20171013 - Redlands to Sedona to Redlands

Sometime around Thursday afternoon, I realized I had a weekend ahead of me and no assignments due in the coming week.  This, of course, means a motorcycle ride was in the making.  These are the details of said ride.

At 3:45 on Friday, as soon as my customer had enough of me, I bolted out the door, changed into riding gear, threw the gear on the bike and started riding.  I knew I'd ride on Thursday, so I put my gear together, so all I'd have to do is tie it down to the bike and leave.  My destination was unclear and equally unimportant.  I considered that there are many wildfires in the middle part of California, so a northern route from Redlands wasn't going to be much fun.  Temps in Utah, specifically around Bryce, were already dipping into the high twenties in the evenings, so Utah wasn't going to be a good option.  The Pacific ocean stopped me from going too far west, so east it was.  I left the office at 3:45 and was packed and on my way by just after 4 pm.

I stopped for the night in Blyth California, after the sun called it quits for the day.  After gassing up, I strolled into the Comfort Suites and checked into a room.  I realized after stepping out for dinner that the room hadn't cooled down at all and had to pack up all my stuff and move to another room...and then another room.  The first two did not have AC.  They were controlled by wall thermometers that just weren't making the fan come on.  At 75 degrees F, there was no way I was going to sleep, and there was no way I was paying $89 plus tax for a warm room in the desert.  This hotel did something for efficiency where the occupant is required to slide their room card into a slot inside the room to get the lights to come on.  If the card is pulled out, the lights all go out.  The idea is that if you're not in the room, the room shuts down and saves electricity.  I'm wondering if the energy savings idea also means that the temperature is controlled at the front desk and management doesn't let it go over 75.  I'll never know because the nice young lady at the desk was helpful in finding me a room that had an airconditioner with independent controls.

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(Saturday)

California was hosting a Red Flag Alert up and down the 95 corridor.  For those not in the know, and I was one of those people until Google came to my rescue, a Red Flag Alert occurs when the government believes that conditions are ideal for wildfires.  I believe they were right because when I got off my bike in Blythe California, I noted that it was completely covered in ash and I was able to smell burning wood for several miles coming into Blythe.  I've done a lot of things on this motorcycle, and it did cross my mind to head up 95 anyway.  I mean, how many riders can say they outrode a wildfire?  Despite the temptation, I really didn't have a good destination for after Hover Dam, so I planned to have lunch in Sedona Arizona and come up with something from there.

My route took me to Brenda, Arizona where I picked up Rt. 60.  Brenda is just another desert town occupied by RV's.  There is nothing in all directions. I mean they probably had dial-up internet access.  Verizon isn't going to be laying down fiber anytime soon.

Rt. 60 is a straight road with lots of desert all around.  Soon enough though, I picked up Rt. 71 for more straight, desert riding.  Similar riding continued all the way into Congress, AZ where I encountered a single twisty segment followed by more straight road.  Eventually though, I was nearing Prescot where there were lots of twisty roads!  The speed limit was a souring 35 mph and to make sure I wouldn't violate that, Arizona placed an elderly lady in a red Kia squarely in front of me, doing between 20 and 35.  To make double sure, they also placed a state trooper in one of the turnouts.  The trooper was easily avoided because some nice guy on a Harley alerted me to his presence a few miles beforehand.  Someone should write to John McCain about that section of road.  There should be a law against having laws that detract from having fun.

Behold the lady in the red Kia:





From Prescot, I hooked up with 89A, and there are some nice twisty roads on the way to Jerome.  I shot a ton of video coming through Jerome.  Guess what?  None of it came out.  I have no excuse.  I'll do it again (  :-)  ).  Jerome was a happening place.  There was some burger place serving haunted burgers or something.  People came from miles around for these.  After that, the next real town was Cottonwood.  Cottonwood is not a destination, but it had gas, and enough of it to get me all the way to Sedona, maybe 10 miles away.

Sedona is a nice place and is obviously the gateway to the Red Messas.  I thought about deploying the drone until I saw helicopter tours being given.  I suppose if I get there first, I'm just as entitled to the airspace, but, being a pilot myself, I'm just not up for chancing a close encounter of the helicopter kind.  The drone stayed in its case.  Lunch was a very nice Greek Salad at some pizza place with outdoor seating.  I have to say that the weather in Sedona was perfect.  In fact, even in the desert portions of this trip, the weather was perfect.  I took a look at a map and realized that I barely had 500 miles in on this trip, probably due to all the low-speed limits and the red Kia.  I still had a day and a half in front of me, so I decided to stay in the Coconino Park, go back to CottonWood, take a left on 260 and follow that to the western edge of the state.  I thought I'd re-work the plan from there.


Coconino is a very nice park.  I'd say that it's not exactly a park I'd plan a trip to, but it has some nice country views.  I had my sights set on Slow Low, Arizona to figure out my next move and I was a little surprised how fast I got there.  I was expecting more slow riding, but the speed limit was 65 in parts.  There is nothing much in Slow Low, except a gas station and a turn onto 60 to get me to the Interstate, where I would look for suitable lodgings for the evening.

About 10 miles out of Slow Low, the October sun was setting and at a horrible angle.  After getting gas, I really had to get off the road or risk an accident.  I could barely see at times, and I knew I wasn't being seen.  Time for supper.  I found a place called Judy's something or other.  I thought I could get a decent meal there.  I was wrong.  I had asked the waitress what on the menu was home cooked and she got this very befuddled look on her face.  She said, "Honey, nothing is home cooked anywhere anymore."  How distressing.  I had some reconstituted pot roast.  It was edible.  I was disappointed, but not surprised.  I did not expect to find fine dining, but I am always hoping to find memorable quisine when I get to a little town.

