Hello everyone; another summer another motorcycle adventure.
After my trusty mechanic Jesse did a regular maintenance service and installed a new set of Michelins on my bike Wednesday morning, I said goodbey to Jane who had accompanied me to the shop, and started off on this years adventure which will take me to Fayetteville Arkansas via who knows where at this time. Those of you who have been following my annual motorcycle trecks will remember Jim, a motorcyclist that I met, along with his friend Derrick, whilw we were waiting out a heavy rain under a highway overpass east of Rapid City. Jim, who is also retired and who had given me some brochures about motorcycle riding in his home state of Arkansas, followed up just before Christmas with another batch of similar themed material, and a repeat of his offer to act as my guide if I ever decided to head his way. Well, why not! And why not earlier than in years past, especially since Jane and I are off for a near month-long trip to Berlin later this summer.
So yesterday I rode as far as Sudbury where I stopped and watched the Habs crush the Rangers (GO HABS GO!) and today, under a bright blue sky I made my way to Sault Ste. Marie where I crossed into the United States of America. I rode over the Mackinaw Bridge that's constructed with a steel grating covered deck that no biker likes. After the gut clutching slow passage through which I remembered the advice to ride softly, loosen the clutch of death on the handlebars, and breathe (it's a long bridge), I arrived at the Thunderbird Inn in Mackinaw City. After I get out of my riding dudds I will go for a walk and find someplace to have dinner; inside, because the mosquitoes are vicious.
I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Another great trip ends
I'm back home!!!
I arrived yesterday at 4:25 after a 630 kilometre ride from Bradford Pennsylvania, a small city just south of the New York State border that's famous as the home of the Zippo lighter.
The day before I had ridden from Winchester Virginia; and for most of the afternoon it was in sometimes heavy rain. While my Michelin equipped BMW rides very well on wet surfaces, it's much more fun (and quicker) to ride on dry pavement.
The ride north yesterday was through some lovely countryside that my GPS chose for the most part. At one point I passed through a large wind farm with hundreds of towering wind turbines on either sides of the road.
The further north you go the more you see lakes and rivers; and they are blue, unlike the brown of those in the south. As the interstate highways are a way to cover a lot of distance quickly I followed I-90 and I-81 to the Thousand Islands Bridge. After having asked me how long I had been out of the country and expressing envy, the Canadian Border Services agent welcomed me back home. It was nice to be back, as it is each time I cross the border after a trip.
This year's trip was as enjoyable as the other three major road trips I've done in the past three years. The highlights are many; but the most memorable are the swing through Northern Ontario, which I had always wanted to do, and the sights around Rapid City which I've mentioned in earlier blog entries: Badlands, Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse. And then there's Sturgis, a small town I can't even imagine with 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts in August each year. And what about 4 days in Nashville with Jane where we visited clubs, the Opry, Country Hall of Fame and other sights. I must say that being based in one place and doing day trips out to sights is an interesting and somewhat less demanding way to tour that I like a lot.
The ride through the Smoky Mountains and along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive were awesome. Having done the last two both ways, I think I preferred the south to north route. I really enjoyed meeting and riding with Jim and Derrick in South Dakota.
There are no real negatives to speak about. Alright, there's the whole episode with Garmin, that I won't repeat here; the rain, of which there was more than I cared for at times; and the dearth of good meals, Nashville and Winchester excepted.
In conclusion, a great trip to add to the list. I've seen a lot of country, there were no nasty incidents, and my motorcycle performed beautifully.
And now, what you've all been waiting for, the numbers.
Total kilometres travelled: 9,365
Gas used: 445.9 litres ($495.27)
Most kilometres on one day: 688 (July 2: Grand Rapids MN to Watertown SD)
Days away: 26
Days actually riding: 22
Different hotels/motels: 16
Provinces visited: 2
States visited: 14
I hope you enjoyed the reports.
Next year? Suggestions??
