Sturgis Pictures Posted!

There are some pics posted of the trip so far.  No captions or descriptions yet, but the pictures are there!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twowheelsintothewind/

Sturgis Day 3 - Kansas City MO to Sioux Falls SD

Honestly, I have no idea how the human race could consume so much corn.  Ok, so I got that out of the way.

Today was billed as a nice 400 mile day.  But let me tell you, after two 600 mile days, there is no easy day.  Well, not for me and Rhonda anyway.  I was sore when we left.  I got worse after only 50 miles.  And I only got better at dinner tonight.  In between was some achy, breaky butt.  I guess it was just cumulative but it just never got any better today.  Enough complaining.  Because even though it was a little painful it was a beautiful day of riding!

This was the first day the raingear stayed in the bag the entire day.  So that was a positive.  No rain is a good thing.  However, rain still played a major role in the day.  As we headed out of Kansas City there was a flashing DOT sign beside the road warning that I-29 North was closed at mile 110 due to flooding.  So we stopped and found a backroad that would take us around the flooding.  This was a great “problem” to have.  Rhonda and I were getting bored riding the interstates.  It is good to make time, but you don’t really see the country like we want to.  So we headed up 59 though Missouri and Iowa for the biggest part of the day.  It was amazing countryside.  Filled with corn.  And once you past that there was another field of corn.  Followed by... corn.  But it was hilly, rocky at time, and we even managed to find a curve or two to go around!  It was really beautiful.

The highlight was a crop duster somewhere in either Missouri or Iowa.  Honestly it is strange to be on a trip and not really know what state you are in.  At times, I had to think  just to remember.  Anyway, the crop duster...  We were headed down a (straight) road between some (corn) fields and ahead we saw an airplane that looked like it was trying to crash.  But as we got closer, we could see it was a crop duster.  It ended up dusting a field just off to our left and went right in front of the three bikes.  You could see the pilot as he pulled up right at the road!  It was really a neat thing to see while riding a motorcycle through the heartland.  

We stopped and ate at a little mom and pops restaurant somewhere in Missouri or Iowa (see above).  It was pretty good but I felt a little out of place among the church crowd.  We were looking a little rough by the time we got to where ever it was we were.  But after a few more miles of corn as far as you could see on both sides of the road, we made it back to the interstate for the final leg into Sioux Falls.  

As we passed through Sioux City (not Falls) it was obvious why the interstate was closed.  It was our first look at the Missouri River (in Iowa) and it was out of it’s banks over roads, ballfields and even some structures.  There were sandbags everywhere and even some heavy equipment and a temporary levee that was protecting a large subdivision.  Sioux City proper looked like it had been spared this time, but I am pretty sure it wasn’t the first or last flood Sioux City will have to deal with.

I completely missed the “Welcome to South Dakota” sign.  Don’t know how.  We drove 1500 miles to get to that state and then missed the fact we made it in.  But we did.  And we rolled up some pretty boring countryside to Sioux Falls.  the only highlight was the first “Speed Limit - 75” sign I have ever seen.  But I understand why.  Driving 60 though that countryside would drive a person crazy.  It was flat and flatter.  But maybe it was because it was stuck at the end of the day.  Who knows?

So here we sit.  Tired.  Too tired to go with the rest of the crew to see the actual Sioux Falls.  But we made it to an awesome Italian restaurant where we had some of the best Italian food I have had since I left Sweden.  It was 77 and we sat outside wishing we had a long sleeve shirt.  We chased a great meal with an espresso and a latte and headed back to the room.  Another awesome day filled with sites I will most likely never see again.  Another day where Rhonda said “Isn’t it amazing that you live in a country your whole life and have no idea what the majority of it even looks like?”

I want to give a special “shout out” to my wife today.  She was doing a lot better than me and kept me encouraged.  I was really hurting today, but just talking to her and riding through all the sites with her made it worth it.  If there was ever any doubt we were made for each other, that is gone after the last three days.  

Tomorrow, we will make our way (slowly) to Spearfish, our destination.  We hope to make a few stops at the Corn Palace and at the Black Hills Harley Davidson before fighting traffic through Sturgis.  It should be a exciting day!  never have a I left on a trip and after 4 days finally made it to where I was going!

