This weekend:
All trips over 250 miles until now:
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
20150921 - Baton Rouge to Spring Hill
Riding home after such a nice stay in Baton Rouge was disappointing. The good news is that I left at 6:10 in the morning managed to get within half an hour of my house before the temperatures broke 90 degrees. I had 618 miles to cover in one day and really wanted to get the lawn cut before the sun went down. I took interstate. Now for the obligatory maps!
This weekend:
All trips over 250 miles until now:
This weekend:
All trips over 250 miles until now:
20150920 - Baton Rouge LA
The whole plan for this day would be to ride into Baton Rouge, LA and meet up with my friend of 20+ years and current District Fire Chief of St. George's Parish - Jack Jones.
Once again, I left without breakfast. The GPS indicated I was about 2 hours away and I expected Jack to be working with his guys on training. The man has to work and I really didn't want him to be having to play host to me. I was expecting to get there, find a corner of the fire station to crawl into, light up my wireless hot spot and start blogging until he was done for the day. Truly, I was very excited about getting there and catching up. 20 years is a long time and I'll comment once more about FaceBook bringing people together. 20 years ago, the technology wasn't there. If you didn't get their phone number before they lost town, generally speaking, you expected them to be lost forever unless you had friends in common that could put you back in touch.
So, as I road from Natchez to Baton Rouge, I reflected on how happy I was that I wasn't sweating my a$$ off. It was still 70 something degrees. I was also thinking about what a shame it was that on this trip, I would only have 3 meal opportunities to sample some world renowned cuisine. It was sort of depressing. I had considered going to the French Quarter; but, truth be told, I was road weary and was looking for a day out of the saddle to rest up for tomorrow's 600 mile ride home.
I pulled into town and just about did an end when I saw a cafe on the side of the road with 2 police cars. If it's meal time and I see emergency services folks piled into a restaurant, that is where I want to be. These people know the local area well and know what's good and what's not. Think about it. How often do you see the local police, ambulance or fire crews at McDonalds? You don't. They are at that little restaurant that sells great food, a little off the beaten path, that knows them all by first name. This is the place I'm always looking for. So, I slammed on the brakes, did a quick U-turn and came pulled in.
I was definitely looking for something different for breakfast. American breakfasts can be somewhat boring; eggs, omelets, french toast, pancakes, waffles, cereal, oatmeal and that's about it. Maybe sometimes, you'll find a Huevos rancheros dish somewhere; but, for all intents and purposes, an American breakfast is pretty dull. I found what I was looking for when I read "Catfish fillet and eggs, Toast or girts." I can honestly say, catfish has never been on my breakfast menu; but, when in Baton Rouge do what the Baton Rougi ... people from Baton Rouge do. Order up! So, I read what I wanted right off the menu to the waitress, who asked if i wanted grits and I looked at her funny because it was either toast or grits. She said the menu was wrong and I could have both and that if I didn't want toast, they had homemade biscuits. This is getting better by the second. I'll have grits and a homemade biscuit please! So, when she came back she asked where I was from because I looked at her strange when she mentioned grits. I told her I love grits and prefer to have them plain, unlike those folks from Mississippi who mix their scrambled eggs in their grits. At that point, it was clear that I was a member of the grit eating community and not some damn yankee (this is our secret).
So, while I'm enjoying this killer biscuit, I notice some guy taking a long look at my bike. He came in and saw me right away and said he had a K16 of his own and was looking at my crash bars. I introduced myself and offered him a seat. I knew this wasn't going to be a short conversation. He politely refused; but, when a well dressed church going couple came in and took his seat, he took me up on my offer. We talked for the better part of an hour about bikes and riding. He's a lineman from Detroit; but home is Louisiana. He said that he doesn't ride much; but, that's because he just had his hip resurfaced and was just cleared back to work. He was rightfully concerned that he couldn't support the weight of the bike on that hip. He's planning on getting back to it soon. As good as the conversation was, I had to excuse myself because a full day of catching up was in store for me. James bought my my breakfast, which was entirely unnecessary; but, very nice. So, my day started out with a free and very tasty breakfast. On the way out, I complimented the waitress on her biscuits. I had a feeling it was her restaurant and she made those little beauty's from scratch. Her whole face lit up. That's awesome.
So, literally, I went into the restaurant and it was in the low 80's and when I came out, the temperature was more than 90. OMG. Fortunately, I was only 7 miles away from getting out of my riding duds and into some cooler clothing.
The GPS almost took me to the firehouse. I was just about to blow by it when I saw the bay doors open and two firetrucks inside. I doubted there were two nations on the same street less than a mile apart, so once again, I tested the limits of the braking abilities of the K16, swung a U turn in front of the engine and parked around back. Jack heard me coming and was out back.
People could learn a thing or two about hosting from Jack. I was barely off the bike and Jack was showing me inside to my room. He had a sleeping bag, a sheet, and towels waiting for me. The room was air-conditioned and cold. He told me to get myself comfortable and come out so he could introduce me to everyone. I would not say that I had low expectations; but, I would say that I would be perfectly happy sleeping on the couch. I had a whole crews quarter with it's own bathroom to myself. Did I mention that it was nice and cold?
I met the guys and Jack and I had a chance to catch up. We also talked about FaceBook and how once you get past all the cat and dog pics, you actually do get insight into what's going on in people's lives. Catching up is much quicker. The one thing FaceBook didn't prepare me for was how deep Jack's voice has become. He told me he was taught how to whisper in a sawmill. This would be true.
Before too long, we were out in the Department's Tahoe looking over St. George. We drifted in to another station, where Jack had Walt give me the tour of the rescue. Walt is a rescue Captain, and there is good reason for it. He exudes knowledge about every inch of that truck and it's capabilities. He can tell you the specifications on every piece of hardware and exactly what it's capabilities are. The people of St. George are lucky to have him. Judging by the others at this department, he was one of many talented individuals.
After the tour, we drifted over to HQ, where I met an assistant Chief, Mike Armanini. Mike went to Paramedic school in Williamsport with Angelo Porecca - small world. It became very clear that there was lots of trust and a solid working relationship between Mike and Jack. Later in the day, I'd meet another District Chief and it was even clearer that there is very open and fluent communication and support for each other at the top of this company. I was very clear that the lines of communication were open all day and that they were each responsive to one another's needs within their districts.
Before too long, Jack, Mike and I wandered over to the simulator. Yes, they have a $250,000 fire engine simulator.
After about an hour or so of simulator time, we said goodbye to Mike and headed out for more of a tour of the town and it wasn't too long before we were out on vehicle wreck. It was my first response with Jack in over 20 years. I have to say that 20 years has changed things drastically. We definitely had our issues with people not getting out of the way of an emergency vehicle, no doubt; but, things are ten times worse now. Firefighters meticulously plan everything just so they can get out of the station faster and to the scene as quickly as possible. They take incredible risk by dressing in the back of the piece, only to have one a$$hole after another pull in front of them or not yield the right of way, all while talking on their cellphone. In a 3 minute response, we had at least that many drivers that would not yield to us. I'm thinking that emergency vehicles should be equipped with cellphone jammers. When the lights and siren go on, every call in a 1000' semi-circle in front of the vehicle is dropped and their cellphone goes dead - until the vehicle passes. The technology is available. It would really anger a lot of people; but, it would save lives and do a lot to guarantee the safety of emergency responders.
Jack and I had a mission. I wanted to bring desert to dinner. Jack, again being a flawless host, planned for us to have dinner at the firehouse. On the menu was Josh's pastalaia. This is a combination of jambalaya and pasta. It's a firehouse special and it's damn good. Excuse the pic below. At one point this really awesome cast iron dutch oven was full; but, the picture had to wait until after I we were done eating. Josh is an awesome cook. When I came in, they were talking about whether or not they needed the rest of the stock. They cooked this up from scratch - no microwave involved. AND, they had a caesar salad on the side. Truly awesome.
So, just a comment about the smoke eaters. Simply put, these guys are family. It is a highly social environment. Not a single person picked up an smartphone the entire time I was there. Now, finding your place in the family is a requirement is a process and time honored tradition. The person with the least seniority can count on being the brunt of all jokes and be required to do a lot of the house chores. When I pledged Sigma-Phi-Epsilon, this is exactly how it was. The brothers were relentless and unmerciful and your only solace is that on that glorious day, when some poor noob joins your station, you will no longer be the low man. Cayman, my brother, keep smiling. You have a great personality and you handle it well. Know full well that when you're in the station, you're their punching bag; but, when you're out of the station, every single one of those guys has your back - and you can bet your life on it.
I really liked this dutch oven and had to get a picture with the lid.
After dinner, we rolled on two calls - one where someone pulled the alarm in the section 8 housing district and a fatal overdose. The dispatcher was obviously trained by the very best and everyone at our station sleep the whole night through; other stations weren't so lucky though.
I had to grab a pic of my motorcycle's sleeping accommodations.
Once again, I left without breakfast. The GPS indicated I was about 2 hours away and I expected Jack to be working with his guys on training. The man has to work and I really didn't want him to be having to play host to me. I was expecting to get there, find a corner of the fire station to crawl into, light up my wireless hot spot and start blogging until he was done for the day. Truly, I was very excited about getting there and catching up. 20 years is a long time and I'll comment once more about FaceBook bringing people together. 20 years ago, the technology wasn't there. If you didn't get their phone number before they lost town, generally speaking, you expected them to be lost forever unless you had friends in common that could put you back in touch.
So, as I road from Natchez to Baton Rouge, I reflected on how happy I was that I wasn't sweating my a$$ off. It was still 70 something degrees. I was also thinking about what a shame it was that on this trip, I would only have 3 meal opportunities to sample some world renowned cuisine. It was sort of depressing. I had considered going to the French Quarter; but, truth be told, I was road weary and was looking for a day out of the saddle to rest up for tomorrow's 600 mile ride home.
I pulled into town and just about did an end when I saw a cafe on the side of the road with 2 police cars. If it's meal time and I see emergency services folks piled into a restaurant, that is where I want to be. These people know the local area well and know what's good and what's not. Think about it. How often do you see the local police, ambulance or fire crews at McDonalds? You don't. They are at that little restaurant that sells great food, a little off the beaten path, that knows them all by first name. This is the place I'm always looking for. So, I slammed on the brakes, did a quick U-turn and came pulled in.
