Missouri Capital Trip - Day 1 - June 7th 2012 - 340 miles

View Larger Map

My initial plans for this weekend trip was to spend a couple of days in Jefferson City, MO. I checked the extended weather forecast about a week before my intended departure date, and it seemed like a good chance that it would be raining the entire weekend that I was planning on being there. So I decided to change up my plans, and ride out to Michigan instead, making some time to check Lansing, MI off of my Capitol list. However, a few days before I would have left, the forecast called for a 50% chance of rain Saturday AND Sunday! I hadn't checked on Jefferson City since the week before, so I checked the forecast again. What do you know! 0% chance of precipitation all 4 days!

I left Carpentersville Thursday morning just after 10am. I took route 72 to Interstate 39. My plan was to ride to 80 west, then take 180 to Hennepin so I could jump on route 26, which runs from Hennepin along the Illinois River down to Peoria. I had been on this road last year on my Springfield, IL trip, and was not very impressed. My buddy Jim lives in Peru, IL, and had pointed that road out to me in a recent conversation, so I decided to give it another shot. Once again, much disappointment. Not much is happening on this road, and it isn't even all that scenic. I counted around 3 times that you actually get a view of the river.


View Larger Map

I arrived in Peoria around 2pm, and stopped for lunch. From Peoria, I took route 24, which runs through the hills of west-central Illinois, following the Illinois River to the Great Mississippi. This was a decent route, and sure beat taking Interstate 55 all the way towards St Louis. The route has some very nice views, and I honestly don't remember many stop lights or stop signs. The speed limit maintains itself at 65mph, and will only drop down as you enter the small towns along the highway. It was about an hour into my ride on this road when I stopped for gas, and realized everyone had a semi-southern drawl. This drawl would be heard throughout my trip, until I left Davenport, IA on Sunday morning.


View Larger Map

I reached Hannibal shortly after 6pm, and as I crossed the bridge over the Mississippi, I was surprised to see houses perched atop the bluffs. This was a sight to see, as this was now the 5th state that I've visited along the Mississippi. For some reason, there are virtually no houses atop the bluffs along the river in Wisconsin or Minnesota. You may spot one or two, but they are a very rare sight. However, houses peppered the bluffs north and south of the bridge, which made for a nice surprise.

I arrived at my hotel around 6:30 and promptly checked in. I was told by the front desk clerk that Happy Hour would be ending at 8pm in the Lounge, so I pulled up to my room, unpacked the bike, and headed on down to the lounge. I enjoyed a few dollar drafts, and was surprised to hear a heart wrenching story: The bartender was talking to a local, and asked "You remember the guy that was in here last night that just got the kidney transplant? He got jumped in the parking lot by three guys!" What a great story for a hotel employee to tell the patrons. Needless to say, I made sure to park my bike right in front of my window, and was sure that I had my trusty knife with me whenever I left the room. However, other than the shady hotel patrons who were smoking cigarettes throughout the night, no other jumpings happened while I was there.

Missouri Capital Trip - Day 2 - June 8th 2012 - 320 Miles

View Larger Map

I arrived in Hannibal the night before around 6pm, which was an hour after the Missouri Welcome Center had closed for the night. Since they were opened at 8am this morning, I planned on leaving the hotel as close to this time so I could pick up my complimentary Missouri state map. I pulled into the lot around 8:15am, and entered the building. I was quickly greeted by a friendly Tourism Associate, who quickly provided me with my free map.

"Is there anything else I can help you with? Do you need any other maps?" she asked.

"Do you have an Iowa map?"

"Absolutely." she stated as she reached under the counter and grabbed one for me.

"WOW, thanks! That saves me a trip to the Iowa Welcome Center!" I proclaimed as I made my way out of the center with my booty of free maps.

I was having much better data service on my phone, so I glanced over Google Maps to see where I would be able to catch Missouri's Great River Road. I just had to follow 61 back towards downtown Hannibal, and hook up with route 79. After a few u-turns downtown, I finally found Route 79. About 10 seconds into being on 79, there was a scenic lookout sign pointing to the left side of the road. Since I was in no hurry, I started up the steep hill to the top of a bluff overlooking Hannibal. I parked my bike, and made my way towards the chain link fence guarding the edge of the bluff. Turns out that this was "Lover's Leap", as detailed by the placard below:



Here is the actual "Lover's Leap:"



And here is a view of Hannibal and the Mississippi from this excellent stop off:



I proceeded south on 79, and by no surprise, this portion of the road was absolutely amazing. There were very few vehicles in the area, and PLENTY of other scenic overlooks and public parks to stop off at. Here are a couple more pictures I took of this amazing route:





This is my 5th state's Great River Road that I've been privileged to ride, and it lived up to it's name. As has been the case with all of these roads; they are the best motorcycle roads in the Midwestern USA. Twisties which seem to go on forever, and elevation changes that go from 45 degree declines right back to 45 degree inclines. A pleasure to ride, as you can see:


View Larger Map

My plan was to catch 54 in Louisiana, MO, which would bring me all the way to Jefferson City. I was VERY tempted to continue on 79 towards Saint Louis, but really needed to make time for a visit to Lake of the Ozarks. I jumped on 54, which was a typical country highway, weaving through many farms and small towns along the way. The greatest thing about the Missouri highways are the speed limits: 65mph-70mph almost everywhere. The realization set in as I got closer to Jefferson City: there are exits off of these highways, but PLENTY of cross roads! This means drivers crossing these highways from gravel roads, dragging gravel onto the highways, not to mention vehicles pulling out onto the highway at around 5mph! This made for a pretty scary experience the rest of my journey through the Show Me state.

I made it to Jefferson City just after noon. As I was crossing the bridge over the Missouri river, the Capitol is clearly visible over the city. I followed the signage to the Capitol. This would be my first trip to a state capital on a weekday, which meant I was going to experience traffic for the first time. Sure enough, as I made my way to the front of the building to find parking, I realized that there was a protest taking place on the front steps. Apparently, requiring businesses that are owned and operated by religious organizations to cover birth control for women warrants a hundred folks to gather on the steps to protect their own "religious freedom." I was very tempted to shout things at these people, such as inquiring if stoning sinners to death was protected by the first amendment. However, I bit my tongue, and took my pictures:





As I was packing up, a crazy looking fella approached me from the protest area. He was walking up with his dog on a leash, and had a t shirt on with some sort of religious message. I was thinking "here we go."

"Where you coming from?" he asked in the prevalent drawl I've been experiencing the last 24 hours.

"Chicago." I replied.

"No your not. Where in Chicago?"

So I explained to him I was actually raised in Carpentersville, but spent 1/3 of my life, 12 years, living in the city.

"I know Carpentersville. Out near Elgin, right?"

"Yeah, you know it?"

We continued our conversation. Leonard is running for Governor of Missouri. He has family and history in the Chicago area. He even went on to claim that his mother's family owned most of State Street at the turn of the 20th century. Much to my surprise, the conversation stayed comfortable. Leonard proceeded to inform me of the statue of the lady perched atop the Capitol dome.

"Do you know who that is? It's not Pocahontas." he said.

"Is it Sacagawea? Cuz that's the only other famous Native America woman I can think of!" I replied.

"Nope. It's actually Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility. See those lights around her? It was my job to change those for over 20 years."

Leonard had a funny political anecdote about why she smiles: something about being surround by nuts since the state senate and state house are on her left and right. It took all of my will power to not ask Leonard how he felt about a goddess of a polytheistic religion being perched upon the building, but decided to give him the same respect he was giving me by not discussing religion.

"Where you headed now?" Leonard inquired.

"Well, I'm thinking Lake of the Ozarks."

Leonard proceeded to provide me with detailed directions to get back out to 54. "Don't follow the signs. They're bull shit!" I laughed at this statement, shook his hand, and proclaimed "Good luck in the election! Sorry I'm not able to vote for you." I got on my bike, and followed his directions to the tee. Leonard was right on the money!

I jumped back on 54 towards Lake of the Ozarks. In this portion of Missouri, pretty much most of the land south of Interstate 70 is hills, so the ride was very scenic and quite enjoyable. In no time I was seeing the exit signs to "Osage Beach." I got off on Bagnell Dam Blvd, which was recommended that I do by a co worker. I proceeded across the dam, and was blown away by the already beautiful views of the water all around. I crossed the dam, and kept riding, since my belly was telling me it was lunch time. A few miles up the road I noticed a Pub style restaurant; "JJ Twigs Pizza and Pub." Much to my surprise, this was a clone of the local pizzeria I grew up with: "Village Pizza." I sat down at a table by the bar, and dug right into the basket of peanuts on the table. I ordered the Filet Mignon sliders (only $9.99!) and had a couple pints of Blue Moon. Separating the bar area from the rest of the restaurant were large aquariums with indigenous fish inside. Blue Gill, Catfish, Small mouth Bass. And then I saw my new buddy:



As I was eating, I looked over a few minutes later, and he was getting some air!:



He did a good job of hiding that neck!

