Ride There

Fall Tour 2010

2010-12-23T20:40:00.008-05:00

Prologue. It’s that time of year; time for Annette and I to hit the road for a few days on the FJR. No kids, no work (mostly). We plan to take in some of the best roads with great friends, and hopefully, great weather. We’re changing up our usual “ride to primary location, ride around primary location, ride home” fall trip this year. In order to facilitate covering as much new ground as possible, we’ll be traveling to a new LZ (landing zone – aka hotel) each day. Usually, we travel to one locations, set up camp there (dump the bags) and ride the local area. This year, we’ll be fully loaded and 2-up each day. This might hamper the pace some during the day, but it will give us a good feel for planning & executing extended trips. Our travels will take us through 5 states over 7 days.
We’ll be departing with our good friend Charlie. He decided to make the run from Savannah to Michigan in order to begin the trip with us on Monday. He arrived safely Sunday afternoon. After dinner, I felt a disturbance in the force. As Charlie pulled his bike into the garage, I spotted the culprit in the form of a Zumo wiring harness in need of proper stowage... Side cutters and zip ties made short work of it, and within 30 minutes, the spider web that was his Zumo wiring harness was neatly bundled and stored. All was right in the universe. Loaded and ready to roll, we retired for the evening. Sleep would be hard to come by for me. I was wired and ready to ride. Monday morning could not come soon enough.

Monday, 20 September 2010. Home to Zanesville, Ohio.

Time to hit the road. We were up early and ready (actually, I don’t think I slept much at all). There was a slight chill in the air, with temps in the upper 50’s. But clear skies promised a good day lie ahead. The worst part about were we live now is that there’s about 90 miles of slab between us and Ohio. No way around it, just suck it up and pound it out. We hit Toledo and ditched the slab in favor of some secondary blacktop. Annette chimed in with, “Tim Horton’s would be nice right about now.” This was the first trip with the Zumo 660 Annette (aka the best wife ever) had gotten me as an early birthday present. A few pokes had a new via point selected as the nearest Tim-Ho’s. Mr. Garmin led us to a hidden jewel called OH-105, or Scotch Ridge Road. Clear, clean, new tarmac and no traffic. Wonderful way to wrap up leg 1.

After a cup’o’joe or two (Charlie), we headed out of Bowling Green. It was pretty uneventful between there and Columbus. We did try out OH-315 on the way into Columbus, which turned out to be a nice little alternative to US-23. Columbus was laid in as a via point for a very specific reason. Charlie had never been to the Ironpony.com store. If you haven’t, you’ve missed out on the ultimate motorcycle crack junkie store. Take their entire website inventory and put it on a Super Wal-Mart sized building. As we walked in, we, in unison, told Charlie, “put back the shopping cart…” We escaped with minimal additional cargo.

Back on the road, we headed east towards our first night’s hotel in Zanesville. Along the way, we passed a few of the locals on the way home from town. We also stopped at the Dillon dam at the southeast end of the Dillon State Park. The road leading down to the lower level sure would have been more fun if not for the speed bumps half way up. We rolled into the hotel around 5-ish, and grabbed dinner across the street at Olive Garden.

Monday’s full album can be viewed here.

Tuesday, 21 September 2010. Zanesville to Weston, WV.

The morning brought clear sunny skies for a second day. On the menu today is OH-555. On the out of town, we took a side trip over the Y-bridge and up to a scenic overview of the bridge. There was also a neat art display on the side of the road; some hooligans actually road across the lawn to get a picture of them…

Bustanut was here.

The Ohio Triple Nickel. And oh what fun it was. OH-555 is such a fun, unique road. It stretches south from Zanesville to just west of Parkersburg, WV. It spills south over the rolling hills of southeast Ohio through farm country towards the West Virginia border. What I love about it is its sharp elevation changes and unpredictability. You don’t know which way the road is going to turn over the next hill. There are so many surprise direction changes just past the crest of these rolling hills, it holds the pace down. Push too hard and next thing you know you’re in the oncoming lane on the back side of a hill trying to heal the bike over to make a turn. After that little roller coaster ride, a visit to Tim-Ho’s was in order. Again, Mr. Garmin to the rescue.

We were in the hunt to see a covered bridge or two on Monday, but had no luck. Today, a little more effort was rewarded with not one, but three such historic sites. The first was down a short gravel road. Well worth the added risk of taking a fully loaded, 2-up FJR down said gravel road. This will come back to haunt us in a few days (the gravel, that is).

Once on the move again, our route took us northeast out of Marietta and onto OH-26. What a great road, all the way to Woodfield, Ohio. We stopped for lunch there in Woodsfield, and were greeted by a local gentleman (his name escapes me now) He steered us towards Kiedaisch Point near Hannible as a must see scenic overlook. A short side trip off of OH-536 had us standing over the Ohio River enjoying a great view.

We spend a little more time enjoying the sights today, so we chose to drop a few miles off the route (and this gives me a reason to return to SE Ohio). We caught the ferry across to Sistersville, WV. Does this count as a water-crossing, Jeff? Once into WV, we made a pit stop for refreshments; it had turned unseasonably warm, temps in the lower 90’s. I had laid out a route to take in some roads that looked promising in the atlas, but it was getting late. I decided to let Mr. Garmin take us straight to the hotel. First mistake. When it initially routed us, it said 42 miles to the hotel. Once moving, it suddenly said 78 miles to the hotel. WTF?? A bunch of pokes reviled that it was trying to take us north and east to I-79. 30 miles out of the way to put us on the slab. Not this fella. Right turn had the little bastard more than confused, and since Charlie was running the same route in his 660, I think there was some doubt in that camp too. I’ve always been pretty good a land nav in the Corps; and it didn’t fail me this time either. Over the hill and through the woods we went, and landed in Weston at the Comfort Inn. Dinner, shower, and a good night’s sleep were in order.

Tuesday’s full album can be viewed here.

Wednesday, 22 September 2010. Weston to Lewisburg, WV.

Just in case Mr. Garmin OD's today:

We woke to another great day. How lucky could we be? Today’s LZ (landing zone) was Lewisburg, WV. We made our way east from Weston towards Seneca Rocks. We decided to take the Seneca Caverns tour and had lunch there as well. Really neat place to see if you happen to be in the area and have an hour or so to kill. We continued to work our way south from there and made a quick drive by of the National Radio Observatory. We continued south on WV-28, then west on WV-66 past the Snowshoe ski resort area. While getting gas, we bumped into another FJR; Ice_station_Zebra on his way to Knoxville from up north.

Intercom transcript, “You are not going up that goat trail with me on the bike”

The range on that Scala headset is amazing. All the way up around the corner, “Wayne, stop right now.” This is SAD Wayne. No goat trails today.