I was definitely looking for something different for breakfast. American breakfasts can be somewhat boring; eggs, omelets, french toast, pancakes, waffles, cereal, oatmeal and that's about it. Maybe sometimes, you'll find a Huevos rancheros dish somewhere; but, for all intents and purposes, an American breakfast is pretty dull. I found what I was looking for when I read "Catfish fillet and eggs, Toast or girts." I can honestly say, catfish has never been on my breakfast menu; but, when in Baton Rouge do what the Baton Rougi ... people from Baton Rouge do. Order up! So, I read what I wanted right off the menu to the waitress, who asked if i wanted grits and I looked at her funny because it was either toast or grits. She said the menu was wrong and I could have both and that if I didn't want toast, they had homemade biscuits. This is getting better by the second. I'll have grits and a homemade biscuit please! So, when she came back she asked where I was from because I looked at her strange when she mentioned grits. I told her I love grits and prefer to have them plain, unlike those folks from Mississippi who mix their scrambled eggs in their grits. At that point, it was clear that I was a member of the grit eating community and not some damn yankee (this is our secret).
So, while I'm enjoying this killer biscuit, I notice some guy taking a long look at my bike. He came in and saw me right away and said he had a K16 of his own and was looking at my crash bars. I introduced myself and offered him a seat. I knew this wasn't going to be a short conversation. He politely refused; but, when a well dressed church going couple came in and took his seat, he took me up on my offer. We talked for the better part of an hour about bikes and riding. He's a lineman from Detroit; but home is Louisiana. He said that he doesn't ride much; but, that's because he just had his hip resurfaced and was just cleared back to work. He was rightfully concerned that he couldn't support the weight of the bike on that hip. He's planning on getting back to it soon. As good as the conversation was, I had to excuse myself because a full day of catching up was in store for me. James bought my my breakfast, which was entirely unnecessary; but, very nice. So, my day started out with a free and very tasty breakfast. On the way out, I complimented the waitress on her biscuits. I had a feeling it was her restaurant and she made those little beauty's from scratch. Her whole face lit up. That's awesome.So, literally, I went into the restaurant and it was in the low 80's and when I came out, the temperature was more than 90. OMG. Fortunately, I was only 7 miles away from getting out of my riding duds and into some cooler clothing.
The GPS almost took me to the firehouse. I was just about to blow by it when I saw the bay doors open and two firetrucks inside. I doubted there were two nations on the same street less than a mile apart, so once again, I tested the limits of the braking abilities of the K16, swung a U turn in front of the engine and parked around back. Jack heard me coming and was out back.
People could learn a thing or two about hosting from Jack. I was barely off the bike and Jack was showing me inside to my room. He had a sleeping bag, a sheet, and towels waiting for me. The room was air-conditioned and cold. He told me to get myself comfortable and come out so he could introduce me to everyone. I would not say that I had low expectations; but, I would say that I would be perfectly happy sleeping on the couch. I had a whole crews quarter with it's own bathroom to myself. Did I mention that it was nice and cold?
I met the guys and Jack and I had a chance to catch up. We also talked about FaceBook and how once you get past all the cat and dog pics, you actually do get insight into what's going on in people's lives. Catching up is much quicker. The one thing FaceBook didn't prepare me for was how deep Jack's voice has become. He told me he was taught how to whisper in a sawmill. This would be true.
Before too long, we were out in the Department's Tahoe looking over St. George. We drifted in to another station, where Jack had Walt give me the tour of the rescue. Walt is a rescue Captain, and there is good reason for it. He exudes knowledge about every inch of that truck and it's capabilities. He can tell you the specifications on every piece of hardware and exactly what it's capabilities are. The people of St. George are lucky to have him. Judging by the others at this department, he was one of many talented individuals.
After the tour, we drifted over to HQ, where I met an assistant Chief, Mike Armanini. Mike went to Paramedic school in Williamsport with Angelo Porecca - small world. It became very clear that there was lots of trust and a solid working relationship between Mike and Jack. Later in the day, I'd meet another District Chief and it was even clearer that there is very open and fluent communication and support for each other at the top of this company. I was very clear that the lines of communication were open all day and that they were each responsive to one another's needs within their districts.
Before too long, Jack, Mike and I wandered over to the simulator. Yes, they have a $250,000 fire engine simulator.
Jack, being the perfect host, did not tease me with such a wonderful combination of fun and technology and fired it up for me. I will say that it takes a little getting used to. There is lots of realism; but, there are also some things that are strange - like if you go over railroad tracks, the screen bounces; but, it's not a full motion sim, so you don't feel anything. The simulator focuses on many aspects of driving a fire engine - control, response time ( to unexpected events), blind corners, driving at appropriate speeds, control limits, etc. I can see how some might complain that it's not like the real thing, and they would be right; but, it is absolutely world class in that it demands good judgement from you and allows you to make errors in a controlled environment. Here's my run where I'm supposed to go down to K street, turn left and find a vehicle fire. There never was a vehicle fire due to a computer error; but, it was a good run.
Jack and I had a mission. I wanted to bring desert to dinner. Jack, again being a flawless host, planned for us to have dinner at the firehouse. On the menu was Josh's pastalaia. This is a combination of jambalaya and pasta. It's a firehouse special and it's damn good. Excuse the pic below. At one point this really awesome cast iron dutch oven was full; but, the picture had to wait until after I we were done eating. Josh is an awesome cook. When I came in, they were talking about whether or not they needed the rest of the stock. They cooked this up from scratch - no microwave involved. AND, they had a caesar salad on the side. Truly awesome.
So, just a comment about the smoke eaters. Simply put, these guys are family. It is a highly social environment. Not a single person picked up an smartphone the entire time I was there. Now, finding your place in the family is a requirement is a process and time honored tradition. The person with the least seniority can count on being the brunt of all jokes and be required to do a lot of the house chores. When I pledged Sigma-Phi-Epsilon, this is exactly how it was. The brothers were relentless and unmerciful and your only solace is that on that glorious day, when some poor noob joins your station, you will no longer be the low man. Cayman, my brother, keep smiling. You have a great personality and you handle it well. Know full well that when you're in the station, you're their punching bag; but, when you're out of the station, every single one of those guys has your back - and you can bet your life on it.
I really liked this dutch oven and had to get a picture with the lid.
After dinner, we rolled on two calls - one where someone pulled the alarm in the section 8 housing district and a fatal overdose. The dispatcher was obviously trained by the very best and everyone at our station sleep the whole night through; other stations weren't so lucky though.
I had to grab a pic of my motorcycle's sleeping accommodations.
and, this story wouldn't be complete without a picture of me and Jack.
Before I close out this day's post, I really want to say thank you to the St. George Fire Department for making me feel so welcome. Every station I visited had a really awesome clue and my only regret is that I didn't get to spend more time with each of you. Josh, again, great grub. Cayman, thank you for the iced tea. Erik, Joe, Brad, Mike, it was great meeting all of you. There are so many more of you and I am so sorry I didn't write down all your names. Please be safe.
Jack, if you're reading, what can I say. You rock. My day off the bike was way more than I expected. Just catching up and kicking back would have been plenty for me; but, you went all out and showed me a great time. I know you have a ton of brothers around you every day; but, don't forget about the one that is only 618 miles away. If I can ever host while you're in Florida, I'd be honored and please expect another visit soon - this time on your day off and probably in the French Quarter.
20150918 - Mississippi
Who said that all plans fail the first incursion with the enemy? They were correct. When I woke up and checked the weather, Oklahoma and Arkansas were hosting thunderstorms and they looked mean. The good news is that they would stay there and I had plenty of riding I could do right from where I was.
I consulted motorcycle roads as I often do and found that the Natchez parkway was a highly rated ride and apparently was a national parkway. I thought that since the Blue Ridge and Skyline Drive were both gorgeous national parkways, this one should be also, so the new plan was to take the interstate up to Tupelo and ride the parkway back south. This would give me a great cross section of Mississippi. My thinking was that if I made it all the way to the end, I'd be in excellent position for a very short run to Baton Rouge in the morning. Game on, let's go.
As usual, my bad habits continue and I left without having breakfast. I always tell myself that I'd like to get some miles under the wheels first, and then stop for breakfast. The problem is that once I get going, I don't want to stop and sit for breakfast. I end up eating horribly. I have no clue what I ate; but, chances are, it was bad for me. Temperatures quickly climbed into the 90's. By 11am, it was 95 and climbing. I knew it would be hot and chose to wear a tee shirt. ATGATT maniacs can kiss my butt. If your'e too afraid to ride without looking like an astronaut all the time, you shouldn't be riding. Plus, I'm much more likely to wreck due to heat exhaustion and dehydration than I am from an incursion with the ground. I have good skills and am relentlessly vigilant in my scan of the road
I needed fuel about 45 minutes out of Tupelo and just as I was about to get on the bike, a farmer came over and wanted to talk about my bike and my travels. This happens a lot. Many want to tell me about their Harley; some want to know all about my bike; and most want to know where I'm off to and where I've been. I'm never in so much of a rush that I can't spend a few minutes with everyone. Many tell me about how life has taken over and they don't have time to ride. Usually, they look at me, after just having heard about how I'm about a thousand miles into a two thousand mile weekend journey and realize they need to make time if they really want to enjoy this aspect of their life. It's not that I have no sympathy for them, it's just that I don't have any sympathy for them. I am polite about it; but, generally their eyes start searching for the ground when they realize they didn't find an empathetic ear. Well, upon leaving the gas station, I thought I was getting back out on the highway; but, realized that it must have zigged and I zagged at some point. I was on some back road. This didn't bother me in the least as there is always exploring to be done. So I poked around for a while and when it was time to get back on course, I put Tupelo in the GPS. My GPS is set to avoid highways, toll roads and the like. There is no setting for dirt / gravel roads, and that is how I found myself on a mile or so of the road below. Now, I'm always up for excitement; but, I have to say I'm very happy that my GPS took me over this road during the day and that the loose gravel part only lasted about a mile and a half; navigating 1000+ of motorcycle and rider through a couple inches of loose stone is slow as your riding must be very deliberate. With ruts made by other vehicles, the road is anything but smooth and traction less than optimal. It's also roads like these that make me want to trade my K1600 for a R1200GS so I can start riding street and off road.
;
So, I made Tupelo around lunch time. I'm always on the search for that quaint, aesthetically pleasing, lunch site where you can get something small and maybe sit outside under the shade of a large tree and enjoy the scenery and people. That dream is omnipresent; but, rarely comes true. What I continue to find, again and again, are chain restaurants - either national chains or small franchises. They're everywhere. It's so disappointing; and so it was for lunch in Tupelo. I had lunch at some small Mexican food franchise. That being said, they had an interesting taco dish. It's a hard taco, wrapped in a flour tortilla. This is an excellent combination because when the hard taco starts breaking apart, the flour tortilla is there to save the day.
So, after lunch, it was somewhere around 95-97 degrees and I'd been riding in it for hours. I was a sweaty blob and the air conditioning and ice water in the Mexican restaurant failed to cool me down. I was longing for my pool. I knew that a 10 minute swim would cool me right down and I'd be ready to go. In fact, if there were a lake on the side of the road, I would have taken my electronics off and walked right in - boots and all. So, with that not being an option, and being I was about to get on the parkway, with no clue if there would be anywhere to stop for drinks, I stopped off and bought a few bottles of water. I drank one and poured one on my head, neck, chest and back. It was cold and shocking; but, after the initial jolt, refreshing. I also knew that the wind against my now wet clothes would help cool me down.
