Tues Aug 28 - Trip Summary

My Old Friend

I am back and have had a day to re-acclimate to the life I live the other 95% of the time and it was both good to be back and good to be home. Trips like this that yank you out of the every day world you work and sleep in offer the chance to get outside of your normal mental view shed and inspect things a bit. I had lots of threads going on all those glorious days and will try to remember them sort of willy nilly.
- First, this is a picture of my bike (which you-all know I love) as it looked when it was brand new (except the top bag). I bought it in 1997 and have had it ever since. I have never had a thing go wrong with it in these 15 years and for a trip like this, this is the bike to have. It converts gasoline (and expensive regular maintenance..) into joy. I can never explain it to others or myself but moving through the countryside on a motorcycle as silky quiet and smooth as this is heaven. At the end of the day I want to keep going and I can't wait to jab that starter first thing the next morning. I gotta find some psychobabble guy to explain it some day.
- I pulled out of Pam's garage in Portland Oregon (thank you Pam!!) with the odometer reading 67,256 and I climbed off in my garage last night with the odometer reading 72,233 which sugars out to 4,977 miles. My longest day was Sunday at 714 miles (and I could have done more, like maybe 2 more miles!!).
- I have never been through the middle "chain of states" (Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio) other than on Rt 80 and I am glad I did. It is flat but for someone who spent his whole life (not yet) with trees all around, it is kind of pleasant having all that open space around your head. If you get just 50 miles away from the big interstates, the towns get small and far between and self contained and you loose most of the big chain places (but not all) and the pace slows down. I would go across again, maybe further south.
- I never tire of the theme of how decent people are and I realize that many of the divisions in this country have been manufactured, probably not on purpose, by the political parties and media. If I walk up to someone and just have a conversation, I can always get through to a decent, caring, genuine person inside. We have been programmed to nip at each other and the media constantly tells us how bad things are and how bad people are, but it is not true. We need to work toward becoming a country, state, town, even work places and homes focusing on "we" and not "me". Nothing tears groups apart more than demonizing others. If republicans and democrats could sit down and list the things they agree on, they would be surprised. But we never hear what each others good ideas are, we only hear about the evil of the other guys. Our reaction to new ideas is to put them down. This is tearing us apart. People talking to each other one on one are fine, it's people in groups saying hurtful things about the others that is not ok. We need to start discussing ideas constructively, pros and cons, make a decision, and then all sides work together to try and make the majority decision successful, even if it is not "my" idea.
- We live in a beautiful rich country and need to remind ourselves how lucky we are to have the relative material wealth (relative to most of the other 6.4 billion people in the world) that we do. But more than that we need to remember that real wealth comes from the people we surround ourselves with, and the activities we do to promote joy.
- Riding alone took a couple days to get used to, but it actually gets pretty comfy after a while. I miss the built in company over a cold beer at the end of the day, but decision making is so much less complicated when you are by yourself. You always get your way!! And strangers are really easy to convert into friends, but it might cost you a beer.
- I think being from the east we value land more than out in the west. Crossing Nebraska, I realized that there is more unused land left in this country than you can shake a stick at. Granted it's pretty dry land, but it is land non the less. How about covering it with AllSun trackers!! I'll get the sales guys on that.
- It is unbelievable how much corn and soy I saw being grown. I do not know what the numbers are but I would wager that between beef and ethanol, we could use these foodstuff a lot more efficiently if we became vegetarians and rode bikes.
- Thanks to whoever put all those national parks aside (Teddy, FDR, etc). They are spectacular, especially to all those who live in the "unwild" suburbs and cities. Thank you CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) for building all that stuff for $1 a day and thanks FDR for giving all those folks something to be proud of in their old  age.
 So I am happy to have gone, and happy to be back.Guess I should go wash my bike..

I just did a quick shot of the map showing  where I went so when I'm in the home I'll remember..