We made a right onto WV-150, also known as “Highland Scenic Drive”. Think of it as a mini Cherohala. Our luck with the weather ran out here. A few rain drops hit the windshield. Heavy application of throttle. Just as it started to rain enough to dampen the pavement, we broke out of it. It just doesn’t get any better than this. We were in Lewisburg before we knew it, another great day behind us.

Check out these boots.

It just so happened that a couple other lost souls stumbled in shortly after us. We enjoyed dinner and caught up on current affairs with our good friends spklbuk and spkldoe (aka Jim & Creta). Much talk of two wheels ensued.

Wednesday’s full album can be viewed here.

Thursday, 23 September 2010. Lewisburg to Johnson City, TN.

Well now, today we were greeted by quit the motley crew. What have we gotten ourselves into? We started out with a lighter day. There was light traffic on WV219 south towards Virginia early in the morning. We made a quick stop on VA-62 outside of Narrows. Back in September 2008, we had set out for Burke’s Garden. Two years later, we finally made it there. What a beautiful, secluded valley. I’m sure there are countless places like this in the area. As we rolled along taking in the scenery, I missed a fairly serious road hazard. Somehow, I managed to miss a 52lb cow pie in the middle of the road (hey, it was in the shade…). I hit it, and the splatter went up the left side of the bike, saddlebag, my boot, riding pants. Annette, somehow, managed to not get hit at all. I think there was a higher power at work there. Someone mentioned that there was a back way out of the valley, but we’re going to stick to the pavement today (at least, for right now). We stopped a bit early for lunch, but we were guaranteed that this place would be worth it.

After lunch, things heated up some, both the temperature and the pace. Southbound on VA-16, we stretched it out some. The kudzu adds a unique texture to the landscape. We Rolled into Johnson City around 5 or 6. The temp readout displayed 91 degrees. It is September, right?

After dinner, somebody mentioned we were just a short hop from TN421 aka “the Snake”. Night rides have become addictive little habit when Jeff and I ride together. So we headed out along with Dom. We discovered that there are speed cameras and they work between Johnson City and Shady Valley. Now this is where someone gave me a taste of something that would proof to be irresistible. In a word, “Ohlins”. Enough said.

Thursday’s full album can be viewed here.

Friday, 24 September 2010. Johnson City to Cumberland Falls, KY

We were greeting by Gumpy and Snow White, who were already waiting on us when we walked through the hotel lobby. They would join us for a few days, but we were also down a couple riders. Charlie had to cut the trip short due to work, and Big Frank decided to head home early as well. We rolled out north and west from Johnson City, enjoying the rolling hills of western Tennessee and eastern Kentucky for most of the morning. Another great day of riding weather was on tap for us, and we chewed up the miles. We stopped for lunch, and I had this eerie feeling that this was too good to be true. All the roads so far had lines painted on them.

A couple hours later, I realized we’d be suckered in. One right hand turn took us from nice, smooth clean tarmac to a naked one laner, which quickly deteriorated to gravel. Not packed, smooth gravel; more like golf ball sized rocks dumped out the back of a farmers wagon to make a “road”. I just couldn’t get enough speed to get on top of it; it was so rough Annette couldn’t take it. So I slowed to a crawl and wrestled the bike for about 8 miles. About 2 miles into it, I had a true “oh crap” moment when I heard the squealing brakes of a school bus that had to been clicking along at about 60mph when it came up on us (doing 3.7mph)! The “road” at this point had deteriorated to the point that I couldn’t pull over to let the bus by. So we crept along for about a half mile with the bus 2” off the Givi. I spied a drive way to make an attempt on, but the bus put on its lights and turned around. The “road” withered even more, and I really thought that at any moment, I’d see the lead bike(s) coming back towards us saying “gotta turn around”. One downhill portion produced a nice tank slapper and I hollered to Annette that we were going down. A handful of throttle straightened the bike back out; but I had to stop and clean out my skivvies… Apparently, we were taking too long with our navigation of the “road”, and a rescue party was dispatched. The “road” turned back to tarmac and everyone was waiting for us.

The final run into Cumberland Falls State Park Resort was tremendous. A secondary two laner that snaked its way along the ridges west(I think) of the park. No traffic and great views made for a great way to finish up the day. We checked in and made our way to the buffet. Cumberland Falls resort definitely has potential as a location to host a future gathering. At the end of day 5, the miles are starting to take their toll.

Friday’s full album can be viewed here.

Saturday, 25 September 2010. Cumberland Falls to Wheelersburg, Ohio

Again, we’re greeted with clear skies as we loaded the bikes. Today would be our last day with the main group. The plan was to follow along until about 1030 or so, then peel off and begin our trek north towards home.
We made the obligatory tourist stop at the falls on the way out. It’s quite a beauty site in the early morning light.

We followed northeasterly over some really nice stretches of tarmac. I have definitely got to make time to get back to this area and explore some more. Great roads, low traffic volume, and awesome scenery.

As we were working our way along a decent stretch of road, I hit a frost heave or dip that bottomed the suspension. The resulting hit, along with my body position at that point combined to double me over. I had a sharp pain shoot up my lower back towards my shoulder. I tried to ride it out, but the ensuing muscle spasms just got worse. I slowed and was finally able to get stopped. A few minutes of stretching and walking off the bike helped tremendously. I knew at this point, I needed to ease up and run at a pace that the suspension could keep up with. We caught up with everyone at what would be the best place for us to break contact at. The rest of the group would turn southeasterly towards Asheville, NC, and we would continue north to Lexington, KY.

Saturday’s full album can be viewed here.

Sunday, 26 September 2010. The run home.

The weather held for another day, with the exception of it being slightly on the cool side and overcast. We worked our way north out of Wheelersburg, Ohio on back roads. We had a little surprise as we crested a sharp rise in 2nd gear in the form of a nice wheelie. Annette didn’t think it was so nice… The rest of the ride home was uneventful for the most part.

Sunday’s full album can be viewed here.

Reflections.

We could not have asked for better weather or better traveling companions during this trip. The unseasonably warm days were a pleasant and welcomed. The bike ran flawlessly, but I revealed some deficiencies that need to be addressed if we’re going to do more multi-day trips like this. Running fully loaded and two-up had the stock suspension maxed out; it was not able to cope with any moderate or worse road imperfections. There are some Ohlin’s parts out there with my name on them, for sure.

We traveled about 2200 miles in 7 days. Of that, we were on expressway less than 200 of it. Great weather, great roads shared with the best of friends. This is what we live for. Ride There.

Fall Tour: Prologue

2010-08-18T22:50:00.001-04:00

Decisions.