I arrived yesterday at 4:25 after a 630 kilometre ride from Bradford Pennsylvania, a small city just south of the New York State border that's famous as the home of the Zippo lighter.
The day before I had ridden from Winchester Virginia; and for most of the afternoon it was in sometimes heavy rain. While my Michelin equipped BMW rides very well on wet surfaces, it's much more fun (and quicker) to ride on dry pavement.
The ride north yesterday was through some lovely countryside that my GPS chose for the most part. At one point I passed through a large wind farm with hundreds of towering wind turbines on either sides of the road.
The further north you go the more you see lakes and rivers; and they are blue, unlike the brown of those in the south. As the interstate highways are a way to cover a lot of distance quickly I followed I-90 and I-81 to the Thousand Islands Bridge. After having asked me how long I had been out of the country and expressing envy, the Canadian Border Services agent welcomed me back home. It was nice to be back, as it is each time I cross the border after a trip.
This year's trip was as enjoyable as the other three major road trips I've done in the past three years. The highlights are many; but the most memorable are the swing through Northern Ontario, which I had always wanted to do, and the sights around Rapid City which I've mentioned in earlier blog entries: Badlands, Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse. And then there's Sturgis, a small town I can't even imagine with 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts in August each year. And what about 4 days in Nashville with Jane where we visited clubs, the Opry, Country Hall of Fame and other sights. I must say that being based in one place and doing day trips out to sights is an interesting and somewhat less demanding way to tour that I like a lot.
The ride through the Smoky Mountains and along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive were awesome. Having done the last two both ways, I think I preferred the south to north route. I really enjoyed meeting and riding with Jim and Derrick in South Dakota.
There are no real negatives to speak about. Alright, there's the whole episode with Garmin, that I won't repeat here; the rain, of which there was more than I cared for at times; and the dearth of good meals, Nashville and Winchester excepted.
In conclusion, a great trip to add to the list. I've seen a lot of country, there were no nasty incidents, and my motorcycle performed beautifully.
And now, what you've all been waiting for, the numbers.
Total kilometres travelled: 9,365
Gas used: 445.9 litres ($495.27)
Most kilometres on one day: 688 (July 2: Grand Rapids MN to Watertown SD)
Days away: 26
Days actually riding: 22
Different hotels/motels: 16
Provinces visited: 2
States visited: 14
I hope you enjoyed the reports.
Next year? Suggestions??
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Smokey Mountains, Blue Rodge Parkway and Skyline Drive
I left Pigeon Forge early enough Friday morning and rode easrt through Great Smoky Mountain Park. I had my first formal encounter with the local constabulary after having been pulled over by a park ranger for driving beyond the 35 mph speed limit. I hadn't noticed him directly behind me when I passed a slower car in front of me. While he clocked me at 52 mph, since I had passed in a legal passing area and immediately reduced my speed to something closer to the speed limit, I was let off with a warning by the young officer who cautionned me that there were many collisions with bears in the park and that I should be very cautious. I thanked him and continued my trip more mindful of how easy it is to go from the speed limit to much faster very quickly.
The Smoky Mountains:
The bottom of the west to east Smoky Mountain Parkway ends at the southern tip of the Blue Ridge Parkway which I turned onto. The Parkway is an amazing 469 miles that runs along the crests of the Southern Appalachians that links the Great Smoky Mountain national park at the southern end to the southern limit of the Shenanadoah National Park in Virginia. The scenery is breathtaking and those who laid out the route most assuredly were thinking of the generations of motorcycle riders who would be enchanted by the sweeps, curves, rises and dips in the road. In addition to the landscapes on either side of the road, the parkway is often hedged by massive beds of yellow, red, pink, orange and blue wildflowers and massive rhododendron bushes that have been beatan back so that they don't completely choke off the roadway.
