extrememarine
Well-known member
The following a trip log of is my 1st long distance ride. I would be heading to San Diego, CA from South Carolina for some work related training. I took 5 days to get there, and did a little sight seeing along the way. So I hope you enjoy, and I welcome your comments. I split this post up in order to get the pictures to post.
Day 1
Monday, 22 October 2007
Beaufort, SC to Forest City, Arkansas (740 miles)
One the Road. I was able to get on the road at 9:30 this morning after taking care of a few last minute things at work. It was overcast and threatening rain most of the day, but I remained dry for a good part of it. I had quite a few butterflies during the first couple of hours; listening to the bike, going over routes in my head, etc. As I had hoped, the bike was smooth and solid, no hiccups whatsoever. So I settled into a pace & routine that had me stopping for gas and rest every 200 miles.
I made it through Atlanta, GA with little drama, other than Mr. Garmin taking my downtown vice the by-pass like I had wanted to, strike 1, Mr. Garmin. (Mr. Garmin is a used GPS-V I picked up off ebay for about $20). West towards Birmingham with little traffic to slow progress, life was good. Just west of Birmingham, the roads turned wet from recent rain. Then it opened up, after nearly half the day of being dry, the rain king made his first appearance. The rain continued off and on for the rest of the day and into the night.
I bumped into another rider heading cross country near Memphis. He was on a H-D Softail Nightrain (just like mine). He caught me at a stoplight, and we road together for awhile until he hit an exit. I was caught in the left lane and unable to follow. A few hours later, he caught up again, just after I had made a gas stop. He took an exit just before Memphis, and I followed. We exchanged greetings, and through the conversation that followed, found out that he was on his way back to San Diego from Daytona Beach. He had rode to Biketoberfest and was heading home. To top it off, he’s in the Navy, stationed in San Diego. He said he’d have to show me some roads while I’m in town. It is such a small world!
Day 1 ended with me punching through Memphis (downtown, strike 2, Mr. Garmin) in a driving rain. My “one more exit” approach to finding a hotel for the night added another 40 or so miles to the day’s leg.
Day 2
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Forest City, AR to Limon, CO (984 miles)
Rain. Cold. Those two words sum up the better part of day 2. I was packed and on the road by 6:30, did I mention that it was raining, & cold? The heated jacket liner from Warm’n’safe is now the most valuable piece of riding gear that I own. It was 45 degrees and raining when I rolled up the on ramp to I-40 westbound. I managed to keep warm all day; hands were another story, even with the heated grips on high. I hit some morning rush traffic in Little Rock, but managed to get through it on one piece.
By my first fuel stop (203 miles), I could see the edge of the rain clouds. It took another 100 miles to break out of the rain, put once I did, it was bright, sunny and dry! The 2nd half of Arkansas was nice, except that I noticed that thus far, Arkansas seemed to have the highest concentration of State Troopers per mile of any portion of the trip so far. There seamed to be one at every cross over for miles!
Onward into Oklahoma, north through Tulsa on the turnpike, speed limit 75 mph & no LEO’s. No traffic to speak of, it’s nice traveling during the week. Left turn in Salina, KS onto I-70 westbound.
Performance Award. As I was heading west on I-70, I started smelling the unique odor of pig poo (livestock, not LEO). It was so strong, that it made my eyes water as I closed in on it. So I rolled on some more throttle to close the gap and move ahead of it. As I slide left to go around, I closed the throttle as I glanced down to check my speed; 110 on the GPS. I looked back up to one of Kansas State’s finest. I went hard on the rear brakes in an effort to scrub off speed with out making the front end dive, and saw his lights come in my mirror. So by the time he got turned around, I had got the bike slowed and in the right lane. , then to the shoulder and parked. At this point, I figured I had a pretty good shot at going to jail. “Good afternoon, Sir, I checked your speed at 90mph, could I see your license, registration, & proof of insurance, please.” (insert sigh of relief from me at this point). The pig truck story didn’t help, but got a laugh from him. So with 200 or so miles left on day 2, I got my first “Performance Award” in some time, 90 in a 70 to the tune of $156.00. Word to the wise, foul air quality is not a reason to exceed the posted speed limit in Kansas. I will be purchasing a RD now.