So, I made my way to the Natchez parkway in Tupelo and started heading back South. It is pretty as there are lots of trees all around; but, this is nothing like the Blue Ridge or Skyline with the very majestic landscapes. Things here are decidedly flat and it's like riding in a tree tunnel. Ride 10 miles of this and you've seen it all until you get down to Ross R Barnett Reservoir near Jackson. I've been told since that the parkway is much better from Nashville Tn down to Tupelo.
There are no fuel stops between Tupelo and Natchez on the parkway. That said, my DTE was greater than the distance I would travel, so I didn't worry about fuel; although, I started getting concerned about it when I passed Jackson Mississippi and my fuel reserves were dwindling. It looked like I would make it to the end with about 6 miles in the tank. Life is good.
I made it to the gas station with exactly 6 miles of gas left in my tank. It was about 8 something pm and I was exhausted from a long day of riding. I needed more water, gas and rest - in that order. After filling my tank and getting some more water, I came out to find a guy on a Harley at the pump next to mine. It was 90 something and he was decked out in full leathers, chaps and all. He asked me about my riding pants and we started talking about riding. He just bought a new Harley and I came to find out that he was an Army Major that did logistics. You would never know it by how he carried himself - calm, easy going, social. He served in all our recent wars. I chatted with him for what seemed like half an hour, thanked him for his service and wished him and his men Godspeed. I found hotel accommodations a few miles down the road. The day was done.
So, after lunch, it was somewhere around 95-97 degrees and I'd been riding in it for hours. I was a sweaty blob and the air conditioning and ice water in the Mexican restaurant failed to cool me down. I was longing for my pool. I knew that a 10 minute swim would cool me right down and I'd be ready to go. In fact, if there were a lake on the side of the road, I would have taken my electronics off and walked right in - boots and all. So, with that not being an option, and being I was about to get on the parkway, with no clue if there would be anywhere to stop for drinks, I stopped off and bought a few bottles of water. I drank one and poured one on my head, neck, chest and back. It was cold and shocking; but, after the initial jolt, refreshing. I also knew that the wind against my now wet clothes would help cool me down.
So, I made my way to the Natchez parkway in Tupelo and started heading back South. It is pretty as there are lots of trees all around; but, this is nothing like the Blue Ridge or Skyline with the very majestic landscapes. Things here are decidedly flat and it's like riding in a tree tunnel. Ride 10 miles of this and you've seen it all until you get down to Ross R Barnett Reservoir near Jackson. I've been told since that the parkway is much better from Nashville Tn down to Tupelo.
There are no fuel stops between Tupelo and Natchez on the parkway. That said, my DTE was greater than the distance I would travel, so I didn't worry about fuel; although, I started getting concerned about it when I passed Jackson Mississippi and my fuel reserves were dwindling. It looked like I would make it to the end with about 6 miles in the tank. Life is good.
I made it to the gas station with exactly 6 miles of gas left in my tank. It was about 8 something pm and I was exhausted from a long day of riding. I needed more water, gas and rest - in that order. After filling my tank and getting some more water, I came out to find a guy on a Harley at the pump next to mine. It was 90 something and he was decked out in full leathers, chaps and all. He asked me about my riding pants and we started talking about riding. He just bought a new Harley and I came to find out that he was an Army Major that did logistics. You would never know it by how he carried himself - calm, easy going, social. He served in all our recent wars. I chatted with him for what seemed like half an hour, thanked him for his service and wished him and his men Godspeed. I found hotel accommodations a few miles down the road. The day was done.
20150916 - 20150917 - Spring Hill Florida to Hattiesburg MS
The plan was to go to Mexico. You see, I've been to Mexico before; but, I've never ridden in Mexico. One thing that I do not do in my personal life is plan things out. I prefer to figure things out on the fly and have long experience at giving myself contingencies and options; but, going from Spring Hill to the closest boarder crossing in Texas is a long way to go to learn that something I need is all the way back in Florida, so I pinged some folks at the BMW MOA Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/bmwmoa/permalink/10153709297099379/
Many of the people in this group are assholes. If you were to ask them, they would say, "Yes, this group is heavily populated with assholes." That said, a specifically crafted post generally gets some valuable return. I'd say about 15% useful information and 85% crap. Insert vinegar and wine cliché here. Well the short of it is that the best way to do this is to arrive the day before, get your paperwork done, come back to the US side and cross in the morning. This will help avoid some of the badness that could ensue as the bad people are waiting in ambush for you at the center where you're doing your paperwork. If they see a single rider on a $25,000 motorcycle, it's a target. That was enough for me because even though I had 4 days off, I didn't have enough time to do this. So, another trip, another time. That said, I was destination hunting. I tried once before to get in touch with a friend Jack Jones, who is in Baton Rouge LA and this time I had some luck. He would be working the 6am-6am shift on Sunday the 21st. Game on, I have a destination. I need to arrive in Baton Rouge sometime on Sunday.
As always, someone calls a late meeting on Thursday, which delayed my pack out. I really do have it to a science, so it didn't take that long; but, when you're trying to put some miles under your belt before dark, you have precious little time to do it all, so I didn't get as far as I wanted.
My first stop was in Chiefland Florida; pretty amusing, since I was going to visit the fire chief in Baton Rouge. So, when I saw the sun going down, I decided to take a side road, any side road, and ride into the sunset.
I stayed at a Quality Inn. I always ask where the good food is and I was pointed down the street to Bett's Big T restaurant. This is nothing to write home about. At least, it's not fast food. I had a pork chop, not a PORK chop that's like half an inch thick and juicy. It was two paper thin chewy pork chops. Oh well. I was going to Louisiana and there's plenty of good food there.
So, about this time, I got to thinking that I'd have a day to kill before getting to Baton Rouge and I thought I'd take care of the fact that I hadn't ridden my K1600 in either OK or AR. So, I thought I'd land somewhere in MS or LA on Friday night, do OK and AR on Saturday and part of Sunday and stroll in sometime around lunch. Really, this is the extent of my planning and, as has happened before, I could get an idea about going somewhere else and change course at any time. This was a good start and at least I knew that 98 West would be a nice scenic ride across the gulf.
Friday morning was wet. It had rained and it was threatening to do it again. I looked at the weather and found that if I were on the panhandle by 9am, I'd avoid most of it. So, I delayed breakfast and beat feet. I didn't stop until I saw a place for breakfast in Panacea Florida; basic breakfast, no frills. The service was good and the waitress was so interested in the bike and my travel stories. She seemed like a nice lady who has never been more than a couple miles from home. I have to remind myself that my "weekend trips" are more than just a trip to most people. For them, the effort to do a 100 mile trip is probably the equivalent of my 1,000 mile trip and many would simply take a plane, if they went at all. Back on the motorcycle, the temperature is already over 90 degrees. It's all fine as long as I'm moving. Once I get into stop and go traffic or I'm standing on the pavement waiting for a traffic light, it's not so pleasant. The scenery on the panhandle is sporadic. The first part is very boring with barely any view of the gulf. Then, you get a couple bridges and get to see the bay. Then, you go through some more touristy sections and then "Welcome to Alabama." I was ready for lunch somewhere in Florida. I stumbled across a BBQ place. Shame on me for not remembering its name. They made a good pork BBQ sandwhich with a nice Carolina sauce; but, they destroyed it by not toasting the bun first. No bun in the world is going to survive being saturated with a vinegar based sauce. Before I knew it, it was in shreds and I was eating it with a fork. I'll call it a semi-fail.
I grabbed this video of the Bank Head Tunnel in Mobile Alabama for my friend Joe Wydock who loves tunnels on a motorcycle.
So, as I was leaving Alabama and crossing into Mississippi, I came across this:
Don't ask me. I haven't a clue and they were closed. It looked like they were closed for a long time. Moving on...
About a mile after this, I was in Mississippi. I knew I would have to start going North at some point and the GPS showed that I-59 was in front of me. The sun was going down and it was time to find a room anyway. I grabbed the Interstate and found a hotel in Hattiesburg. I learned later that I was by the University of Southern Mississippi. I thought this was a good landing spot for the night and put me in good position to do AR and the Southwestern corner of OK tomorrow.
Many of the people in this group are assholes. If you were to ask them, they would say, "Yes, this group is heavily populated with assholes." That said, a specifically crafted post generally gets some valuable return. I'd say about 15% useful information and 85% crap. Insert vinegar and wine cliché here. Well the short of it is that the best way to do this is to arrive the day before, get your paperwork done, come back to the US side and cross in the morning. This will help avoid some of the badness that could ensue as the bad people are waiting in ambush for you at the center where you're doing your paperwork. If they see a single rider on a $25,000 motorcycle, it's a target. That was enough for me because even though I had 4 days off, I didn't have enough time to do this. So, another trip, another time. That said, I was destination hunting. I tried once before to get in touch with a friend Jack Jones, who is in Baton Rouge LA and this time I had some luck. He would be working the 6am-6am shift on Sunday the 21st. Game on, I have a destination. I need to arrive in Baton Rouge sometime on Sunday.
As always, someone calls a late meeting on Thursday, which delayed my pack out. I really do have it to a science, so it didn't take that long; but, when you're trying to put some miles under your belt before dark, you have precious little time to do it all, so I didn't get as far as I wanted.
My first stop was in Chiefland Florida; pretty amusing, since I was going to visit the fire chief in Baton Rouge. So, when I saw the sun going down, I decided to take a side road, any side road, and ride into the sunset.
I stayed at a Quality Inn. I always ask where the good food is and I was pointed down the street to Bett's Big T restaurant. This is nothing to write home about. At least, it's not fast food. I had a pork chop, not a PORK chop that's like half an inch thick and juicy. It was two paper thin chewy pork chops. Oh well. I was going to Louisiana and there's plenty of good food there.
So, about this time, I got to thinking that I'd have a day to kill before getting to Baton Rouge and I thought I'd take care of the fact that I hadn't ridden my K1600 in either OK or AR. So, I thought I'd land somewhere in MS or LA on Friday night, do OK and AR on Saturday and part of Sunday and stroll in sometime around lunch. Really, this is the extent of my planning and, as has happened before, I could get an idea about going somewhere else and change course at any time. This was a good start and at least I knew that 98 West would be a nice scenic ride across the gulf.