Mon Aug 27 - Oswego NY to Home

Slept like a baby and woke at a leisurely 8:00 or so and had a nice long chat with Sandy and Herb over breakfast. It was autopilot all the way home as I have been over this road for the past 27 years with all combinations of old cars (7 hours), kids in diapers (7 hours), kids out of diapers (6 hours), motorcycles (5 hours) and today was more like 7 hours because I stopped at the bike shop I bought the BMW at 15 years ago (they are still there and remembered the stainless steel fasteners I loaded my bike up with (those original ones rusted #$) and I also kept running into road construction which meant walking around waiting for flag people (do not envy those folks, but boy are they tan) and at one point ran 7 miles over chemical laden dirt road. As always hitting Vermont is a big sigh of relief. The signs change, the cars change and everything is cleaner and greener somehow. But I will say this. Our roads are AWFUL compared to all those other states and provinces I have ridden through both on the way out and the way back. There must be a sweet spot between paying taxes for smooth roads and all the suspension work I have had to do on my cars. Grrrr.

I stopped for a couple cold beers to take home and pulled into my garage at around 6pm with the bike smelling like fresh pavement chemicals. It was also a muddy mess from all that wet dirt I had to ride through earlier today. Hannah and Deb were both home and Hannah made a lovely home cooked, healthy supper for us. It is good to be home and I am pleasantly exhausted.

Sun Aug 26 - 714 miles from Remington IN to Oswego NY

That diner last night turned out to be a truck stop diner, which was fine. They served breakfast all day so I had breakfast for dinner. I have been eating a lot less on this return trip which is good because sitting on your rear doesn't burn up too many calories. The Razor is my only shot at actual exercise. This morning they had a stationary bike at the hotel so I took a quick ride on that to get my points for the bike challenge. No goofy Razor today!! Packing in the morning takes no time, I got it down, really lean, and I slept in so didn't mash the starter 'til 8:00 or so. I continued on Rt 24 which is the 55 MPH 2 lane road that goes like clock work from town to adjacent town. These roads are the perfect combo of getting a lot of miles in and seeing a lot of the real town and people and farming (corn and soy). I ducked around Fort Wayne and picked up Rt 30 which took me into Ohio. This road goes from 2 lane to 4 lane and there was very little traffic (it is Sunday..) so I made great time and saw a lot of the back roads of Ohio. Still more corn and soy but the further east I got in Ohio, the more I sensed things loosing the square block layout and starting to get more congested. Then I saw it. The first one I have seen in days. It stood out like a sore thumb and I didn't realize how out of place it looked.

This really did mark the change I would now see. The turn was not because of any geographical feature, but rather because somebody built something that was not planned ahead of time like everything between here and the Rockies. From here east, I would see not square fields everywhere, but rather, odd shaped pieces of land and towns not lined up with each other. Things just got messier and messier in the back roads, in a good way. At Bucrus I headed north on Rt 98 to 598 then east on a long flat road called 224. Nice small roads and small towns and when I hit Rt 71 (big interstate) I stopped. From here on east the big crowded towns started and I had no desire to wiggle through back streets near these big cities. So I held my nose and decided to jump on the interstate (71) and leave this Popsicle stand called Ohio and get into Pennsylvania and call it a day. North to 271 and then the big road, Rt 80 (yuck). I hit Pennsylvania and sorta daydreamed and before I knew it, I was in New York State getting a toll ticket for the New York Thruway (Rt 90). So I stopped at the first service area to figure out what to do. I was feeling great and the map app said I could be at Deb's dad's house in 4 hours. So I called and they said they would still be up and I was welcome to stay. So tank up on coffee and crank it up to 65 and do the boring interstate thing for 4 hours. I arrived at 10pm and rode the last 2 hours in the dark. We chatted for a couple hours and then I crashed. Glad I rode the bike at the hotel this morning. Last thing I wanted to do was ride that #$%^ scooter tonight. So looks like I will get home tomorrow. Wow. This is by far the most miles I have ridden in 1 day and I am actually feeling really good, and I never had to go faster than the speed limit (ok maybe once or twice).

