3rd Annual Driftless Ride: Day 1 - 10/07/11 - 280 Miles

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This year, we decided we were going to take as much time off as we needed to get a chance to hit some really scenic roads. I started my morning off with a quick trip up I90 to Rockford, and then a little taste of my favorite road, IL2 along the Rock River. I met my buddy Jim at the corner of IL64 and IL2 in Oregon, IL. We followed 64 all the way to Savanna, IL. This was another scenic road. Really easy on the turns, but beautiful nonetheless.

We stopped in Savanna off of IL84 to have lunch at the famous Poopie's Bar and Grill/Tattoo Parlor/Garage. The portions were huge, and the prices were reasonable. After filling our bellies with some good food, we were back on the road to cross into Iowa. We jumped on US52, which follows the Mississippi all the way to Dubuque. This ride had mostly sweeping turns, and some small elevation changes. The first 20-30 miles or so had some real colorful tree cover, but that also brought a lot of leaves down on us. I have to say taking leaves to the face at 55mph can get annoying really quick!


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We stopped in Dubuque for gas, and hightailed the hell outta there. It always amazes me to find little ghettos in the middle of what seems like nowhere. We followed 52 just outside of Dubuque, and followed this to IA C9Y, which is their Great River Road. This portion of the ride definitely lived up to it's name. There were some very good sweepers, with elevation changes equaling hundreds of feet.


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As we made our way into a small town named Balltown, there were cars seemingly everywhere. As we made our way up C9Y, the road appeared rise and end, shooting straight into the sky. We stopped here for some pictures, and took advantage of their scenic overlook. These can be seen just below:





The ride out of Balltown continued to be great, continuing the sweeping curves and hills. Then we were in the middle of cornfields for what seemed like forever. We finally found route 18, which took us towards Prairie Du Chien, WI, and allowed us to follow WI 35 just west to Lancaster.

We stayed at the Best Western in Lancaster, WI, which was a very small town. However, food and drink were only 2 blocks away, and a Piggly Wiggly kiddie corner from the hotel. We stopped in at a little place called Doolittles, and pounded a few Blue Moons while waiting a considerably long time for mediocre food. This just so happened to be the same night the Brewers beat the Diamondbacks to make it to the NLCS. So the few locals (may have been half the town) were in the bar screaming at the TVs. We made it back to the hotel around 8:30PM and were both out before 10PM.

(I should mention we did not have to wear our jackets after lunch, since the rest of the day was in the high 70s and sunny!)

3rd Annual Driftless Ride: Day 2 - 10/08/11 - 295 miles

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After enjoying my free breakfast of a bagel and a couple of cups of coffee, we headed out of Lancaster around 10am Saturday morning. Once again, it was sunny and warm for an early October morning. We headed straight north up US61 towards Viroqua, WI, with intentions of taking a little detour around Eureka Maple Woods State Natural Area just north of there. On the way up, we stopped at a gas station around Readstown, and had a nice conversation with a biker from Viroqua, who was just out for a morning ride before spending the rest of the day with his grandkids. The highlight of this stop was the opportunity of taking this picture:



Yes, that's an Amish buggy at the diesel pump.

Unfortunately, our routes were planned in the spur of the moment, and we somehow missed our intended stop off in Eureka, and wound up in Sparta. Luckily, WI16 runs along 90 into La Crosse, which is where we planned to have lunch and hop the river into Minnesota for a bit. We made it into La Crosse just after 12pm, and parked the bikes downtown. We walked around for about 15 minutes, and came across a restaurant called Fayze's Restaurant & Bakery. When we got to the hostess booth, we were told the wait will be a half hour, unless we wanted to sit at the counter. The counter consisted of 8 chairs, and 6 were empty! We sat right down, and had a great lunch. We started off with some fried cheese curds (heaven!), and the sandwiches were offered on fresh bread made in the bakery. Our waitress was very attentive, and extremely sweet.

We headed over the Mississippi on I90, and made our way north on the Minnesota side up US61. I've been this way now 3 years straight, and Jim got to experience it for the first time last year. This route is Mississippi Valley at it's finest! Very tall bluffs along the west side of the road, and a speed limit of 70 MPH! Needless to say, we were in Winona, MN fairly quickly.