On the road again, I headed toward Mesa.  I was a little concerned with my chances of finding a room if I stayed too far west.  The first Best Western I saw was Gold Rush Best Western in Gold Canyon.  After the previous evening's fiasco, I was looking forward to an uneventful stay.  The room was nice, but it had this very faint smell of cigarette smoke.  It wasn't enough to set off my allergies or cause me to get a new room, but it was noticeable, particularly when going out of the room and coming back in.  The king size bed was comfortable though.  While I relaxed, I pulled up Google Maps to see what my next move was going to be.  I was 350 miles from Redlands, and it would take 5 hours plus stops to get back.

I decided that I would take a nice leisurely ride back in the morning and get some things done around the apartment...like catch up on my blogging.  I was up at 6 am and on the bike by 7.  7 am seems to be my start time more often than not.  The plan was to take 60, circle the city to the north and pop out on 10 for a super-slab ride back home.  The ride was mostly uneventful.

Somewhere west of Phoenix, my check engine light came on.  I pulled off the highway at a Lowe's truck stop and consulted my GPS-911, which I carry on all long-distance trips.  It occurred to me right then that I might not have been able to use it if I hadn't brought my laptop!  I was considering leaving it behind.  Lesson learned!  The indication was that one of the coils was having an issue.  This is good news and bad news.  The good news is that if it gives out, I'll lose power (18%), but I'll still make it back.  The bad news is coils cost $200 each, before labor.  If one coil is going, it's likely the rest are going to go before too long; after all, my bike now has 74,000 miles on it.  All I could think about on the ride back was whether I should just get a new bike and forego dealing with the issues that come with a high mileage bike, or if I should just replace all of them ($1200 + labor), or if I should do the work myself ($1200 + time).  I needed a contingency plan knowing that I was just about to start a 3-hour trek across the desert and had a risk of being broken down, so I ran inside and grabbed an extra bottle of water before getting on the road again.

The ride through the desert at mid-day always sucks.  The air is so dry that your nose will water to stay moist.  Even though it was only 96 (112 the last time I went through), it was hot enough to zap every bit of energy from my body.   There was some split-lane travel required around Indio, but other than that, the ride back was uneventful.

Here are the maps:

I think my next gig needs to be in Dallas, or maybe Boise Idaho, so I can start filling in some of the empty sections.

Ah yest,  look what I discovered about my riding boots...

Time to see the cobbler.

20170830 - 73,214 - Total Cost of Ownership

Folks,

My bike is just off an annual maintenance and a huge front end repair.  I noted some wobble in the front end while on my last 6500 mile run, which I thought was a road issue.  Gateway BMW had another thought about it.  As soon as they put it up on the stand, they felt the front end shake.  I was able to get it back to my home dealer and wasn't about to attempt the repair myself.  There was something in there about needing head and a190 ft/lbs of torque on something or other.  I also thought that this would be better done with trained hands.  I'm a computer guy, not a mechanic.

While it was there, I had them do my annual maintenance.  I normally do that myself, but it was there, apart, and I was short on time.  The total bill for that service was $2985.65.

Always doing the numbers, I added that to my cost of ownership spreadsheet.

These are the numbers, by miles traveled:
 

73,214		Invoice	2985.65	0.51
60,000		Invoice	874.86	0.57
60,000		Invoice	348.87	0.55
54250		Invoice	114.46	0.61
51,000		Invoice - Filter	27.73	0.64
51,000		Invoice - Oil	28.26	0.64
47603		Invoice - Spark Plugs	135.6	0.69
47603		Invoice - Cylinder head gasket	115.52	0.68
47603		Invoice - Mouting and blanacing	98.67	0.68
47603		Invoice	684.36	0.68
41000		Z - Invoice	105.37	0.77
35866		Z - Invoice	1373.89	0.88
33092		Z - Invoice	793.89	0.91
20000		Z - Invoice	1176.74	1.47
18656		Z - Invoice	163.09	1.51
16370		Z - Invoice	445.52	1.71
11948		Z - Invoice	398.01	2.31
11162		Z - Invoice	235.55	2.44
6005		Z - Invoice	511.25	4.49
774		Z - Invoice	175.5	34.18
463		Z - Invoice	141.99	56.77
18		Z - Invoice	140.93	1452.27
1		Initial Cost	26,000	26000

It looks like I may be at an inflection point.  On this last trip, a check engine light came on.  One of my coils is going.  I may elect to replace them all vs. having another one go shortly after replacing this one.  I can do the job myself, but time is an issue.  Decisions, decisions!

20170827 - Grand Junction Colorado to Redlands California

I'm doing this out of order.  Yesterday was a long day, and today was going to be even longer.  We arrived in Grand Junction before dark.  The last 30 miles were hard as we were riding through the desert.  Desert heat takes away so much energy.
 
Jim had Marriot points and used them to get us two rooms.  We were staying at a Residence Inn, so it was a shame that such a nice room was only used for one quick evening.

While eating dinner with Jim, I discovered that the ride home was going to be 750 miles, not 500 miles.  That was a game changer.  I was expecting 500 because when I looked a map a couple days ago, I thought I was going to make it past Grand Junction and get 250 miles closer to my destination before turning in.  That didn' happen.

750 miles of mostly super-slab will take about 10 hours, plus traffic.  Temperatures were expected to be over 100 for a large part of the ride.  As above, this is very hard riding.  I planned to be up at 4 am and start riding to get as many miles out of the way as possible before the temperature got into the 90's.

Surprisingly, when the alarm went off at 4am, I was able to jump out of bed, get ready very quickly and had the kickstand up at 4:20 am.  It was dark, and I-70 doesn' have street lights.  It does have an 80mph speed limit though.  The good news was that at that hour, there aren't many vehicles on the road, so I was able to make extensive use of the high-beams.  I don't think I saw anything except the road from Grand Junction until I was half-way to I-15.  When the sun came up behind me, it illuminated some fantastic landscape.  The elevation was no more than about 7,000' at the highest, but the temperature dropped down to 43 degrees.