The last fuel run into Colorado was uneventful. I stopped in Limon, Co for the night as planned; 989 miles for the day & I felt pretty good for close to a 1000 mile day. This is where I had planned to head off the expressway, so I didn’t want to chance not being able to find a hotel.
Day 1
Monday, 22 October 2007
Beaufort, SC to Forest City, Arkansas (740 miles)
One the Road. I was able to get on the road at 9:30 this morning after taking care of a few last minute things at work. It was overcast and threatening rain most of the day, but I remained dry for a good part of it. I had quite a few butterflies during the first couple of hours; listening to the bike, going over routes in my head, etc. As I had hoped, the bike was smooth and solid, no hiccups whatsoever. So I settled into a pace & routine that had me stopping for gas and rest every 200 miles.
I made it through Atlanta, GA with little drama, other than Mr. Garmin taking my downtown vice the by-pass like I had wanted to, strike 1, Mr. Garmin. (Mr. Garmin is a used GPS-V I picked up off ebay for about $20). West towards Birmingham with little traffic to slow progress, life was good. Just west of Birmingham, the roads turned wet from recent rain. Then it opened up, after nearly half the day of being dry, the rain king made his first appearance. The rain continued off and on for the rest of the day and into the night.
I bumped into another rider heading cross country near Memphis. He was on a H-D Softail Nightrain (just like mine). He caught me at a stoplight, and we road together for awhile until he hit an exit. I was caught in the left lane and unable to follow. A few hours later, he caught up again, just after I had made a gas stop. He took an exit just before Memphis, and I followed. We exchanged greetings, and through the conversation that followed, found out that he was on his way back to San Diego from Daytona Beach. He had rode to Biketoberfest and was heading home. To top it off, he’s in the Navy, stationed in San Diego. He said he’d have to show me some roads while I’m in town. It is such a small world!
Day 1 ended with me punching through Memphis (downtown, strike 2, Mr. Garmin) in a driving rain. My “one more exit” approach to finding a hotel for the night added another 40 or so miles to the day’s leg.
Day 2
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Forest City, AR to Limon, CO (984 miles)
Rain. Cold. Those two words sum up the better part of day 2. I was packed and on the road by 6:30, did I mention that it was raining, & cold? The heated jacket liner from Warm’n’safe is now the most valuable piece of riding gear that I own. It was 45 degrees and raining when I rolled up the on ramp to I-40 westbound. I managed to keep warm all day; hands were another story, even with the heated grips on high. I hit some morning rush traffic in Little Rock, but managed to get through it on one piece.
By my first fuel stop (203 miles), I could see the edge of the rain clouds. It took another 100 miles to break out of the rain, put once I did, it was bright, sunny and dry! The 2nd half of Arkansas was nice, except that I noticed that thus far, Arkansas seemed to have the highest concentration of State Troopers per mile of any portion of the trip so far. There seamed to be one at every cross over for miles!
Onward into Oklahoma, north through Tulsa on the turnpike, speed limit 75 mph & no LEO’s. No traffic to speak of, it’s nice traveling during the week. Left turn in Salina, KS onto I-70 westbound.
Performance Award. As I was heading west on I-70, I started smelling the unique odor of pig poo (livestock, not LEO). It was so strong, that it made my eyes water as I closed in on it. So I rolled on some more throttle to close the gap and move ahead of it. As I slide left to go around, I closed the throttle as I glanced down to check my speed; 110 on the GPS. I looked back up to one of Kansas State’s finest. I went hard on the rear brakes in an effort to scrub off speed with out making the front end dive, and saw his lights come in my mirror. So by the time he got turned around, I had got the bike slowed and in the right lane. , then to the shoulder and parked. At this point, I figured I had a pretty good shot at going to jail. “Good afternoon, Sir, I checked your speed at 90mph, could I see your license, registration, & proof of insurance, please.” (insert sigh of relief from me at this point). The pig truck story didn’t help, but got a laugh from him. So with 200 or so miles left on day 2, I got my first “Performance Award” in some time, 90 in a 70 to the tune of $156.00. Word to the wise, foul air quality is not a reason to exceed the posted speed limit in Kansas. I will be purchasing a RD now.
The last fuel run into Colorado was uneventful. I stopped in Limon, Co for the night as planned; 989 miles for the day & I felt pretty good for close to a 1000 mile day. This is where I had planned to head off the expressway, so I didn’t want to chance not being able to find a hotel.