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We passed through Winona and jumped back over to the Wisconsin side of the river. We rode us WI35 a bit, and this seemed to be where everyone was. We passed numerous classic cars, as well as many, many bikes. We stopped off in Alma, WI to check our location, and to plan another hop over the river. Last year, Jim wanted to check out Lake Pepin, but we simply didn't have the time. I've been up this way once before on the Wisconsin side, but wanted to check it out from Minnesota. We crossed the Mississippi from Nelson, WI, and proceeded up MN61 once again. Once again, we were not let down! Plenty of sweeping curves, and beautiful scenery.


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We stopped off in Lake City, MN, passing an accident that we missed by a few minutes. The decision was made by me (I'm sure without Jim's knowledge), that it would be pointless to check if we could help. There were already 20-30 people on the scene, so we rubber necked it, and got the hell outta the way.

As we made our way through Lake City, we passed a marina that was full of sail boats. This is the most mind blowing fact about this portion of the river: there are sailboats EVERYWHERE on Lake Pepin! Here are a few pictures we took, with the Wisconsin bluffs peaking up over the water across from where we were:





After we left Lake City, my intentions were to stop off in Frontenac State Park. As we were entering the park, a Hawk swooped down to the side of the road about 25 yards ahead of us. We pulled up quickly, and got to see this glorious raptor from about 5 feet away! This was one of the biggest Hawks I've ever seen! Unfortunately, we did not enter the park, since it was $5 per vehicle, and we were already an hour or so behind schedule.

We continued up 61 to Red Wing, MN, where we made our way back to the Wisconsin side of the trip. We stopped in Pepin to put on our jackets (I forgot how early the sun sets this time of year), and switched our sunglasses for our clear lenses. We still had another hour to go, and darkness was creeping in. I have a feeling we missed some good scenery heading through Durand, but made it to the hotel in Eau Claire just after 7pm. I had about 5 hotels to choose from while making the reservations, and chose one that advertised a hot tub. Lucky for us, THEY FILLED IN THE F*%CKING HOT TUB! I even paid an extra $10 for a poolside room!

We ended the night by marching a whole 75 feet across the hotel parking lot to Broadway Pizza and enjoyed the unseasonal weather eating and drinking on the patio. Perfect end to 9 hours of riding.

3rd Annual Driftless Ride: Day 3 - 10/09/11 - 210 miles

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Sunday morning we ran into a few Chicagolandians in the parking lot of our hotel. It was interesting to see how many had decided later in the week to make the trip up to take advantage of the weather and view some beautiful foliage. We rode out of the hotel parking lot around 10am, and headed south on US53. I used the hotel computer to plan a route, and was hoping we'd find some good twisties. We were not disappointed!

Most of the way down 53 was straight farmland. At one point we passed a Llama farm, which put Napoleon Dynamite in my thoughts for about an hour afterwards. "GOSH!" Per motorcycleroads.us, we headed east on county road D, which wasn't all that impressive. However, the magic was not far ahead.

We turned onto Wisconsin Trunk 108 in a small town called Melrose. As we rode through the town, we noticed a shitload of cars parked along the one road in town. As it turns out, there was a farm auction taking place this beautiful morning. There were probably twice as many people in town as the population, which was an interesting sight. Soon out of Melrose, the twisties did come!


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108 was definitely made for great riding! All of the curves were clearly marked with suggested speeds, and we were graced with plenty of S-curves, and even a few switchbacks. I got so into the ride, I wound up losing Jim about a mile behind me. I slowed down on a straight to let him catch up, only to have some douche on a Street Glide blow past me at about 70mph, scaring the living daylights out of me! Jim caught up just in time to make it to the highest point of the road, which I stole a picture of off of Google streetview:


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After this great find, we stopped in at Augie's Bar and Grill in Bangor, WI. It was fun walking into an establishment in such a tiny town, and having the whole bar (8 guys) turn and stare at you. Their curiosity quickly wore off when we ordered a couple of beers and some sandwiches. We walked out of Augie's with a warm belly and only down $15 for the complete meal! Too bad we didn't stay for the Packer's game, since the town was having a potluck, in the bar!

Right out of Bangor we stayed on WI162, which was another surprising ride. The road runs midway up the bluffs, and took us through some beautiful farmland and sweeping curves, overlooking the valley below. About 15 minutes later we jumped on WI33, which we rode last year from La Crosse to Wisconsin Dells. This is another elevated sweeping road, running through plenty of small towns. Another bonus of WI33 is all the nice Amish folks we passed along the way. Next stop, Wildcat Mountain State Park!

This year we actually pulled off to check out the scenic overlook. It was $5 a vehicle for an hour in the park, but well worth it. We met a nice, older couple who were out driving their old MGB around, and the gentleman pointed out that we were 1500 ft above sea level. The view from the overlook was truly amazing. Directly beneath us was WI33, which you could hardly make out through the tree tops. We could see for miles and miles, and were lucky to have such an array of colors in the trees below.