I was on I-15 by 7:45.  The temperature was climbing into the 80's already, and I was headed into the desert.  I was quite aware that it was going to be a hot day.  As it worked out, I managed to go get into Las Vegas while the temperature was just barely making it to 100 degrees, but temps greater than 100 degrees would last all the way home.  The high temperature was 111 degrees.  I only stopped for fuel and had breakfast bars to eat.  The one thing that was quite clear on this ride is that a breakdown in the desert would be very bad.  At those temperatures, it would be miserable waiting for help.  Hydration would clearly be an issue.

I arrived home just before 1:30 pm PST.  Here are the customary maps.  I didn't take any video today.  This is the whole 6500-mile trip.

20170826 - Salinas, Colorado to Grand Junction, Colorado

The morning plan was to get some breakfast and go to the Nissan dealer to find the part Jim needs for his Ducati.  We ate breakfast at a pancake house in Salinas.  The food was good and I'd go there again.

  The dealership, the dealership that Google said was in Salinas, wasn't there.   We rode across town a few times before coming to the conclusion that it simply wasn't there.  The plan was to move on to Durango and if there was a dealership there, get the part in Durango.

Words are insufficient to describe Colorado.  Gorgeous, un-polluted skies, crystal clear streams, and plenty of uneven terrain with enormous pine trees are everywhere.  Some of the streams are actually copper color; not the water, but the land the water runs through.  The water is crystal clear.  I also noted that there are a lot of fly-0-fisherman in Colorado.

When we arrived in Durango, we stopped for lunch in town.  It was interesting because when I travel alone, I don't venture in-town , and I should.  We were able to find parking and headed into a bar/grill.  I was nice to stop at some non-chain place for food.

Durango did have a Nissan dealer, and they had the relay Jim was looking for.  Jim bought 6.  They were only $2 each.  This brought up an interesting conversation between Jim and I.  Modern bikes can leave you stranded over a $2 part, and there are dozens of them on a modern bike.  Fuses, relays, switchesk, and computers can all leave a person stranded wi their bike in the middle of nowhere.  We talked at length about what should really be in the tool-kit.  Do you stop at fuses and relays, or do you search for other easily replacable parts that can break?  I plan to do some investigation into my bike top see what sorts of things can stop the bike from starting, or even turn it off while I'm riding.

After Durango, we got on the Million dollar highway.  The name is quite apropos.  The views are breathktaking.  I'm going to let some video do the talking.

<<<<insert go-pro video>>>

While we were riding, we stopped a couple times to shoot some drone video.

<<<insert drone vvideo from the turnout>>>

This video waas taken from a pull-out about 1/2  a mile from where we saw some wooden buildings in a canyon.  We decided to stop and send the drone in for a look.  This was a little scary.  We knew what direction the buildings were in, but we kweren't able to see the drone once it decended below thetree line.  It sure was fun flying the drone by looking through the camera.  This was really the first time I did that.  Enjoy the video.

<<<insert drone video of mining buildings>>>`

20170825 - Castle Rock, Colorado to Salida, Colorado

The plan was to meet at 8 am, fly my drone with Jim and his brother for awhile, get some video, slide over for some breakfast and start riding.  We had trouble straight off.

Jim's rear tire was flat.  He needed a new one, and the nearest repair facility wasn't open yet.  When they did open, they were very accommodating and said they would take us right in.  We were planning to leave and go south, but we were definitely heading north into Denver.

While Jim checked in his bike, John and I made the rounds around this motorsport place.  They have a ton of bikes.  Everything you may have wanted to buy was there.   After check-in, we went to have breakfast at a local breakfast place, and before too long, Jim's bike was ready to go.  Jim was worried that this was seriously cutting into our motorcycle play time, but these things happen and must be taken care of.  I was glad to see Jim riding around on new sneakers.  In his words, he's a 'spirited' rider.  The old tires would not do.  They simply needed to go.

We left Denver for some spectacular riding through the plains.  Jim was riding a Ducati Multistrada.  The bike is a beast.  John was riding a 2000 BMW GS.  John has a bike that can't perform like Jim's Ducatti or my K1600, but he rides it like a beast.  For hours, we were having a good time.  The sky was a beautiful blue with some nice white puffy clouds.  All that hung above the incredible pine trees, streams, and mountain faces.  Breathtaking is one way to describe it.  Here's a quick 2 minute part of our ride...


Shortly after this clip, we came to a stop on the road.  We had to wait for a pilot car to take us through a construction zone.  We waited for about 3 or 4 minutes, and then followed the car slowly through the construction.  It wasn't long after that, I saw 10 red bars and a blinking exclamation point.  My bike was hot and needed a break.


Fortunately, I had a GS-911 and was able to plug in and get some real-time readings regarding temperature, fan status, etc.  We were able to determine that the bike was getting cooled and the fan was coming on.  We checked the cooling fluid, and it was normal.  We packed up with the plan to keep a close eye on it.  I didn't have any more problems for the rest of the day.  One thing is for certain; when I get back to California, I will be due for major service, and the coolant will be flushed and filled.  Hopefully, I don't have any issues before then.

We rode and about 2:30 in the afternoon broke for lunch.  Jane's kitchen was the place and it was a local, something better than fast-food place.  It was nothing to write home about.  From there, we said our goodbyes to John, who had to turn around and go back.  Jim and I left for Durango.

It wasn't but 30-45 minutes later that Jim's engine simply stopped running while we were doing 70mph.  We got it to the side of the road, and after a few minutes it started again.  We continued, but it stopped again.  We coasted to the bottom of the hill and Jim called his mechanic.  This had happened before and required Jim to have it towed in.  We happened to be in luck.  The mechanic sent pictures to Jim about what he needed to do.  Basically, he needed to switch out a relay.  We also were lucky in that a guy riding a BMW RT stopped and asked if we needed help.  We did.  We needed Allen keys and didn't have any.  Ron had a full set.  That got us back on the road.

It was late in the afternoon, and neither of us thought it was a good idea to continue on until we could secure a permanent replacement for the bad relay.  The town of Salinas offered accommodations and auto parts stores.  We stopped at the Gateway Inn and got rooms.