I proceeded with my ride down Bagnell Dam Blvd after deciding I was going to try to find a couple of motorcycle routes I had found at motorcycleroads.us (this is where I get most of my suggestions). I took County Road MM, which for some reason had a $3.00 toll bridge. I was pleasantly surprised by the enjoyment this road provided, and the toll was worth it!:


View Larger Map

I went south on Route 5, when I should have went north. Route 5 is another 70mph highway with a lot of cross roads, so I rode carefully through the hills. I stopped in Camdenton since I had a feeling I was heading the wrong way, and needed to fuel up anyhow. Unfortunately, my phone battery was dead, so I pulled out my crisp Missouri State map I acquired earlier that day. Of course, this means I'm lost, so a local that was walking past asked me; "You lost?" My mind raced as I was about to explain that I was on walkabout, so there really was no such thing as "lost." However, I just responded "Sorta. How can I get to SR135?" He provided me with excellent directions, and within minutes, I was heading north on Route 5. Sure enough, almost exactly 20 miles up the road (as this nice gentleman had stated), SR135 veered off to the left.

I picked this route for a reason: 135 is the address of the house I grew up in, and currently reside. Also, this was the number my father played on a daily basis in the Illinois Pick 3. I felt that he was definitely there with me in spirit (he passed away November 29th, 2009).

The road was paved with that weird asphalt that is very shiny. However, there were very little issues with the road, and it was great riding. SR135 is very twisty, and as far as I'm concerned: laid by the riding Gods themselves. This is a very narrow road, with no shoulder at all. A few times as I was leaning into turns, I looked out in the opposite direction of my turns, and noticed the tops of trees about 10 feet out. There were very steep drop offs only a few feet from my tires; and virtually NO guard rails!


View Larger Map

I headed back to Jefferson City after enjoying this portion of the ride, and made it to my hotel in just over an hour. Since my phone was dead, I was worried that I was going to have an issue finding it. However, I pulled off at the exit pointing the way to the Capitol, and my hotel was right there at the first stop light!

This was the nicest hotel of my trip, and there weren't many guests. However, there was a "Fire School" taking place this weekend, and it appeared that the lounge area had been overrun by guys in their late teens and early 20s, all wearing their respective fire station's apparel. I brought my luggage up to my room on the 5th floor, and headed down for dinner around 8pm. I enjoyed a few more Blue Moons, and a surprisingly delicious Greek Chicken wrap. It was well worth the $25 tab. As I headed out of the lounge, I checked the pool area. Luckily, all of the students in for the training were sticking around the bar area, and I was able to sit in the hottub for a good 30 minutes. I went back up to my room, and was asleep by 11pm.

I ran into quite a few friendly people on this trip; too many to mention. Most were my biker brethren, and all were surprised I had ridden solo all the way from Chicago. I had some good conversations with the local people, and crossed many bridges in the Lake of the Ozarks area. This is an amazingly beautiful area, and I plan on making a trip down there sometime in the near future to stay for a few days.

Missouri Capital Trip - Day 3 - June 9th 2012 - 320 Miles

View Larger Map

I headed out of Jefferson City just after 10am on Saturday morning, with the intention of hooking back up with the Great River Road north of Hannibal. I took the same route to get there that I took the day before to get to Jefferson City, which was Missouri 54. Most of this route is farmland, and is full of little towns to stop off in to get gas or rehydrate. 54 is another scary Missouri state route with speed limits of 65mph, with some towns having off ramps, but many cross roads throughout the ride. To get into Hannibal, I picked up 61 north in Bowling Green.

This portion of the ride is pretty scenic, as the terrain starts to get hilly as you approach Hannibal. As you come over the higher portions of the road the view opens up to display the rolling hills of this area of the state.

I stopped in Hannibal for lunch just after noon, and was amazed at how many people had done the same. There were at least 15 cars in line for the drive thru, making it hard to get into the lot to find a space. After about a minute of waiting in the +90 degree sun, I finally took advantage of my vehicle's size and just rode the wrong way through the parking lot to get a space right up front in the shade.

I headed out of McDonalds north on Interstate 61, and picked up the norther portion of the Missouri Great River Road, which was Missouri 168. Unfortunately, this was only a 10 mile tease, but worth the detour before getting back onto the busy 61:


View Larger Map

By perusing the maps the morning of this ride, I saw a few fun looking routes that I could detour to. In Canton, MO, I jumped off of 61 to ride some fun sweepers, which were very sketchy since they were located in dense farmland. The roads were in great shape, but pretty much all cross streets were gravel, which meant spillout onto the paved road I was on. This simply meant I needed to take more care through my turns. I picked up 81 and took it to County Road Z, which was a nice, twisty road with good changes in elevation:


View Larger Map

I crossed the Iowa border shorly after getting back on 61, and was looking forward to meeting up with Iowa's Great River Road in Keokuk, IA. I have to say that the signage was slightly lacking, as I did make a few wrong turns in Keokuk. After getting back onto the road, I was able to drive past the many mansions located in Keokuk along the Mississippi. I was dumbfounded by these large abodes, as I am unaware of the type of people who could afford such a house in the middle of virtually nowhere. The first couple of miles were reminiscent of the neighborhoods along Sheridan Road along the north shore suburbs of Chicago.