Riding out of Wildcat, we came across a large group of Amish kids walking along the side of the road. In their true Christian fashion, they all waved and smiled at us. We continued on 33 towards Wisconsin Dells, where we were staying the night in Jim's camper. Since this day's ride was 100 miles shorter than the previous two, I planned out a route that would take us through some of the County routes not far from the Dells. As you can see by the map, we were in no hurry to get home:


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After our hour long jaunt through these backroads, we headed to Jim's camper near Mirror Lake. We stopped in to turn on all the utilities, then headed out to get some food. Just around the corner from his camper is a quaint restaurant called The Green Owl. According to Jim, this building has had numerous owners in the past, so we'll see how long they last. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the unseasonable warmness, along with a few pints of Fat Tire. The food was delicious, though the service was slightly lacking. However, I do not believe the owner's were anticipating a rush, as it should have been a lot more chilly this time of year. After eating, we fired up the bikes and made a nice ruckus for the remaining patrons as we flew out of the parking lot on our 2 minute ride back to the camper.

3rd Annual Driftless Ride: Day 4 - 10/10/11 - 160 miles

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We left Jim's camper around 10am Monday morning. I let Jim lead us out of the Dells and onto 90. He lead the way all the way to the I90/I39 split just north of Rockford, and we parted ways. I was home by 2pm. All in all, this was the best ride of the 3 years! I'm hoping for many, many more to come. Let me know if you'd be interested in joining us on our 4th Annual Driftless ride! (coming in Fall of 2012!)

Illinois Driftless Area: May 30th, 2011

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Memorial Day turned out to be a very good day for a ride. It was in the upper 80s, lower 90s (depending where I was at), but a tad windy. I started out around 11am, with a goal to head towards Galena, but not actually make it there. My only intention was to ride and find some twisties. I succeeded!

The big pain living in the Chicagoland area is how flat it is. I had to ride up I90 all the way to Rockford, then take 20 towards Galena. The riding doesn't really start getting good until you make it past Freeport.

I rode into Woodbine, and found my way to Scout Camp Rd. This is a back country road with no markings on it. In certain places it's hard to imagine that 2 cars could pass each other going opposite directions. You have to be very careful on this road, as there are a few farms, and farm equipment on the roads is a normal sight. It's a fun road to ride, but you're just basically in the lower portion of the hills, and you pass over the Apple River, which is probably the most scenic part of this road.

I made it up to Stage Coach Trail, which is a great road to ride in to, or from, Galena. I took Stage Coach to County Road 4, or as it's also known, S Elizabeth Mounds Rd. This was a fully paved, completely marked road. This road has amazing views, since you are basically riding along the ridges the whole time. I was able to easily average 55-60MPH, and there weren't many cars on the road. However, I passed at least 25 bikes.


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I made it back to 20, and headed west towards 84. 84 can be a bit sketchy at first, as the road is beat up due to the farm equipment that uses it so often. About 10 minutes or so into it, things get a bit smoother. This is another road that you will pass about 100 bikes in the 20 miles from 20 to Savanna. As you make it down a little more, you start to notice the huge body of water to the west. That is the mighty Mississippi! Just north of Savanna is the Mississippi Palisades Park. I stopped in to get some pictures and check out the views. They were gorgeous!



I rode into Savanna, and was pretty sure a motorcycle rally was going on that day. There were hundreds of bikes parked on the road, and twice as many riding around. It's pointless to even wave at each other, as you're pretty much just going to ride one handed all the way through town. I stopped in at the Subway for lunch.

After lunch, I headed back towards Elizabeth on 84, but turned off on Clay St, which turns into Scenic Ridge Rd. This road is definitely properly named. As you make your way through small country neighborhoods, the road twists and turns the whole way. There's even one part where you can clearly see that the road is rising a hundred feet or so. As you come over the ridge the view just opens up, and I swear you can see for at least 25 miles into the valley of this driftless area. The only downfall of this road is that it is just too short! Just as it starts the get good, you're back on 20!


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All in all, this was a great ride. I was able to do the whole 300 miles in 7 hours or so, and stopped a few times for gas and to stretch. It's unfortunate that it takes me at least an hour and a half to get to some great riding. I think every flatland rider needs to get out to this area for at least a nice, day long trip.