After checking in, we went and tried to get a replacement relay.  Neither auto parts store had it.  We found out that the Nissan Parts store is in this town and would probably have it.  We will see tomorrow.  We also went back to where we were pulled over on the side of the road.  Jim left the cover plate behind.  That has not been found yet.  More on this tomorrow.

20170824 - Kansas City, Kansas to Castle Rock, Colorado

590 miles in this day, all of it super-slab.  Kansas is flat.  There wasn't a single elevation change until I arrived in Colorado; corners were elusive as well.  The good news is that it is gorgeous.  There was no weather to be had, but now that I'm in Colorado, the skies look like rain.  :-(  Hopefully tomorrow will be nice.

My route was Rt. 70 all the way to Rt. 86.  At that point I left the super-slab for 56 miles.  Colorado is simply gorgeous.  I can't wait to ride tomorrow and get some really nice pics.  My drone is charging now.  I may post a video of Castle Rock.  I need to make sure it's safe to fly around here first.

My today map and trip map are below.  So far I'm into this trip about 5,000 miles.

20180823 - Beaver Creek, Ohio - Kansas City, Kansas

After yesterdays service, I realized my tires simply were not going to make it all the way home.  It seems like everything happens with 3 minutes left in business hours.  That was again the case when I found a BMW dealer on my path to Colorado.  I wanted an early start, so I picked Missouri to start looking found Gateway BMW in St. Louis.  I made an appointment for 2:30 expecting traffic in Indianapolis.  The plan was to get new Road Pilot 4.  I have to say, these RP-4's really suck.  I really want to try something else, but I'd also like to keep the front and back the same.

Traffic was light and primarily truck traffic.  While going through Indianapolis, I saw a lady in the number 3 lane come out of the lane like a NASCAR driver into lane 2 and instinctively, I knew she was going to keep coming.  I had just enough time to start squeezing the brakes before she was in my lane.  I was both slowing down and moving left toward the concrete barrier to avoid a collision.  I wailed on the horn, and it was only at that moment she knew I was there.  I could see she was a combination of terrified, upset, and apologetic.    One would think that would be enough for her to slow down and be cautious about her driving, but that didn't happen.  She was just as aggressive for the next 10 or so miles that we were on the same road.  3 minutes after that first attempt on my life, a second idiot did it, although not as aggressively.

The rest of the trip was very uneventful, and I pulled into Gateway BMW 2:30 early.  The GPS on the bike led me astray, but Google came to the rescue and got me where I needed to be.  Shannon greeted me at the front desk.  Shannon open carries in appendix draw fashion and had 2 extra mags on his weak side.  He also carries a knife on the front of his belt.  I asked him about that, and he said this was a very bad area, and BMW lets him carry, so he does.  We are definitely off to a good start here.

The next discussion we had was about my oil consumption.  Shannon said I was on the bottom end of normal oil consumption.  BMW won't even consider it a problem until it is 1.4L per 6k oil change.  He also said it is the oil, not the engine.  He said what is happening is that the oil is breaking down and that I'm burning more oil in the second 3,000 miles between oil change than the first 3,000.  HE IS SPOT ON ACCURATE.  That is my experience exactly.

We took a look at my bike, and the front tire is at the wear indicator, so the discussion ensued about changing that.  I told him if we were to do that I did not want to go back to MP-4's.  He said my experience matches every other K16 owner he's seen, and all of them are shifting to Dunlop tires.  As I write, I'm waiting for them to put a new set of Dunlops on my bike - front and rear.  Hopefully, these will last longer than the RP4's.

As much as I want to get on my way, it is lunch time at the dealership, and he's hoping he can get me in sooner than my 2:30 appointment.  So far, I'm very impressed with the folks here.  Not only did they get me in on short notice, but they gave me a better explanation of my oil consumption problem than I've had yet.  Note these signs at this BMW Motorrad dealership:

Things didn't exactly go as planned.  Shannon called me in to review an issue he found.  As he was putting the bike on the center stand, he felt a rattle in the front end and on closer inspection, felt the wheel bearings were in need of replacing.  He could shake the front wheel and get movement out of them.  I authorized that repair.  They had the wheel bearings in house and could do that easily during the front wheel change.  The problem was they would have to reuse the seals since they did not have those.  They said reuse shouldn't be a problem.

Awhile later, they called me back.  This time, the tech was working on the wheel bearings, and Shannon showed me that the rattle was still there and some spent wheel bearings.  This was a multiple problem situation.  Next up the chain are the ball joints,.  We could identify movement in the upper.  The lower was unclear.  They did not have ball joints in-house and I could not wait for them to get them.  With very little play in the ball joints, I elected to get that repair done when I got the bike back to California.  They said I should be fine, but to avoid aggressive riding.  Rodger that.

I didn't leave the BMW shop until after 5 pm.  This was a bummer because I really was hoping to get further down the road; however, this was definitely necessary, and in the scheme of things, I could accommodate it.

New wheel bearings made things different for sure.  I still can't decide whether the more responsive front end is due to the different tires or the ball joints, and I can't decide whether the 'hump' I feel like I'm transitioning over during turns (about 5 degrees of lean) is the tire or the bushings.  I'm sure I'm more sensitive to everything going on in the front end and will probably have to wait until I have the ball joints replaced to know for sure.  Either way, I'm definitely not riding as aggressively as I have been.

20170820-20170822 - Laurel Maryland to Beaver Creek Ohio

The purpose of my trip was to attend residency for the doctoral program at Capitol Technology University.  The residency went from the 18th through the 20th.  The whole objective was to make sure I selected a topic for my dissertation and get it approved.  The mission was a success, much more successful than I thought possible.  Some really great doctors helped me along.

Residency ended at 1500hrs on Sunday.  This was good because I was very excited about seeing my friend Scot in Ohio.  I was six hours away and  by the time I checked out of my hotel room, it was 4pm.  I took the Baltimore Expressway to Rt. 70 because I was not going to let my GPS take me all over creation again.  Right around 9pm, I went through a cloud of something and my allergies were set off to the point that I couldn't see.  I had to keep squinting to push the tears out of my eyes.  I grabbed the next exit and found myself at a Best Western for the night.  I was only 2 hours out and I was going to make my 8am arrival time without issue.