I have had to make a very hard decision regarding our annual fall motorcycle trip. I have spent many hours weighing the options and it has not been as easy choice.

Typically, we would attend the FJR Eastern Owners Meet (EOM), as we have done the past 3 years. This year, EOM is hosting the National FJR Owners meet (NAFO). This is the second time NAFO has been held and is a bi-annual event. EOM was tapped to host NAFO this year to move the event around the country. EOM has been a very affordable event in past years, but this year the cost just does not offer enough “bang for the buck”. I have chosen to ride this year. We are sad that we will miss the social event aspect of the event, but our desire and passion for the rode has won…

Where will we go, then? Try this on for size. We will ride through Michigan (have to get south somehow), southeasterly through Ohio, then West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and finally returning home through Ohio again. We will be on the road for 7 days. We are going to approach this trip differently than our previous travels. Usually we travel to a point (base camp), then ride that area for a couple of days before returning home. For this trip, we will be stopping in a new location each evening. A benefit is that we will ride through more great scenery while keeping our overall daily mileage lower. The downside is that how the bike is loaded when we leave the house is how it will be for the duration of the trip; no dumping the bags to lighten it up for the twisties. It will forces us to take a hard look at what we take, ensuring we take only essentials.

Highlights.

What will be the “must do’s” for this trip? Let’s see, where do I start. First, there’s a road in southeast Ohio that has become one of my favorites when traveling south. Ohio route 555 runs from Zanesville south to just outside of Parkersburg, WV. It’s quite the little gem of a road, running through the country side as the landscape turns from the flatlands to the rolling foothills of what becomes the Appalachians. It “hills” are not what you think of when you think mountains; it stays in a very narrow elevation range, but there are very sharp elevation changes; roller coaster style. Enough so, it made Annette tap out the first time we ran it…

We also are planning to make our way to Smoke hole Road in West Virginia. This is a much talked about road that I’ve wanted to venture down for some time. When we hit Virginia, I hope to make a run over Potts Mountain on VA-311.That will take us near Narrows, VA on our way to Burkes Garden. Narrows is near the scene of our motorcycle accident in 2008. Shirley and Clinton live there, and they were the second people to arrive at the scene just after Charlie. Clinton directed traffic and Shirley knelt beside me for over 90 minutes while the EMT’s worked on us and waited for the life flight. She knelt there in poison oak for that 90 minutes. She was my angle that day, she kept me focused, calm, and alive. We have to stop and say hello.

Burkes Garden was our destination the day of that accident. Never made it there. We’re going to this time… Those are the planned highlights, but in reality, the entire trip will be one continuous high light reel.

Is it September yet?

Ride Report 10-12 July 2010

2010-07-13T22:03:00.001-04:00

Ride Report: 10 -12 July 2010 (short version)

Helibar test and Precious Cargo transport.

I was gone for work almost the entire month of June. When I got home, the farkle fairies had let a present for me.

So I installed it.

I decided to take it for a test ride.

I left Saturday morning (July 10th).

I woke up Sunday morning in South Carolina.

I rode to breakfast with the gang at Clarey’s in Savannah.

I rode home. It rained.

Tori had hot chocolate to warm up. She’s a trooper.

2010-05-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

Trip Report: VFRDiscussion.com TMAC trip 19 – 24 May 2010.

Well, here we go again. 6 days. 2000 miles. This trip is centered around the VFRDiscussion.com TexasMac 2010 Memorial ride. A good friend of mine (Adam) from SC rides a VFR and I’ve attended this meet in the past. The sun, moon, and stars aligned and plans fell into place to allow Annette and I to attend this year. The meet is headquartered in Franklin, NC at the Franklin Motel and happens every spring as a memorial to a VFRDiscussion member (TexasMac) who lost his life while riding NC-28 near Fontana. We would head south on Wednesday, 19 May and return home by Monday evening, May 24th. So come, Ride There with us…

Day 1, Wednesday, 19 May 2010. We got a later start than originally planned due so somebody submitting his leave request for the wrong day. We departed around 1:30pm, with reservations in London, KY for the evening. Nothing but slab, this has become the curse of living so far north. Looking back, I should have moved the hotel north about 100 miles or so. We soldiered on, arriving at the hotel around 10:30pm that night. Annette’s only remark later would be, “How many horses can you see at night in Kentucky? ZERO.”

Dinner stop in Dayton, Ohio at Panera Bread:

Day 2, Thursday, 20 May 2010. This was to be a much more enjoyable day. We had a short run on the slab to get us to Knoxville, From there, we ran US129 through Maryville, TN, and onto US411 towards Vonoe, TN. Our patience was rewarded in the form of TN-360. Our first taste curvy goodness that fuels our passion for the road. TN-360 took us into Tellico Plains, TN, and a quick left on TN-165 put us on the climb across the Cherohala Skyway. The Cherohala stretches east towards Robbinsville, NC, crossing 36 miles of motorcycle heaven of the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests.

Traffic backup on I-75. There was a semi being pulled out of the ditch. As we were sitting there, you could clearly see the blue strobe lights of a patrol car at the head of the line. Out of the blue, someone behind us starts honking their horn. That really helped to clear out the traffic…

We made a stop south of Knoxville to visit some of Mr. Happy’s relatives, the Rollback’s.

See the resemblance?

We made a quick side trip to visit Bald River Falls. On a Thursday, we just about had the road and falls to our selves. Water volume was definitely up, most likely due to the recent rains.

Back on the road, we climbed up out of Tellico Plains on the Cherohala Skyway towards Robbinsville.

Mailbox art outside of Tellico Plains.

Ah, this is why we ride.

We hit Robbinsville, NC in time for a late lunch. The lunch special at Phillips Smoky Mountain Restaurant was fresh catfish. Yum.

Catfish and Hushpuppies.

After lunch, we continued to make our way south towards Franklin. We rode US-129 to US74/19. A left there and a quick right ( actually, another left after a u-turn because I missed the turn onto Wayah Road) had us southbound on Wayah Road. The road was fairly clear of debris and traffic, taking us over Wayah Bald, past Nantahala Lake and down into Franklin.

Construction on Wayah Road.

Nantahala Lake viewed from Wayah Road

We checked in, I unloaded the bike, and headed south to intercept the rest of the crew who were northbound on NC-28. I only got a few miles down the road when a familiar trio of bikes zipped past; a red VFR, followed by a Moto Guzzi, and a FJR could be no one else but Adam, Jada, and Charlie. I was looking forward to tackling NC-28 south with no luggage, but even more so to seeing our friends from down south. Another u-turn, and a few minutes later I caught up with them. They had pulled off to wait, we exchanged hello’s and quickly made our way back to the hotel.