Sturgis Day 2 - Nashville TN to Kansas City MO

So the day we had dreaded came. It was a second day of 600+ miles in a row. Something neither of us had ever done. And something that both of us had felt would be the toughest day of the trip to Sturgis. Were we right? Well, read on and decide for yourself.

The ride started out early with "kickstands up" at around 7:00. I had assumed this trip would take us about 12 hours. It is always safe to assume a max of 50 mph average and so that's the "rocket science" I applied to reach this estimate.

We pulled out of Nashville under some overcast skies and about 110% humidity. I mean it. It was very sticky already. So we headed north toward Paducah, KY. A place I had looked forward to seeing on the trip since it is the area of the country my dad is from. I had spent time in this area as a kid, but I hadn't been back since my junior year in college when my grandmother passed away. As we approached the sky was getting darker up ahead. Time to gear up (again). Just a note to any of you who think about a trip like this. If you find yourself staring at raingear thinking "Do we really need to spend $150 on a rainsuit?" just buy it. You will think that amount is cheap the first time you hit rain. As it started to rain, the trip got much more comfortable. The temperature dropped and over the long rolling fields we saw massive streaks of lightning up ahead. As we got into the heart of the storm there was a sudden flash and a nearly simultaneous BOOM! form the thunder. The sounds reverberated through my whole body and I looked back fully expecting to either see the bag had exploded form the strike or that I was now riding solo with just a poof of smoke where Rhonda once was. But thankfully neither was true. And a huge smile came over my face. "This is really fun!" I thought to myself. And fun it was...

We made a quick stop to rest (and spend some cash) at the very unique steamboat themed Harley store in Paducah. My dad had visited there and brought me back a shirt. He had raved about Four Rivers Harley and how cool the place was. And I have to say he was right. It was a neat stop, but we had to get back on the road.

I admit I hadn't expected a lot from todays trip. I was looking forward to seeing St. Louis and the arch, but the thoughts of riding through Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri just didn't excite me much. No offense intended to anyone who lives there, but I pictured vast fields with little or no personality. But I was wrong. Illinois reminded me of Sweden. The wind was whipping across the huge corn fields dotted only occasionally with a cluster of trees around a houes to shelter it from the wind. Almost identical to the raps fields in Sweden. It brought back a lot of good memories.

Finally we felt comfortable enough to remove the raingear. Well, comfortable was not the right word. The heat was picking up and already I was longing for the cool rain we had been riding in. But the sun came out and it started to push upward as we pushed on toward St. Louis. The reputation of the heat inside St. Louis had proceeded it. And it did not disappoint. As we came up on the town, the heat went up as quickly as our excitement as we got our first glimpse of the St. Louis Arch on the horizon. It was really cool to see all three bikes point and (I assume giggle a little) as they finally saw the landmark that we had looked forward to for today's trip. Lucky for us (well, maybe) there was a traffic jam in St. Louis that allowed Rhonda to snap a few pictures of the arch as we rode through. I will get those posted as soon as I swing by WalMart to get the one cable I forgot to bring (failure).

As we left St. Louis it seemed the fun part of the trip was over. The sun was sinking lower and we were headed due west. Not a good combination when the temps are above 95. It was hot, and to be as respectful to the people who live there, pretty darn boring. It was time for a short break. Well, our bike thought so at least so I pushed up and told the leader to take the rest area that was coming up. So we pulled in and it seemed God was with us. The Christian Motorcycle Association was there giving away free hotdogs, snacks and drinks. You have heard this said many times before, but this was truly a "God Send". After the took time to pray for our whole crew, we were back on the road.

The remainder of the trip was how, sunny and tough. Honestly the last 150 miles of a 600 mile day is always hard, but this one was really hard. We pushed into Kansas City, passing the Royals stadium where a ballgame was going on. It was pretty neat as you could see directly into the stadium from the highway and see all the people (well, not so many since this was a Royals game) watching. We made it to the hotel, checked in and took a nice shower. A much needed shower.

So today means that we have put 1200 miles behind us in 2 days. Pretty amazing. And again, Rhonda did better than I did today. She never complained and took everything in stride. I never thought we could actually "enjoy" this trip, but we did. We just rode and chatted all day long. Of course it was tough at times, but still it was so nice to just "be together" for 12 hours doing something new.

So you tell me. Does it sound fun? Does it sound like it was a good day? Sitting here in the air conditioning makes it harder for me to decide. So I leave it to you to decide if it is something you would consider a good time.