5:30am came early.  I loaded my bike and got on my way  Everything was fine until I came into Beaver Creek.  Traffic came to a stand still.  What should have taken me 2:30 (on my GPS) took half an hour.  Scot was still making breakfast, so all was well.

Breakfast was home made sausage and gravy with French Toast.  Fantastic!!!  After cleaning up, we were on a mission.  We were going to change my oil, Scot was going to teach me how to weld, and we had to put his bike back together.  He had his rear end apart because he found a little puddle under his rear end earlier in the week.  With that mission, in mind, we began.  Scot's bike went back together smoothly, but we did need to go find a part and do a couple errands while we were out.  After the bike assembly, we decided to fly my drone for awhile.

After the drone flying, it was time to start welding.  Scot picked up some scrap metal, we pulled everything outside and began.  The welding was really about learning how to cut with a gas torch and run a bead.  I learned a lot and feel comfortable enough to buy my own rig and start practicing.

Unfortunately, I was working on a bladder infection and things were getting pretty painful.  Dinner was fantastic as always.  Scot is a fantastic cook.  Because of all the things were doing, we didn't get to dinner until 10pm.  At that point, I was in a bit of pain.  I knew it was a bladder infection because just 6 weeks ago, I had one.  I'm guessing that the antibiotic didn't completely rid me of the malevolent bacteria.  I would need to go to urgent care in the morning or find another way to get on antibiotics.

I didn't sleep well.  I was up often peeing after having a gallon of cranberry juice throughout the day; but, when morning came, Scot called his doc who called in a prescription for me.  Things were looking up.  I was going to be leaving today (Tuesday) by noon, but I simply wasn't in shape for that.  We also had an oil change to do.  Breakfast was a simple poached egg and English muffin, just what I needed.  After a bit of a delay, we picked up my prescription and were doing my oil change.  Scot was very impressed by the tool Paul made for me and I think about him every time I change my oil.  The oil change went smoothly.  I did note on my review of the bike that the back tire was toast.  I would need new rubber tomorrow.

Scot and I flew the drone on a mission.  It was a long mission, too long to complete.  The drone ended up coming back on its own because it didn't have enough power.  We shot 4GB video.  The video turned out out really nice and covered most of Scot's development.

Dinner was fish and spinach.  Scot and Marsha have a world class fish place near them.  The Chilean Sea Bass was fantastic.  Scot didn't put any butter on it, but it tasted like butter.

Just before dinner, I called Gateway BMW Motorad in St. Louis MO and made an appointment for tomorrow to get a new tire put on the back.  I think the front will last until I get back, maybe longer.

Tonight the plan is to go to bed early, get up early and be in St. Louis by 3pm at the latest.  After the tire change, I plan to continue riding.

Here is the map of the trip so far:

I neglected to mention that when I pulled into Scot's driveway, Gracie, his half-wolf, half-dog was waiting to greet me.  I pulled into the driveway and shut off the bike with the kill switch.  When she came over, I wanted to give her the attention she was demanding and forgot to turn off the key.  Needless to say, when I came back to the bike hours later, the battery was dead.  We put it on the trickle charger and it took hours before I could start it again.  We let it trickle charge over night.  I'm hopeful I didn't destroy my battery!

20170817 - Clarksburg WV to Laurel MD (turned 70,000 miles on this trip)

After 5 consecutive 12 hour riding days, I knew this was going to be an easy last leg.  I was right, and I was wrong.

Being in no rush, I took my time loading the bike.  As lazy as I was trying to be, I was still rolling by 9 am.  The morning was sunny and the temps were cool.  It was a welcomed change from 90+ degree days.  After a short while, I saw an IHOP in Clarksburg and decided to have a bite.  It works out that this Ihop sits on a hill right outside the Clarksburg FBI field office and it's imposing restricted access signs.  The people here were very nice.  Tabby, my waitress, seated me in the back so I could see my bike and told me that if anyone messes with it, I can go right out the back door and take care of business.  Yes, Ma'am.  The 'back door' was an emergency exit, and I'm sure I would get assistance if said event were to happen.  As it was, the only person who came near my bike was an elderly gentleman that just wanted to take a closer look.  He was harmless and it may have reminded him of 'back in the day.'  Good for him.

West Virginia is really nice motorcycle riding country.  The super-slabs are anything but straight, and the posted speed limit is 70.  Each turn beckons to be taken just a little faster than the last.  I'm certain that a novice rider would be challenged and hopefully take the ride a little slower.  More advanced riders are likely to push, and during the day, I think this is fine.  At night, I think it's more than a little dangerous.  Your headlights are all you have going for you, and you're definitely over-driving them.  You're going to hit any pothole, road-gator, gravel, animal, or whatever happens to occupy the space you thought you wanted to be in.  West Virginia is also so beautiful that one should ride during the day if they want to enjoy it.

64 runs into Maryland.  I've been on this road several times.  On my Harley, I used to ride down to Martinsburg, take Rt. 50 all the way out to Morgantown and take the super-slab back home.  50 is the best ride in West Virginia I've been on so far.  It is absolutely fantastic.  As I passed the sign and realized I didn't have time for it, I felt so sad.  When 64 gets into Maryland, you start finding little towns like Frostburg.  These are quaint little towns that are as picturesque as they come.
As I passed the first rest stop in Maryland, I thought about a rest stop that I was going to pass, close to my old house, where the DC Snipers were caught.  Back in 2002, I was working in the Washington DC metro area and these guys were picking off people in parking lots and gas stations.  As the body count mounted, law enforcement put out information they had about the gunman, including a description of their car.  A couple of very alert truckers found them sleeping in their car at a rest stop and pulled their rigs across both entrances so the sniper's vehicle could not get out.  They called the police, and a SWAT team arrested them.  The whole area is picturesque, but I thought it would be a good place to deploy my drone and get some footage.  The area is 10 miles from the nearest airports, so 400' off the deck should be no problem for any aircraft in the area.