Because for reasons unknown the parkway was closed for a section north of Asheville, I detoured eastward a bit and ended up, after getting caught in a downpour, in Lenoir where I slept Friday evening. I'm afraid that dinner that evening at the Mayflower, a fish and seafood establishment accross the street from the Day's Inn was less than satisfying. Even the Chardonnay had a funny taste.
Saturday morning I rode from Lenoir through Blowing Rock to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and 437 kilometres later I was at a Howard Johnson in Lexington Virginia. The ride was nice, except for the heavy showers bit north of Buchanan which were so strong that I had to pull over under an overpass to let the worse go by. I had a very nice Mexican dinner with a couple of beers in a new restaurant just accross the street from my hotel.
Today I completed the last section of the Blue Ridge Parkway and all of the Skyline Drive which is the road on the ridge that goes the lenght of the Shenandoah National Park. Again at the end of the afternoon dark clouds rolled in and it started to pour; so much so that I had to pull over and seek refuge under the overhang of an abandonned park cabin near one of the many overviews that you find all along the route. Once the rain slowed down I was back on my bike and headed north. Then the sun came out and I was rewarded by the sight of brilliantly white clouds below me in green valleys on either side of the raod I was driving on.
The Blue Ridge mountains:
And after the rain; looking down into the valley.
This evening I am in Winchester Virginia at the George Washington Hotel, an establishment I stayed at on my motorcycle trip last year. And again like last year I had dinner on the outdoor patio at the Village Square Restaurant on Loudoun Street (like Ottawa's Sparks Street Mall but with people on it). And a fine, no better than that, an excellent meal. The daily special was a veal porterhouse grilled exactly medium rare with smooth mashed potatoes, tiny asparagus, and a perfect sauce of caramalized mushrooms and small dices of onion and carrots, garlic slivers in a herb scented veal jus reduction.
The Smoky Mountains:
The bottom of the west to east Smoky Mountain Parkway ends at the southern tip of the Blue Ridge Parkway which I turned onto. The Parkway is an amazing 469 miles that runs along the crests of the Southern Appalachians that links the Great Smoky Mountain national park at the southern end to the southern limit of the Shenanadoah National Park in Virginia. The scenery is breathtaking and those who laid out the route most assuredly were thinking of the generations of motorcycle riders who would be enchanted by the sweeps, curves, rises and dips in the road. In addition to the landscapes on either side of the road, the parkway is often hedged by massive beds of yellow, red, pink, orange and blue wildflowers and massive rhododendron bushes that have been beatan back so that they don't completely choke off the roadway.
Because for reasons unknown the parkway was closed for a section north of Asheville, I detoured eastward a bit and ended up, after getting caught in a downpour, in Lenoir where I slept Friday evening. I'm afraid that dinner that evening at the Mayflower, a fish and seafood establishment accross the street from the Day's Inn was less than satisfying. Even the Chardonnay had a funny taste.
Saturday morning I rode from Lenoir through Blowing Rock to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and 437 kilometres later I was at a Howard Johnson in Lexington Virginia. The ride was nice, except for the heavy showers bit north of Buchanan which were so strong that I had to pull over under an overpass to let the worse go by. I had a very nice Mexican dinner with a couple of beers in a new restaurant just accross the street from my hotel.
Today I completed the last section of the Blue Ridge Parkway and all of the Skyline Drive which is the road on the ridge that goes the lenght of the Shenandoah National Park. Again at the end of the afternoon dark clouds rolled in and it started to pour; so much so that I had to pull over and seek refuge under the overhang of an abandonned park cabin near one of the many overviews that you find all along the route. Once the rain slowed down I was back on my bike and headed north. Then the sun came out and I was rewarded by the sight of brilliantly white clouds below me in green valleys on either side of the raod I was driving on.
The Blue Ridge mountains:
This evening I am in Winchester Virginia at the George Washington Hotel, an establishment I stayed at on my motorcycle trip last year. And again like last year I had dinner on the outdoor patio at the Village Square Restaurant on Loudoun Street (like Ottawa's Sparks Street Mall but with people on it). And a fine, no better than that, an excellent meal. The daily special was a veal porterhouse grilled exactly medium rare with smooth mashed potatoes, tiny asparagus, and a perfect sauce of caramalized mushrooms and small dices of onion and carrots, garlic slivers in a herb scented veal jus reduction.
