The plan was to not plan this ride. I thought I'd ride into Wisconsin and keep an eye on the weather, eventually hunkering down somewhere for the evening while the downpour ensued. Getting out of Minneapolis was a challenge and a reminder to always have a road atlas on the bike. It seems that rt. 36 is closed at Rice st, and when I made the detour turn, my GPS kept "recalculating" and trying to route me in a circle to get back on at the same spot. The detour button was useless since you can't choose a road to avoid, and for how far; and the zoom settings don't give me the information I need at the zoom level I want it at. Nonetheless, I managed to get through the detour and vowed to never leave the atlas at home again.
My first stop ended up being Hudson WI. There's nothing special about Hudson WI, except that there's gas there and I needed some right away. I also sat down for breakfast and checked on weather. The storms were continuing to march toward Minneapolis; but, they were a ways out, so I had time to go north or south for awhile before they would be on top of me. I originally thought I'd head toward Madison; but, Thunder Bay seemed more apropos. I didn't have my passport with me; but, I could at least get up to Lake Superior. So, a left onto Rt. 53 in Eau Claire and off to Superior I went. Wisconsin is very nice. It's green everywhere you look.
The strangest thing happened on the way. 15 miles south of Duluth, right at the weigh station, the temperature suddenly dropped by 23 degrees! I mean like thermocline, kind of drop. I've never experienced that on land. In the water, it's common; but, on land, never. I stopped for fuel just shy of Duluth; and asked a Harley couple about that. They said they live in the area and that is common. The water is very cold...as in there was ice on it up until 3 weeks ago kinda cold and that wind blowing over the water causes that temperature drop. Riders up there were still wearing chaps and several layers; and they should, since the temp hadn't broken 60 degrees yet. The cold water also meant that when the cold air coming off the water hit the warm air around it, fog would be prevalent over the water, and it was. I could never see more than about 50 yards into the water, and most of the time, I couldn't see past the waters edge.
Looking at the weather, there was a think line of storms, a gap and then a huge storm behind it. I thought I'd stay out and play some more, ride through the first line and probably make it home in the evening. If not, I'd grab a place along the way. I was reluctant to stay in Superior because I had no idea what the lake effect would have on this storm and if things got worse, I couldn't exactly hang out for a couple days. I had to work on Monday. I went out on Scenic North Shore as far as two harbors and decided to turn around. It's beautiful up there and the homes are gorgeous. I was keenly aware that there was another trip up there in my future, so there was no need to push this further.
Going back, I knew I would turn 25,000 miles on my less than 1 year old GT. I don't know why that excites me; but, it does. Given that my bike has to sit through the winter months, I think 25k is a good amount of miles for a bike that is used 90% of the time for touring.
As it was, I flipped 25,000 miles somewhere around North Branch MN. Less than 5 miles later, I was in a down pour. Visibility dropped to 100 yards or less. Visibility gets a little worse than this; but, here's some video:
I ended up pulling under a bridge for about 15 minutes. The rain didn't subside much; but, visibility improved just a little bit - enough to get back on the bike and start riding. It wasn't long before visibility crashed again; but, this time, I was able to get off the highway and into a McDonald's to wait it out. Looking at the weather there, it appeared that I would be there an hour. It was horrible that I only had 30 miles to go in the trip and I needed to wait there; but, I did. The storm was violent, with high gusty winds and lots of lightning. The rain was heavy and visibility was poor at best. About an hour into my wait, a couple walked in with helmets. They were riding a Gold Wing and they were soaked. Neither had rain gear. I didn't ask how they got this far. It had been pouring for over an hour in this area. Shortly after we met, the storm cleared, and I was back on my way, riding into that gap I mentioned earlier. It was still drizzling; but, visibility was good and I was much safer having waited.
Here's the video.....
This weekends routing and bounty:
Now, I have this 7-10 split thing going on with North Dakota and Michigan, so I'll need two trips to get both of those states. I'll need a third trip to get Kansas and Missouri, leaving Kentucky, Alaska and Hawaii. Who knows, maybe I can get everything but Hawaii and Alaska this year!
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