The 5th member of the gang was delayed enroute due to a closure of a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). We walked up to the Motor Co Grill on Main Street, and before long we were joined by Jeff and Karen.

Day 3, Friday, 21 May 2010. Day three brought less than favorable riding conditions. I walked out side to check the current conditions to find one of Franklin’s finest circling the parking lot. Obviously, word was out that Jeff was in town. He has an uncanny ability to attract law where ever he travels. In typical FJR (freakin’ Just Ride) fashion, we reviewed the weather forecast and patterns to formulate our plan. West would be our escape from the extreme humidity (aka rain). Our group consisted of 3 FJR’s (Jeff, Charlie, and I), 2 VFR’s (Adam and Eric), a Moto-Guzzi (Jada), and a BMW F800GS (Brian). We circled the hotel parking lot once or twice in an effort to bait some other wayward souls to join the chase, but there were no takers. We headed west on NC-64 in the rain towards Hayesville, NC. We made a quick detour so Jeff could check in on his family’s cabin.

Word must have gotten out that Jeff was in town for the weekend; look who was trolling the parking lot when I stepped out to check the weather.

While fueling up near Hayesville, we discovered that there was a UA bolt on the Guzzi kick stand bracket. Turns out, kickstands are pretty important component to a motorcycle, especially when it comes to parking them. However, we found Moto-Guzzi sliders to be adequate enough to lean the bike against a stone pillar. Mr. Ashe steered us to a local shop in hopes of finding a replacement bolt for the Guzzi. We have to give two thumbs up to Smith Power Sports of Hayesville. The parts department gave us a couple of bolts to try for size along with a socket set to get the job done. Everyone pitched in and we were ready to roll in no time. Oh, and the rain was letting up…

Lean it on bricks, anyone got some JBWeld??

Tools, bolt, locktite courtesy of Smith Powersports of Hayesville, NC

We turned north on NC-294, and the roads were beginning to dry. There was a moment of sphincter clenching as one bike lost traction mid corner in front of me; we would later admire the slide marks on both front and rear tires. A right onto TN-68 revealed dry roads, clear skies, and smooth rolling. We stretched our legs north on TN-68 towards Tellico Plains, TN. Once in there, we stopped at Tellico Motorcycle Outfitters. Annette found a pair of gloves that she couldn’t live without, so we cashed out and when in search of lunch.

Tellico Plains.

We landed at the Tellico Grains Bakery for lunch. Great sandwiches and atmosphere. I love finding the local small town watering holes.

Food Porn. Cheesecake Brownie, must have been good because this was all that was left by the time I sat down.

We headed east from Tellico Plains towards Robbinsville across the Cherohala Skyway (again!). We made the same side trip to Bald River Falls again, too. At this point, Adam attached his new GoPro video camera to my bike. The idea was to shoot some footage of everyone as we crossed the skyway. We took a side road (Whiteoak Flat Road) out off of River road to get back out the Cherohala. After a couple of miles, Mr. Ashe was the first to come around for candid camera. As he came around, I rolled on to match speed. It took all of about 3 seconds for Annette to decide she had had enough. It took another 30 seconds for that to register with me and shut down the warp drive. So, we got a few seconds of Mr. Haulin’Ashe before he disappeared. Eric was next; he gave chase to Jeff and soon disappeared along with Brian on the BMW, then Charlie on his FJR. Once everyone cycled by, we settled into a nice pace with Adam and Jada, cycling back and forth with the camera. I ran for a little bit where I closed in on Adam in hopes of some real good camera footage. We would later find out that the camera had timed out and shut down well before that. Oh well, practice for next time.

We circled the wagons for a fuel and refreshment stop outside of Robbinsville at the corner of NC-143 and US-129 at the Skyway Convenience Store. By this time, fatigue was setting in amongst some, so we headed south back towards Franklin. Once out of Robbinsville, we were greeted with dark skies and rain drops. The clouds opened up on us as we traversed Wayah Road, turning what is normally a fun road into a white knuckle experience. Of course, just as we came down off the mountain and into town, the rain stopped, clouds cleared, and the roads dried.

More proof of Jeff’s LEO attraction arrived shortly after.

We made the hike up the street to have dinner at the Tokyo Restaurant. The sushi chef was out of town, but the selections were very tasty none the less. We spent some time socializing back at the hotel, and then hit the rack to rest up for tomorrow.

Day 4, Saturday, 22 May 2010. When I opened the room door Saturday morning, I was greeted by fog and overcast. We grabbed breakfast and got suited up. We picked up two additional riders today, Chris and Joline (VFR & GSXR). Our destination was Riders Hill in Dahlonega. Due to the size of our group, we split into two smaller more manageable groups; Jeff taking point with the quicker, me taking the trailing group a few minutes behind. In my mind, I really didn’t think I was ready to lead a group again. In a lot of ways, I’m still dealing with ghosts from our spill in Sept ’08. But, the only way to deal with such tings is to either kick them in the testicles or be kicked. I prefer not to be kicked anymore.

We headed south on NC-28, stopping at Bridal Veil Falls outside of Highlands for a quick break and photo op. We continued south and took a right onto Warwoman Road towards Clayton, GA. This is a another great hidden treasure of a road. Minimal traffic and switchbacks opening up to flowing sweepers is the type of road the FJR was made for. We stopped for fuel in Clayton, then headed out onto Bridgecreek Road, then Burton Dam Road, then back north on GA-197. A couple squiggelly roads later had us at Riders Hill. We toured the service and sales floor, grabbed lunch and refreshments at their Six Gap Café.

Refreshed, we headed north, back up Calhoun Road, pickup of GA-60 towards Suches, GA. We stopped in Suches for fuel. At this point, Jeff’s concern for the thinning tread on his rear tire got the best of him and he headed back to Cycle Hill for a pit stop. That left me with leading the group back to Franklin. We rolled northeasterly on GA-180. We pickup up US-129 into Blairsville, GA, then east on GA-76, north on GA-75, and finially east on NC-64 back into Franklin. Dinner was taken in at Main Street Pizzeria, nothing better than pizza & wings at the end of a good ride.

Pit stop in Suches, GA

As we finished dinner, Jeff looks over at me with that chesher cat grim and says, “let’s go for a ride…”

A few minutes later, I was geared up and we rolled north on NC-28 as the sun was setting. We had an interesting encounter with a guy on a KLR650. Described as some “trust fund, crack head boy”, he was wound tight, possibly from years on a powder diet… I let him go by after a few minutes of his high beam in my mirrors, and Jeff entertained him the rest of the way north. I could tell the Avon Azaro was wearing as the FJR was beginning to overpower it on corner exits. Dialing it back just a hair, I settled into a smooth pace. We returned south along the same stretch of NC-28, now totally dark. I led, slowing Jeff considerably, I’m sure. Riding a tight and twisty road at night has become something I enjoy. In the dark, all the distractions of what is off the road are gone. You only focus the road and what is illuminated by your headlights. It allows me to ride smoother, quicker, and more relaxed. Boy, am I jacked up in the head or what??

