2018 Ride to the Prairies of the Midwest (Iowa & Illinois)

Stafford to Gatlinburg. Have you ever been on a motorcycle trip wishing it would rain? The ambient temperature gauge on my 2006 Street Glide reads 100 degrees. It is hot and sunny. I could see the dark rain clouds ahead. I can see heavy rain falling in the distance. The cold rain showers me for a few short minutes. I immediately took shelter by stopping under a gas station pump canopy. I check my handy dandy weather radar phone app. The app shows more rain ahead. I put on my rain suit with the idea that the rain is not going to interrupt my ride. I am back on the road. The ambient temperature gauge fell to just below the 90 degree mark. The cold rain feels pretty good cooling my skin as it pelts against my rain suit. In less than ten minutes the sun appears. The clouds are gone. The sky is clear ahead. That ambient temperature gauge on my dash shoots back up to 100 degrees. I still have my rain suit on. I begin to think, that radar app has been accurate in the past. Where is the rest of the rain? I start to feel like a turkey baking in a plastic oven bag. All I see is blue skies ahead. Where is that rain? I’ve only been in the rain suit a short distance. I feel that it took longer to put on the rain suit than the time I spent wearing it in the rain. Should I take it off? Will it rain again as the weather radar app indicated? What if I took off the turkey oven bag...the rain suit? How long will it take me to dry off if it does rain again? I was suited up and ready for more rain. Baking in the rain suit I wanted a downpour so badly. I eventually stopped to get out of the rai suit. 

Great Smoky Mountains. 

My first stop was Gatlinburg Tennessee. During breakfast I did a map study plotting the day's ride. I was to navigate west making my way from Virginia to Iowa. I jotted down a few notes with a numbers direction indicators such as LT (left), RT (right), EAST, WEST in large enough writing for me to reference while navigating the mountains. I began the days ride enjoying the cool morning air as I rode thru the tunnel of trees in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I had the direction notes wedged to my gas tank for quick reference. I found the road leading to Clingman’s Dome. It is the highest point in Tennessee and the Appalachian Trail crosses it - so I had to go. I enjoy backpacking while not on the motorcycle and could not resist a short hike. So as usual, I deviated from the loosely planned route. I changed out my riding boots for my hiking shoes and walked up to the lookout known as Clingman’s Dome. Awesome site above the trees. 

 

I felt satisfied after the hike. I am back on the bike enjoying the twisty road thru the National Forest. I enjoyed the coolness of the shade and curves so much that I must have missed a turn. I was surprised to read a road sign that stated, “Asheville 10 miles.” I think to myself, how did I end up east of Gatlinburg and almost into North Carolina? Easy fix, I’ll avoid a U-turn and navigate west again. The minor detour was worth it when I recognized that the revised route took me to the “Tail of the Dragon.” It had been a few years since I rode this route. I’ve also taken a motorcycle safety course or two since then. I was stoked to be able use some of the new leaning skills from a sports bike course taken last year. So in my brain I was flying around the turns. Lifting my body off the seat pushing the bike upright more so I could take the curves faster and with more tire traction. I was getting the hang of it, moving off the seat to the left, then immediately to the right and so forth. The curves were coming faster and faster. I was feeling like a pro sports bike racer on my old Harley. Well, that was until I downshifted while leaning in a turn. The rear tire squealed sliding slightly to one side. It felt like I was sliding on a banana peel. Reality set in and now in my mind I was a weekend rider who was riding the curves much to fast on an old Harley. So I counted my blessings for keeping the motorcycle upright. I slowed down the rest of the way into Maryville, Tennessee. 