Springfield, IL: May 19-20 2011

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I decided to make my first long ride of the 2011 one of the capitols. The plan was to hit Springfield, IL, then over to Jefferson City, MO for 2 days. Unfortunately, the weather did not permit it. I was able to make it to Springfield for an overnighter. The total trip was just over 500 miles.

I left Thursday morning, just around 11:30am and headed towards Dekalb. I didn't want to hit the expressways my first day, since I was in the mood for some country roads. The ride was fine until I got into Sycamore. I swear I hit every red light from here through Dekalb. By the time I got out of Dekalb, my left hand was seriously cramping from all the clutching! I continued on route 23 to 34, which I rode into Princeton. Princeton was a tiny town, but my intent was to jump on 26 all the way to Peoria. 26 is listed at a favorite website as a great road to ride, as it follows the Illnois river. I gotta say I saw the river maybe 3 times. The road was decent, and the tree cover was very peaceful.

I stopped in Peoria for lunch (more like early dinner), and made my way down 29 to Springfield. This portion of the ride was particularly brutal, as this is truly the "plains," and I was getting blown all over the road. Also, the smell of manure was prominent, and I've learned with that odor comes BUGS. Needless to say, it got pretty annoying get smacked in my sunburned face for 2 hours by these little pests.

I pulled into Springfield just about 6:30pm, and promptly got lost searching for my hotel. Luckily I had to pull in for some gas and checked Google maps. I was only about a mile away. I finished checking in, and sat in my room watching the Office finale. After that, I was bored, so I took a little night cruise to find something to eat. While I was searching, I found the capitol and took a few shots with my phone:



These low grade pictures really didn't do it justice.

I checked out the next morning around made my way to the capitol. It was a bit busy, as it was Friday morning. However, the road directly in front of the building was closed to thru traffic, so I was able to pull right up front and take a few shots! The first few were great, but for some reason my autofocus didn't work for me with my timer pics. I even remember after my 2nd picture thinking "maybe I should take a few more." After looking at the few I had taken on the small camera LCD, I figured they came out fine. Here's how they looked:






I took a short ride around the capitol, trying to find the OLD capitol, but that just never happened. After the very, very long ride the day before, I decided to take highways home.

I took 55 up to 39, since I was stopping at a friends in Peru, IL. Though my average speed was about 70mph the whole way, I learned that at least you have something to expect on the back roads. Normally, I'll cruise for about a half hour or so, then come upon a small town. The speed limit will drop, I usually make the green light at the only traffic light in town, then it's another half hour at 55-60mph until the next town. This actually seems like there's something to look forward to. When you're on the expressway, it's just the same view, over and over.

I've been to Peru a few times before, but always came from the north. This time I came off of 39 onto 251. Right off the bat, the road takes a slight descent. Since there is forest on either side, you really don't see what you're driving into. Then the view opens up, and there's Peru, up on to of a big hill. You make your way over the Illinois river, and right into town.


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After I left Peru, I made my way back to 39, and took that all the way to 72. After 4 hours of buzzing along on the highway, it was a very welcome change. Here I was again, traveling on a 2 lane back road, going from small town to small town. I'll have to admit this felt like the shortest hour and a half of riding that day. I got home around 6:30pm, and ordered a cheesy beef from Village Pizza! What a great way to end my first overnighter of the season.

2nd Annual SW Wisconsin Trip (October 2010)

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After my trip the year before to SW Wisconsin, I had to make sure this became a yearly deal. This time, I brought my friend Jim along.

We started off at his camper in the Dells, heading east on 12 to start off the morning on 60. What a way to start the day! The trip west on 60 is every midwest riders' dream. It follows the Wisconsin River all the way to the Mississippi. The road twists and turns all the way to 35, where we headed north from Prairie Du Chien to La Crosse. About 15 minutes into our ride on 35, a Bald Eagle appeared from across the river and flew right over our heads! Here's a pic about an hour south of La Crosse:




That's the Great Mississippi behind us, with the bluffs of SE Minnesota peeking across this majestic river.

We made it to La Crosse just after 2pm and checked into the hotel. We had already ridden a few hours, and stopped in Prairie Du Chien for lunch. We shot some handlebar footage, and I hope to get it edited and posted here soon. Once at the hotel, instant boredom set in. We figured it was time to do some riding again! So we hopped back on the bikes and rode over to the Minnesota side, entering La Crescent, MN. The great thing about these types of trips is there's really no set destination, just ride! So we just sorta figured a way over the river, and continued north once we got there. We rode up route 1 through a small neighborhood. Once through the neighborhood we continued up an incline heading north. It twisted a bit, and then we were atop the bluffs on this side of the river. Luscious green farmland to the west, and an absolutely beautiful view of the Mississippi Valley! This was a view we did not get from the Wisconsin side. Here's a few pictures:






The pictures above were taken the very next morning, since Jim and I decided it was a good idea to head back over to enjoy it again! Some of the best riding happened over here, and the day before we spent a good couple hours roaming little county and state roads through little hillside communities.

