Getting Home Tuesday 62017

I'm sorry for not keeping up with the blog for the last couple of days. I have been doing a lot of boring driving on Interstate highways from Columbia, Missouri.

I drove 621 miles to Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, 618 and then 303 miles yesterday, 619 arriving home at about 1:30 pm.

The drive on Sunday was fought with traffic, rain and accidents. A bit stressful but I made it safely to Birmingham. I was routed off of I-24 north of Nashville, Tennessee, due to an accident and that added about an hour to my long day driving. No pictures due to the rain and not much interesting. I did pass another couple of accidents along the road.

One thing I did notice is that the worst roads were in the major cities. The roads were very bumpy, uneven and just plain horrible. It seems that the builders cannot figure our how to make the joints or the repairs consistent in being flush with the existing roadway. Once I got away from the cities, the roads improved and the ride was almost enjoyable.

Also, it seemed that when I neared a large city, the rain would increase and add to the stress of driving. At least the bike didn't get wet and I was dry and cool in the air conditioned truck. The only thing missing cruise control to give my legs a break. I guess you cannot have it all.

I was able to collect my held mail at the post office, pick up some food and get my home opened up.
Things seem to be OK but the yard needs mowing but according to my neighbor, it has rained everyday since I left so I guess I will have get that going also.

Today, I dropped the bike off at Florida Motorsports for evaluation of the failure and the then returned the rental truck. My friend Will McFarlin picked my up at the rental place and we had lunch and he provided taxi service to Casa Mike. The rain has been on and all again today but everything is nice and green but a bit tall in need of a cutting.

I received some pictures from Matt, the service manager at the bike shop and it seems that the front universal joint failed on the drive shaft. Here are a few of pictures of the broken part.

  I have not talked to Matt as yet to find out what the time frame is to get the part and date of repair. I am also concerned about the rear universal joint as it is the same age and I am thinking that it should be replaced also but until I talk to him, that is up in the air. This conversation will take place tomorrow.

Done for today. I am not going to continue with additional blog entries since the ride is essentially over for me.

LeRoy was stopping at a friend of his in Arkansas and then continue east on secondary roads to Sylva, North Carolina.

Thanks to all of .you for you interest and comments. Maybe Alaska Next Year.

Mike

Good Day on the Highway, Sat 61717

Got myself a good nights sleep. More tired than I thought.

I arose, loaded up, got fuel and hit the highway to my goal for the day of Columbia, Missouri.

There was a bit of rain for the first 75 miles driving east toward Sioux Falls and I-29 South. The traffic was not bad and I made excellent time. I did notice that going south, the temperature climbed to about 85 degrees at Columbia.

Not much to see as I was trying to the miles done and get home as soon as possible.

I crossed the Missouri River several times today and each time, there was a historical marker talking about the Lewis and Clark Expedition passing through the area. Lots of history in this area about them.

No pictures today as nothing interesting caught my eye. Maybe tomorrow.

Drove  560 miles today safely.

Off to maybe Alabama tomorrow.

Mike

Heading Home

Today LeRoy and I headed in the general direction of our individual homes. LeRoy to North Carolina and me to Tallahassee.

I followed him in the truck until we reached Sturgis, South Dakota and at that point, sadly parted ways. He is going to take a leisurely ride home and play tourist while I put the pedal to the metal and try to get home as quick as possible.

The ride from Billings was very scenic on Highway 212 but in a truck, it was ok. Here are a couple of views from along this highway.

This is Cheyenne Indian Reservation land and is really very scenic. A very nice ride/Drive.

After I got on I-90 at Rapid City, it was a eastward drive.

I did come upon a couple of interesting things while driving.

Did you every wonder how the dead animals on the road side? I found the "Lucky Guy" that has the job of picking them up. What he does with them I do not know but he gets them gone. In this area, there are a lot of deer on the roadside so maybe he gets to keep the hides.

He pulled over in front of me after picking up a new victim.

Also, the soil is so rich here and the roadside grass grows so well, they bale it instead of just cut it.

I crossed the Missouri River near Chamberlain, SD and stopped to take a picture.

They had an information display about the Lewis and Clark exploration team traveling in this area.

Ended up the evening at Mitchell, SD at a hotel that is not the best but I'm tired and done for today.

597 miles.....Done. 

I did restart my SPOT Locator so you can follow along with me.