Brad will tell you that my bike needs service or breaks down during our annual rides. Well....It did. I arrived in the Tennessee town of Franklin. It is near Nashville. I stopped on a not so busy street to check the map. I needed to find a place to sleep. I searched for parks and hotels. Yes, I sleep in parks at times. I got back on the bike and it would not start. The battery was dead. I am in a no parking zone. It is dark. I pushed the bike around the corner to a better parking spot along the street. I am in downtown Franklin. No hotels near. I think that I should have learned to use that Uber App! Instead of calling a taxi to help me find a hotel, I contacted a new friend who I met running the Marine Corps Marathon the year prior. Surprisingly the new friend arrived in minutes. We decided that I’d go to a hotel and tackle the problem together the next morning. The next morning we went to my bike. Removed the battery and took it to the Harley dealership to get a new one. By the time we got back to my motorcycle the temperature was pretty hot. I put the new battery in the bike and it started immediately. Sounds simple - not. In order to access the battery I had to remove my seat. In order to remove the seat I had to take off my chopped tour pack. Lucky I had a tool kit with everything I needed. I need to add a short screw driver so I might not need to take off the tour pack next time. 

My new friend and I went to lunch in Nashville. We both ended up with parking tickets! 

Iowa. The next day, I met Brad near Burlington, Iowa. He was at Conesvilles, Iowa at the RedNeck Revival and Rally. Brad had already parked his camper and was making new friends. I rode the camp grounds observing the temporary residents. There was a paved drag strip with bleacher seating. Tent camping was on one side of the strip and RV type camping was on the other side. This was a motorcycle type rally and it had four wheeled vehicles to race down the track. The race participants are some awesome fearless people! I saw professional cars with nitro, professional motorcycle race bikes, every day riders racing their bikes, golf cart racing, ATVs racing and there was a picnic table that raced down the track. Yes, a picnic table. I got to ride it around the camp ground. It was pretty neat. There is a pole on it for entertainment too. I hear it is pretty popular at Conesville. 

Conesville Drag Strip - you can race your bike against yourself if you like. There is plenty of open track time before the competition begins. 

In addition to the drag strip I witnessed:

· That motorized picnic table was an automatic party where ever it went. 

· Mud bog. I saw a big tired truck get stuck and pulled out. There was a daily driver Ford Explorer that had the doors removed and it was first in the mud. I think the four rednecks inside had removed their clothes too. 

· There was a male and female dash or gash for cash event. It was a foot race thru the mud. The contestants were slipping and sliding to the finish. The prize was a bucket of money that was passed around the crowd for donations. Part of the donations went to a local charity. The runners were pretty smart. They avoided dirty laundry by taking off all their clothes before the mud run. Ha! 

· Zip Line at the main stage area. There was a large ten foot cylinder thingy laying near the end of the zip line. People were falling off the zip line bouncing on the soft cylindrical thingy. I heard a story that some broke their legs the year before so the height of the zip line was lowered. 

· Did I mention there was a drag strip? It was the main attraction! 

Next stop was Savanna, Illinois. 

The ride from Burlington, Iowa to Savanna, Illinois wasn’t far. We had a slight delay to fix the tire on the trailer Brad was using for his bike. We were at one shop to repair the tire but I ended up riding to another shop to get the new tire to be mounted on the rim that was at the other shop. I am scratching my head trying to remember how this happened. Regardless have a cool picture of the spare tire tied to my rear seat. 

In Savanna, we set up camp down the road from a well known place called Poopies Pub. We spend a few days exploring the small town along the Mississippi River. We frequented Poopies and the Iron Horse Saloon. The Iron Horse has a really neat museum in the back of the building. It also has a horse statue up front near the bar. That horse gets rode often with people dancing and having fun around it. Poopies Pub had a live band nearly every night we were there. We ate our meals there since it was close to camp. It rained there every day during our stay. Despite the rain we rode north to Dubuque, Iowa for lunch at Catfish Charlie’s. It rained the whole ride. So from Dubuque we rode west to the J&P Cycle mega store. Well it used to be a mega store. You can still order from the catalog but the brick and mortar (warehouse really) store has down sized. Brad and I both were soaking wet because our rain suits failed. I know my rain suit is about 12 years old with literally hundreds of miles of use. The set has hundreds of hours baking in my saddle bags too. So we were going to get new rain suits from J&P Cycles but there were none on display or in stock. A group of riders coming from Milwaukee had just wiped out their store inventory. So Brad had the idea to go to Walmart and get some water repellent spray - we did and it worked. 