We headed back to the Wisconsin Side of the river, on the hunt for route 33, which was going to take us all the way to the Dells. Somehow we missed it, and wound up on US Route 14. We stopped for a second, and got out the trusty Blackberry to check Google Maps. We found a little shortcut to 33 from where we were, and I have to reiterate: THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS GETTING LOST ON A MOTORCYCLE RIDE. Here's the terrain map of county road M:

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This short trip only lasted about 15 minutes, but as I pulled up at the stop sign on 33, Jim pulled aside me and had just one thing to say: "AWESOME."

Another highlight of this trip was through Wildcat State Park. As we entered the park, the speed limit dropped to 25 MPH. Here's the map of that route, and you can see that we had a nice, twisty time!

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As we pulled out of the park, there were a group on horseback. Needless to say, we received very friendly waves from all of them!

We continued on 33 through very, very rural areas, sometimes pulling into gas stations that acted as the city hub. In Cashton, the gas station was also the hardware AND feed store!

We arrived in the Dells around 2pm, and just in time to head into a restaurant to eat and watch the Bears game. We got back to Jim's place, and loaded the bikes onto our trucks. I left about 15 minutes earlier than Jim. As I approached Madison, there was a bit of traffic. I decided to give him a call so he could get a heads up. He answered his phone, and the first words out of his mouth were "I need to get back here, I'm planning another trip right now!"

It made me feel great to be the person to introduce the driftless area of Wisconsin to a guy I could ride with every time. The 3rd Annual trip is already planned for 9/30/2011-10/03/2011, and there may be more than just the 2 of us this time!

Labor Day 2009: Madison, WI and St. Paul, MN

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During the Labor Day weekend of 2009, I decided to get a couple more capitols/capitals out of the way. The plan was to stop in Madison, WI on the way to St. Paul, MN. While planning the trip, I noticed that it would be a good chance to check out the good ole Great River Road. I gotta say, the discovery of SW Wisconsin was the highlight of this trip!

First off, I left on Saturday afternoon with the intent of stopping in Madison to get a picture. As I pulled into the city center (by the way, Madison is a GORGEOUS city, if you've never been there), there were people EVERYWHERE. I guess I didn't think to check the local events, since not only do they have a Farmers' Market around the capitol on the weekend, but there was also a college football game going on. So after spending an hour or so in traffic, I decided I'd save Madison for the way home. I made my way out of the city, and up to the Dells to stay at my friends camper by Mirror Lake.

The next morning I awoke and headed straight up 94 towards the twin cities. After riding a good 2 hours on 94, I started to notice some serious terrain shifts. Though north of the Dells gets pretty hilly, getting up towards Eau Claire is when the really nice scenery starts to happen. I made my way into St Paul around 3pm on a Sunday, and NO ONE was there! I was able to pull up right in front of the capitol and sat for about an hour taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.





After taking these pictures, I headed back towards the border in search of this road everyone was raving about. I crossed the river and back into Wisconsin at a town called Prescott. It was this point that I realized what I had to look forward to.

Crossing into Prescott is what I imagine driving into any small town while riding to Sturgis. There were bikes EVERYWHERE. I stopped for a moment just to take it all in, as the plan was to make it to La Crosse before sundown. I continued my trek, and took some amazing pics on the way,

Lake Pepin




I was absolutely amazed at what I was witnessing. 95% of the ride down this road has the great Mississippi on your right, with cliffs/bluffs/rolling hills on your left. For hundreds of miles! I made my way to La Crosse, stopping every hour or so just to completely take in the beauty. As I drew closer to my stop for the night, I was worried I wasn't going to make it in time! What do you mean "in time?" Can't you ride a motorcycle at night? Well of course you can. However, the real shitty time to drive is right at dusk, when the nocturnal insects wake up to buzz the night. Here's what happened, since I got stuck riding on the Minnesota side from Winona to La Crosse:



That's my face shield, and I stopped to clean it twice before making it to the hotel!