Misc Things

• I forgot a cable so until I get one I can't post pics from the camera. I will fix this.
• As far as the equipment goes, everything is working great. Headsets lasted all day, bike ran great, raingear kept us and the bag dry and we got here in one piece. Can ask more more than that.
• I can't think the CMA enough for being setup at that rest area.  We had good snacks and great conversation.  They didn't have to give up their Saturday to make mine better.  So a big shout out to them.
• Tomorrow is a shorter day.  Only about 400 miles to Sioux Falls, SD.  We are even waiting until 9AM to leave!

Route From Today

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Sturgis Day 1 - Clayton NC to Nashville TN

Well, the first 582 miles are in the books.  And it went as well as can be expected.  Better in some regards.  We pulled out of Clayton at 6:15 this morning after pulling the gel pads out of the fridge.  Note to anyone that might use gel pads.  Put them in the fridge before you use them (if it is hot outside).  It was awesome!

It was overcast when we got on, but we expected it to burn off pretty quickly once the sun came up.  But we were wrong.  And we were glad we were wrong!  The weather stayed completely overcast until the first stop just past Winston Salem.  We stopped there for some gas and a quick McMuffin and we noticed that it was looking a little ominous up the road.  So we put the rain pants on and got back on the road.  About 20 miles up the road the bottom fell out and we ducked into a rest area and covered the bag and put the rest of our rain gear on.  We road in the nice cool rain all the way across the mountains until we hit Asheville where the sun came out.

We spent some time at the Asheville Harley Davidson talking shop and then got back on the road.  This is where it got interesting.  It got hot, sunny and the road was loaded with truckers.  It was slow going up/down the mountain and we were going through water pretty quickly.  But the mountains were pretty, so Rhonda tells me.  I was too busy trying not to kiss a truck's backside.

The ride from Knoxville to Nashville was not overly fun.  Between the intense heat, sun and frequent stop and go traffic, Rhonda and I were about done for the day.  But we made it.  The last 10 miles took over an hour since we (poorly) planned the trip to make sure we arrived in Nashville at 5:00 on a Friday and were headed out of the city.

Anyway, here I sit in a nice comfy chair in the hotel and I could not be prouder of my wife.  In fact, I think she did better than I did today!  We really enjoyed each other's company the entire trip.  I look forward to spending then next several days with her!

So how did the gear do?  The SENA headsets arrived with enough battery to take us to Chili's for dinner.  They were awesome.  Music and conversation the entire way.  The gel seats were good, especially for the first half.  But we are going to try switching it up tomorrow to see if moving to ride with them and then without them helps.  I will let everyone know.  The bike did great, even though slow maneuvering with the bag and Rhonda on was something to get used to.  But on the open road it was perfect.  We tried out the Garmin GPS app on the iPhone and it worked great with the headsets.  However it ate thorough the battery in no time.  Got to try something new there tomorrow.

In general, it was a great day.  I just hope the ones to follow are as good.  I apologize there are no pics tonight.  I am short of time, space and energy.  But I promise that if not before we get to Sturgis, I will get pics up for everyone.  I tweeted a few and Facebooked a few today.  But we took others.

Here is the route from today.  About 1300 miles to go!


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Photostream for Blog (And The Trip)

So as the trip approaches (only 2 more days away) I wanted to make sure I had a good way to share photos from Sturgis and from along the trip.

I will be using Flickr for that, and you can keep up with the stream here: http://www.flickr.com/people/twowheelsintothewind/

I will post blog entries, facebook entries and tweets as well.

Don't forget, some of these pictures will be from the rally in Sturgis.  So I cannot promise they are safe for work!

The Final Week Before Sturgis

As I sit here today, I am thinking about where I will be this time next week. Well, that and thinking about all the things I still have to do to get ready. It’s only 1 week until the “Odyssey” begins.

Just like in April when I was heading to Florida (620 miles) I am starting to have second thoughts and getting nervous. I think this is normal, especially for me. But I thought it was interesting and it made me wonder if getting some of the apprehension and preparations down on “paper” might help me or others.

Two main things make this trip more intimidating than the previous trips I have made: The Length and The Old Lady. *Note: I use the term “Old Lady” to seem like a real biker, not to disparage or attempt to describe my beautiful wife.