Here’s what NC-28 looks like at night, I case you were wondering…

Foggy in Franklin Sunday morning.

Day 5, Sunday, 23 May 2010. I was greeted again by fog when I opened the hotel door. We said our good byes and headed north with Jeff & Karen and Charlie. Breakfast was a bust because the restaurant was closed. We ran north on NC-28, then east on NC-74/19 towards Ashville. We stopped off for breakfast at a Waffle House outside of Ashville. From there, we broke contact and headed north on I-26, everyone else turned south.

We worked our way north through North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky along US-23. I made a detour onto VA-72 through Jefferson National Forest. This was a very nice road, with many switchbacks and rolling sweepers along the way. I’m pretty sure we hit this road at some point last September during EOM. The other road of note this day was OH-93 which cut through the Wayne National Forest. This was a 450 plus mile day. Note to self: I need to plan a rest day into these trips. We got to our hotel in Chillicothe, OH by 6pm. A quick dinner at Roosters Wings, mainly because we couldn’t walk any further than the parking lot! We were both exhausted. The mileage and heat had taken its toll today. While unloading the bike, I had popped the Givi loose on its mount and while reaching to close the side bag, the Givi slipped out of my hand and bounced across the asphalt. The bike was showing signs as well; in the form of wear bars on the front and rear tires.

It was a long day; at this point, neither of us wanted to get back on the bike…

Wayne National Forest in SE Ohio

This is what happens when you’re exhausted.

Day 6, Monday, 24 May 2010. Last day. Final leg. Home stretch, yada, yada, yada. We made a short pit stop in Columbus to visit the Ironpony.com store. This is a true motorcycle junkie’s candy superstore. The checkbook was spared, escaping with only a package of Snider’s paint guard deducted from the balance. We continued north, watching the roads straighten out and the hills flatten out. I mentioned to Annette over the intercom that I didn’t much care for this part of Ohio; she agreed. We made a final stop just inside the Michigan state line, then one last cannonball run through Detroit, catching the beginning of rush hour traffic.

What do bored passengers do?

Annette found a new back seat at IronPony.

Mileage milestone of the trip.

Products of a good trip; dirty bike and worn out tires…

Home safe and sound. 6 days, 2000 miles, can’t wait to do it again. Ride Safe.

Profound statement of the trip: “you can’t get traction on squirrels.” – Jeff.

Parting thoughts. Boy, the miles sure are a lot harder now. Tuesday afternoon and even Monday I fought the increasing pain in my lower back. I spent the better part of Tuesday recovering. I’m determined to get into better shape. The bike performed as expected, not a hiccup. A HeliBars triple clamp riser will do wonders to improve my comfort, I’m sure. We enjoyed having the Scala Rider Teamset Bluetooth intercom. Annette never complains on the bike, but it is easier to tell when she is getting close to being done by the tone of her voice. I was able to dial in a comfortable pace for both of us by talking. She can let me know when I’m being too aggressive with throttle, brake, and steering inputs. The only downside to the intercom is that I kept tripping the vox when I was coaching myself through corners. I have continued to have an issue with regaining my confidence on the bike. This trip managed to stretch my comfort zone again, bolster that confidence, and I owe a big thanks to all involved. I can’t wait for the next trip…

-Wayne

Roan Mountain April 2010

2010-04-26T10:56:00.001-04:00

Trip Report: Roan Mountain, TN April 2010

Bike was packed, fueled and ready go. This was my first bike trip of 2010. Wife and son departed ahead of me in the cager, I hit the road after putting our youngest on the bus for school. Our first stop was in Lima, Ohio for an open house at University of Northwestern Ohio (www.unoh.edu). This school is at the top of the list for my son; he wants to peruse a career in the automotive repair industry (maybe there’s a motorcycle shop in his future…). I headed south while Annette & Sean continued the campus tour.

Back on I-75 south, the weather initially looked pretty good. I stopped at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio for fuel and lunch. From there, I went south on I-75 again, but with sprinkles forming, and dark clouds all around. I choose not to peek at the radar images my phone could offer – ignorance is bliss, right? Thirty minutes with the warp drive engaged put the clouds and rain behind me, only to be sitting in stop & go traffic in Cincinnati. Odd for mid afternoon. Once free of Cinci traffic, it was clear sailing through Lexington, KY, all the way to Knoxville, TN. Turning northeast in Knoxville, it was time for warp drive again as it was getting late in the day. The RD was silent, traffic was light, and I made good time.

There was a moment of minor concern towards the end of the run into Roan Mountain. I had been pushing deeper into the reserve fuel capacity of the bike throughout the day in order to get a better feel for just how far it will go on a tank. The reserve trip meter has been tripping on around 185 miles. This would leave over 2 gals still in the tank. Typical fuel gauge inaccuracy?? So, there I was, in the dark, southbound on I-26, reserve flashing… I decided I could make it to my exit and get gas there. Except, there were no gas stations at the exit for US321. I finally hit a gas station and put 5.779 gallons in; according to Mama Yama, I still had a tad over ¾ of a gallon left. Too close for comfort for me, in the mountains, at night…

I arrived at Roan Mountain State park just after 9:30 and 722 miles. I knew I was in the right place when I spotted the 4 other FJR’s parked side by side… I was greeted by Jason & Jack, Dom, Jim, and birthday boy Jeff.

Saturday’s forecast was not optimal for riding, but we awoke to dry roads and clouds. We donned rain gear and headed for breakfast at Highlander BBQ. Conversation ensued during breakfast as to where to go, what roads, etc. I just figured I’d do my best to keep in front of Grumby and hope how ever was in front of me would wait at the next intersection!

We did start out the day right with a few minutes of quality time with one of TN’s finest. No citations were issued, and the only concern was the fact the Mr. Law almost punted me into the ditch while executing a 23 point turn around. The FJR isn’t all that bad off road. Birthday boy managed to “yes sir” his way out of a performance award and little more than some stern language.

What a day! Let’s see, we hit 143 (on the way out to breakfast), 173, 107, 19W, 193, and 226 (back door to the cabins at Roan Mountain. As a side note, it would have been nice to know that 193 turned into gravel at the top. Imagine my surprise I rounded the right hander cranked over at the top end of 2nd gear to see 3 FJR’s stopped and gravel road in front of me. Not quite an ABS moment, but definitely a surprise. I also learned early on that while the Avon AV46 Azaro offers a decent amount of traction overall, it does not handle the torque output of the FJR in 2nd gear during switch back exits very well. Overall, the Azaro played well with the Strada front.

