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.