The glass of California Pinot Noir that I chose was a fine match for meal. I enjoyed every bite.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Back on the road
Well, I'm back on thee road after ahving spent from Saturday to this morning in Nashville.
Jane joined me on Sunday and together we did a bus tour of the sights, visited a number of sights including the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, where we saw an extremely well curated show of art deco influenced cars and motorcycles, the State Capital, the Bicentennial Park, and the Farmers Market. We had drinks and listened to live bands at Legends, Tootsies, the Silver Dollar, and The Stage; had lunch and dinner while listening to live music at Margaritaville and BB King's respectively; and had beer and danced at the Crazy Horse. We had a nice but pricey steak dinner at Morton's, a great pulled pork plate lunch at Puckets, and a good pasta dinner at Demo's, a family restaurant that specializes in great service, large portions and low prices.
And to cap it all we were able to get tickets to the Tuesday Night show at the Grand Ole Opry, a great experience.
We stayed at the Hilton Homewood Suites on Church Street and were very satisfied with the service which included a full buffet breakfast that changed from day to day that we took advantage of, and a free daily dinner offering with wine and beer which we did not. I was able to park by motorcycle in an indoor lot a short walk from the hotel. Because of a small mixup with some laundry that I had brought to the desk Sunday afternoon that did not make it back to our room till Wednesday, we were not charged for either the laundry or the 4 days of parking. Pretty sweet. We totally enjoyed our four days in Nashville and will no doubt be back someday.
This morning Jane took a taxi to the airport and I headed east to the Appalachians. As I arrived at Pigeon Forge which is a little southeast of Knoxville the skies to the east were a threathening dark colour so I pulled into the parking lot of the Quality Inn here and took a room for the night. No sooner had I brought in my luggage that the skies openned up and the rain fell by the bucketful..
Tomorrow is another day.
Jane joined me on Sunday and together we did a bus tour of the sights, visited a number of sights including the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, where we saw an extremely well curated show of art deco influenced cars and motorcycles, the State Capital, the Bicentennial Park, and the Farmers Market. We had drinks and listened to live bands at Legends, Tootsies, the Silver Dollar, and The Stage; had lunch and dinner while listening to live music at Margaritaville and BB King's respectively; and had beer and danced at the Crazy Horse. We had a nice but pricey steak dinner at Morton's, a great pulled pork plate lunch at Puckets, and a good pasta dinner at Demo's, a family restaurant that specializes in great service, large portions and low prices.
And to cap it all we were able to get tickets to the Tuesday Night show at the Grand Ole Opry, a great experience.
We stayed at the Hilton Homewood Suites on Church Street and were very satisfied with the service which included a full buffet breakfast that changed from day to day that we took advantage of, and a free daily dinner offering with wine and beer which we did not. I was able to park by motorcycle in an indoor lot a short walk from the hotel. Because of a small mixup with some laundry that I had brought to the desk Sunday afternoon that did not make it back to our room till Wednesday, we were not charged for either the laundry or the 4 days of parking. Pretty sweet. We totally enjoyed our four days in Nashville and will no doubt be back someday.
This morning Jane took a taxi to the airport and I headed east to the Appalachians. As I arrived at Pigeon Forge which is a little southeast of Knoxville the skies to the east were a threathening dark colour so I pulled into the parking lot of the Quality Inn here and took a room for the night. No sooner had I brought in my luggage that the skies openned up and the rain fell by the bucketful..
Tomorrow is another day.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Photos for last blog
The top two pictures are different views of the badlands. the bottom one is a single flower poking out from the dry and otherwise barren soil. Beauty in in beauty.