The Length
The Length has me nervous. Not because of the daily mileage, but because of the unknown effects multiple days will have on me. Here are some of the aspects of this extended trip that concern me and some of the steps I have taken to combat those.

• Exhaustion – Multiple 500+ mile days is something I have never done. The plan here is to break each day up into smaller segments (I would like those to be 150m or less) and to psychologically ride to those stops. As well, we plan to avoid things like alcohol, huge meals, and late nights.
• Heat Related Issues – Strange thing is that when you plan a trip in August, it is normally hot. And this month is no exception. So we plan to stop regularly. But for hydration issues, we plan to use a Camelbak on the trip filled with ice and water. We should have 3 hours of hydration which will get us to any stop we might make. We will wear long sleeve shirts and mesh jackets to avoid sunburn as well.
• Weather – Planning a one day trip makes checking the weather and adapting much easier. A 4 day ride makes it tougher. There is no way around the fact we will ride in rain at some point. We have purchased raingear (and I have tried it out) and I feel we are prepared to ride in moderate rain.
• Traffic – I used the back roads on the way to Florida. We will travel all interstate for this trip. Some say they are safer, but I find the speeds and the traffic less comfortable in general on my bike. I ride 85 miles a day round trip on interstates to work in some atrocious traffic, so I am used to it. But this trip will take us through several major cities I have never been in (Nashville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha).
• Unknown – How will I feel when I get up after the first or second day? How will I feel for the return trip? Some things are just unknown.

In general, part of the appeal of this trip relates to saying at the end “I did it!” Without the list of items above, that statement would ring hollow. So while those items make me nervous, they are part of the challenge and part of the reason we are doing this.

The Old Lady
Man I love my wife. But obviously not like she loves me! I am still amazed she even agreed to this trip. And I amazed she hasn’t jumped off the roof of the house in an attempt to injure herself to get out of it (yet). But having her brings extra concerns for me. Of course I want her there on the trip to experience the sights and sounds, but I feel like I have to make sure she is OK at all times. Having someone else’s life in your hands while facing the obstacles above adds to the anxiety of the trip.

But having her with me will be so much more fun. And we have a plan. My #1 priority is her. Not the people we are traveling with. Not the day we get to Sturgis. Not even if we never get to Sturgis. We have the intercom system to talk and the minute she says “enough” we stop. And then if she says “enough is enough” we get a room and head home the next day.

I believe she can make it and I believe we will have a trip we will never forget. What I need to do is remember that we want to remember this trip forever for all the right reasons. Not like you remember that bout with the stomach flu that time you ate at the roadside stand in Equador.

Only a few days left now. Very little time to back out. Very little time to change many things. Just enough time to get more nervous.

Warranty Up! I'm On My Own!

So today is the first day of the rest of my Road King's life. The 2 year factory warranty expired today. I have mixed emotions, but since there was very little factory work done on it in the first two years, I guess I am fairly confident that everything will be OK.

I put the Harley to the test. I had a goal when I drove it off two years ago to put 20K miles on it before the warranty ran out. I have no idea why I picked that number, but it seemed nice and round and seemed like a good goal. I had read that the average Harley rider puts 1500 miles a year on his/her bike. I find that hard to believe but I wanted to do my part to change that.

So as of today, I have 19,371 miles on my bike. Not 20,000 but pretty close. And if you look at the 1500/year average number I mentioned above, that means that there are 5.3 people out there who bought a Harley on the same day I did that have not driven a single mile!

So what work was needed over the past 2 years? Here is the list:
1. Pipes - Of course, but not warranty work
2. Chrome - Of course critical, couldn't get Harley to cover it under warranty.
3. 1 Rear Tire - Not covered under warranty
4. Recall for Fuel System - Covered under warranty
5. Battery - Covered under warranty

That's it! I am taking it in for the 20K service next week to get ready for the Sturgis trip. I hope Murphy doesn't come along and point out a ton of things that are wrong only a week after the warranty expired!

All in all if I enjoy the next 20K as much as I enjoyed the first 20K, I will be very happy with my purchase. I would like to get another (not a different) bike at some point but I have promised myself (and my wife) I will not do that until I have 100K on this one.

So all the stories, myths, etc about Harley problems? Well, I can't speak to them. I have had noting but fun since I bought this one!