catch them and we're doing a blistering thirty in a forty five. RB is lurching now in fourth so I drop it down a notch to third but cruising along at this speed keeps the RPM's to high. I back off more hoping to put room between me and Granny so I can stab the throttle. Granny decides to slow down too so I'm at a crawl now in second. All the way down the road we go at a snails pace. There is nothing before or behind Granny and I vehicle wise and she is going the whole way I am it seems. I exit, stage right, at the next intersection.

I turn down this side street to turn around and head back the other way. All of a sudden the flood gates have opened. As I sit there blipping the throttle cars keep coming over the hill from both directions. Meandering along just far enough apart that I can't pullout, I'm still blipping the throttle. Finally a clearing, yet again RB pulls clean, no spitting, sputtering or stumble as I approach the traffic light to turn left, cars are coming again as I wait, and I wait, still waiting. Oh good, they are all coming straight across so after I make my left it will be clear sailing, one more car to go, wait, what, damn, the last car turns down the way I'm headed. I get on the gas trying to get speed up to test my adjustments. Noooooo, damn it! Lurching, lurching, I back down to a crawl behind this car, wow, twenty in a forty five. Finally reaching my road I get to open it up for a block. Might be okay except for the idle, not sure, can't actually tell. I wonder, why is it there can be five miles of open road, no cars  in either direction except for the Snails I get stuck behind and there are no passin zones but one and guess what - that's when another car just happens to be coming the other way.