Friday morning was wet. It had rained and it was threatening to do it again. I looked at the weather and found that if I were on the panhandle by 9am, I'd avoid most of it. So, I delayed breakfast and beat feet. I didn't stop until I saw a place for breakfast in Panacea Florida; basic breakfast, no frills. The service was good and the waitress was so interested in the bike and my travel stories. She seemed like a nice lady who has never been more than a couple miles from home. I have to remind myself that my "weekend trips" are more than just a trip to most people. For them, the effort to do a 100 mile trip is probably the equivalent of my 1,000 mile trip and many would simply take a plane, if they went at all. Back on the motorcycle, the temperature is already over 90 degrees. It's all fine as long as I'm moving. Once I get into stop and go traffic or I'm standing on the pavement waiting for a traffic light, it's not so pleasant. The scenery on the panhandle is sporadic. The first part is very boring with barely any view of the gulf. Then, you get a couple bridges and get to see the bay. Then, you go through some more touristy sections and then "Welcome to Alabama." I was ready for lunch somewhere in Florida. I stumbled across a BBQ place. Shame on me for not remembering its name. They made a good pork BBQ sandwhich with a nice Carolina sauce; but, they destroyed it by not toasting the bun first. No bun in the world is going to survive being saturated with a vinegar based sauce. Before I knew it, it was in shreds and I was eating it with a fork. I'll call it a semi-fail.
I grabbed this video of the Bank Head Tunnel in Mobile Alabama for my friend Joe Wydock who loves tunnels on a motorcycle.
So, as I was leaving Alabama and crossing into Mississippi, I came across this:
Don't ask me. I haven't a clue and they were closed. It looked like they were closed for a long time. Moving on...
About a mile after this, I was in Mississippi. I knew I would have to start going North at some point and the GPS showed that I-59 was in front of me. The sun was going down and it was time to find a room anyway. I grabbed the Interstate and found a hotel in Hattiesburg. I learned later that I was by the University of Southern Mississippi. I thought this was a good landing spot for the night and put me in good position to do AR and the Southwestern corner of OK tomorrow.
Friday, August 21, 2015
20150821- NJ to Florida
This was an eagerly awaited trip, not because I was covering new ground; but, because I was going to be riding with a long time friend for part of the ride.
My friend Joe has been following my adventures since they started. He's always looking for an opportunity to join in the fun. Well, it worked out this time. The plan was to meet him in Camp Hil PA and ride down to the beginning of Skyline Drive, a national parkway through the Sheandoah mountains. During the planning stages, we invited my friend Mike to also join us, since this is virtually in his backyard and he's a Goldwing rider. Joe is a new Goldwing rider, and boy does he have a pretty ride.
The plan was to avoid as much of Harrisburg's Friday morning commute as possible, so we met at Friendly's just off the intersection of 581 and 15. I pulled in first and Joe had sent me a message that he was running behind. Since it was already 11 and the kitchen was closing out breakfast, I ordered so I could have breakfast. As usual, I left the house without eating. This is a common theme. There was no mistaking Joe pulling in on a very pretty blue Goldwing. We caught up as had a hamburger and got on our way.
Since Mike couldn't join us, we decided to plow right into Skyline Drive instead of spending the night and doing Skyline on Saturday. This was really good for me as I had to be at work on Monday and I really didn't want to a thousand miles on Sunday. It's not the distance that bothers me, it's the lack of contingency time. Traveling with Joe was awesome. He'd never been up on Skyline and was absolutely amazed at the landscape and the scenic overlooks. I encouraged Joe to stop as much as he wanted to, take pictures, etc. The view from Skyline Drive is truly remarkable. I'm hopeful that Joe goes back and takes Mary with him. There is other good riding in that area, like Rt. 50 from Clarksburg WV to Winchester Va. That also affords some spectacular riding and scenery. I don't recommend that route when 2 up, unless your passenger is really into curves.
Our plan was to start looking for a place to stay as we neared 7pm and we started as planned. As usual, and despite what the park sign said, there were no vacancies on the mountain. One thing that I've learned in all the riding I've done is that no matter how tempting it is to ride to a town on the map, it's always better to ride toward interstate. Towns may not have any accommodations, or for that matter food; whereas, interstates generally do. In the US, and particularly on the East Coast, you can almost always find a place to stay, gas up and eat within 10 miles once joining the interstate. Here, the tempting little town was probably about 5 miles closer than the interstate, and it was getting dark. Both of us had a long riding day. It was time to find something definite, not poke around.
We found a place to stay in Harrisonburg VA. We weren't but a couple miles from the University. We quickly dumped our gear in our hotel room and went off for a Mexican food dinner. It was a fantastic day with fantastic sights and fantastic company.
The next morning, we ate breakfast and split up; Joe to go home and get some work around the house done and me to continue the ride back home. Here's some pics.
**
About an hour or so off the exit, another K1600GT pulled up along side me. It's rare to see another K16 rider. There just are not that many of them out there. This guy was riding with me for a very long time. I was wondering about him. He had what appeared to be a new bike; but, he had Wunderlich crash bars on the front and back. Those are always aftermarket. He had a paper NJ tag on the back and unfortunately, he didn't have a Bluetooth headset on. I looked and I would have paired with him. I was curious about his setup. At some point, he motioned to me and asked me if I wanted to grab lunch. It was lunch time; but, I was just about to split off and go East. It worked out that he was also. I agreed and we found a restaurant.
So, his story was that he got a great deal on this bike in NJ; so good in fact, that it was worth flying up there to get and ride back. He was returning to Atlanta. We decided to ride together to Columbia South Carolina, where he would split off.
Shortly after he split off and started heading to Atlanta, it started to rain. There was a bridge ahead and I stopped very quickly to be able to put on rain gear under the bridge. When I got back on the bike, I had an oil warning light. This was disturbing. I pulled into the next gas station and checked the oil. It was bone dry. I put in about 7 ounces to get a reading on the dipstick. This was really disturbing. I had the bike serviced 4,000 miles ago. There should be no reason that I lost that much oil. I recognized that there is a possibility that I'm not checking the oil properly. This is a very complicated bike. I also did not want to overfill on oil.
The rain storm was heavy. People were pulling off the road and a South Carolina Trooper who was getting gas next to me said he recommended that I stay off the road for 15 minutes after the rain stops to let the standing water drain. Good advice.
That night, I made it to Savannah Georgia. I could have gone on; but, there were storms ahead and storms behind. This was a good place to stop for the night. When I got up in the morning, I checked the oil again. It was bone dry again! I added the rest of the quart and I still did not get a max reading on the dipstick.
When I got home, I inquired of my BMW MOA friends on FaceBook and they said there is a specific procedure for checking oil, do that. I did and the reading was about the same. The possibility that I can see is that when they did my 36,000 mile maintenance, they didn't fill the oil all the way. Now, I'm paranoid about oil levels and check every ride.
My friend Joe has been following my adventures since they started. He's always looking for an opportunity to join in the fun. Well, it worked out this time. The plan was to meet him in Camp Hil PA and ride down to the beginning of Skyline Drive, a national parkway through the Sheandoah mountains. During the planning stages, we invited my friend Mike to also join us, since this is virtually in his backyard and he's a Goldwing rider. Joe is a new Goldwing rider, and boy does he have a pretty ride.
The plan was to avoid as much of Harrisburg's Friday morning commute as possible, so we met at Friendly's just off the intersection of 581 and 15. I pulled in first and Joe had sent me a message that he was running behind. Since it was already 11 and the kitchen was closing out breakfast, I ordered so I could have breakfast. As usual, I left the house without eating. This is a common theme. There was no mistaking Joe pulling in on a very pretty blue Goldwing. We caught up as had a hamburger and got on our way.
Since Mike couldn't join us, we decided to plow right into Skyline Drive instead of spending the night and doing Skyline on Saturday. This was really good for me as I had to be at work on Monday and I really didn't want to a thousand miles on Sunday. It's not the distance that bothers me, it's the lack of contingency time. Traveling with Joe was awesome. He'd never been up on Skyline and was absolutely amazed at the landscape and the scenic overlooks. I encouraged Joe to stop as much as he wanted to, take pictures, etc. The view from Skyline Drive is truly remarkable. I'm hopeful that Joe goes back and takes Mary with him. There is other good riding in that area, like Rt. 50 from Clarksburg WV to Winchester Va. That also affords some spectacular riding and scenery. I don't recommend that route when 2 up, unless your passenger is really into curves.
Our plan was to start looking for a place to stay as we neared 7pm and we started as planned. As usual, and despite what the park sign said, there were no vacancies on the mountain. One thing that I've learned in all the riding I've done is that no matter how tempting it is to ride to a town on the map, it's always better to ride toward interstate. Towns may not have any accommodations, or for that matter food; whereas, interstates generally do. In the US, and particularly on the East Coast, you can almost always find a place to stay, gas up and eat within 10 miles once joining the interstate. Here, the tempting little town was probably about 5 miles closer than the interstate, and it was getting dark. Both of us had a long riding day. It was time to find something definite, not poke around.
We found a place to stay in Harrisonburg VA. We weren't but a couple miles from the University. We quickly dumped our gear in our hotel room and went off for a Mexican food dinner. It was a fantastic day with fantastic sights and fantastic company.
The next morning, we ate breakfast and split up; Joe to go home and get some work around the house done and me to continue the ride back home. Here's some pics.
**
About an hour or so off the exit, another K1600GT pulled up along side me. It's rare to see another K16 rider. There just are not that many of them out there. This guy was riding with me for a very long time. I was wondering about him. He had what appeared to be a new bike; but, he had Wunderlich crash bars on the front and back. Those are always aftermarket. He had a paper NJ tag on the back and unfortunately, he didn't have a Bluetooth headset on. I looked and I would have paired with him. I was curious about his setup. At some point, he motioned to me and asked me if I wanted to grab lunch. It was lunch time; but, I was just about to split off and go East. It worked out that he was also. I agreed and we found a restaurant.
So, his story was that he got a great deal on this bike in NJ; so good in fact, that it was worth flying up there to get and ride back. He was returning to Atlanta. We decided to ride together to Columbia South Carolina, where he would split off.
Shortly after he split off and started heading to Atlanta, it started to rain. There was a bridge ahead and I stopped very quickly to be able to put on rain gear under the bridge. When I got back on the bike, I had an oil warning light. This was disturbing. I pulled into the next gas station and checked the oil. It was bone dry. I put in about 7 ounces to get a reading on the dipstick. This was really disturbing. I had the bike serviced 4,000 miles ago. There should be no reason that I lost that much oil. I recognized that there is a possibility that I'm not checking the oil properly. This is a very complicated bike. I also did not want to overfill on oil.
The rain storm was heavy. People were pulling off the road and a South Carolina Trooper who was getting gas next to me said he recommended that I stay off the road for 15 minutes after the rain stops to let the standing water drain. Good advice.
That night, I made it to Savannah Georgia. I could have gone on; but, there were storms ahead and storms behind. This was a good place to stop for the night. When I got up in the morning, I checked the oil again. It was bone dry again! I added the rest of the quart and I still did not get a max reading on the dipstick.