Look, there’s a FJR on ramp for the BRP (on the right side of the picture).

We ended up back to the cabins just before the rain started. Dinner at King of the Road Restaurant was excellent; steak portions were listed as “small, medium, or large” on the menu – a more accurate description would have been “calf, ½ of cow, full cow”! Good times ensued and continued well into the evening in the comfort of the cabin /w a fire in the wood stove cracklin’ away.

Dom was given some guidance on properly securing cargo to the passenger seat of an FJR.

Daylight on Sunday morning brought damp roads and moving clouds. Breakfast in Irwin at McD’s had sunny skies and clear, dry roads. Consulting my GPS companion, I updated my route on the remote display module, said my thank you’s and good bye’s, and then headed north.

The forecast to the north was not good. Flexibility is key; I figured I’d ride as far as I felt comfortable. Lodging plan was to camp out side Zanesville. Ohio. I headed north on I-26, which lead me onto US23 through VA (hide the RD, moving north in impulse power only…) At the KY line, RD re-installed, and back on the road. US23 is a nice road, a 4 lane divided highway that runs through some small towns with some very nice scenery. This was a nice alternative to I-75.

I followed US119 into Charleston, WV. From there, I opted to run I-77 north to make up some time as I really wanted to get to Parkersburg before the rain moved in so I could run north on OH-555.

I hit the south end of OH-555 dry with storm clouds to the north and west. I made it almost half way to Zanesville before I hit some wet pavement. The rain had moved east, leaving just wet roads to deal with. This slowed the pace, but it was still fun, with the sharp elevation changes making the front end light even at lower speeds. Roads dried up again and I was able to enjoy the last 1/3 of the road at a brisker pace. I rolled into Zanesville minutes before a down pour hit. By the time I finished a late lunch / early dinner, the rain had let up. It was only 4 o’clock; too early to stop for the day. The radar showed a grim outlook, but I could see holes in the rain clouds. I decided to work my way north and west, working my way around the rain.

This plan worked pretty well. I followed OH-146, OH-586, then OH-13, OH-603, OH-224, OH-99 into Norwalk, OH. I wish I had a screen shot of the radar picture from my phone. It was ugly. The type of weather that makes a Harley rust just thinking about it (well, not my Harley, it’s seen plenty of rain). My luck with the weather ran out somewhere along OH-603. Heavy rain had me looking for a campground or hotel. Ever notice how there’s never one of either of those around when you need them? I pressed on in the rain, stopping to don warming layers along the way.

I had to stop and turn on my cordless heated gloves.

My navigation system had a malfunction during one of the trip. If you look close, you’ll see what looks very similar to the screen de-lamination issue the 550 has.

This would have been very easily repaired roadside, except my secondary vapor barrier was already deployed.

At this point, I had finished the jet ski certification on this FJR. Apparently the civil engineers in Ohio that are tasked with roadway construction missed the period of instruction dealing with crowning road surfaces to promote good run off. I hit a section of road that was as flat as a plate of steel; holding an even inch or two of water across the entire surface. Again, the Strada / Azaro combo cut through it with no problem.

Around Toledo, there was such a cross wind, I could ride behind a car / truck and not get hit by any road spray because it was being push directly perpendicular by the wind. At this point, there was not other reasonable place to stop for the night other than my garage. The roads dried by the time I hit the Michigan state line. After one final fuel stop, I punched through Detroit at warp 9 and made it home just after 10:30pm.

Good weather (for the most part), twisty roads the FJR was meant for, shared with great friends made this trip an excellent way to spend 3 days and nearly 1650 miles on the bike!!

Gotta find a new place for Mr. Happy to ride…

Top quotes of the weekend:
- I did not ride 700 miles to get in a minivan to go to breakfast.
- The FJR isn’t all that bad off road.
- Would have been nice to know that 197 turned to gravel at the top.
- Yes, Sir, it’s my birthday.

Link to entire photobucket album.

Great Day for a Ride!

2009-11-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

It's November 28th, there's no snow on the ground here in Michigan, and the sun was out....

Today, I rode with Jeff (Uselesspickles) to Corunna, MI to hit one of the phototag's from http://www.sport-touring.net/ (here). It was the chapel located in the "Corunna Historical Village of Shiawassee County".

While in front of the chapel, one of the volunteer's who works at the village came over to ask us where we were from and we got talking about the phototag thread. He said there's also a Geocashing site in the village as well. He told us about a castle in nearby Owosso, so Jeff powered up his Garmin and off we went.

The Curwood Castle was a very unique find. Neithe of us had ever heard of it before today. Neat place; definitely on the list of day trips with Annette for next year.

There was also a really neat bridge of the river nearby.

We also stopped to see Barry (Bustanut Joker), but he was, um, not home. More to follow on that.

Phototag

2009-11-01T20:34:00.000-05:00

Wow, been a while since I've updated here. Got to get with the program.

Rode today. Latest mission is to hit a phototag on http://www.sport-touring.net/. Put on 360 cold miles.

Check out: http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,30891.1600.html

2007-11-08T15:07:00.001-05:00

Friday, 26 October 2007

Salt Lake City, UT to Riverside, CA

Today I rode from SLC, UT to Riverside, California. I woke up feeling much better & to clear skies. I left SLC at 6:30 heading west towards Wendover, NV and the Bonnieville Salt Flats. The ride out of SLC was chilly, and I had a strong cross wind to deal with after I cleared the last mountain range.

I thought it would be neat to visit the place that so many world speed records have been set over the years. So out on the Salt Flats I went, pictures taken, soaked in the moment (only a moment as temps were only in the 40’s). The surface was very loose, making it difficult to ride on. I ventured out a mile or so and snapped this picture and headed back to the access road.

After breakfast and gas in Wendover, I went south on 93A through barren northeastern region of Nevada. I rode for close to a 100 miles without seeing anything. No traffic, no houses, no nothing!! There were a couple of nice curvy sections, but only with triple digit speeds. I continue to be amazed at how well this motorcycle handles, even full loaded (maybe overloaded) at speed. I was able to run fairly hard through these couple of sections with not so much as a bobble.

Route 93A ran into 93, then down to I-15. The beginning of 93 was a pretty enjoyable section with decent curves up and over a couple of short passes. It then flattened out into just straight, open, (and boring) road the rest of the way to I-15. Once on I-15, I continued west through Las Vegas (at rush hour), which I survived. Between Vegas and Riverside, the pace continued to pick up. A more accurate description would be that I-15 between Vegas and L.A. is a 250 mile drag strip! I rolled into Riverside, CA & my brother-in-law’s house around 8:30p, just 90 mile short of my final destination in San Deigo.

