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

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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 3 - May 27th - 360 Miles

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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:


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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:


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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

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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!!!

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!)