When I got home, I inquired of my BMW MOA friends on FaceBook and they said there is a specific procedure for checking oil, do that. I did and the reading was about the same. The possibility that I can see is that when they did my 36,000 mile maintenance, they didn't fill the oil all the way. Now, I'm paranoid about oil levels and check every ride.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
20150809 - Clarksburg WV to Alexandria VA (near Washington DC)
I made the right decision. What an awesome ride. By 8:30, the dew point / temperature spread was > 4 degrees F and opening fast. The temp through the mountains was in the 70's, and I must say this was a fantastic ride. I took US 50 all the way across WV and into VA, with only a brief 15 or 20 miles in Maryland. I highly recommend it. It is just as curvy as Tail of the Dragon, only the curves are spread out a little more, so you have time to calculate, learn from what you just did, apply it to the next curve and so on. The speed limit on this route is 55 most of the way, except for the little jaunt into Maryland, where it comes down to 50. There are also a couple small towns where the limit comes down to 40. This is plenty fast on a rode that is riddled with 30 mph turns (real 30 mph turns - not just because they are posted that way). I highly recommend this route for the riding and the scenery. When you get into VA and pass Winchester on the way into the DC metro area, you will pass through many wonderful little towns. Several are gathering places for motorcycle enthusiasts.
By now, my reader is wondering why I haven't published my composit map of my BMW K1600 travels, so here it is:
Now, one might be inclined to point out that OK and AR don't have any lines through them and I just declared victory on having ridden in all lower 48 states. This would be because these states were ridden on my Harley. The goal was to ride all 50 states. To make it specific to my K16 would be very hard, considering Hawaii.
Here's some pictures from this trip.
The obligatory photo of the Tree of shame.
BMW riders and Harley rides can get along. I made room for these guys. We all shared great stories.
NO, I can't take off my helmet for selfie. I have ear plugs in. I'm not going to go through the trouble. Maybe I could have put up my visors though.
By now, my reader is wondering why I haven't published my composit map of my BMW K1600 travels, so here it is:
Now, one might be inclined to point out that OK and AR don't have any lines through them and I just declared victory on having ridden in all lower 48 states. This would be because these states were ridden on my Harley. The goal was to ride all 50 states. To make it specific to my K16 would be very hard, considering Hawaii.
Here's some pictures from this trip.
NO, I can't take off my helmet for selfie. I have ear plugs in. I'm not going to go through the trouble. Maybe I could have put up my visors though.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
20150808 - Corbin KY to Clarksburg WV (and on to Washington DC area)
At this point, I have plenty of time to get to my destination before training begins in Tyson's Corner Va on Monday, so I'm going to stretch my ride a little and see more of KY and ride US 50 across WV. The stretch of 50 that goes between Clarksburg and I-81 outside Winchester VA is very nice stretch of road that winds it's way through the Appalachians.
Ride, ride, ride, ride. Kentucky is beautiful. I'd love to buy a home out here. Winchester is gorgeous and has some really nice houses.
When I got as far as Parkersburg, WV, it was time to check weather. The skies were looking very soggy and if there are storms on the mountain, I don't want to be up there. There are no places to hunker down. Once this ride starts, you have only two choices - forward and back. It's 3 and a half hours in duration. It so happened that there was some light precip on the mountain and one thunderhead. It was afternoon, when thunderstorms tend to grow. I have about 5 hours between me and my destination and the option of picking up the interstate in Clarksburg if the weather guessers are wrong about tomorrow's weather. I decided that I would go as far as Clarksburg - another hour East and check again. This is the last point before I get into the mountains.
At Clarksburg, the weather looked about the same, maybe a little worse, so I decided to pack it in for the night.
Ride, ride, ride, ride. Kentucky is beautiful. I'd love to buy a home out here. Winchester is gorgeous and has some really nice houses.
When I got as far as Parkersburg, WV, it was time to check weather. The skies were looking very soggy and if there are storms on the mountain, I don't want to be up there. There are no places to hunker down. Once this ride starts, you have only two choices - forward and back. It's 3 and a half hours in duration. It so happened that there was some light precip on the mountain and one thunderhead. It was afternoon, when thunderstorms tend to grow. I have about 5 hours between me and my destination and the option of picking up the interstate in Clarksburg if the weather guessers are wrong about tomorrow's weather. I decided that I would go as far as Clarksburg - another hour East and check again. This is the last point before I get into the mountains.
At Clarksburg, the weather looked about the same, maybe a little worse, so I decided to pack it in for the night.
20150807 - Cordele GA to Tail of the Dragon then to Corbin KY (then to Washington DC)
My lazy butt stayed in bed until 7:23am. One would think that the excitement of doing the Tail of the Dragon again and scratching Kentucky off my list of states I haven't visited on a motorcycle would have had me out of bed; but, it didn't. As per normal procedure, I checked weather and confirmed my routing. The plan was to go around Atlanta and to check out some of GA's back country, so I routed through Athens and then up to Robbinsville - the town closest to the beginning of the Southern entrance to the Dragon.
Road kill has a much more pungent smell to it in Georgia. I don't know what they season it with; but, it is different from road kill everywhere else in the country. The other thing of note is the very distinct smell of trash in Georgia. It felt like I was following a garbage truck for miles. Maybe I was.
For the one or two people that are reading my blog, I have to mention that 129N and 411N south of Tail of the Dragon are not to be ignored. These are great warmups for the Tail. As luck would have it, it was drizzling leading up to the Tail and the Tail was wet when I got to it. That didn't seem to slow me down at all. For those detail oriented riders, I'm running Michelin Road Pilots (3 up front and a 4 in the rear).
The Tail is like Thanksgiving Dinner - lots of time thinking about it, maybe even planning for it; and then, it's all over in like 15 minutes or so.
After the Tail, I continued on and decided a good place to stop was Corbin KY. I could keep going; but, this stopping point gave me some good options and I didn't have a plan after I got to KY anyway. So, hotel it, charge everything, gas the bike and look at a map. That's the plan.
Road kill has a much more pungent smell to it in Georgia. I don't know what they season it with; but, it is different from road kill everywhere else in the country. The other thing of note is the very distinct smell of trash in Georgia. It felt like I was following a garbage truck for miles. Maybe I was.
For the one or two people that are reading my blog, I have to mention that 129N and 411N south of Tail of the Dragon are not to be ignored. These are great warmups for the Tail. As luck would have it, it was drizzling leading up to the Tail and the Tail was wet when I got to it. That didn't seem to slow me down at all. For those detail oriented riders, I'm running Michelin Road Pilots (3 up front and a 4 in the rear).
The Tail is like Thanksgiving Dinner - lots of time thinking about it, maybe even planning for it; and then, it's all over in like 15 minutes or so.
After the Tail, I continued on and decided a good place to stop was Corbin KY. I could keep going; but, this stopping point gave me some good options and I didn't have a plan after I got to KY anyway. So, hotel it, charge everything, gas the bike and look at a map. That's the plan.
20150806 - Spring Hill Fl - Cordele GA (then on to Washington D.C.)
First, my apologies for not having blogged in a long time. Whoever you are that reads my blog, I appreciate it and I'm sorry if I let you down. Statistics show that you, a single individual (or maybe two) consistently read my blog entries as I post them. Someday, I hope to have a readership of 3 and I know I won't get there if I continue to treat my readership this way. I humbly apologize.
I rarely have an uneventful trip and this first part of my journey is no exception. Since I never plan and always procrastinate when possible, I found myself at the end of the work day wanting to leave, without anything packed. The usual follies ensued - where's my umptyfratz charger, for that matter, where's my umptyfrats. The funny thing is that I could care less about clothes as long as I have the right electronic gear, chargers and credit cards. My closets are evidence of me having had to buy articles of clothing on many trips. I digress. Fortunately, I've done the motorcycle travel thing many times, so I know just what to pack and how to pack it. This trip was going to be particularly exciting because there is no need to take heated gear with me. I tend to pack light on the motorcycle and I like to make sure the bag I strap to the seat is full, as it serves as a back rest. On this trip, there is almost nothing in the hard side cases - not the best for center of gravity; but, with this bike, the CG is plenty high to begin with. I'm packed. I leave. It's 5:30 and I'm impressed because I stopped work at 5 sharp and managed to also clean the kitchen.
Starting this journey wasn't as fun as many. There are so many things to worry about now. I'm a supposedly responsible fish owner, I have a house now and I have grass that grows. There's also a pool that needs chlorine and on and on. It didn't take long and I was into my ride. It's funny how I navigate very long trips without ever picking up a map or using the GPS. The route was to be I 75 all the way to Atlanta. I really had my hopes set on making Atlanta, even though it would be midnight. Friday morning traffic is horrendous and I'd like to avoid that.
Atlanta was a destination too far. Mother nature is always in control and she thought it would be best for me to stop on Cordele GA; but, not before explaining to me in a gentle way (heavy rain with lightning) that going on was going be comfortable. I tried to get into this little inn where I pulled off; but, the entrance was dug up and they were clearly under construction. I needed to turn around and drive another 7 miles to a hotel. The interesting feature about this hotel was the air conditioner. Almost everywhere in the world, there are numbers between 57 and 71; in fact, there are an infinite number of numbers between 57 and 71. This is not the case in Cordele GA. In Cordele, there are no numbers between 57 and 71. The air HVAC in my room went straight from 57 to 71. Clearly, whoever did this was brought up on Common Core and using safe numbers or something.
Of interest on this trip was getting hit in the helmet by a fruit bat at 75 mph. In the Universe of things, a tasty mosquito and 1,000 pounds of motorcycle and rider are not much different until you zoom in a bit. So it's quite understandable that a bat can fly into my helmet. If his radar wasn't jacked up before he hit me, it certainly is now...or maybe it's be knocked into alignment now. At this point, the carnage I've left behind in my years of motorcycle riding is 2 birds, a groundhog and a bat.
I rarely have an uneventful trip and this first part of my journey is no exception. Since I never plan and always procrastinate when possible, I found myself at the end of the work day wanting to leave, without anything packed. The usual follies ensued - where's my umptyfratz charger, for that matter, where's my umptyfrats. The funny thing is that I could care less about clothes as long as I have the right electronic gear, chargers and credit cards. My closets are evidence of me having had to buy articles of clothing on many trips. I digress. Fortunately, I've done the motorcycle travel thing many times, so I know just what to pack and how to pack it. This trip was going to be particularly exciting because there is no need to take heated gear with me. I tend to pack light on the motorcycle and I like to make sure the bag I strap to the seat is full, as it serves as a back rest. On this trip, there is almost nothing in the hard side cases - not the best for center of gravity; but, with this bike, the CG is plenty high to begin with. I'm packed. I leave. It's 5:30 and I'm impressed because I stopped work at 5 sharp and managed to also clean the kitchen.