Today I rode south on the interstate to Topeka Kansas. And if you thought downtown Ottawa was desollate on a workday night, we've got nothing on the capital of the state of Kansas. At 8:00 pm the streets are empty as i walk to the cappital building that is being renovated.
There's a Kansas choir directors conference at the Ramada where I,m staying so I get to stand at the back of the room and listen to a local men's group perform a few selections in front of a very knowledgeable crowd. They are quite good and their efforts earn them a well desrved round of applause from the directors and other hangers on who have filled the hotel boardroom The wings and beer in the bar are a nice treat after the concert and the walk.
New GPS and new friends
Yesterday as I anxiously awaited the new GPS from Garmin and went for another ride through the Badlands after a short burger break in Wall, of which I've written in an earlier post. I entered the Badlands from a different route further east than the Wall gateway. This meant that I got to see a section which I had not visited before, and also retrace the route I had taken earlier. I believe this way of going through the Badlands is better because you move from the lower elevation from which you can better appreciate the spires and mounds to the higher plains portion from which you can look into the gullies and ancient river beds. It's an amazing scenery from whichever angle you view it.
And just when you think there can't be any possible life in this barren space you find
a different form of solitary beauty.
Well, the GPS did arrive and I spent the better part of the evening, after having a delicious seafood risoto at Minervas, setting it up, and installing it on the bike. My temporary wiring arrangement isn't pretty, but it works. yeah!!
Today started off poorly. Dark clouds produced such a downpour as soon as I started on the highway to Sioux Falls a 350 mile journey. The rain was so strong that I pulled to the side of the road under an overpass where two other bikers, one on a Goldwing and the other on a Harley, had already sought refuge. As we waited out the rain we began to chat. As it turns out, Jim (Goldwing) Parker and Derrick (Harley) were on a second memorial of a good friend of theirs bike ride and were on the return leg of their trip. Jim who retired from what I take was a senior position at Walmart, having been there at the start of the chain, gave me some brochures of Arkansa his home state. Derrick is a chaplain with the USAF. After having given me a bunch of Arkansas motorcycle related brochures and as the clouds and the rain blew by Jim asked if I would like to ride with them, given that we were going in the same direction and all. I accepted their offer and am very glad I did. We stopped for gas a few times and enjoyed each others company over lunch. Being bikers we talked about rides and bike stuff. As it turns out Jim and I are the same age and have both taken to doing long bike rides in retirement.
I’m very happy I met these two new friends and as we split up at a gas station about 10 miles east of Sioux Falls we wished each other Godspeed; it sounded and was most appropriate.
And just when you think there can't be any possible life in this barren space you find
a different form of solitary beauty.
Well, the GPS did arrive and I spent the better part of the evening, after having a delicious seafood risoto at Minervas, setting it up, and installing it on the bike. My temporary wiring arrangement isn't pretty, but it works. yeah!!
Today started off poorly. Dark clouds produced such a downpour as soon as I started on the highway to Sioux Falls a 350 mile journey. The rain was so strong that I pulled to the side of the road under an overpass where two other bikers, one on a Goldwing and the other on a Harley, had already sought refuge. As we waited out the rain we began to chat. As it turns out, Jim (Goldwing) Parker and Derrick (Harley) were on a second memorial of a good friend of theirs bike ride and were on the return leg of their trip. Jim who retired from what I take was a senior position at Walmart, having been there at the start of the chain, gave me some brochures of Arkansa his home state. Derrick is a chaplain with the USAF. After having given me a bunch of Arkansas motorcycle related brochures and as the clouds and the rain blew by Jim asked if I would like to ride with them, given that we were going in the same direction and all. I accepted their offer and am very glad I did. We stopped for gas a few times and enjoyed each others company over lunch. Being bikers we talked about rides and bike stuff. As it turns out Jim and I are the same age and have both taken to doing long bike rides in retirement.