Coming across 70, my GPS was calling for a turn down 270 to get to Laurel.  I was planning 70 all the way across and then down the Baltimore Parkway.  The GPS route said 370 to 200.  I hadn't heard of any of these routes as they are both on the top side of the beltway, but I thought I'd give it a shot.  I was committed to 270 (being 15 miles down the road) and learned that 200 is a toll road and requires an Easy Pass.  I knew this was going to now involve the DC Beltway, something I really wanted to avoid.  I pushed past the exit, but my GPS kept wanting to route me to 200.  I got through the menus quickly and selected the avoid toll option.  What happened next was dreadful.  Mr. Garmin sent me through Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Beltsville.  This is a death sentence for someone who likes wide open spaces.  Amidst the $600,000+++ homes, there are a ton of people and vehicles.  GPS had me going down side streets and finally routing back onto the beltway.  At 2 pm, the beltway was already near max capacity.  Did I mention that through all the stop and go it was 90 degrees with high humidity?  Yuck.  The last 16 miles of this 3100-mile trip was definitely not fun.

Here, enjoy a portion of the last 16 miles with me...at 2x speed.  I'll spare you the trauma.  Wait.  I can't watch it at 2 speed.  You won't either.  I tried 4x speed.  Still too painful.  Here it is at 8x.

 Here are the maps...

Today's run

This trip:

All trips to date:

20170816 - Poplar Bluffs MO to Clarksburg, Wv

All 2 of my loyal readers will recall that I have had many encounters with animals on my bike.  I've run over snakes, groundhogs and been hit by bats, birds, etc.  Somewhere, I have a post with a tally.  I'll have to dig that out so I can increment the number.  I just don't know by how much.

This happened the day before yesterday and I forgot to mention it.  I was riding along in Oklahoma, minding my own business and taking note of all the dead armadillos on the road.  I was just in the process of recalling how they tend to freeze when there is danger and that results in lots of road kill.  Right about then, I was jolted back into reality by a sting on my right side.  Not one, but two, then three and by the time I got my jacket open, I was stung 4 times.  I have welts from the little bastard(s).  I was wearing my bright yellow riding summer riding jacket, and with black pants, I imagine I looked like a big yellow jacket riding a motorcycle and the little critter(s) wanted to have a look, only to get caught inside my jacket.  I'm sure they came up from the bottom.  I would definitely have noticed them going down the neck.

Back to today's ride.   Leaving MO, I saw a radar picture that said do not go through Paduka KY, so I didn't.  I started heading up 57 North with plans to grab 64 and continue east.  I have to admit, I was really upset about this.  First, I was on the super-slab and second, I've already been on those highways so I wouldn't be making anymore new lines on my map.  I was really bummed about it.

Well, I stopped for fuel and checked the weather as I've become accustomed to doing now and Paduca cleared, but my current route had a big thunderstorm right in the middle of it.

So, not being afraid to go a hundred or two miles out of my way, I headed back down to Paducha.  In fact, a local who was at the gas station gave me some advice to keep me from going further north.  I actually stopped for breakfast and it was a proper breakfast - Eggs, cheese grits, toast and tea.  I was back to being excited because my route would now take me through the Western Kentucky Parkway and the Bluegrass Parkway.  With visions of the Blue Ridge Parkway going through my head, I was excited by the possibility of some awesome landscapes.  That simply did not happen.  My hopes were dashed.  It was just another super-slab with a parkway moniker attached to it.  ughh.  At least I had new lines on the map and know where I don't need to go back to.

Now, I-79 is another story.  That is in WV.  This features a 70 mph speed limit, twisties and a beautiful landscape.  I recommend this super-slab.  Here's some video:

<<<Insert super slab video>>>

I have been in WV more than once and I know the super-slab is not lit well, so riding these roads at night isn't really recommended.  Fast turns, headlights only, and not so attentive drivers make this a dangerous situation.  I pulled off just shy of Clarksburg WV, leaving me 4 hours to my destination.  I decided to get my room before going to get dinner.  Even if things are closing, it's more important to secure a room before other weary travelers take what's available.

Dinner was at this little Mexican restaurant called Don Patron Mexican Grille.  Their salsa is fantastic, as are their tamales.  Don't fill up on the chips, the dinner is well worth waiting for.

Here are the maps:

Today:

Trip so far:

All together:

20170815 - Enid OK to Poplar Bluffs MO

Today's leg was brought to you by the numbers 412, 60, 160 and 60.  Yes I mentioned 60 twice.

The trip has been awesome so far.  I've been riding my ride the way I want to ride it.  The weather has impacted my choices, but not in a bad way.  Thunderstorms caused me to miss most of New Mexico, but I got to see the southern part of Colorado.  I can come back and visit New Mexico, so net plus there.  I also needed to avoid Arkansas because of thunderstorms in my path.  Arkansas is close enough to Florida, so I can do more there at a later time.  The push into Missouri wasn't thrilling.  There really isn't any awesome landscapes that I found along my route.  I'm sure Missouri has more to offer.  Someone is just going to have to show me.  :-)

I stopped in Poplar Bluffs, MO for a couple reasons.  First, it was getting late and I didn't have 2 hours of night time riding in me.  I could have, but monkey butt was suggesting Poplar Bluffs is a good place to stop.  I also thought I'd be pulling off the road in time to get something nutritious to eat.  I was wrong.  I wasn't getting on the bike and delivery options were pizza only.  I don't need a pizza pie.  I've been eating light this trip and I can do without dinner.  I will just make sure to get a good breakfast.  This morning, I didn't get around to breakfast until 1pm.

At 1pm, I was really in search of eggs and toast, but all these little towns seem to have pizza, Mexican, and Chinese food.  I kept passing up all that till I arrived at Clayton's, where I had Calve's Testicles.  These little gems are an organ meat (obviously) and have a slightly gammy taste to them.  I didn't care for the breaded and fried part, but they were tender and actually very tasty.