I continued up 22 to Montrose, IA, which is right across the river from Nauvoo, IL, where Joseph Smith, the found of Mormonism, and his brother Hyrum were killed by an angry mob on June 27th, 1844. I was able to take a picture of Nauvoo, in which the Nauvoo Illinois Mormon Temple peeks out on top of a hill:



I jumped back onto 61, hoping to find the appropriate signage leading me back to the Iowa Great River Road. After a good hour of boring riding, I stopped in Wapello, IA to fuel up. I didn't have any service for my phone, so I pulled out my free Iowa state map, and realized that I could take County Road 99 to County Road X61. X61 is the Great River Road.

This portion of the ride was once again much more entertaining, with plenty of sweeping curves and twisties, as well as good elevation changes allowing great views of the river valley. There are many natural area along this route, which I neglected to stop off on. Most of these areas are high up on the bluffs, surely meaning great views of the valley:


View Larger Map

I continued up X61 to Muscatine, which recconects with Interstate 61. I followed this through Muscatine, and was able to jump onto Route 22. Route 22 follows the river right into Davenport, where I was staying at the Travellodge for the night. I got a little lost in downtown Davenport, but realized that I was on 61 again, and the hotel should be a couple miles north. Sure enough, I spotted the hotel on the east side of the road shortly. As I pulled into the parking lot, I got a huge whiff of grilling meat. Right in the front of the hotel was a gentleman from Nebraska, grilling up a t-bone on the tailgate of his truck with a little propane grill. He was more than happy to chat me up about where I was coming from, and where I was headed. When I told him I was from the Chicagoland area, he told me a story about his stay in Highland Park back in the mid-70s, where he was making some great mone ($3.51 an hour) working at the Kroger's warehouse. We also talked about riding, as he was the proud owner of 2005 Sportster 1200. He was asking if I knew anyone who may want to purchase this bike, as he had broken his tailbone a couple years ago, and was no longer able to ride. I told him about the cyst I had removed from my tailbone in February 2010, and showed him the gel pad I bought on Ebay for $59.00 delivered. He was amazed, and told me he'd have his wife look at that "Ebay place on the computer," since he didn't touch those devil boxes. However, he was really hoping that the pad may help to restart his riding hobby, as he is surely missing the chance to get out and ride.

I checked into the hotel, made a quick call to my mom to let her know I made it safe and sound, and headed over to Hooters for dinner. I enjoyed the scenery, and was able to confirm that Iowa Hooters Girls are certainly corn fed. The only employee that appeared concerned with her weight was the very skinny bartender. I sat through the 2nd and 3rd quarter of the NBA Semi Finals, and was surprised to learn that apparently everybody in the USA clearly despises Lebron James. I headed back to the hotel and fell fast asleep, since I was planning on a early departure the next morning.

Missouri Capital Trip - Day 4 - June 10 2012 - 155 Miles

View Larger Map

I reserved my shortest portion of my trip for my last day, and left the hotel at 8am that morning. The on ramp to Interstate 80 was 1/4 of a mile north of the Davenport TravelLodge that I stayed at the night before. Interstate 80 is a nice little ride on the Iowa side, providing some great views of the rolling hills along the banks of the Mississippi.

I crossed the Illinois state line around 8:30am, and decided to stop at the Welcome Center just past the bridge over the Mississippi. What surprised me about this exit is that it turns you right back around towards the river, and takes you right back up on the bluff overlooking the bridge you just came over. I stopped here for my free Illinois map (I can't stress how much I suggest stopping at every Welcome/Tourist Center to get a free map of the state you just entered), and snapped a couple of pictures:





I got back on the road after 15-20 minutes of enjoying the view, and pulled out onto interstate 80. In just a few minutes, I was merging onto interstate 88, right in front of a fellow rider on an Ultra Glide. I maintained my speed at around 70mph, and saw my brother sticking close behind. I typically ride in the left portion of the lane while riding solo, and this is usually where the leader of the pack would ride in a group. I checked in the rear view again, and this guy was riding in formation a couple of car lengths behind me, staying in the right portion of the lane. We rode together for a good 50 miles, since I was planning on getting of in Dixon to ride one of my favorite roads close to home. At one point there was litter all over our lane from a semi blowout. I kicked my right leg out to let my fellow biker know of the debris. I looked back, and saw him get over into the left hand portion of the lane to get through the shredded rubber shrapnel. As we passed this hazard, I looked into my rear view and my new buddy gave me the thumbs up for the notification. A few minutes later was the off ramp into Dixon. I signaled my intentions to exit, and saw that he was staying on 88. I intentionally took the ramp at about 50mph, hoping to give him a good wave goodbye. As I turned to give my farewell, my brethren flew past with his fist raise in the universal solidarity salute. I yelled out "Ride safe brother!" as his fist turned to a thumbs up.

Route 2 from Dixon to Rockford has to be the best riding road closest to the Chicagoland area. I regularly take the 45 minute trip up 90 to get here during riding season. The road twists and turns along the Rock River, providing excellent riding as well as a great, cool breeze. It is always
\peppered with fellow riders, so be prepared to get your wave on!


View Larger Map

Unfortunately, I would not be able to take the road all the way to Rockford, since the plan was to catch Illinois 72 from Byron out towards home. I was able to stop just north of Oregon to get a good picture of the Blackhawk statue the that sits across the Rock River:



I caught Illinois 72 in downtown Byron, and made it home just before noon. One of the better parts of this trip was the chance to experience another state's Great River Road (I've been on 5 different states now). I highly recommend that my fellow Chicagolandians make the trip west to experience these beautiful byways. It'll only take about 3 hours by automobile to get out to Galena, or just over 4 hours east on Interstate 90 to La Crosse, WI. Either town is a great place to start exploring these roads.

Live to Ride, Ride to Live!

Kentucky and Tennessee 2012 Trip Day 1 - May 25th - 350 Miles

View Larger Map

The initial plan for my first big ride of the season was much more ambitious. I was intending to start off by riding straight to Jefferson City, MO; then to Nashville, TN; Frankfort, KY; Columbus, OH; then back through Indianapolis, IN. The initial plan was 1500 miles or so in 5 days. Unfortunately, I came down with a bout of my recurring diverticulitis the Sunday before my planned departure, which cut my trip short by one day.

I just want to preface the rest of this story with a little warning to consumers: You get what you pay for! A decent set of motorcycle luggage will easily set you back $150, most of the time more. I found a set on Ebay for $70 delivered! As a representative of an online retailer, I really should have known what I was in for.

When I received the luggage a week before my trip, I was initially very impressed with the size of the main bag, not to mention the multiple straps and pockets! The main bag was HUGE, and I wasn't even sure that I would be able to fill it up for this trip. I did fill it up Thursday night, with intentions to leave at 9am Friday morning. Everything was going as scheduled, when I decided to lift the bag by one of the 2 main support straps. RRRIIIPPP!!! Off came the strap! My mind started racing...what am I going to do?? I grabbed a stapler, and attempted to staple the hell out of the ripped strap. I lifted the bag and POP POP POP POP! all of the staples came right out. That's when the realization set in that I was going to have to sit down and sew this strap back onto the bag. I inspected the stitching on the other main strap, and realized that there was a single row of stitching! I took that hour and quadrupled stitched these straps, as I realized it was much better for me that this happened BEFORE I got on the road, since this disaster would have had much worse consequences had it happened at 70 MPH on my way through Indiana.

I finally got on the road just after 10 am. I jumped on 90, took it to 290, and bypassed Chicago traffic by taking 294 towards 80. About 45 miles into my trip, just north of Markham, IL, 294 narrowed from 3 lanes to 2. As traffic was coming to a grinding halt, I put my foot on my rear brake, and when I pushed down, there was nothing! Now, I don't mean that there was no pressure in the brake system, I mean the brake pedal wasn't there!!! I quickly pulled off to the left between the 55 gallon drum markers, and proceeded to inspect the dilemma. I wasn't pulled over for more than a minute, and as I took off my helmet, I realized a Saturn had pulled off with me and was backing up! Out of the driver's side door popped a young man, no older than 20 years old. "Need a hand?"