I stopped for the night in La Crosse, WI. I got back on the road around 9am the next morning. Riding through downtown La Crosse was pretty amazing. It's a very peaceful little city along the river, but seemingly alive with activity due to the University there. As I got out of La Crosse, it was right back to the same gorgeous scenery as the day before. I stopped about half an hour south to take some pictures:




As I made my way towards Prairie Du Chien, I stopped off at a Scenic Overlook. This particular overlook took you atop one of the many bluffs along the way. The road to the top was at least a 45 degree angle, so riding up and down was a bit of an experience. Here's a couple pics from that stop:




As I was taking those pictures, a young couple pulled up beside me. The guy was a farmer from Iowa, and we had a good conversation. They were also flatlanders, impressed with the riding terrain in Wisconsin. We talked for a good half an hour, and I left. I got maybe 20 minutes down the road when I realized I'd left my tripod behind! So I turned around and headed back to the overlook. As I was pulling up the road in the picture, a conversion van pulling a popup camper was heading down. The driver was holding up my tripod! I turned around and pulled up alongside the van. He handed me the tripod, and let me know that some "nice bikers" had waited for me, but I never showed. Luckily, he was nice enough to stick around for a few more minutes to make sure I got my tripod. Nice folks!

I headed down 35 again, my destination Prairie Du Chien. As I pulled into the town, I was surprised by all of the manufactured homes alongside the road. They were everywhere! As I made it through town, I found my next route: WI 60. Here's a pic I took about 10 minutes after leaving Prairie Du Chien:



Route 60 runs along the Wisconsin River, so the whole ride was sweeping curves and plenty of elevation changes. Quite an experience! I also took a wrong turn, but as anyone who has been on long rides, there's really no such thing. I was supposed to take 14 as I arrived in Spring Green, but continued to follow 60. This is where the magic happens, this road is one of the best roads in central Wisconsin!


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So finally around 6pm that Monday, I arrived in Madison. And there was no one there! I was able to set up right in front of the capitol! I took quite a few pictures as the sun was going down.




After Madison, I headed to my sister's in Evansville to spend the night. The next day, Tuesday, I was on my way home after a 900 mile trip. I didn't want it to end!

My first capitol, Indianapolis! (July 2009)

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So here's the deal: This trip took place back in July of 2009. I always intended to start a blog about my trips, but just never got around to it.

Sitting home on a Friday and watching the weather, I decided the next day might be a good day to start my capitol/capital journey. I was still living on the north side of Chicago, so I had to pick my first trip carefully. So I went to Google Maps, and decided Indianapolis might be the best way to go. The very next day, I set off just after noon, in hopes of making it there in time for some daylight.

The trip out was interesting. If you remember, the summer of 2009 was unseasonably cold. Here I was, riding through rural areas of Indiana on a July day that never topped 70 degrees. It was a little chilly, considering most of the way the speed limit was 75MPH. Indiana does not have much in the way of scenery, so the ride was not very impressive.

As I neared the capital, I decided to stop and fill up. As I was at the pump, the man next to me asked if I was heading to the MotoGP. I had no idea what he was talking about. Turns out Red Bull was having a major motorcycle race in Indianapolis that weekend. Perfect timing!

I finally made it to downtown Indy just around 6PM, and it was crazy. Motorcycles outnumbered cars 5 to 1. I finally found the capitol, and made my way around to find a good spot to set up just as dusk was falling over the city. Unfortunately, I did not realize that I had pulled up BEHIND the building! Anyways, here's the pictures from that trip:




Here comes the best part of this story. Just after taking these pics, I turned around and headed home. I got about 50 miles out of town and stopped for gas. I'm pretty sure this is where I lost my wallet. I road another good 120 miles before I decided to stop again, and that's when I realized my wallet was no where to be found! I sat at this gas station in La Motte for about an hour before I built up the confidence to start begging for money. Here I was in full riding gear, standing next to a Harley Sportster, and giving a sob story about losing my wallet, and only needing about $5 to get home. This went on for about 45 minutes before 2 young guys pulled up and handed me a $5 bill! Finally! But it gets much better...

I had wasted a good 2 hours in De Motte, and should have been home by now. As I reached the border of IL and IN, it started to POUR. I pulled under an overpass, and was going to wait it out. I sat for about 15 minutes, and it started to let up. So I got back on the road just around midnight, and little did I know: 80 was bumper to bumper and shut down to 1 lane! Needless to say, I did not have the best time getting home. I was soaking wet, and put my life on the line riding amid the hoards of cagers after midnight on a Saturday. Nevertheless, 1 down and 49 to go!

Afternote: I never got my wallet back.