Mike

Done and Done Thursday 615217

Today started with very blue clear skies and crisp morning air at about 56 degrees.

We had breakfast and loaded our bikes as this has become our ritual.

We headed north a bit and turned off on Montana  Highway 200, our old friend from yesterday. The wind was light and things looked good. I even found a sign of some note about the road being part of the Lewis and Clark Trail.

These two men and their fellow explores traveled the new lands of the Louisiana Purchase. They traveled 4600 miles across the United States all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Here is a link about the Lewis and Clark Trail.

http://lewisandclarktrail.com/

We left the gas station and headed west. After traveling about 4 miles, my Triumph started to make unusual vibration in the foot pegs and handle bars. At first thought, maybe road roughness, Nope. Then the vibration got worse and loud metallic sounds and then the engine quit and the bike became a bit unstable. I was able to get the bike stopped and informed LeRoy via our wireless headset of my bike quitting.

There was not much of a shoulder on the road so LeRoy came back and we pushed it about 200 yards farther down the road to a driveway to access the problem. LeRoy saw wisps of smoke near the front part of the drive shaft housing and when I started the engine and tried to move, lots of metal to metal noise came from that area. Not a good sign. The bike was Done moving under its own power.

After some discussion and calls to the nearest Triumph dealer, located in Missoula, about 150 west and trying to figure what to do next, here is what we came up with.

1. Get AAA to get us off the road and back to Great Falls.
2. Price truck rental to haul the bike to Missoula, Montana.

We determined that the Triumph dealer would most likely Not have the parts necessary to do the repair so we would have to wait in a hotel for several days and that would cost $$$.

It would make more sense to rent a truck and take my bike back to Tallahassee and that way, I would be at home waiting for the fix which may take several days between getting parts and doing the actual fix.

That is what we finally decided to do. The cost of a truck, one-way to Tallahassee from Great Fall, Montana, came to $1041.00 plus fuel.

Now the Alaska bike ride is Done.

We loaded Trixie into the box van from U Haul. The bike looks kind of sad with the front wheel wedged in the corner when tied down to travel. Kind of like a kid standing in the corner when they have been bad.

We grabbed some lunch as we had not eaten since breakfast and it was now after 4:00 pm. After a snack at KFC we headed out of town and ended here at Billings, Montana.

As it stands now, LeRoy and I will travel together to Rapid City, South Dakota and split up there with him taking a more scenic route back to his home in Sylva, North Carolina. I will take the Interstates back to Tallahassee as quick as possible.

My bike made it 150 miles past 100,000. Oh well, things break and you move on.

Actually things have worked out OK. Then the failure happened, the rear wheel could have stopped rotating and caused me to crash hard. No Hospital visit, no injury. Found a truck to get me home so all things considered, a fair outcome.

Sorry for the failed adventure but still a nice ride with a good friend.

Mike

A Bit of Wind and Rain, Wed 61417

Today is another day of wind and rain and wind again.

We got up and headed out of Dickinson, ND, about 9:10am after refueling.

We headed west on I-94 into Montana. Unfortunately, the wind god was not our friend and we had to deal with a head wind of about 35 + miles per hour.  Since the road was not directly into the wind, the wind would be from the left side for a bit, the right side for a bit and directly in front of us but always blowing against us. Our fuel mileage was terrible and ran at about a 28 to 30 miles per gallon. Not so much fun. To add to the fun, the sky was very overcast and we would get a bit of rain from time to time. Nothing heavy but more of a nuance.

Just out of town, we passed our first signs of oil production in North Dakota. Storage tanks, drilling rigs and equipment on both sides of the highway.

I missed the Montana state line sign but the terrain changed rapidly throughout the ride today.

Erosion caused canyons.

Lots of grasslands.

Moisture laden clouds of flat croplands.

There are very large farms/ranches through out North Dakota and Montana. The crops go for miles and miles on both sides of the road. There are also equally large cattle grazing areas along the highway.

One of the things I noticed is how the scenery goes from flat pasture type land back to erosion carved areas.

As we were riding along on Montana Highway 200, there was very, very little traffic, we found this stop light in the middle of nowhere!!!

We stopped and waited.......about 15 minutes and suddenly traffic showed up from the other direction and we ended up following a pilot vehicle through a repaving zone.

LeRoy and I were happy to be waiting for the pilot truck.