I have to admit that when I first pulled off, I looked at the issue and briefly thought "Fuck it. This simply wasn't meant to be. First the diverticulitis, then the strap. Now this?" Well it actually wasn't too bad. The weekend before the trip I installed a set of forward controls, which moved my regular foot position forward about 14 inches from the stock mid controls. When I installed the pin that holds the brake pedal to the push rod, I used a zig zag style of cotter pin, instead of an actual cotter pin. The zig zag style pin simply rattled out of the clevis pin, and I'm assuming the clevis pin stayed in for a few miles before finally rattling out of the brake pedal. Luckily the brake pedal was still attached; it had simply folded back onto my front exhaust pipe. Though Kyle had popped his trunk, which was full of tools, he didn't have any bolts that would fit the void of the clevis pin. After thanking him profusely for pulling over, we had a quick conversation about riding. He was fixing up an old Iron Head Sportster with his dad, who had handed it down to Kyle when he purchased himself a new Softtail a few years back. "I'll always stop for fellow riders!" I shook his hand and thanked him again. "The Markham exit is literally a mile away, and I know there's an AutoZone not much farther off of the exit." I thanked Kyle AGAIN, telling him how much I appreciated him stopping, let alone giving me a couple of zip ties to tie up the pedal for my short jaunt to the next exit. "Not a problem at all brother!" As I was strapping my helmet back on, I hear him one more time: "OH, have a great trip, and RIDE SAFE!" He was right. The Markham exit was literally a couple minutes away, and AutoZone a quarter mile or so off of the exit. After 30 minutes of wrenching, I was on my way to my first stop: Indianapolis.....REDUX!

My first Capitol trip was July 2009, shortly after purchasing Maxine, my 2001 Sportster 883. This trip was to Indianapolis from Chicago, which you can certainly read about on this blog (it was my first post). However, what I didn't realize on the first trip was that I was in the BACK of the Capitol the whole time! Since I was heading to Louisville via 65, which runs right through Indy, I figured I was lucky enough to get a redo!

The trip to Indy was a good 3-4 hours. I'll tell you this much: I do not know if a less experienced rider would have made it as far as I did. 65 was LITTERED with debris. I don't know where the hell it all came from, but every 5 miles or so I would come across pieces of wood that were clearly full of nails. By keeping a good distance between me and the car(s) in front of me, I was able to maneuver quickly enough around the apparent booby traps. Another issue was the abundance of road gators (semi retreads) EVERYWHERE. I guess the good thing in all of this was my need to stay very alert the whole ride, which made the time fly by a bit faster than normal.

About an hour or so north of Indy I started noticing how gray the skies were south of the city. Luckily, I also noticed that the wind was blowing east, carrying these storms with it. The funniest part was as I approached the downtown area, the skies cleared up! I was surrounded in sunlight! Then it happened: I got rained on in BROAD DAYLIGHT! That's right! I was surrounded in blue skies except for directly above... a small gray cloud that emptied itself onto me for a good 5 minutes. I exited to downtown shortly after, and was able to actually find the FRONT of the Capitol.

I set up my trusty tripod, and started snapping pics. The sun was in the sky directly above the Capitol, so things weren't working so great. As I was making adjustments, a tour guide on his smoke break asked me if I needed some help. He admired the tripod, and my attempts to snap some pics with my auto timer. When I told him that my life goal was to visit every state Capitol on my bike, he was more than impressed! He took the camera from me, and I almost felt like I was in a real photo shoot: "Good, ok, now turn back towards me. PERFECT. Ok, let's get a few more (get's down on one knee) Oh Man, this one is gonna look great!" And I do believe he did a good job, even with the sun to my back:



I continued on my way, and as I made my way further south on 65, the skies just completely cleared up. I made it into Louisville just around 7pm, checked into the hotel, and went next door to the Olive Garden for a few 20 oz Blue Moons and some shitty "Italian" food. Hey, I had $15 worth of gift certificates in my pocket for Darden Restaurants, and Olive Garden just happened to be RIGHT THERE!

Kentucky and Tennessee 2012 Trip Day 2 - May 26th - 280 Miles

View Day 2 May 2012 Trip in a larger map

I was lucky enough to start this day's ride off with an amazing trip up route 22, which twists and turns from just north of Louisville to Frankfort. This was going to be my first official Kentucky backroad route, and there was very little disappointment. I do have to say that the neighborhoods in the western portion of this route reminded me of the upscale NW suburbs of Chicago, where every foreign made SUV doesn't come with turn signals, and they apparently are also unable to maintain the speed limit. Spending upwards of 6 figures on an SUV must be embarrassing when you have a guy on a $5k motorcycle tailgating and screaming at you while you go 15 MPH under the limit. DOUCHEBAGS!


View Larger Map

22 joins up with 421, which runs right into Frankfort. 421 is a much more winding road than 22 which descends down into Frankfort, where you get a good glimpse of the dome on the Capitol.