Dutch Windmills at Fulton, Illinois. This Dutch Wind Mill is near the bank of the Mississippi River directly across from Clinton, Iowa. There is a museum to learn about the story of the wind mills and the town. It is worth the short detour if you are riding thru. There are some neat downtown small town shops too. We got some home made pie around the corner. 

Bike Repairs at Rock Falls, Illinois. After sampling all the homemade pies in Fulton, we decided to visit Workman Harley Davidson in Rock Falls Illinois. I lived near the area and the team at Workman’s has done much of the maintenance on my motorcycle. I continue to visit Workman’s during my rides for tires, brakes, and maintenance. This dealership is special because it is family operated and as a result has outstanding customer service - why else would I ride fourteen hours to get maintenance done? So I thought my clutch was failing. I wanted to get a mechanic to take a look at it. On the way, we stopped for gas and Brad’s bike would not start. His battery was dead! I think this was the first breakdown for Brad during our rides together. Brad had the idea that we could connect the pigtails for our battery tenders together to jump the batteries. We connected the wires with no success in starting his bike. We asked a gentleman in a pick up truck for a battery jump. Sounds easy but that seat had to be removed and we were wearing rain suits. Whew what an experience. Check out the pic of Brad. He had fun with the jumper cables! 

We arrived at Workman’s. Brad got a new battery. The mechanic came to talk to me - my clutch was in great condition. When the inspection cover was removed oil exploded out of the clutch side! There is normally four ounces of fluid on that side. The engine seals had blown. The excess fluid had made it difficult to shift into neutral. Luckily the bike warranty was still active. The bike stayed the night at the shop. I have been renewing my warranty since I purchased the motorcycle in 2005. I discovered that I could not renew the warranty for another term. The motor company stated the bike was over 12 years old and they would not issue another warranty for it. Perhaps it was my warranty history. I’ve used it as needed which was frequent. 

Once my bike was repaired Brad and I visited a place called Psycho Silo Saloon. It is located just south of I-80 near Langley, Illinois. It is a grain silo turned into a saloon. This is a unique place to see too if you find yourself traveling I-80 across Illinois. It continued to rain until we arrived in the parking lot at Psycho Silo. We noticed some tents set up for an event. Tables with center pieces and motorcycles on display under the large tents. We saw no people. In the parking lot, Brad was getting out of his rain suit and putting on a dry pair of jeans. He is standing beside his motorcycle in his underwear when two dozen cars pull in one after the other just as if they all convoyed together. The cars were loaded with people. It turns out the tents were set up for a wedding reception. There is Brad getting dressed beside his motorcycle! 

We stayed one more night in Illinois and headed home. I know it rained 100% of the time during the two days it took me to get back to Virginia. 

More photos to view are at:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tKFeaVb5bgUPtbqZ9

2017 Ride to Maine for Lobster!

Brad rode 5,860 miles for fresh lobster!

Brad logged 5860 miles from Utah to Maine to get a lobster dinner his year!

There were two goals of the 2017 NoWhereRide. The first was to go to Maine for lobster - accomplished! It was cheaper to buy a two lobster lunch instead of eating a single lobster. These lobsters were fresh and tasty. This was our second trip to Maine for lobster and the fantastic Bay Haven Lobster Pound in Cornish was hands down the best. We had all the fixings. It felt as if we finished a Thanksgiving feast. Brad would have fell asleep on the bike if the roads were not so curvy. We had an intense but brief COLD rain shower on the ride from

Cornish, Maine

Cornish to North Conway, New Hampshire that kept him awake. Brad usually dozes off using cruise control on the long stretches of road out west. During our annual rides we generally skip lunch to keep Brad awake and alert on the motorcycle. 