Starting this journey wasn't as fun as many. There are so many things to worry about now. I'm a supposedly responsible fish owner, I have a house now and I have grass that grows. There's also a pool that needs chlorine and on and on. It didn't take long and I was into my ride. It's funny how I navigate very long trips without ever picking up a map or using the GPS. The route was to be I 75 all the way to Atlanta. I really had my hopes set on making Atlanta, even though it would be midnight. Friday morning traffic is horrendous and I'd like to avoid that.
Atlanta was a destination too far. Mother nature is always in control and she thought it would be best for me to stop on Cordele GA; but, not before explaining to me in a gentle way (heavy rain with lightning) that going on was going be comfortable. I tried to get into this little inn where I pulled off; but, the entrance was dug up and they were clearly under construction. I needed to turn around and drive another 7 miles to a hotel. The interesting feature about this hotel was the air conditioner. Almost everywhere in the world, there are numbers between 57 and 71; in fact, there are an infinite number of numbers between 57 and 71. This is not the case in Cordele GA. In Cordele, there are no numbers between 57 and 71. The air HVAC in my room went straight from 57 to 71. Clearly, whoever did this was brought up on Common Core and using safe numbers or something.
Of interest on this trip was getting hit in the helmet by a fruit bat at 75 mph. In the Universe of things, a tasty mosquito and 1,000 pounds of motorcycle and rider are not much different until you zoom in a bit. So it's quite understandable that a bat can fly into my helmet. If his radar wasn't jacked up before he hit me, it certainly is now...or maybe it's be knocked into alignment now. At this point, the carnage I've left behind in my years of motorcycle riding is 2 birds, a groundhog and a bat.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
20150501 - Florida Panhandle
Excuses first. While I've been in Florida, I've been searching for a house. It's occupied a lot of my time. Riding, unfortunately has suffered and I haven't done nearly as many long distance trips. That said, I have done a bunch of little ones. For me to blog about a trip, it needs to either be greater than 250 miles, or have some special significance. The good news is that I'm supposed to close on a house on the 15th of this month and once I'm settled in, I should be back on the road. It also looks like my contract might end in June, so I might be able to do the Alaska trip in July. That would clearly make up for all riding sins.
So, on Thursday, I get a text message from Susie. I haven't seen her since I'd say 2004, maybe 2003. She is coming to Florida, Panama City Beach to be exact and then headed out to Louisiana I think. I have other friends Tom and Charity who live in the area and thought it would be fun for all of us to get together. As if I need an excuse to get on the bike and ride, and with my home just waiting on the seller to close, off I went.
This is a no GPS needed kind of trip; down Little road, North on 19, West on 98 to Panama City. The hardest part was going to be finding Susie. Tom had a date and couldn't make dinner. Charity is nowhere to be found. Tom will meet us for breakfast.
The ride is fantastic. Once you're out of the urban sprawl, things open up nicely and once you start going west, things get good quickly. The turn west starts with open road and plenty of greenery. The trees are plenty tall, so you can't see all that far; but, one thing is for sure, all that green is awesome, compared to the browns of the West. Until I lived out West for awhile, I never realized how much I like green. I digress. Before too long, I started crossing a bunch of bridges and large expanses of water. I really like this kind of riding, where there is water on all sides. In fact, so far, this is the only ride, other than through the Keys where I've been able to ride over open water, or within sight of open water for such a long period of time. The only other place where I think a ride like this is possible, east of the Mississippi might be in NE Florida, Rt. A1A, or the rest of the panhandle. I haven't ridden those parts yet and am pretty sure the East coast doesn't feature rides like this. Here's a 20 second sample. I cut the audio out. It's all loud wind noise!
So, I arrive in Panama City Beach and quickly learn that "Thunder Beach" is going on. There are tens of thousands of bikes here, most of them Harley's or custom built choppers; all loud. I also saw, for the first time a Suzuki R1300. It's long and has a very low height. It looks like it would take a football field to turn around in.
So, I manage to find a room, which I think was probably a minor miracle given all these bikers. Parking is between two buildings and is for motorcycles only. I was clearly out numbered by the Harley crowd. Fortunately, I think everyone was tucked in fairly early last night. I heard a few bikes come and go; but, by 5am, engines were starting and I was quickly awake.
Before retiring for the evening, I had dinner with Susie and her brother Billy at Saltwater Grill. Of course, I Yelped for it. It was rated well. The food wasn't ok. Nothing special. For breakfast, the three of us joined our friend Tom. Tom, Susie and I all worked for a the US Treasury as contractors once upon a time. It was great getting together with folks I hadn't seen in over 10 years!
As of this moment, the map of places I've ridden on the K1600GT looks like this. I think I need to close the gap between Panama City Beach and Mobile, just on the account of because. That, however will happen once I'm going to go out west. From my house, all points West include 10 across the panhandle. There's no need to go it now.
So, on Thursday, I get a text message from Susie. I haven't seen her since I'd say 2004, maybe 2003. She is coming to Florida, Panama City Beach to be exact and then headed out to Louisiana I think. I have other friends Tom and Charity who live in the area and thought it would be fun for all of us to get together. As if I need an excuse to get on the bike and ride, and with my home just waiting on the seller to close, off I went.
This is a no GPS needed kind of trip; down Little road, North on 19, West on 98 to Panama City. The hardest part was going to be finding Susie. Tom had a date and couldn't make dinner. Charity is nowhere to be found. Tom will meet us for breakfast.
The ride is fantastic. Once you're out of the urban sprawl, things open up nicely and once you start going west, things get good quickly. The turn west starts with open road and plenty of greenery. The trees are plenty tall, so you can't see all that far; but, one thing is for sure, all that green is awesome, compared to the browns of the West. Until I lived out West for awhile, I never realized how much I like green. I digress. Before too long, I started crossing a bunch of bridges and large expanses of water. I really like this kind of riding, where there is water on all sides. In fact, so far, this is the only ride, other than through the Keys where I've been able to ride over open water, or within sight of open water for such a long period of time. The only other place where I think a ride like this is possible, east of the Mississippi might be in NE Florida, Rt. A1A, or the rest of the panhandle. I haven't ridden those parts yet and am pretty sure the East coast doesn't feature rides like this. Here's a 20 second sample. I cut the audio out. It's all loud wind noise!
So, I manage to find a room, which I think was probably a minor miracle given all these bikers. Parking is between two buildings and is for motorcycles only. I was clearly out numbered by the Harley crowd. Fortunately, I think everyone was tucked in fairly early last night. I heard a few bikes come and go; but, by 5am, engines were starting and I was quickly awake.
Before retiring for the evening, I had dinner with Susie and her brother Billy at Saltwater Grill. Of course, I Yelped for it. It was rated well. The food wasn't ok. Nothing special. For breakfast, the three of us joined our friend Tom. Tom, Susie and I all worked for a the US Treasury as contractors once upon a time. It was great getting together with folks I hadn't seen in over 10 years!
As of this moment, the map of places I've ridden on the K1600GT looks like this. I think I need to close the gap between Panama City Beach and Mobile, just on the account of because. That, however will happen once I'm going to go out west. From my house, all points West include 10 across the panhandle. There's no need to go it now.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Garmin Basecamp Review
My Configuration
I'm running OS X Yosemite on an 11" MacBook Air and BaseCamp 4.4.5, which is the latest at the time of this writing. My GPS is a Garmin Nav IV that came with my K1600GT.What I Tested
Basecamp seems like it has a lot of capabilities and over time I'll test more of them; but, this test was to create and ride a 100 mile loop near my house. For this test, I needed to load BaseCamp on my computer, update my maps and software, plot the route, download the route and ride it with all the expected voice and visual queues I'd expect if riding a route created right on the GPS. Along the way, I downloaded and reviewed previous routes I've been on. This worked exceptionally well and was easy.What I Didn't Test
BaseCamp is pretty feature rich. You can create a long distance trip over multiple days, add way points, search for lodging and eateries in the area where you will stop each night, etc. I only looked at this briefly and found that it wasn't intuitive, so I bailed on it for now, for a simpler test. I will probably write more about the trip functionality once I understand it better.Installation
Installation was a breeze. Download, next, next, accept, next, next, OK, next, bingo...or something resembling that.Once the clickfest ended, I opened BaseCamp and immediately got a notification that my GPS wasn't connected. Well, it was in fact, still in the cradle on my bike. It took me about half an hour to figure out how to get it out of my K1600GT. It's never been out before. If you're riding a K16 and have no clue, raise the windshield, press the button to the left of the screen, reach under the unit and make sure it is as high up as possible, find the lever behind the top right of the unit to release it from the cradle, tilt it forward and pull it out.
So, now I'm in BaseCamp, with my GPS attached and want to update my software and maps. You can't do that in BaseCamp. For that, you need to download and install Garmin Express using the same clicking procedure as is standard with darn near every piece of software you get these days (outlined above). Once in, I tried to do the update; and was able to update the software; but, the maps wouldn't update all the way. I called Garmin and they made me switch to the latest version of Express and then everything worked fine. They led me through it and were really professional and helpful. They get a gold star for support in my book.
Back to BaseCamp with a completely updated GPS. Being a computer geek, I'm not one to read a manual or watch an instructional video. I believe software needs to be intuitive, or they need to do a better job in the next release. I would say BaseCamp is not intuitive. I had to go watch videos on YouTube (Boo, :-( , etc.). Finally, I started to understand how their interface works enough that I was able to create some routes.
Needs improvement
The Interface is Clunky. It's not that you need a degree in Computer Science to operate it (I have one), it's that it's not intuitive. As an example, when you use Google Maps and want to change your route, you just drag one section to the place you want to go. It's simple. You can also just type your way points right into the interface. So, if you want to go from Miami Florida to Seattle Washington by way of Atlanta Georgia, Memphis Tenn, Denver Colorado, Yosemite National Park and Boise Idaho, you just type that in and wham, you have a route that you can simply adjust. I haven't figured out any way to just do that yet - not intuitive.Another problem with the interface is that you're constantly selecting tools, kind of like when you're using photo editing software. You have choices between zoom tool, pan tool, pointer, etc. You either use the right tool, or you get to do it again. I think better use of the mouse/track pad is in order here.
