I have completed my first "long" bike trip. 1614 miles, measured by the FJR odometer. I had a great time, the weather was excellent, and the FJR just performed beautifully. This was an awesome learning experience for me, and I can't wait for more long road trips!
I started in central Oklahoma, worked my way to NW Arkansas, and stayed the night in NE Arkansas. Northern Arkansas was a great ride. I buzzed over to Tennessee, up through Kentucky, through Indiana, and stayed the night in Illinois. The next morning I cruised to SE Missouri and headed west through southern Missouri where I stayed with my Mom. Southern Missouri was another great ride. And I finished up by racing the sun back to central Oklahoma.
Some observations/comments:
-Oklahoma drivers are the worst. I was shocked at how courteous and smooth the drivers were in the other states. I've traveled the other states by car, but I really noticed their driving when traveling by bike. As soon as I made it back to Oklahoma, it was a steady cussing to the flukin idiotic, uncourteous drivers we enjoy here...
-Oklahoma roads were the worst of all the states...
-Northern Arkansas and southern Missouri are so much fun on a bike...awesome!!!
-I couldn't believe the number of other bike riders only wearing shorts and a tank top...WTF?
-I thought I would miss not having a traveling companion. I was wrong. Traveling alone was great. I stopped when I wanted to, took as long as I wanted, rode as fast or slow as I wanted, ate what I wanted, etc. This was a wonderfully peaceful trip.
-I did love my FJR...now I lust my FJR. The FJR is one bada$$ touring machine. Even loaded down, it handles and runs like a dream.
-The Throttlemeister was a life saver on those long runs. This trip would have been much less enjoyable without it. It was easy to use, and worked great.
-There are 2 farkles that I want now. First, a better seat. The factory seat is lacking a little, and I think a better made seat will be well worth the investment. Second, a GPS would be nice. A couple times I just "let's see where this road goes." And then an hour or two later, I had to stop and figure out where the hell I was - because the road wasn't on my map. So a GPS would be a nice convenience.
-I learned a lot during this trip. I think that overall I learned to be smoother, especially during cornering.
-I had several bottles of the free eyeglass cleaner that you get when you buy new eyeglasses. I used that and a microfiber rag to keep my faceshield clean (lots of bugs). That stuff worked great.
-Even with me using chapstick the whole trip, I fought my lips trying to chap. What do you all use on your lips? (go ahead...I know it's coming...)
Here are a few pics. I didn't get many good pics because much of the great scenery was on roads in which there is no place to stop. But I did snap a few pics here and there.
Somewhere in northern Arkansas
Northern Arkansas
The Mississippi River at the Arkansas/Tennessee line. That huge river is amazing.
Dam construction on the Ohio River
The next 4 pics are at Mound City National Cemetery...Fitting that I happened upon this wonderful place around Memorial Day.
This man must have been important...He possessed the largest head stone in the cemetery.
Old Glory flying high above all the fallen soldiers.
Big Spring in southern Missouri. A really nice area.
:specool:
I started in central Oklahoma, worked my way to NW Arkansas, and stayed the night in NE Arkansas. Northern Arkansas was a great ride. I buzzed over to Tennessee, up through Kentucky, through Indiana, and stayed the night in Illinois. The next morning I cruised to SE Missouri and headed west through southern Missouri where I stayed with my Mom. Southern Missouri was another great ride. And I finished up by racing the sun back to central Oklahoma.
Some observations/comments:
-Oklahoma drivers are the worst. I was shocked at how courteous and smooth the drivers were in the other states. I've traveled the other states by car, but I really noticed their driving when traveling by bike. As soon as I made it back to Oklahoma, it was a steady cussing to the flukin idiotic, uncourteous drivers we enjoy here...
-Oklahoma roads were the worst of all the states...
-Northern Arkansas and southern Missouri are so much fun on a bike...awesome!!!
-I couldn't believe the number of other bike riders only wearing shorts and a tank top...WTF?
-I thought I would miss not having a traveling companion. I was wrong. Traveling alone was great. I stopped when I wanted to, took as long as I wanted, rode as fast or slow as I wanted, ate what I wanted, etc. This was a wonderfully peaceful trip.
-I did love my FJR...now I lust my FJR. The FJR is one bada$$ touring machine. Even loaded down, it handles and runs like a dream.
-The Throttlemeister was a life saver on those long runs. This trip would have been much less enjoyable without it. It was easy to use, and worked great.
-There are 2 farkles that I want now. First, a better seat. The factory seat is lacking a little, and I think a better made seat will be well worth the investment. Second, a GPS would be nice. A couple times I just "let's see where this road goes." And then an hour or two later, I had to stop and figure out where the hell I was - because the road wasn't on my map. So a GPS would be a nice convenience.
-I learned a lot during this trip. I think that overall I learned to be smoother, especially during cornering.
-I had several bottles of the free eyeglass cleaner that you get when you buy new eyeglasses. I used that and a microfiber rag to keep my faceshield clean (lots of bugs). That stuff worked great.
-Even with me using chapstick the whole trip, I fought my lips trying to chap. What do you all use on your lips? (go ahead...I know it's coming...)
Here are a few pics. I didn't get many good pics because much of the great scenery was on roads in which there is no place to stop. But I did snap a few pics here and there.
Somewhere in northern Arkansas
Northern Arkansas
The Mississippi River at the Arkansas/Tennessee line. That huge river is amazing.
Dam construction on the Ohio River
The next 4 pics are at Mound City National Cemetery...Fitting that I happened upon this wonderful place around Memorial Day.
This man must have been important...He possessed the largest head stone in the cemetery.
Old Glory flying high above all the fallen soldiers.
Big Spring in southern Missouri. A really nice area.
:specool:
