17 day road trip, what a BLAST!!
#1
08-10-2008 | 11:37 AM
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,738
Likes: 7
From: St. Charles, IL
17 day road trip, what a BLAST!!
http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b181/Chicago-Spike/
Above link is to my photo album of most of the pictures I took on my recent motorcycle trip. They are in chronological order and below is a summary of where and what I saw/did on this 6,000 mile ride 8)
June 20; Left Friday afternoon and rode up into Wisconsin making it to Eau Claire. A little light rain, but nothing to serious
6/21; Headed up Rt 53 and nearly hit a black bear just south of Superior Wisc. :shock: Stopped to touch the last of the Great Lakes I needed to touch to have been in all 5. Found a small museum dedicated to the P38, a WWII fighter, Marianne says I can find a plane museum anywhere and she is probably right! After the stop at the museum, I headed west on Rt 2 across Minnesota. Stopping to see the Mighty Mississippi as a small creek. Stopping for the night in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Light rain on&off all day
6/22; Still heading west on Rt 2, found N. Dakota to be just as boring as the movies say it is. Flat, straight and not much else. Into Montana by evening almost hit an antelope before stopping in Glasgow, Montana.Rode through a few Indian reservations and found the people to be friendly always waving to me, but the towns were depressingly run down except the liquor store. Rain shower soaked me right before getting to the hotel for the night
6/23; West again on Rt2 into Havre, Montana where I make a right turn on Rt 232 and head up to find a sign declaring a United States Coast Guard Station just down the road? Probably protecting us from those marauding, stick wielding Canadian hockey players! Crossed the border into Canada, this crossing is only open from 9am to 4pm daily! Into Canada watching a pack of coyotes run across the road, and up into Medicine Hat where I stay for the night. NO RAIN TODAY!!
6/24; Running west on Canada Rt 1 into Calgary, light rain when I leave in the morning, but dry when getting to Calgary and I stay there for the night.
6/25;Traveling west on Rt 1 I ride past the Olympic Park where the Ski jump, bob-sleigh and other Alpine events were held just outside of Calgary.Pretty cool to see. Now into the Canadian Rockies, these are what I had pictured in my mind when I first learned of the Rockies in my youth. I went to Colorado for the first time 4 years ago and the Rockies there are beautiful indeed, but they weren't what I had pictured. The Canadian Rockies had the shear granite walls shooting to the sky with snow capped peaks, just breath-taking...... both literally and figuratively! Had lunch where the Canadian ski team trains in Canmore and continued west on Rt 1 crossing the Continental Divide at Rogers Pass, ele. 11,123 feet. Very cold and sunny, snow still on the ground in spots. I stop at Revelstoke British Columbia
6/26; Cold morning I head out Rt 1 and turn back south in Sicamous at Rt 97. This takes me through BC's wine and orchard areas, cherry, apple, grapes, peaches, almost any fruit is growing here and a few "Herbs" I guess as it is not illegal for you to possess Mary-Jane here as evidenced by all the "Hippies" and "Goth" people I see wandering around certain towns. I continue down Rt97 and turn onto Rt 33 and run this down to the border and turn again onto Rt 3 to run east on the Canadian side to Midway, BC where I finally get back into USA and become the first bike from Illinois to cross there with this old man who's been guarding the border for the last 20 years!!
epper1:
Rain starts again and I blast to Spokane, Wa for the night.
6/27; Leave Spokane via Rt 2 heading north and east into Idaho, stopping at a dam for some shots. Staying on Rt 2 into Montana and I stop at a gas station where I see a half dozen tarps spread out on the ground with what looks like mulch on the tarps in a single layer???? I get closer a realize that it isn't mulch, but morel mushrooms drying. The owner is a guy from Kobe, Japan and he tells me that he comes here to pick morels after a wildfire has burned down a forest. Seems, morels will only grow the first spring after a forest fire has happened. He then tips the park rangers and he is allowed to pick all he wants, dries them and ships them back to Japan where he sells them for about $200 dollars, US, a pound! That's, $500 a kilo. He was very cool to talk with, and I should have bought some of those morels!! I make a wicked wild mushroom risotto. I get to Kalispell and spend the night
6/28;I get up early to get to Glacier Nat'l Park and ride the "Road to the Sun". It's cool and sunny, and when I get into the shadows of the mountains it turns cold again. At the park entrance I find out that I can only go about 18 miles on the "Road" because of avalanche damage, but I still go. Beautiful ride, see wild rapids, burnt forests from 2003 and get to cross and recross the Continental Divide again, this makes 3 times so far and I'm back on the west side of the divide. Well, not being able to get to the east side of the Park, I change my plans and head straight down Rt 93 and into Idaho again for a stay in Salmon, Idaho crossing the "Lost Trail Pass" and the Divide again(4th time ). The hotel clerk nicely tells me that there is a great steak house just 2 buildings away!! I walk the 1 mile and pass 13 buildings before getting to that steakhouse, at least it was good! :eat2:
6/29; Going south on Rt 93 and then on Rt 75 I ride the Salmon River Valley through Sun Valley and Ketchum. Turning left onto Rt 20 to go east into the "Craters of the Moon" Nat'l Park. I hit this long expanse of plains with black volcanic rocks to either side of the road by midday when it is 105 degrees out! It is hot and sunny but is still great to ride through. I get to Idaho Falls for the night.