Particularly distressing is the ability to zoom on the fly. Say you're going on a trip from the acquarium in Tampa Florida to your favorite bistro in Atlanta Georgia. You zoom all the way in on Tampa, find the acquarium, switch to the route tool, click on the acquarium. Now, you're zoomed in so tight, there's no way you will see Atlanta, or for that matter anything further than a couple blocks from the aquarium, so you figure out that you have to use the + and - keys to control zoom, get the picture big enough that you can now see Atalanta, but, now what? You can see Atalanta and Tampa in the same screen; but, forget about using your zoom tool to zoom in on Atlanta because you will zoom right back in on Tampa. Remember, you're still in your routing tool, so clicking on the map will reorient your zoom; but, also plot a route to that point. What I had to do was exactly that - drop a point on the route over Atlanta and then start to zoom in on my point. Say the point is on the Northwest of city center and when you zoom in, you realize that you dropped your point Southwest. I just hit control Z, and then clicked on a point closer to my destination and repeated until I had it right where I wanted it. I'd say that's pretty clunky and I hope that after I watch a couple more hours of video, I'll find there's a better way. As a sidebar, the videos were produced by some marketing guy, I'm sure of it. I don't need to be sold. I already have the product. Explain it to me, don't sell it to me. I digress.
The third nasty surprise is moving a point on a route. Back to our example with Google Maps... Got a route and want to bend it to another highway? No problem, grab it and drag it. Done. Not so much with this interface. I think you hold the option key and then click. When you do, you get these crazy vector cross hair kind of things that make you think you're about to vector a missile into outer space or something. It clearly makes you think you believe you learned something about this in sophomore year geometry; but, you forgot it. Either way, you have to drag a point before the intersection of the part of the route you want to move or it won't work the way you expect. Wait! I think it's the other way around. You may have to grab a point of the leg after the intersection... See what I mean? It's a disaster. I haven't moved very many points this way at all. It should be intuitive and it's not. I'll watch more instructional videos.
Worked Well
Clearly, I can (with a little work) make my own routes and upload them. I can also download previous routes. Having this much control over my routing is outstanding. Up until now, the only controls I really had were shortest vs. fastest route plus avoidances (traffic, highway, toll, ferry, etc.). This is a major step up. I can also share my routes with other people. So, if I happen to find the most awesome-est route through Yosemite National Park, I can download it, send it to a friend, who can upload it into their GPS and ride it. This is a really awesome capability.I tried hard to make BaseCamp take a route that violated my preferences. It wouldn't do it. I said no highways and Garmin carved that into stone. When part of my route would have been faster and shorter by using the highway, Garmin stuck to it's...software code (since it doesn't have guns) and routed me according to my preferences. No matter what I did to try to trick it into taking the highway, it wouldn't.
I liked that Garmin requires you to plug in your GPS. I know they do it for licensing reasons; but, by making you do that, you're guaranteed not to get a route out of BaseCamp that you can't ride because your map isn't up to date. I see this as a plus. I also see it as a plus because as as long as you're plugged into a laptop with an Internet connection, you can update your map.
Riding the route, my GPS prompted me just as I expected. In fact, I was a little careless in clicking my route points and in one case, I actually clicked on the airport, about a quarter mile from the intersection, so the GPS tried to take me there. The good news is that when I ignored the point and stayed on the rest of the route, it didn't try to recalculate my route back to the point I missed.
The Final Word
Quality software needs to do 4 things in my mind: 1) It needs to install without any issues. 2) It needs to function as intended. 3) The user interface/experience must be exceptional. 4) It must be secure. Now, security isn't really a factor for this review, so I give it 100% for Install, 100% for Function (in fact, there is very cool functionality I haven't tested yet) and I give it 50% for user interface / experience, for 250 of 300 possible points, or a grade of 82.5% or B-. In my opinion, Garmin can add a thousand other functional components; but, until they make the user interface / experience better, they will never earn an A.Sunday, March 8, 2015
20150307 - Riding a big street bike in a freshly plowed farmer's field
There's only two real reasons for you to be reading this. Either you want to try this, or you're shocked that someone would take a 750#+ motorcycle off road. If you fall into the second category, please read on and be entertained. If you fall into the first category, I recommend that stop now, search for mental health professionals in your area, particularly one that also rides, and heed their advice.
Now, if you're still reading and convinced that you're going to do this, there are some things that I recommend you bring along and do to prepare for your adventure.
So, the GS Giants were putting on a rally this weekend and I was invited along. We were going to hit Destination Daytona first and then head out and meet some serious off road riders. The thought was that I'd hang with these guys as long as I could, grab some pavement and meet them at the next land mark with an address and a nice cold sweet tea. That isn't exactly how it turned out. They have this idea of a roll chart and it doesn't have addresses on it. Landmarks are hard to come by.
There was a difference of opinion as to how hard the "easy" route was and someone even speculated that it could be done 2 up. Another router planner couldn't believe I would try it on a K16 and thought I was BSing him. After about 5 minutes of "no seriously, I'm riding a K1600GT," he told me I wouldn't make it.
The next morning, we all met. There must have been 60 or more bikes. We went over the rules and were off. It worked out that there were some folks that really were a bit apprehensive and wanted to stay with our group. We were happy to have them along. There were about 7 of us in our little group.
As I said before, I have no experience in the dirt; but, reasoned that the challenge was to go fast enough to keep forward motion; but, not so fast that my Road Pilots would lose traction. I also reasoned that I should probably look far ahead and not worry about the ruts and tracks; be loose in the elbows and let the bike find it's way. That proved to be a good strategy. Finding that sweet spot wasn't hard. When the rear end breaks loose, you know you need to gently get off the throttle and not grab the brake; lest one wants to high side the bike. The trick is to keep your balance while the bike is finding it's way. The whole side ways slipping motion isn't all that foreign. It sort of feels like riding on a rear tire that is going flat.
At some point, I got the bike sideways; but, I never stopped and managed to pull out of it. The rear end came around to the right, I turned the handlebars all the way to the right, just like taking a rear wheel drive car out of a skid, and got off the throttle. I was focused more on balance. At some point I got a bit anxious and put my left leg down at which point, the bike swung back around and my leg almost went under the hard case on the left. I quickly learned that I need to resist that urge and keep my feet on the pegs at all times. I got a bit more than a half mile of this before I retired to hard pavement. I had learned a lot and continuing would simply be pressing the good luck I was having so far. Half a mile of this is quite a bit!
I dealt with 2 types of off road - one was the aforementioned farmers field and the other was a hard dirt surface. Actually, the hard dirt surface presents challenges of it's own. After going through 2.5 - 3" of powder like soil, you would think that hard dirt would be easy. It's not. The first thing you realize is that you're likely to bleed a lot more if you go down on this stuff. It looks very hard and foreboding; whereas a farmers field with all that soft soil seems more like it would be landing on a stack of firm pillows. I was also traveling faster, which means less reaction time. Mostly, I was doing about 25 mph on the hard surface and very relaxed. What I didn't like about it was when I hit some rut, tire track or whatever else and I'd get a shot of adrenaline. When that happens, grip tightens and so do the arms and legs - exactly what you don't need. I don't know yet how to train that out; except maybe to ride in the dirt a lot more.
At lunch, I learned that you shouldn't use the front brake off road. This might have been useful information to have before I started riding.
I have to say that I feel much more confident on this bike on dirt roads than ever before. Clearly, the bike wasn't made for this type of riding. I didn't get stuck or fall at all. I'm pretty confident that I know the traction limitations of this bike pretty clearly now and have even learned some techniques for dealing with bad terrain. That said, I don't recommend that anyone do this. I think you can get the same, and better, experience taking an off road course on a suitable motorcycle. The end result of all this is that I had a great time and will probably be starting a second blog in the next year - bobs-R1200GS.blogspot.com. Maybe I better try to register that now!
Sorry, no pics or vids yet. I was way too busy to turn on my own GoPro. If I find someone in the group that has good video, I'll post it here.
Now, if you're still reading and convinced that you're going to do this, there are some things that I recommend you bring along and do to prepare for your adventure.
- Permission from the land owner. Should you need his tractor to retrieve your bike, it would go over much better if he knew you were there in the first place. It's also beneficial that he's not running a corn combine or other mechanized machinery that will chop you to bits.
- Lots of friends. You will want friends riding in front. They will help you navigate the tough parts. If they can't make it through, you have no chance. Find another way. You will need friends behind. This is primarily so you don't get stranded as all the other, experienced, mentally balanced, riders leave you in their dust. Most everyone will want to ride behind you as it will give them the best vantage point for their GoPro videos.
- A winch. A 750# bike stuck a mile from the nearest pavement will quickly drain everyone's energy and patience. Have a plan for this.
- ATGATT. It's really likely that you're going to face plant, so you might as well put every thing on.
- First aid kit and splints. If you have to ask, please go back and chat with your mental health professional again.
- Crash bars. I'm not talking about the wimpy little single BMW engine guard, I'm talking front and back Wunderlicht crash bars.
- A sense of humor.
- No fear of falling, being laughed at and potentially hearing about it at every gathering for the rest of your life.
So, the GS Giants were putting on a rally this weekend and I was invited along. We were going to hit Destination Daytona first and then head out and meet some serious off road riders. The thought was that I'd hang with these guys as long as I could, grab some pavement and meet them at the next land mark with an address and a nice cold sweet tea. That isn't exactly how it turned out. They have this idea of a roll chart and it doesn't have addresses on it. Landmarks are hard to come by.
There was a difference of opinion as to how hard the "easy" route was and someone even speculated that it could be done 2 up. Another router planner couldn't believe I would try it on a K16 and thought I was BSing him. After about 5 minutes of "no seriously, I'm riding a K1600GT," he told me I wouldn't make it.
The next morning, we all met. There must have been 60 or more bikes. We went over the rules and were off. It worked out that there were some folks that really were a bit apprehensive and wanted to stay with our group. We were happy to have them along. There were about 7 of us in our little group.
As I said before, I have no experience in the dirt; but, reasoned that the challenge was to go fast enough to keep forward motion; but, not so fast that my Road Pilots would lose traction. I also reasoned that I should probably look far ahead and not worry about the ruts and tracks; be loose in the elbows and let the bike find it's way. That proved to be a good strategy. Finding that sweet spot wasn't hard. When the rear end breaks loose, you know you need to gently get off the throttle and not grab the brake; lest one wants to high side the bike. The trick is to keep your balance while the bike is finding it's way. The whole side ways slipping motion isn't all that foreign. It sort of feels like riding on a rear tire that is going flat.
At some point, I got the bike sideways; but, I never stopped and managed to pull out of it. The rear end came around to the right, I turned the handlebars all the way to the right, just like taking a rear wheel drive car out of a skid, and got off the throttle. I was focused more on balance. At some point I got a bit anxious and put my left leg down at which point, the bike swung back around and my leg almost went under the hard case on the left. I quickly learned that I need to resist that urge and keep my feet on the pegs at all times. I got a bit more than a half mile of this before I retired to hard pavement. I had learned a lot and continuing would simply be pressing the good luck I was having so far. Half a mile of this is quite a bit!