I’m very happy I met these two new friends and as we split up at a gas station about 10 miles east of Sioux Falls we wished each other Godspeed; it sounded and was most appropriate.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Meals and more
Well, the moment some have been waiting for, me included. I've managed to have three good meals yesterday and today. The first was an excellent breakfast bacon, sausage, eggs, hash brown potatoes, toast, jam and coffee at the Cheyenne Crossing Stage Stop Café; the name lone is worth the mention, but the meal is what is worthy of note. on the road to theCrazy Horse Meemorial, of which more later. Thee second is lunch today at the Loud American Roadhouse on a return visit to main Street in Sturgis. The place itself is huge, with a big stage where various acts will perform during the upcoming rally, as is the the Jack Daniels tent that has been set up in the parking lot next door. The meal was a grilled chicken breast on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and a sauce made with blue cheese dressing and tobasco sauce. It was delicious with the lemonade (a beer would have been nice but I was setting off on a particularly twisty piece of road: the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway after lunch). And to complete my trifecta of gastronomic delights, I had dinner this evening in a steak house but blocks away from the Ramada where I'm staying. Turns out that if instead of walking left out of the hotel driveway if I had gone right, over the interstate I would have discovered Minerva sooner. I had perfectly cooked New York strip steak, with silky smooth garlic mashed potatoes, and perfect little asparagus spears, accompanied by two glasses of Kenwood Pinot Noir.
And now for the more. Yesterday I rode, again on some great roads, to the Lakota Indian Crazy Horse Memorial, the world's largest mountain carving in progress located near Custer, in South Dakota's southern Blackhill's.The work was started in June of 1948 by the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and his wife and some of his 10 children are still involved in the project that is so massive that there is no projected completion date.
The top and bottom pictures show what has been accomplished to date, the middle one, with the mountain in the background, shows the model of what the finished sculpture will look like, To put things in perspective, the four faces of the presidents on Mount Rushmore would fit in the space taken up by the face of the indian warrior Crazy Horse.
I then road from this site back to Rapid City, via Mount Rushmore on Iron Mountain Road. Just when you trhink things can't possibly get more challenging, they do. In addition to narrow and short tunnels, switchbacks and hairpin turns with posted speeds as low as 15 mph, you're introduced to something called a pigtail. As the next picture shows this is a stretch of road that curves over itself like an extremely tight corkscrew.
It's an impressive piece of roadwork.
Finally today I rode north from Sturgis on the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway that follows a small river in a beautiful gorge as the next two pictures show.
And now for the more. Yesterday I rode, again on some great roads, to the Lakota Indian Crazy Horse Memorial, the world's largest mountain carving in progress located near Custer, in South Dakota's southern Blackhill's.The work was started in June of 1948 by the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and his wife and some of his 10 children are still involved in the project that is so massive that there is no projected completion date.
The top and bottom pictures show what has been accomplished to date, the middle one, with the mountain in the background, shows the model of what the finished sculpture will look like, To put things in perspective, the four faces of the presidents on Mount Rushmore would fit in the space taken up by the face of the indian warrior Crazy Horse.
I then road from this site back to Rapid City, via Mount Rushmore on Iron Mountain Road. Just when you trhink things can't possibly get more challenging, they do. In addition to narrow and short tunnels, switchbacks and hairpin turns with posted speeds as low as 15 mph, you're introduced to something called a pigtail. As the next picture shows this is a stretch of road that curves over itself like an extremely tight corkscrew.
Finally today I rode north from Sturgis on the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway that follows a small river in a beautiful gorge as the next two pictures show.
And finally in today's news, it seems that my extended Rapid City tour will soon end. After another 45 minute call with Jennifer at garmin International it seems that we have the GPS situation sorted out (it turns out that Irwin didn't know his --- from his elbow and he'd totally screwed up the assignment) and a new unit has been shipped today and i should be receiving it by close of business tomorrow. Let's all keep our fingers crossed so that i can start the next phase of this journey, the ride to Nashville where I will be meeting Jane on Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)