Here are some maps...today's leg - all trips on my K1600GT since 7/13 of 250 miles or more.  I'm going to turn 70,000 on this trip.

20170814 - Pagosa Springs Colorado to Enid Oklahoma

Here's the trip so far. 

The day's ride didn't have a good start.   Every night, before I leave the bike, I take the GPS out so I can download my route and make the maps above.  In it's place, I put in a plastic insert that came with the bike to cover the hole in the dash board.  Well, I don't really navigate by GPS and forgot to put it back in the dash.  While leaving the parking lot, I was reminded of this when that square plastic insert popped out and fell through the tupperware toward the front forks.  I didn't hear it hit the ground.  Of course, I pulled over right away and searched for it.  It was still somewhere under all that tupperware and my concern was that this 3x4 piece of hard plastic could work it's way into a place that caused the front fork to lock up.  It would make for a nasty spill if that happened, so finding it was a priority.  Of course, it's black, just like everything else.  I pulled off the right side panel, but couldn't see anything.  I noted that I was very low on coolant.  :-(  Finally, I found the plastic piece with a flashlight by looking up from the wheel.  It was lodged off to the side and probably wouldn't have caused a problem, but it probably would have rattled loose at some point.

It just so happens that there was a Car Quest auto parts store open at 7am just down the street from me.  I stopped in and bought coolant.  I only needed a pint or so, but the smallest they had was a gallon jug, so now I'm carting around a jug of coolant in addition to everything else.  All in all, I can't say I have all that much.  I probably won't need my heated gear, but I have that and my rain gear in the left side hard case, along with my hand tools and a knapsack with my 3 season jacket in the right hard case.  In my top bag I have all my clothes, laptops, cable bag and shaving kit.  In the trunk, I have the drone, oil, miscellaneous stuff and my GS-911.  Now, I have a jug of anti-freeze back there also.

My friend Jeff commented that the route isn't exactly a straight line.  I beg to differ, somewhat.  After getting out of the Rockies and making my way across the state, I turned South to get to 412.  412 is a secondary road that goes between New Mexico and Arkansas.

<<<insert tunnel video>>>

I've been trying to stay off the super-slab as much as possible.  I took 15 out of California to get this trip started, and did about 50 miles on 25 south to get to 412.  If someone dropped a chalk line between the three states, the road couldn't be straighter.  With the exception of short little diversions to pass through some towns, the road is amazingly straight.  I could probably fall asleep and make it across the state.  412 starts out as a 2-lane, unmarked road without a building in sight for my full 135 degree field of vision, all the way to the horizon.  I saw one vehicle every 20 minutes or so for a long time.  If I had opened it up to 160, nobody would have known it.  Out here, there is also no cell service or any other services for that matter.  Truly, this is off the grid.  If I were to break down or need any other services, my bet is that I'd wait a few hours by the time I flagged someone down, they got to the next area with cell service, called it in, and someone made it to me.

When I hit Clayton, I was in need of gas.  This monster thunderstorm was off to the north and I was concerned that it was going to get in front of me.  As it was, the top anvil was over me.  It's possible that I pushed my speed up a little bit to get it behind me and put some distance in between it and me.  The last thing I want to deal with is a thunderstorm in this part of the country.  There is literally nothing out here for shelter and towns with any kind of infrastructure (not just the intersection of 2 roads) is easily 80 miles apart.  That's a long way if riding in weather.  As I got to each town, I looked at the Dark Sky to make sure I'd get to the next town before I left.  It was much more stop and go than I'm used to, but I felt it was necessary.  I also decided to start searching for gas when I was at half a tank.  If I got to 100 miles DTE, I was a little concerned.  Towns on the map don't necessarily have gas and the ones that do don't always have premium.

Right about Woodward, I decided that I was going to make my plan for where to stop.  Enid was in my path and would give me an option to get to super-slab, should the need arise.  I also had options to go in any direction should morning storms show up.  With that in mind, I began my last 90 minute leg, which was interrupted by a police officer who gave me a verbal, roadside speed certification.  It would seem that I was coming into town and while setting Enid into my GPS I missed a speed limit sign and when I saw the 30mph sign, I was going too fast and hit the brakes.  He was right there and pulled me over.  I knew he didn't want to give me a ticket.  He addressed me as brother when he walked up.  He also told me he rides.  I asked him what and he said he rides a Yamaha V-Star.  I commented that they are nice bikes and that a fellow paramedic I used to work with rode one for many years.  He then told me that the department was looking at getting motorcycles, but the chief really wanted Harley's.  He said he wanted BMW's.  I commented that there was no way a Harley was going to catch a bike like mine, particularly out here.  He laughed and agreed.  He checked my license and we talked for about 10 minutes more, shook hands and he let me go without another word about my speed.  At the beginning of the stop he mentioned that he got me at 42 when I crossed that 30 mph speed limit sign.

The delay meant that I'd spend the last hour riding in the dark.  412 doesn't have a light on it, so the only thing you have going for you is whatever headlights you have and the lights of an occasional passing vehicle, mostly 18-wheelers.  I made a reservation while in Woodward to make sure 1) there were hotels in this town and 2) to make sure I'd have a room.  I really didn't want to be without a room.  At this point, I'd been riding sun up to sun down 2 days in a row.

20170813 - St. George UT to Pagosa Springs CO

My Internet connection is horrible, so I'm going to keep this short today.  I was up long before sunrise this morning and even had time for an International Skype call with a friend in Korea before getting on the road.  Here's a video of the sunrise:

<<<Insert sunrise video>>>

I took a path through Hurricane UT.  By the sounds of that name, I expected there to be anarchy in the streets or perpetual nasty weather.  None of those were true.  Hurricane is a sleepy little town.  It looks like lights are out at 9am and nobody stirs before 8:30.  Right after Hurricane, I was smack dab in the middle of the Red Mesas.  WOW.  I'm really into landscapes and these were spectacular.  This would last all the way till Colorado, where things turn green.  I even stopped and flew the drone while I was in Arizona.