View Larger Map

Once I got into Frankfort, there was not much going on at all. I was lucky enough to get right in front of the Capitol to snap a few pics:







My plan after Frankfort was to catch route 62 back towards Louisville. I took a quick glimpse of Google Maps, and followed the direct route to 62, which was 127. What was so great about this spur of the moment decision was the signage indicating a "Scenic Overlook" about a mile out of Frankfort. I pulled off to the side of the road, and was able to snap a few pics of the back of the Capitol, one of which can be viewed below:





I stopped for fuel just a few miles outside of Frankfort, since I was looking at a 70 mile trip up route 62. Though 62 had some good, sweeping curves, with great views of the rolling hills of central Kentucky, it was overall a pretty standard ride. I would compare this to the roads in the Driftless Area of north west Illinois. A lot of farms, and many many bikers out on this route.


View Larger Map

I jumped back on to 65 to head south to Nashville for the night. I was running right on schedule, so I was in no huge hurry. Since I was looking at a good 2 hours on the expressway, I fired up the MP3 player, hit "Shuffle All," and made a beeline to downtown Nashville.

After a good 2 hours fighting for my life (standard expressway riding), I rolled into Nashville just as Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through the Jungle" popped on, and it was a very fitting theme song while looking into the rolling foothills just south of Nashville.

I finally pulled up to the Tennessee Capitol, which took a while to find (the hardest part was finding out where I was supposed to pull in.) As I made my way towards the front of the building, I encountered a 8 foot chain link fence blocking the entrance. "Authorized Personnel Only". Are you kidding me!?!?!? Sure enough, the Capitol was listed as "Closed for 2012 for Renovations." Needless to say, I set up just off to the side, and snapped a couple of pics:





I hightailed it out of downtown Nashville, and headed to the largest hotel of my stay. Though I didn't get a chance to soak in the hot tub (there were kids EVERYWHERE in the pool area), I was able to sit at the hotel restaurant to pound a few beers and get my grub on. I was in bed by 8pm, as I planned to leave a bit earlier than normal the next morning in an attempt to beat the heat.

Kentucky and Tennessee 2012 Trip Day 3 - May 27th - 360 Miles

View Day 3 May 2012 Trip in a larger map

I started this morning waiting for a bell cart in the lobby of the Holiday Inn. I swear, there were only 2 bell carts for the HUNDREDS of rooms. I waited a few minutes next to the sign that stated "Please do not hold onto bell carts. Only use bell carts when ready to check in or out, and please return to bell cart area promptly," before heading out to the lot to warm up the bike. I can tell you that at least 2 douche bags felt they needed these carts more than any other hotel guest, as their lives are clearly more important than any other humans', not to mention that rules obviously do not apply to them.

After 45 minutes of waiting for a cart, I finally decided to just grab my 80 lb luggage from my 5th floor room, and muscle it down to the parking lot. I finally hit the road around 10am, an hour later than initially planned. I rolled my jacket up and strapped it down to the top of my luggage, as I wasn't going to need it on this day. 100 degrees would be the high today, with it already being in the lower 90s.

I headed out of the Opryland area on 155 north, which took me around the northern Nashville area. The view is amazing as you get past the city, heading west through shear cliffs on either side of the expressway, with gently rolling mountains for as far as the eye could see.

I caught route 12 west of Nashville, which was only a short jaunt to route 49 north in Ashland City, TN. I stopped at this junction to take the pictures below (click them to enlarge):





This was JUST the start of an amazing riding experience.

Route 49 weaves in and out of little towns throughout the area. The speed limit pretty much maintains itself at 55 MPH, but most curves are not marked with a suggested speed, and I did come into a few quite hot. It's very important to look through your turns while riding these back roads, as there are many blind curves and hidden drive ways. I was lucky enough on this portion of the ride to experience a great ride with no interferences. As is the case for most of the backroads I took in TN and KY, the cadence of these curves is perfect. Just back and forth, back and forth. Very few straightaways, except in the reduced speed areas which take you through the small towns, like Erin, TN: A little bit of Ireland in the hills of Tennessee! A detailed map can be seen below:


View Larger Map

That's almost 70 miles of twisties! I tell you, 70 miles on an expressway seems to take FOREVER, but this portion of the ride felt like it only took 15 minutes, while it took well over an hour.