Sat Aug 25 - 642 Miles Across Iowa & Illinois

I blew it last night by stopping too early. I realized it last night when I checked NOAA for the weather forecast and sure enough, a front was coming up from the southwest and the choices were go north to Minnesota and come across Canada or get up early and ride for a few hours in the rain to push through the storm. I do not have my passport, so Canada was out. I set my alarm and punched the starter at 5am. It was not raining yet but it was pitch black. I headed south on 26 and then east on 80 (yuck). The rain started about 15 minutes later so I stopped under a bridge to put on the rain stuff. It was pitch black but the beemer has a parking light and I have a flashlight to figure everything out. It poured off and on for the next 3 hours until I got to Des Moines. I stopped to get gas about 5:30 and got some coffee at an all night truck stop which was hopping. The farmers were up and happy about the rain, the truck drivers were just starting their day and a state natual resources guy and his partner were gassing up their boat. The consensus was that the rain was great and I was nuts to ride a motorcycle in the dark and pouring rain. Visibility was not good with oncoming headlights but I kept it around 50 and kept my eyes peeled for deer and road trash (dead critters and retread tire shrapnel). It was much better when the sky was light enough for me to see the road and road sides and I picked the speed up a bit. I got to Des Moines and the rain let up so I stopped for coffee. But I could still see black clouds behind me so I went another hour or two down 80 to put some time between us. Sometime before hitting Iowa City, I turned south on a 2 laner and then east on another 2 laner in nice shape and empty. I spent the rest of the day just poking through these back roads. There a lot of these roads in Iowa and Illinois with speed limit of 55 and all you have to do is slow down to 30 every time a small town comes up, and then you are off again. So the bad news is that there is nothing but corn and soybeans in these 2 states, but the people are again very friendly and polite everywhere I stopped to hydrate me or the bike. I did pass several ethanol plants which smell like breweries kind of and have big tanker cars on rails out back and big yards for truckloads of corn out front. The corn is pitiful (see picture above), and nothing was being cut except a couple fields in Indiana tonight. I don't understand soy and couldn't find anyone who could explain it to me, maybe tomorrow.
So I was surprised how many miles I put on considering all the bouncing around I did, but I did start pretty early and once again I am feeling great.
So I gotta find some dinner (little restaurant in town) and check the weather and figure out tomorrow. Hopefully more wiggling across Indiana if I can find some good roads..

Fri Aug 24 - Nebraska, Nebraska, Nebraska,...,Iowa

I rode 400 miles across Nebraska today...
Oh yea, I think I hit a grasshopper...



















Did I miss the memo about how wide and boring Nebraska is? I was expecting, you know, corn and crops and pretty towns with happy children playing, no frolicking, with their perfect parents in white linen clothes and those straw hats, picnic baskets, you know, the whole thing. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the dry stuff to taper off and all of the above stuff to start. OK, it did get greener FINALLY about 100 miles from the Iowa border, but the rest of northern Nebraska is only a great place if you sell fence, water pumping windmills, or cattle. I took Rt 20 all the way across which gave me a very nice "slice of life" in this part of Nebraska. I will say, when you do hit a town with 500 or more people, it has everything you need. The people I talked to were very friendly and polite. Do not bring up politics as the "Impeach Obama", and worse, are seen here and there.
I find I am playing dodgeball with the weather. I have rain below me, ahead of me and behind me. I need to get the Ouija board out in the morning to figure out where to go next.
Riding this Razor scooter around every night is getting old. People can't figure out what a guy my age is doing riding this around ("lock the doors kids, he looks like a weirdo from Vermont"). I may start getting up in the wee hours to ride it. Jeeze...
I find I am really enjoying the long distance riding on these long straight roads and I don't know why. The beemer is flawless (and turned 70,000 yesterday), and having music is a joy. I am tired at the end of the day but never sore. May have to do this again next year...
Wish I had more to write, but, that's Nebraska...