<<<Insert drone footage>>>

My trip to the North Rim was a little short.  That is to say I got there, walked about 200 yards, looked over the edge, took some horrible GoPro video that I won't even post and left.  It seems that the North Rim was hosting thunderstorms in the morning and the skies were looking mean.  I didn't want to stay, but I do want to come back.  It's breath taking.

I've been trying to avoid the super-slab as much as possible and today, there was no super-slab.  While enjoying the landscapes in UT and AZ, I learned that NM was planning on hosting thunderstorms across the northern tier in the afternoon and early evening.  I managed to detour into Colorado, which was unplanned, but very nice.  It was totally worth doing.  New Mexico has wonderful landscapes, no doubt; but, I had a full day of mesa's.  It was time for something else.

I stopped for the night in Pagosa Springs Colorado after riding from sun up to sun down.  It was 8pm when I pulled into this hotel with horrible Internet.  That's not bad considering I've been known to push well into the evening hours.

The plan for tomorrow is to end up in Oklahoma.  Why?  Well, my K1600GT hasn't been to Oklahoma.  I plan to take 160 to 385 to 412 and ride 412 east for the day.

Here's what I did today:

20170812 - Redlands California to St. George UT

8/12 - I can't start the trip until the laundry is done.  I fell awake at 4:48 am, so getting started was easy.  It's alway so rude being awakened by the alarm clock.  I should be able to load out and be on my way by 7 am.  Today's destination is somewhere around North Rim Arizona.  I don't know if I'll see the Grand Canyon today, or tomorrow morning to lead into tomorrow's ride.  While I'm waiting for my socks to launder, I might as well plan for what I'm going to do tomorrow!  This trip, there's something new.  I'll be posting a video from my new DJI MavickPro.

As I'm loading up my bike, I realize that I've never had so long to do a cross-country trip.  I have a serious get-there-itis problem and tend to push.  I don't need to this time.  I'm hoping I'll be able to relax a bit and enjoy this trip more.  I don't want to end up in Maryland long before I need to.  There is plenty to see in this country.

1523 mountain -   It was a relaxed start, as starts go.  I was turning wheels before 8 am.  Considering that I didn't start packing until I woke up and did laundry, that's not bad at all.  Packing for a motorcycle trip is an interesting exercise in decision making.  I've posted about this before.  This trip had a wrinkle - I needed to pack shoes, dress socks, dress pants, and dress shirts, three days worth.  That takes up more space than my traditional extra pair of underwear and meant something would have to be left behind.  I'm also planning to get up into the Rockies, and at 12,000 I'm going to need some warm gear.  I'm also going to be traveling through the desert, so I'll need my light gear also.  I'm leaving early so I can do some hiking, so I'll need some clothing for that.  As it works out, all my clothing, plus both laptops, my shaving kit, and cables all go in my top bag.  This is good because the less stuff I need to take off the bike, the better.  I prefer only having to pull one bag from the bike if I can.  When it was all said and done, I have rain gear, heated gear, and my tools in one hard case, and my 3 seasons riding jacket and a knapsack in the other.  The trunk has my drone, air compressor and miscellaneous things I want to be able to reach easily.

Let's talk about bongo ties.  I recently picked up a package of these and boy are they wonderful.  I've been riding around with my Spot tracker loosely strapped to my master cylinder.  With this, I can securely keep it there.   I also have one that makes sure my ham radio doesn't try to escape from the cradle and two that hold my Sena SR-10 in place.  They are also great for keeping wads of cables together and allow for quick release.  Get some.

The ride from my house to St. Charles Utah was mostly uneventful, except for a few things.  This young lady (20's), who decided to climb partially out the passenger side window on I-15 and flash her boobs at the car next to them.  I was totally surprised, and to my dismay, she would not repeat the event for my GoPro.  She was quite attractive.

Then there was the skid into Love's.  Someone was running a sprinkler, or for some reason, water was running down the concrete gutter at the entrance of Lowe's.  I definitely saw it.  I even took note of it, but I did not process the dangers of having water in my path while I was going to be turning right on top of it.  Needless to say, I had a fair amount of lean going for me when both the front and back tires started washing out from underneath me.  As it was happening, I had just enough time to think 'stay in the lean' when both tires grabbed the asphalt.  My bike wiggled around a little bit, but I got things under control and continued on.  There was some lady in a mini-van that witnessed the whole event, and she was probably worried it wasn't going to end well.  After it had happened, I thought about how sad it would be to wreck my bike right at the beginning of the trip.  I'll be more careful.  Promise.
The other interesting note for this trip was the heat.  Temperatures started in the 90's when I left and steadily rose through the desert.  The high was 112.1 degrees Farenheight in Barker California.  Temps fluctuated mainly between 104 and 108.5.  Temperatures in the 90's never cooled me down so much.

My friend Paul turned me on to cooling vests.  Basically, you wear the material wet, and as the water evaporates, it provides some cooling.  When I bought mine, I had to buy a 3x.  The 1x was tight, and they don't make a 2 x anymore (????).  I thought the loose fit would be good to allow more air to circulate.  I do get some cooling from it, but not much.  I can't decide if it's worth it yet.

I decided to stop in St. George, Utah for the evening.  I wasn't going to stop, but at this point, there is very little between me and the North Rim.  I thought it would be nice to sit in the air conditioning for a little while and relax, hitting the North Rim early in the morning.

So, here's a tip if you're in a hotel room and need to dry something over night.  For those that are on the synthetic riding gear train, I'm not.  I've ridden thousands of miles in all climates with that on and I can't stand how my skin feels when I stop riding.  The blah, blah, blah, will wick moisture away from your skin is nonsense.  Give me cotton, cotton breathes.  No, it won't dry as fast as synthetic stuff, but that is not worth the feeling I get from it.

Here's some gorgeous Arazona landscape with music by Bensong.

Today's Map