I stopped in Dover, TN to rehydrate. I met a fellow rider from that area who had pulled up behind me at the gas pump. I had my Chicago North Harley Davidson shirt on, which is clearly marked on the back. As I stood outside of the shop chugging my Gatorade, he approached me and the following conversation ensued:

local(in a thick Tennessee drawl): "What part-a Illinois are ya coming from? You ain't really coming from Chicago, are ya?"

me: "Yeah, all the way from Chicago. I actually started Friday, and rode from there to Louisville (pronounced "lool-ville" in these parts). Then Louisville to Nashville yesterday. Heading back up through southern Illinois this afternoon to Mattoon, just south of Champaign"

local: "ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY! Your ass has gotta be KILLIN' ya!" (he steps forward and pats the gel pad I attached to my seat for this ride) "Well, I'm sure this been a big help"

me: "Oh yeah, that's been my savior for this trip"

We proceeded to talk bikes, as he was actually an owner of a Sportster 1200, which he upgraded to a Softtail after his first major trip on the Sporty "My ass was killin me after a couple of hours, so I feel your pain brother! Ride safe!"

I stopped in Dover, TN to grab a couple of quick pics:





"The Trace," the route that runs through Land Between the Lakes, is another backroad with a great cadence. The whole 50 miles or so had a great back and forth in the twisting road. The only downfall in this area is that due to these frequent twists; there's not many chances to pass the many slow moving vehicles in this recreational area. I got stuck behind a Kentuckian hauling his bass boat 15 miles under the speed limit, and another time I and 2 trike riders got stuck for about 10 miles behind a fat ass woman riding a motorized scooter with a child on the back. I'm pretty sure she maxed her speed at about 20 MPH, and rode DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE on a 50 MPH road, almost thumbing her nose at the 3 vehicles riding her ass through a great section that we missed out on. SOME PEOPLE!!!! Here's the detailed map of The Trace:


View Larger Map

As you will notice on the above map, the lakes come together at the northern tip of the park. I was amazed to see these channels and bodies of water so populated, and even drove past a marina full of large sail boats just past the northern entrance to the park:





The rest of the ride was expressway riding, so not much to report on that. I just installed brand new forward controls a week before the trip, and my first issue with those can be read about in my Day 1 posting of this trip. The second issue occurred just north of Paducah KY. I had my feet kicked out in from of me, with my achilles resting on the pegs. As I pulled heels back onto the pegs, my right side peg folded downwards toward the road! Luckily I didn't put enough weight on the peg to send the boot crashing down on the pavement flying by at 70 MPH directly under the bike. I was able to get my insole onto the clevis portion of the peg, and got off at the very next exit only a mile ahead. The clevis had rattled a little loose while riding, and after 5 minutes of wrenching, I was back on the road with no further issues. Should have used LocTite!

I stopped to hydrate again in Effingham, IL, and had a great conversation with a fellow rider from Rantoul, IL. I hate to admit it, but cagers really miss out on this experience. Everywhere I stopped someone approached me asking where I was heading. Most were fellow riders, but a few were just folks interested in hearing about my trip. I seriously doubt that an Illinois resident driving through these areas in an automobile are approached as often with these types in inquiries.

I was told to "watch out for Armadillos" while discussing this portion of the trip with a coworker from Effingham IL (I've never been through Southern Illinois). I laughed at him, thinking he was joking. What do you know; the first roadkill I spotted after crossing the Illinois border on 57 was an Armadillo!

I arrived for the night in Mattoon, IL around 7:30PM, which gave me plenty of time to unpack the bike and head over to the Don Sol restaurant, located just 50 feet from the outside door to my room. I had a great meal of Pollo Flautas, and a big 32 oz iced mug of Dos Equis. What a great way to end a long day of riding!

Kentucky and Tennessee 2012 Trip Day 4 - May 28th - 225 Miles

View Day 4 May 2012 Trip in a larger map

The last day of this trip consisted of 225 miles of Illinois Expressway riding, which was extremely boring. I departed the hotel in Mattoon, IL at 7AM the morning of Memorial Day in an attempt to beat the rain that was supposed to start back home around noon. I have to admit that the first 180 miles or so were very peaceful, as there were very few vehicles out on Interstate 57. I easily averaged 70 MPH, helping shorten up my riding time a bit.

The morning started in the mid-70s, and raised significantly by the time I reached the Kankakee area. I stopped for gas here and saw a listing of the lower 90s at a local bank. Since I keep my I-Pass in my left coat pocket, I kept my jacket on for the remaining hour of the ride. However, the traffic mostly flowed, so I never got too hot. By the way...I only needed the I-Pass in the Chicagoland area. I didn't miss that one bit!

I arrived home just before noon, and never saw a drop of rain. I have to admit, with a sore back, neck, knee, and tingling right hand, that I do not believe I would have made the 5 day trip I originally planned.

Live to Ride, Ride to Live! Stay safe, and a reminder to the cagers: CHECK TWICE FOR MOTORCYCLES!!!