Thurs Aug 23 - Fort Collins CO to Rockys then Northeast to Nebraska

I checked NOAA this morning and the weather west and south was turning bad. The only place to go and not get wet was northeast to Nebraska. I wanted to ride back up into Estes Park and down the Peak to Peak highway and the rain wasn't supposed to come in until afternoon here in Colorado so why not. I packed (getting pretty good at this), hung my laundry off the back that didn't dry last night (classy), got coffee and drove south to catch the turn west on Rt 34 up to Estes Park. I lived in Boulder south of here 30+ years ago and used to ride my motorcycle up and down the Peak to Peak, but somehow I missed this canyon run up from Loveland. Big Thompson Canyon was incredible!! A little traffic but I just hold back a long time to get some space between me and the cars ahead and then go for it. Go for it is a relative term when you have a 15 year old beemer ridden by a 56 year old guy. At the the town of Estes Park, I got a spectacular view of the bowl of mountains, but the clouds were already getting thick. I took Rt 7 south down the Peak to Peak Highway and it brought back great memories from all those years ago. Lots of hiking trips with George and others. So more, thicker clouds and I knew I better skedaddle. Down off the mountain through another pretty sweepy canyon, and onto interstate 25 to get north ASAP. I saw even more Skystreams, which makes about 9 or 10 total on this trip, in this area. Who is that dealer?? Turned east just north of Cheyenne and then everything except scrub grass and wind powered water pumpers disappeared. Almost no traffic for the rest of the day and almost no towns. This is when it is real nice having the big tank so I don't have to worry about gas. I have been getting 54-55 MPG again because of the slower speeds this trip. Saw something called Car-Henge which is like Stonehenge but built with cars. Sweet.
I shot some more helmet cam video and made another short movie if anyone is interested.

Wed Aug 22 - Billings MT to Fort Collins CO (and more Bear Tooth video)

Just to rub it in some more...

I  had more helmet cam so I downloaded Movie Maker and sort of figured out how to make a movie, with music even (I hope). Enjoy..

Oh yea, and I rode from Billings MT to Fort Collins mostly on the interstate (I will explain) but took a couple little side roads and discovered there is not much to see on the little 2 laners. I got my morning Joe around 6:15 this morning, filled the beemer with gas, and headed south with the speedo reading a nice quiet smooth 65 all day (which is really 60 as I discovered). I don't normally like the interstate but there was something really relaxing about listening to tunes and idling down the interstate. I feel I am slipping down the slope toward Gold Wing karma but it was just this once, honest. It is certainly easier to zone out on these roads with this scenery. So todays project was to get south as far as I could. If I could get within striking distance of Jake and Albuquerque or Arches National Park, I had my choice and could let the weather decide which one tomorrow.
Billings is nothing to write home about (apologies) but the towns here begin and end on a dime so once you leave town, it's just you and the nothingness of the prairie, where pretty much nothing grows except here and there where someone irrigates something. Traffic was light with a few trucks and the road was in nice shape (their congressmen are obviously bringing home the bacon, hint, hint). Lots of expired (squished) antelope beside the road and I saw quite a few future squished ones munching along the sides of the road (outside the fence thank you). A few beef cattle here and there where there was water either naturally or from one of the old classic wind powered pumpers. There are lots of those pumpers still cranking out the water. I saw lots more wind turbines, lots of oil wells, several long coal trains, full and empty, and a few gigundo coal plants. Several oddball oversize loads went by (combines, giant coal trucks and other farm implements) and I even saw another long distance bicycle rider in the emergency breakdown lane.
Big excitement was seeing a 60 meter NRG tower with the telltale Symphonie shelter box at the base and conspicuity balls all over it (that is what those orange balls on guy wires are called). I also counted 7 SouthWest turbines all on 30' mono-towers. Must be a good dealer around here. No solar to be seen anywhere..
I did about 300 miles without a stop and then the fuel light reminded me to look for more dino juice. I filled up and got coffee and chatted a long time with a guy on a BMW 1200LT from Oregon. He had retired last year and spent 4 months on his BMW riding all over North America with his wife on the back. She burned out on it, and now he rides without her. He was supposed to meet his "flakey" brother who forgot which day and/or which city they were going to meet in. He seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing and reinforced the fact that he never met anyone who wouldn't help you out in all his travels. I did another 230 and got into Fort Collins just as some rain drops starting coming down so looks like this is where I stop. The beemer is doubling as my personal gym with all the standing and stretching I do. It works wonders and at the end of the day, I am not stiff or sore at all. Maybe time to do the Iron butt thing (1000 miles in 24 hours).
Looks like rain tomorrow so not sure where to go from here. I'll figure it out in the morning.