6/30;From Idaho Falls I go east on Rt 26, then Rt 31 and Rt 33 into Jackson Hole Wyoming for lunch. Then south on Rt 191 where I run into some serious storms and bad crosswinds that nearly take me off the open roads there in the plains. I run between most of the rain, but get one bad section that soaks me with a cold, cold rain. I get to Rock Springs for the night.
7/1; I leave Rock Springs and head south again on Rt 191 through Flaming Gorge Nat'l Park. Wonderful panoramic views of colorful rock formations, very little car traffic at all on Rt 191. I'm pretty isolated here. Ride across the Flaming Gorge Dam and into Vernal Utah where I head east on Rt 40 through the Yampa Plateau and the Dinosaur Valley in Colorado. I continue on Rt 40 to Steamboat Springs where I stay the night.
7/2; I head east on Rt 40 and over Rabbit Ears Pass, Elev. 9,426 feet and cross the Divide for the 5th time. Shortly after I cross the Muddy Pass, elev. 8,710 feet, and cross the divide the 6th time. Then travel down Rt 9 to Breckenridge and over Hoosier Pass, elev 11.539 feet and cross the divide for the 7th and last time. I also meet with 2 other bikes at this pass, a husband and wife and another guy with his mother that is 87 years old. They are dressed like they've been on the bike and I figure "Mom" must be following in the car that is at the Pass as she is in a blue jogging suit. Nope, "Mom" climbed onto the back of one of the bikes, donned a helmet and pressed north while I went south. I had lunch in Fairplay and head east on Rt 285 going over 2 more passes the Red Hill Pass at 9986 feet and Kenosha Pass at 10,001 feet. This is where I run into another rain burst, but this time they add marble sized hail to the mix. I have on only a 3/4 helmet. This leaves my face exposed and hail hurts at 70 mph!! I get my lip split and lots of welts all over my face. But, I'm dry again before getting into Denver for the whole reason I made this trip, the Colorado VTX Ride In! http://www.coloradovtxrangeriders.co...rideinjuly.htm
I get 2nd degree sunburn at the pool, so blisters on my shoulders prevent much riding while there, but I needed a couple days off the bike by then! I play in the biker games and I jokingly ask Mutt to be my "Bitch" in the Biker Joust game. Unfortunately, he says "SURE!" and I then realize then that I have NEVER had anyone on the back of this bike, ever. Mutt climbs on and off we go. First pass with large rings, we snag all 5 and move on to the next round with smaller rings. Next pass, we get 4 of 5, but tie with another pair. 3rd pass, the other pair go first while Mutt and I watch. We see them miss the first 4 rings, but the last ring is so small and so far down the parking lot, neither of us could see(too old I guess ) if they got it or not. They missed all 5 turns out so all we had to do is get one. I tell Mutt to forget the first ring, let's set up for the second ring. We got it, and won! It was all fun and if you look at this thread, the 7th picture down is of me and Mutt;
http://www.vtxoa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=252544
Headed home on Sunday, July 6th through the boring states of Nebraska and Iowa. Getting home Monday morning and Cian seeing Daddy for the first time in more than 2 weeks. After his afternoon nap, he wanted to sit in my lap all night and he kept saying "Buddy, awwww" as when he gives me a hug I always say, "Thanks buddy", that was good to hear. Oh yeah, and I missed my wife too!! :lol:
Just under 6,000 miles in 17 days, good to be home!!!
Larry/Spike
Above link is to my photo album of most of the pictures I took on my recent motorcycle trip. They are in chronological order and below is a summary of where and what I saw/did on this 6,000 mile ride 8)
June 20; Left Friday afternoon and rode up into Wisconsin making it to Eau Claire. A little light rain, but nothing to serious
6/21; Headed up Rt 53 and nearly hit a black bear just south of Superior Wisc. :shock: Stopped to touch the last of the Great Lakes I needed to touch to have been in all 5. Found a small museum dedicated to the P38, a WWII fighter, Marianne says I can find a plane museum anywhere and she is probably right! After the stop at the museum, I headed west on Rt 2 across Minnesota. Stopping to see the Mighty Mississippi as a small creek. Stopping for the night in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Light rain on&off all day
6/22; Still heading west on Rt 2, found N. Dakota to be just as boring as the movies say it is. Flat, straight and not much else. Into Montana by evening almost hit an antelope before stopping in Glasgow, Montana.Rode through a few Indian reservations and found the people to be friendly always waving to me, but the towns were depressingly run down except the liquor store. Rain shower soaked me right before getting to the hotel for the night
6/23; West again on Rt2 into Havre, Montana where I make a right turn on Rt 232 and head up to find a sign declaring a United States Coast Guard Station just down the road? Probably protecting us from those marauding, stick wielding Canadian hockey players! Crossed the border into Canada, this crossing is only open from 9am to 4pm daily! Into Canada watching a pack of coyotes run across the road, and up into Medicine Hat where I stay for the night. NO RAIN TODAY!!
6/24; Running west on Canada Rt 1 into Calgary, light rain when I leave in the morning, but dry when getting to Calgary and I stay there for the night.
6/25;Traveling west on Rt 1 I ride past the Olympic Park where the Ski jump, bob-sleigh and other Alpine events were held just outside of Calgary.Pretty cool to see. Now into the Canadian Rockies, these are what I had pictured in my mind when I first learned of the Rockies in my youth. I went to Colorado for the first time 4 years ago and the Rockies there are beautiful indeed, but they weren't what I had pictured. The Canadian Rockies had the shear granite walls shooting to the sky with snow capped peaks, just breath-taking...... both literally and figuratively! Had lunch where the Canadian ski team trains in Canmore and continued west on Rt 1 crossing the Continental Divide at Rogers Pass, ele. 11,123 feet. Very cold and sunny, snow still on the ground in spots. I stop at Revelstoke British Columbia
6/26; Cold morning I head out Rt 1 and turn back south in Sicamous at Rt 97. This takes me through BC's wine and orchard areas, cherry, apple, grapes, peaches, almost any fruit is growing here and a few "Herbs" I guess as it is not illegal for you to possess Mary-Jane here as evidenced by all the "Hippies" and "Goth" people I see wandering around certain towns. I continue down Rt97 and turn onto Rt 33 and run this down to the border and turn again onto Rt 3 to run east on the Canadian side to Midway, BC where I finally get back into USA and become the first bike from Illinois to cross there with this old man who's been guarding the border for the last 20 years!!
epper1: Rain starts again and I blast to Spokane, Wa for the night.
6/27; Leave Spokane via Rt 2 heading north and east into Idaho, stopping at a dam for some shots. Staying on Rt 2 into Montana and I stop at a gas station where I see a half dozen tarps spread out on the ground with what looks like mulch on the tarps in a single layer???? I get closer a realize that it isn't mulch, but morel mushrooms drying. The owner is a guy from Kobe, Japan and he tells me that he comes here to pick morels after a wildfire has burned down a forest. Seems, morels will only grow the first spring after a forest fire has happened. He then tips the park rangers and he is allowed to pick all he wants, dries them and ships them back to Japan where he sells them for about $200 dollars, US, a pound! That's, $500 a kilo. He was very cool to talk with, and I should have bought some of those morels!! I make a wicked wild mushroom risotto. I get to Kalispell and spend the night
6/28;I get up early to get to Glacier Nat'l Park and ride the "Road to the Sun". It's cool and sunny, and when I get into the shadows of the mountains it turns cold again. At the park entrance I find out that I can only go about 18 miles on the "Road" because of avalanche damage, but I still go. Beautiful ride, see wild rapids, burnt forests from 2003 and get to cross and recross the Continental Divide again, this makes 3 times so far and I'm back on the west side of the divide. Well, not being able to get to the east side of the Park, I change my plans and head straight down Rt 93 and into Idaho again for a stay in Salmon, Idaho crossing the "Lost Trail Pass" and the Divide again(4th time ). The hotel clerk nicely tells me that there is a great steak house just 2 buildings away!! I walk the 1 mile and pass 13 buildings before getting to that steakhouse, at least it was good! :eat2:
6/29; Going south on Rt 93 and then on Rt 75 I ride the Salmon River Valley through Sun Valley and Ketchum. Turning left onto Rt 20 to go east into the "Craters of the Moon" Nat'l Park. I hit this long expanse of plains with black volcanic rocks to either side of the road by midday when it is 105 degrees out! It is hot and sunny but is still great to ride through. I get to Idaho Falls for the night.
6/30;From Idaho Falls I go east on Rt 26, then Rt 31 and Rt 33 into Jackson Hole Wyoming for lunch. Then south on Rt 191 where I run into some serious storms and bad crosswinds that nearly take me off the open roads there in the plains. I run between most of the rain, but get one bad section that soaks me with a cold, cold rain. I get to Rock Springs for the night.