 

The second goal of the ride was to set up base camp in one small town for a few days taking day trips - mission accomplished! We enjoyed this concept very much seeing more of a region.  By the time we left Anarundel, Maine people were becoming familiar at the grocery stores and people recognized us while at a restaurant 75 miles from base camp. It felt like we were able to experience the community. In years past we'd get ideas to visit places of interest from people we meet at at ma and pa restaurants. Usually those places were hundreds of miles away.  We would ride hundreds of miles seeing awesome sites but also passing some not so familiar sites. The "set up base camp and make day patrols" allows us to become more familiar with smaller regions. This base camp and day ride concept allowed us to get local input for not only points of interest but for restaurants and scenic routes. We will try it again with a Midwest town next year. 

 

Left boot 13 years old; right boot new!

 Ride mission New Boots. It seems that Bill's motorcycle requires a repair each year during the annual motorcycle ride. One year the gear linkage broke while in freezing temperatures of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The linkage break led us to an adventure to find a hotel and repair the shop. One year the engine seals broke in Montana after the bike sat in storage in Illinois for three years while Bill was stationed in Japan.  Usually we stop for tire repairs; flat tire in Kansas (saved us from a tornado but tempted some creep in an LTD), and more rear tire replacements throughout the years. Once the soft tread on a motorcycle starts to get worn it wears really fast given the loaded down bike, heat of the pavement and long duration rides. 

Last year Bill replaced his rear tire and brakes. Yes this happened during an annual ride. So we had confidence the bike and tires were in good shape for this years ride. They were, Bill's 14 year old riding boots were not in good condition. The soles began crumbling off just as quickly as the tires would wear down to the fabric. The soles were wedge shaped causing knee pain when walking. They were fine for sitting on the bike and stopping for traffic signs. So started the mission to get replacement boots. Bill pledged to get new soles but on the old boots when he returned home. So we asked a few new friends where we could find a leather boot vender.  During our lobster lunch we see the lawyer who we met at Bentleys. An inquiry about leather boots resulted in directions to North Conway, New Hampshire and a shop called BootLeggers. The northeast has different styles of boots than we are accustomed to. Bill tried on a pair of logging boots. These boots has a thick heal and we were told many locals like them for riding. They were water proof and comfort. Mission accomplished- Bill rode out of New Hampshire wearing his new logging boots.

North Conway, New Hampshire

 

Base Camp: Our base camp was at Bentleys Camp Ground in Arundel, Maine.  Bentleys is more than a campground. It is a bar and grill, motel and campground for tents and camper trailers. The camp sites on the property are within walking distance to the bar and grill. We discovered Bentleys about seven years ago in 2007 when we made a detour after Bill's bike went into a slide with bald tires in the rain.  So we stopped at Bentleys to find a bike shop to get a new tire.  The staff at Bentleys told us where to go for a bike tire and even called the shop to see if it was open. The bike shop was closed for the day so we stayed the night at Bentleys and got a new tire the next morning. 

We enjoyed staying at Bentleys because we went on day rides and returned to camp where we cleaned up and was able to walk to food and the bar or entertainment area.

Bentley's 1939 Indian Scout Racer 45 c.u.

The food menu offered some good dishes. There were at least three different bars in the bar restaurant area. There was different entertainment each night at Bentleys. One night was open mic night where local bands played two songs each as they rotated thru the night. This produced a diverse crowd present to dance and cheer for their locally known bands. A wide variety of music too. I thought I saw a John Lennon look alike. One band looked the part and tried to play Led Zeppelin with less than desirable results. It was a fun night. 

There was an 80s rock band who were the main band for another night. These performers were in costume and changed costumes at each break. Really entertaining and fun atmosphere. There was a country western performer one night that attracted a large crowd. He got most of the audience engaged and dancing too. Each evening the crowds were very different. Early one evening we were surprised at a much older crowd- senior citizen older. It was a birthday party for a young lady turning 82!  The band catered to this group of senior ladies and their birthday party. Every other song was ladies choice where they combed thru the crowd picking a man to dance with. Bill became a favorite for one classy senior. These gals were referred to a Q-tips. Skinny and white tops like a Q-tip! 