I dealt with 2 types of off road - one was the aforementioned farmers field and the other was a hard dirt surface. Actually, the hard dirt surface presents challenges of it's own. After going through 2.5 - 3" of powder like soil, you would think that hard dirt would be easy. It's not. The first thing you realize is that you're likely to bleed a lot more if you go down on this stuff. It looks very hard and foreboding; whereas a farmers field with all that soft soil seems more like it would be landing on a stack of firm pillows. I was also traveling faster, which means less reaction time. Mostly, I was doing about 25 mph on the hard surface and very relaxed. What I didn't like about it was when I hit some rut, tire track or whatever else and I'd get a shot of adrenaline. When that happens, grip tightens and so do the arms and legs - exactly what you don't need. I don't know yet how to train that out; except maybe to ride in the dirt a lot more.
At lunch, I learned that you shouldn't use the front brake off road. This might have been useful information to have before I started riding.
I have to say that I feel much more confident on this bike on dirt roads than ever before. Clearly, the bike wasn't made for this type of riding. I didn't get stuck or fall at all. I'm pretty confident that I know the traction limitations of this bike pretty clearly now and have even learned some techniques for dealing with bad terrain. That said, I don't recommend that anyone do this. I think you can get the same, and better, experience taking an off road course on a suitable motorcycle. The end result of all this is that I had a great time and will probably be starting a second blog in the next year - bobs-R1200GS.blogspot.com. Maybe I better try to register that now!
Sorry, no pics or vids yet. I was way too busy to turn on my own GoPro. If I find someone in the group that has good video, I'll post it here.
20150307 - GS Giants rally
Truth be known, everything on this weekend was a surprise to me. I didn't expect to be walking the streets of Destination Datona on the first day of Bike Week, nor did I expect what was in store for me with the GS Giants rally.
My education started on Friday knight, when we met at the American Legion lodge in St. Augustine for lobster. There were about 10 of us at the table, including 2 of the organizers. There were a three guys we socialized with most and I learned that there would be about 60 riders or so in the group. This was going to be quite a ride. We asked Bill (one of the organizers) if he thought the ride could be done on a K1600GT and he said yes. He thought it would be fine. At the end of the night, we asked Rich, who was probably the lead guy in designing this route the same question. He laughed and asked if I was BSing him. I said no. He said no, seriously. What are you riding? Will this continued for a couple minutes until finally, he believed me and Jeff. He said he thought it was impossible. Oh boy!
So, after dinner, I head back to my room, which smells like the inside of a dryer because the heat is up and all my stuff is hung all over the place drying. All my gear was soaked from riding in the rain and my tent was damp from the night before; so, I hung everything to dry. I fell asleep excited about the next day. I knew that I was going to learn and experience something very knew - even if I didn't go far and just routed around the dirt.
On Saturday morning, I missed Jeff and Cliff for breakfast; but, managed to meet them at the lighthouse.
Lunch was in Micanopy. we learned that one rider had an accident and broke a collar bone. We were also disappointed that we hadn't seen Dilan or Mellisa. We were all having a great time though. Cliff told me that everyone kept talking about the guy on the K16 doing this ride.
After a nice lunch, I grabbed some water for the remainder of the ride and off we went. We almost missed the first turn off; but, everyone got on course. Two riders got between me and the rest of the group, which was fine because I knew we'd be off road soon, and I was definitely going to be the slowest. Sure enough, we were off road again. This road got to a stop sign and there were no motorcycles anywhere. I went right and didn't find the group. After a couple miles, I pulled over and grabbed my phone. Jeff texted me at that very moment. I told him what happened and told him to continue. At this point, I must have done about 4 or 5 miles of dirt road riding on my bike. I gained a ton of experience and just didn't want to keep making the group wait. I told them I'd meet them in Steinhatchie, the rallies dinner destination.
I brought out the road atlas...you do carry a road atlas, right? I decided on a course to Jasper Florida and then West to Greenville Florida, south through Perry and into Steinhatchie. I set the GPS to avoid toll roads and highways and ended up doing some very nice street riding I really want to do this route again. Here are some pics I took along the way.
The next two, I took for Jeff and Cliff. They get points for wildlife! I thought it would be funny if Jeff turned these in, since nobody on the route would have seen these.
This one was for Mike Adams.
Here's the map of my route, and here is the map of all rides on my K1600GT to date:
My education started on Friday knight, when we met at the American Legion lodge in St. Augustine for lobster. There were about 10 of us at the table, including 2 of the organizers. There were a three guys we socialized with most and I learned that there would be about 60 riders or so in the group. This was going to be quite a ride. We asked Bill (one of the organizers) if he thought the ride could be done on a K1600GT and he said yes. He thought it would be fine. At the end of the night, we asked Rich, who was probably the lead guy in designing this route the same question. He laughed and asked if I was BSing him. I said no. He said no, seriously. What are you riding? Will this continued for a couple minutes until finally, he believed me and Jeff. He said he thought it was impossible. Oh boy!
So, after dinner, I head back to my room, which smells like the inside of a dryer because the heat is up and all my stuff is hung all over the place drying. All my gear was soaked from riding in the rain and my tent was damp from the night before; so, I hung everything to dry. I fell asleep excited about the next day. I knew that I was going to learn and experience something very knew - even if I didn't go far and just routed around the dirt.
On Saturday morning, I missed Jeff and Cliff for breakfast; but, managed to meet them at the lighthouse.
This is a small fraction of the bikes present. Notice the one bike that doesn't belong in the group. Now, I will say that in talking to these riders, there were quite a few that were pretty apprehensive about this ride. I saw a bunch of brand new R1200GS bikes with riders on top that were very concerned about what was ahead. There were also groups of guys there that looked like they were born in the dirt. Clearly, I'd be nowhere near them on this ride.
At this point, I learned that they were going to use a roll chart for routing. This is really old school. No GPS useage here. In fact, the roll tape didn't even have street names on them Directions were like - go .2 of a mile and turn leftish onto the dirt road. Here's a resource for roll charts.
So, the first part of this ride took us through historic St. Augustine. This was really awesome. The roll chart gave locations where you had to get a picture of some land mark or a selfie, etc. There were also bonus points on this ride for getting a picture of your wrecked ride, or wild life, or something else interesting. I didn't grab any of these photos; but, I will reference Jeff's blog as I'm sure he'll have the pics out there - www.wheredoesthatroadgo.com.
So, after about 20 minutes or so after this, we leave town. Before you know it, the road dog legs left and we go straight. It was paved for about a tenth of a mile, then became hard dirt, then, I we were in a freshly plowed farmers field with 2.5 to 3" of soil that I can best describe as powder. My big bike was a bit sloppy in the rear end and I needed to quickly figure out an appropriate speed that would allow me to make forward progress and keep the rear end from breaking loose. We stopped almost right away and everyone wanted to know how I was doing. They were determined to drag me through all of it. I was excited and having a great time - press on!
So, after about half of a mile of this, I check my mirror and notice that Dillan and Mellissa weren't behind me any more. They met us at the rally point and wanted to tag along with me because they thought I'd be doing more street riding. Well, it so happens that Mellissa dumped her bike. Some other rider went passed and told me they were OK and that they would be along shortly. I will write another post about technicalities of the ride in another post. It clearly deserves its own.
After a while, Melissa and Dillan caught up to me and we all caught up to Jeff and Cliff. Onward! So, another 2 tenths of a mile up, I saw a place where I could exit to hard pavement and, not knowing how much of this was ahead, I decided to bail. Melissa and Dillan followed me. I stopped and we talked. They decided they were going to continue on the trail and catch up to Jeff and Cliff, so I bailed. I thought I might try to find the group when they hit pavement again. Along the way, I needed to pull over and adjust my dry bag, the straps were coming loose. So, I came off Rose st., made a right on some county road that paralleled the farmers field they were in and came to an intersection a couple miles up. From that intersection, I could see Cliff's bright red jacket about a mile and a half down. I jumped on it and met them. They asked about Doug and Mellissa and I said they were going to catch up with them. We all waited. They never arrived. We got worried. We knew other GS riders would be along and we even talked to the farmer who said he'd take a trip up there on his 4 wheeler. He said he planned to make some money today helping folks lift their bikes out of the dirt.
So, the next point we needed to make was a church. The group decided to go with me, instead of doing more dirt. Finding the church was a bit of a chore; but, we managed - more pictures - onward we go.
A short time later, we were on another dirt road. This was pretty tricky and after about a mile, it crossed hard pavement. I decided to get off. I could see ahead that the group of bikes was going forward about a half mile, making a hard right and then I lost sight of them. I made a right and thought I'd find a road to turn left on and parallel their track as best I could. I did that, and after a short while, I found a main road that turned left again and should put me right in front of them. About a half mile down this road, I saw a dirt road that came out on to the road I was on and thought they would probably come out there. I turned around, and there was Cliff in his red jacket! Found again. We were all back on pavement till we got to the next dirt road.
That ended soon and we were on a paved road that was washed out with mud at one point and now had tire tracks carved through it. Fortunately, it was dry; but, it was very difficult to navigate and I wasn't able to make any speed. I lost sight of everyone at some point and eventually, I came across Doug, who was off his bike talking to some guy. I pulled up as the guy was telling Doug that the group continued down the road, so off we went. We met up with the group right at the end of the dirt road.
At this point, everyone was hungry, so we decided to bail and go to the restaurant for lunch. We were an hour away. They wanted me to lead the group, so I did. Lunch was great. I had a Cuban sandwich and sweet tea. I think the Cuban was the best I've had yet!
Lunch was in Micanopy. we learned that one rider had an accident and broke a collar bone. We were also disappointed that we hadn't seen Dilan or Mellisa. We were all having a great time though. Cliff told me that everyone kept talking about the guy on the K16 doing this ride.
After a nice lunch, I grabbed some water for the remainder of the ride and off we went. We almost missed the first turn off; but, everyone got on course. Two riders got between me and the rest of the group, which was fine because I knew we'd be off road soon, and I was definitely going to be the slowest. Sure enough, we were off road again. This road got to a stop sign and there were no motorcycles anywhere. I went right and didn't find the group. After a couple miles, I pulled over and grabbed my phone. Jeff texted me at that very moment. I told him what happened and told him to continue. At this point, I must have done about 4 or 5 miles of dirt road riding on my bike. I gained a ton of experience and just didn't want to keep making the group wait. I told them I'd meet them in Steinhatchie, the rallies dinner destination.
I brought out the road atlas...you do carry a road atlas, right? I decided on a course to Jasper Florida and then West to Greenville Florida, south through Perry and into Steinhatchie. I set the GPS to avoid toll roads and highways and ended up doing some very nice street riding I really want to do this route again. Here are some pics I took along the way.
The next two, I took for Jeff and Cliff. They get points for wildlife! I thought it would be funny if Jeff turned these in, since nobody on the route would have seen these.
This one was for Mike Adams.
Here's the map of my route, and here is the map of all rides on my K1600GT to date:
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