Mr. Garmin reports 3422 miles on the odometer. So I managed 13 states & 3422 miles in 5 days, not too shabby for my first true long distance ride. The FJR performed flawlessly and is now showing just over 40,000 miles on the odometer.

I hope you enjoyed this, as I thoroughly did. Now I’ve 52 days of Recruiter’s School to survive. My return trip will be a much more direct, southern route across I-10. I plan to attempt an IBA 50cc for the return. More on that as time nears. Thanks for tagging along. -wr

SC, GA,AL,MS,TN,AR,OK,KS,CO,WY,UT,NV,CA

Day 4

2007-11-08T14:52:00.000-05:00

Thursday, 25 October 2007

Granby, CO to Salt Lake City, UT

I got a late start today. A combination of the weather, altitude, being de-hydrated, & sick caught up with me this morning. After a few extra hours of sleep, I finally got on the road at 10:30. My original plan for today was north to I-80, west across Wyoming to Salt Lake City, UT with a side trip to see Flaming Gorge National Park. Due to my late start, I’d have to cut that side trip out.

CO-125 North out of Granby was a great road. Good twisties & scenery as the road followed the valley north. Running 60-80mph, I am amazed at how well the bike is handling. Power is not an issue with the FJR, it will launch hard out of any corner, even fully loaded. But it’s running through these sweepers effortlessly; no bouncing or wiggles, just flat planted & stable, I LOVE THIS BIKE!! After crossing the continental divide, the road flattened & straightened out. Almost to the point that I thought I was back in Kansas! (only no COPS!)

More of the same on I-80 until I got closer to SLC. I managed to hit SLC at the evening rush, so I had to deal with some traffic. From the Utah border into SLC, the scenery improved some. My destination in SLC was to visit a friend that I was stationed with who has since moved on from the Marine Corps. After catching up with him and his family, I crashed at a hotel for the night. Being sick is definitely taking it’s toll on me at this point.

Day 3

2007-11-07T23:51:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, 24 October 2007

Limon, CO to Granby, CO

An easy day today, just 480 miles from Limon to Granby, Colorado, where I will visit with my aunt & uncle. Today was to be a day off the expressway for the most part. The first stop was going to be Garden of the Gods, then Pikes Peak, then Independence Pass, and north to Granby for the night.

I went west from Limon on CO-24 just as the sun was starting to lighten the eastern sky. The landscape at this point was just rolling hills dotted by houses here and there. Mostly pasture lands, if I had to guess (there were barbed wire fences everywhere). I stopped and took this picture of the sunrise and of the first mountain peak that came into view.

As it turned out, that mountain was Pikes Peak, one of my destinations for the day.

Mr. Garmin, at this point has been assessed strike three for routing me to a Granby, NEW MEXICO!!! Even though I had set up the route from Limon to Granby, COLORADO, via Pikes Peak & Independence Pass. I’m glad I spent $9 on an atlas! Mr. Garmin was about to put me on I-25 south into NM. At each gas stop, I started to check the atlas against Mr. Garmin to make sure that we were on my track, not his. On the way through Colorado Springs, I rode through the Garden of the Gods park and snapped a few shots…

Onward to Pikes Peak. Why you ask? Good question; a couple years ago I drove up Pikes Peak while on vacation in Elizabeth, CO in our truck and saw a guy on a Harley riding up & thought that would be cool. So here I am, at the gate; notice the “Road Closed” sign?

Ranger told me that only the last 3 miles are closed at the top. But, that the gravel sections will be a slimy mess when they thaw out in an hour or so, and that he would not recommend going up at all on that there nice motorcycle unless I was willing & able to pick it up when I fell over. He also warned me about the gravel trucks traveling up & down the mountain hauling material up for a future repaving project. Decision time; 2000 miles in 2 ¼ days; I’m riding Pikes Peak, darn it.

The first section was not bad at all, except for some sand on the blacktop. Then I came around a nice, clean corner into the shade to see 7/8’s of the road covered in snow & ice. A slight “oh-jeez” moment follows while I aim for the 1/8^th that was not ice covered. I ran through 2 other spots like that on the way up. At the picnic grounds, I hit the 1^st dirt section, which was not bad at all, until I rolled through a section that had been warming in the morning sun and was melting into a snotty mess. I spun the rear tire once, being in 1^st gear vice 2^nd, but overall, the Avon Azaro’s make respectable dirt tires in a pinch. I snapped a few pictures along the way:

U-turn just 3 miles short of the summit. The last 3 miles were socked in with a foot or better of snow and the park service had the road blocked at that point. More of the dirt section had melted on the trip down, which caused a couple of pucker moments. 1^st gear and light on the rear brake let me slip and slide down through it without a fall. My day trip with Jeff Ashe at EOM 07 up the “goat trail” in WV had, as it turned out, been a good confidence builder for the dirt & slime on Pike Peak, Thanks Jeff!!

Heading west again, towards CO-82 & Independence Pass. I ran CO-24 west. This was a nice road with a few twisty sections, followed by a portion that was just like Kansas; straight and flat, into Buena Vista. A quick lunch break & call to my aunt and uncle to let them know my ETA, then back on the road. Left on C0-82 towards the pass was a great road with awesome views. Decent twisties again gave way to mountain switchbacks, then sand on the road slowed the pace considerably. There as quiet a bit of snow at this point, but the weather was good, not much wind. At the summit, 14,000 + feet, the views were great. Snapped a few pictures and headed back down the same way. Lake at the base:On the way up:At the summit:

Left on CO-24 took me to I-70, then east a short bit to pick up CO-40 north to Winter Park & Granby. CO-40 north over Granby Pass was a nice road, but would have been more fun if the roads were clean. There was still a lot of sand & salt residue from the snow storm that had passed through a week earlier. I rolled into my Aunt & Uncle’s house at about 6pm or so. Dinner, World Series game 1, and family catch-up time.

Day 2

2007-11-07T23:41:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, 23 October 2007

Forest City, AR to Limon, CO (984 miles)

Rain. Cold. Those two words sum up the better part of day 2. I was packed and on the road by 6:30, did I mention that it was raining, & cold? The heated jacket liner from Warm’n’safe is now the most valuable piece of riding gear that I own. It was 45 degrees and raining when I rolled up the on ramp to I-40 westbound. I managed to keep my core warm all day; hands were another story, even with the heated grips on high. I hit some morning rush traffic in Little Rock, but managed to get through it on one piece.