Day Ride Old Orchard Beach.  We rode north until we were just south of Portland. Then turned toward the coast and discovered Old Orchard Beach. A cool breeze was blowing off the waves as they crashed on the beach.  There were no people in the cold water but many small groups gathered on the beach enjoying the sunshine and open sandy strip of beach.  

Day Ride Lunch at New Brunswick via Biddeford and Saco Maine: During this day patrol we rode thru the town and noticed a cemetery with dates of the 1800s etched into many of the grave stones. The towns of Biddeford and Saco date back to the 1600s. We ended up at Old Orchard Beach south of the boardwalk at the Brunswick sports bar-hotel for

lunch. We ate lunch on the beach looking directly at the ocean and seeing the local volleyball teams play. There was a huge pile of firewood on the beach for a bonfire. Nice place to visit during the day and night. The pier boardwalk has a carnival area enjoyable for kids and adults.  Hotels, restaurants and shops all along this area of Orchard Beach, this was the tourist area.

During our day rides Brad noticed that there were dozens of ice cream shops throughout the eastern Maine towns. The ice cream must be really good for ice cream shops to be so abundant in this cooler or cold climate area. So we had to discover which shop served the best ice cream. After asking a few people we narrowed our selection down to the “Fielders Choice.”   This ice cream shop was well known for their sundaes. The names of the sundaes were baseball themed such as the Closer, the Slider, and Muddy Cleat to name a few.

After our visit in Maine we rode west through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and into West Virginia.  We rode in two and a half days of rain.  Both our rain suits leaked at the seams to the point that our pants were wet.  Brads feet were soaked. His boots waterlogged. We stopped at a hotel and spread our wet clothes and gear out along the room, cranked up the heat and let it start drying.  We ordered a pizza for dinner and got some much needed rest. 

The next morning most of our clothes were dry except Brad’s boots.  Brad and Bill are both Marine veterans and know all to well the unpleasant feeling of warm dry feet in cold wet boots.  Brad grabs the pizza box from the trash, pulls out his pocketknife and begins to cut the pizza box into insoles for his boots.  He said the pizza box inserts worked great!  Improvise.  

Brad's Dry Pizza Box Boot Inserts

We met Bill’s childhood friend, Scott, who taught Bill how to ride a motorcycle.  They were in elementary school when Scott had an old Suzuki RM50.  Scott sat Bill on the dirt bike and told him to let out the clutch when he was ready to go.  Bill revved the throttle, popped the clutch and nearly crashed into the back of Scott’s Dad’s truck.  They had years of fun on that RM50.  We were glad to meet Scott in Nutter Fort for lunch.  Think that was funny, you should have heard Brad tell jokes and stories (true stories as usual) while we were at Franklins.

Nutter Fort, West Virginia

  Brad was on a roll; he was like a professional standup comedian.  People in the bar laughed so hard their eyes were watering.  We had a great night there with the after work regulars and a couple celebrating a birthday.  This was one of the highlights of the trip.

Bill and Brad rode west into Indiana together before parting ways.  We found the oldest bar in Centerville Indiana – perhaps self-proclaimed, the Brown Jug on Historic Route 40.  The regulars welcomed us with stories and many laughs.    Brad went west and Bill went east.  Bill rode route 50 from west to east across the entire state of West Virginia.  The eastern side of the state is comparable to the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee.  The twisty turns up and down the mountains are similar.  The biggest difference is potholes!   Bill was lucky enough to ride over eastern route 50 in the rain.  He went onto ride Skyline Drive before going home.    

near Richmond, Indiana

West Virginia Rt 50 east

    

Rt 50 West Virginia

Next year we'll ride thru a small town in the midwest.