7/1; I leave Rock Springs and head south again on Rt 191 through Flaming Gorge Nat'l Park. Wonderful panoramic views of colorful rock formations, very little car traffic at all on Rt 191. I'm pretty isolated here. Ride across the Flaming Gorge Dam and into Vernal Utah where I head east on Rt 40 through the Yampa Plateau and the Dinosaur Valley in Colorado. I continue on Rt 40 to Steamboat Springs where I stay the night.
7/2; I head east on Rt 40 and over Rabbit Ears Pass, Elev. 9,426 feet and cross the Divide for the 5th time. Shortly after I cross the Muddy Pass, elev. 8,710 feet, and cross the divide the 6th time. Then travel down Rt 9 to Breckenridge and over Hoosier Pass, elev 11.539 feet and cross the divide for the 7th and last time. I also meet with 2 other bikes at this pass, a husband and wife and another guy with his mother that is 87 years old. They are dressed like they've been on the bike and I figure "Mom" must be following in the car that is at the Pass as she is in a blue jogging suit. Nope, "Mom" climbed onto the back of one of the bikes, donned a helmet and pressed north while I went south. I had lunch in Fairplay and head east on Rt 285 going over 2 more passes the Red Hill Pass at 9986 feet and Kenosha Pass at 10,001 feet. This is where I run into another rain burst, but this time they add marble sized hail to the mix. I have on only a 3/4 helmet. This leaves my face exposed and hail hurts at 70 mph!! I get my lip split and lots of welts all over my face. But, I'm dry again before getting into Denver for the whole reason I made this trip, the Colorado VTX Ride In! http://www.coloradovtxrangeriders.co...rideinjuly.htm
I get 2nd degree sunburn at the pool, so blisters on my shoulders prevent much riding while there, but I needed a couple days off the bike by then! I play in the biker games and I jokingly ask Mutt to be my "Bitch" in the Biker Joust game. Unfortunately, he says "SURE!" and I then realize then that I have NEVER had anyone on the back of this bike, ever. Mutt climbs on and off we go. First pass with large rings, we snag all 5 and move on to the next round with smaller rings. Next pass, we get 4 of 5, but tie with another pair. 3rd pass, the other pair go first while Mutt and I watch. We see them miss the first 4 rings, but the last ring is so small and so far down the parking lot, neither of us could see(too old I guess ) if they got it or not. They missed all 5 turns out so all we had to do is get one. I tell Mutt to forget the first ring, let's set up for the second ring. We got it, and won! It was all fun and if you look at this thread, the 7th picture down is of me and Mutt;
http://www.vtxoa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=252544
Headed home on Sunday, July 6th through the boring states of Nebraska and Iowa. Getting home Monday morning and Cian seeing Daddy for the first time in more than 2 weeks. After his afternoon nap, he wanted to sit in my lap all night and he kept saying "Buddy, awwww" as when he gives me a hug I always say, "Thanks buddy", that was good to hear. Oh yeah, and I missed my wife too!! :lol:
Just under 6,000 miles in 17 days, good to be home!!!
Larry/Spike
#7
08-10-2008 | 01:30 PM
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,738
Likes: 7
From: St. Charles, IL
Thanks all, it was a great ride, did 90% of it alone. The "Bass Boat" break in happened a week before this ride when I and 3 other buddies left Chicago and did a 5 day weekend ride down into Tenn to Lynchburg. That was just a quick 2000 mile ride. The Dakota Gauges are great. I love the way they look lit up blue, I just wish there was some way of getting a radio in blue to match.
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#8
08-10-2008 | 01:53 PM
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 965
Likes: 1
From: Shreveport,La.
#9
08-10-2008 | 02:41 PM
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,738
Likes: 7
From: St. Charles, IL
Thing is, I didn't have to pizz mine off. I asked for this long ride last year and she said go ahead. Then I told her of the other ride to Tenn a few weeks before that ride and said it would be nice to go on that one because I haven't seen those guys in a year and she said, "So what's stopping you?" It sure is nice to have a best friend/wife like this. I think I'll keep her for another 19 years
#10
08-10-2008 | 03:52 PM
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 7,663
Likes: 7
From: Northeast Ohio
Great write up, and sounds like a killer trip. Did a similar run earlier this year, 5100 miles in under two weeks. Wife and just got home yesterday from a 2200 9 day trip to Maine and through New England.
Bottom line is that the bikes are meant to get out and ride and I am glad to see you are doing that. I am glad to see that a bike like yours is ridden and not a trailer queen. Thanks for the story!
Bottom line is that the bikes are meant to get out and ride and I am glad to see you are doing that. I am glad to see that a bike like yours is ridden and not a trailer queen. Thanks for the story!