By my first fuel stop (203 miles), I could see the edge of the rain clouds. It took another 100 miles to break out of the rain, put once I did, it was bright, sunny and dry! The 2^nd half of Arkansas was nice, except that I noticed that thus far, Arkansas seemed to have the highest concentration of State Troopers per mile of any portion of the trip so far. There seamed to be one at every cross over for miles!

Onward into Oklahoma, north through Tulsa on the turnpike, speed limit 75 mph & no LEO’s. No traffic to speak of, it’s nice traveling during the week. Left turn in Salina, KS onto I-70 westbound.

Performance Award. As I was heading west on I-70, I started smelling the unique odor of pig poo. It was so strong, that it made my eyes water as I closed in on it. So I rolled on some more throttle to close the gap and move ahead of it. As I slide left to go around, I closed the throttle as I glanced down to check my speed; 120 on the GPS. I looked back up to one of Kansas state’s finest. I went hard on the rear brakes in an effort to scrub off speed with out making the front end dive, and saw his lights come in my mirror. So by the time he got turned around, I had got the bike slowed and parked on the shoulder. At this point, I figured I had a pretty good shot at going to jail. “Good afternoon, Sir, I checked your speed at 90mph, could I see your license, registration, & proof of insurance, please.” (insert sigh of relief from me at this point). The pig truck story didn’t help, but got a laugh from him. So with 200 or so miles left on day 2, I got my first “Performance Award” in some time, 90 in a 70 to the tune of $156.00. Word to the wise, foul air quality is not a reason to exceed the posted speed limit in Kansas.

The last fuel run into Colorado was uneventful. I stopped in Limon, Co for the night as planned; 989 miles for the day & I felt pretty good for close to a 1000 mile day. This is where I had planned to head off the expressway, so I didn’t want to chance not being able to find a hotel.

On the road, Day 1

2007-11-07T23:20:00.000-05:00

Day 1

Monday, 22 October 2007

Beaufort, SC to Forest City, Arkansas (740 miles)

One the Road. I was able to get on the road at 9:30 this morning after one last PT session with my Marines & picking up my orders. It was overcast and threatening rain most of the day, but I remained dry for a good part of it. I had quite a few butterflies during the first couple of hours; listening to the bike, going over routes in my head, etc. As I had hoped, the bike was smooth and solid, no hiccups whatsoever.

I made it through Atlanta, GA with little drama, other than Mr. Garmin taking my downtown vice the by-pass like I had wanted, strike 1, Mr. Garmin. West towards Birmingham with little traffic to slow progress, life was good. Just west of Birmingham, the roads turned wet from recent rain. Then it opened up, after nearly half the day of being dry, the rain king made his first appearance. The rain continued off and on for the rest of the day and into the night.

I bumped into another rider heading cross country near Memphis. He was on a H-D Softail Nightrain (just like mine). He caught me at a stoplight, and we road together for awhile until he hit an exit. I was caught in the left lane and unable to follow. A few hours later, he caught up again, just after I had made a gas stop. He took an exit just before Memphis, and I followed. We exchanged greetings, and through the conversation that followed, found out that he was on his way back to San Deigo from Daytona Beach. He had rode to Biketoberfest and was heading home. To top it off, he’s in the Navy, stationed in San Diego. I got his number, he said he’d have to show me some roads while I’m in town. It is such a small world!

Day 1 ended with me punching through Memphis (downtown, strike 2, Mr. Garmin) in a driving rain. My “one more exit” approach to finding a hotel for the night added another 40 or so miles to the day’s leg.

The Ride West

2007-11-07T23:17:00.000-05:00

I have finally had time to put my thoughts down about my trip. Yes, I made it to California, fairly uneventfully. I'll am working on getting posts and pictures assembled on top of preparing for the return trip to S. Carolina. More to come, soon...

Travel Plans

2007-10-19T18:29:00.000-04:00

3 Days until launch. I finished checking out today & had a farewell luncheon at Hooters (my Marines kick ass!!).

So, here's my planned path of travel: From our home in Beaufort, SC, I will travel north/west through Georgia to Atlanta, then west, passing through Birmingham, AL and ending up close to Memphis, TN. Next day, I hope to make Colorado via Arkansas, Oklahoma, & Kansas. I'll spend day 3 taking in the Rockies; Pikes Peak & Independence Pass, then north to Granby, CO to stop in a see family there. From Granby, I'll head west to Salt Lake City, stopping to see an old friend that I was stationed with in Buffalo, NY with. From SLC, I'll head south to Vegas, and if I'm feeling' good on the road, I'll get as close to San Diego as I can before stopping for the day.

That's it, in theory. Now, the big unknown is weather. On Thursday, there was snow in Colorado. If there is any chance of snow or ice on the roads, I will be forced to scrap this northern route and dive south into New Mexico & Arizona to get to San Diego. Flexibility is key here, and I'm just going to go with the flow. I'll need to sit down and pick out a few places to stop if I am diverted south (haven't seen the Grand Canyon or Momument Valley).

The Bike

2007-10-11T20:46:00.000-04:00

Transportation for this adventure will be provided by a 2004 Yamaha FJR1300 ABS. I purchased this motorcycle in October 2006 (actually, it was my birthday & homecoming gift from my wife when I returned from Iraq - she's the best!). The bike had 19,000 miles on it when I purchased it, I'm the 3rd owner, and it has been well cared for. As it sits right now, I now have 34,000 miles on it.

In a word, this motorcycle is awesome. At this point, I have no doubts as to whether or not I have chosen the right tool for the job.

I have made a few modifications to the bike in order to fine tune it for long distance comfort. I have heated grips & a taller windshield, a Garmin GPS V, & a $19 SD card MP3 player, and a Sargent seat. Not much compared to some dedicated Ironbutt rigs, but it will get'r'done.

My riding gear consists of a Scorpion EXO-400 helmet, Joe Rocket Ballistic 6.0 3/4 jacket, Joe Rocket Alter Ego riding pants, Icon Hooligan & J/R winter gloves and a set of Danner gor-tex boots. I'm a firm believer in ATGATT (all the gear, all the time). I've been down hard on the street, and ATGATT has saved my life.

Final fluid changes will be done this weekend, alot with a fresh rear tire (front tire just went on 2 weeks ago). I expect & hope the Avon Azaro AV45/46 rear will last the trip out and survive some time in California. I will put on a new rear just prior to the return trip.

The Beginning...

2007-10-03T22:34:00.000-04:00

I plan to use this blog as the journal of my travel across the U.S. from South Carolina to California & back. It is my 1st experience with using a blog, but it seems to be all the rage in the information age we live in today.

I will traveling via motorcycle, a Yamaha FJR1300. I'll posting as often as possible to keep my friends and family up to date on my progress, as well as to share my experiences & challenges encountered on the road by motorcycle travel. Enjoy! -wr