Due to our poor mileage and the strong winds, we stopped a few more times than we planned but the breaks were welcome.

We had to stop for another road construction and found out where the Hookers hang out in Montana.

The scenery once again changed quickly from open pasture, grazing and crop land to tree covered areas. Also the altitude increased to 4000 feet and more.

Once again the terrain became flatter and more open for raising cattle and crops.

About this time, we were about 34 miles east of Lewistow, MT. and we passed a milestone.

My Triumph Tiger Explorer passed the 100,000 mile mark. I now have a total of 100,0134 miles at the end of the day. Just getting better with each mile!

Another mileage picture on the side of the road.

After the recognition pictures, LeRoy decided to try and play matador with his jacket and his bike.

From here the signs of business, civilization began to increase. Before that, it was very lonesome and signs of people were few and far between

  Once again the terrain changed from flat to hilly and then we rode through Otter Creek valley and then back up on the plateau to Great Falls, MT.

We arrived at our hotel save and sound after an 452 mile day and about 9 hours of riding. We are a bit tired from fighting the wind but me missed the rain, mostly but a good day of riding none the less.

Done for another day. One more day in the USA and then on to Canada!!

Mike

Rainy Day Tuesday 61317

We watched the Weather Channel last evening and the forecast was showed that heavy rain and high winds was expected on our planned route. Once again this morning the forecast did give us a bit of hope that we could pass between the storm bands but that was not to be.

We had some breakfast and headed out about 0830 CDT.

We headed north toward Sauk Center and then headed west due to the thunder storms. We thought that we would sneak through but the wind and rain caught us. Here are some picts of the rain.

Just before getting off of I-94, we passed this sign for the Lake Wobegon Trail. Lake Wobegon is a long running show on National Public Radio that was kind of a homey show that featured stories about the town and people of Lake Wobegon. It included singing, acting and skits. Here is a link to the show.
http://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444601/a-prairie-home-companion-news-from-lake-wobegon

 

Views of the clouds and rain!!!

We rode mostly 2 lane roads out on Minnesota and into South Dakota and then north to North Dakota and avoided most the bad wind and rain. It was nice riding  and this is a very rural area with nothing but farms and cattle ranches. Still nice riding.

We were looking for a place to stop and get something to eat and we found a Hooter's..........Lumber Company...disappointed.

 We went north to I-94 and headed west toward out goal of Dickinson, North Dakota. As we were getting into Bismarck, ND, the traffic slowed due to construction and of course some rain caught up with us but we were able to get through without getting very wet. The rain hounded us all day!!

After we escaped from the traffic slowdown and the rain, then all we had to deal with is some wind. We both would rather have wind the rain/wind.

About 20 miles east of Dickinson, we found that there is a time change to Mountain time which kind of surprised us to have the change in the western part of the state. Oh Well, just one of those things.

We made to the hotel at about 6 pm local time. Kind of a long day of 467 miles and 10 hours of riding. We stopped for lunch and fuel but the rain really slowed our progress.

Maybe tomorrow will be better when we get into Montana. getting closer to Canada!

Finally, it seems that I have managed to catch a cold so coughing and nose blowing are my constant companion. Hopefully I will get over the symptoms quickly.

Ride is going well, just have to keep moving and get to the scenic parts of the ride.

More tomorrow.

Mike

The Journey Has Begun Monday, 61217

Good Afternoon Folks,

LeRoy and I have finally commenced our ride to Alaska. We did some laundry yesterday so that we could leave with clean clothes for the ride.

We got up about 6am, Central time and loaded the bikes. My brother Al and is wife Judy were kind enough to get up to see us off and take part in the departure picture.

We were on the road at about 7:10am traveling west on I-94 toward Madison, Wisconsin, then the Twin cities of St Paul and Minneapolis, finishing up at Quality Inn in St Cloud, Minnesota after about 397 miles of riding and 7 hours in the saddle.

The ride had us cross the Mississippi River into Minnesota and riding around the Twin Cities.

 Traffic was not too bad but the temperature climbed from about 74 degrees to a high of 87 degrees. We had a bit of side wind but nothing we couldn't deal with.

In central Wisconsin, the clouds came in and there was evidence of rain before we got there. I brought down the temperature so riding was a bit more enjoyable.

Just north of the Twin Cities, the clouds built up again quite a bit and it looked like we were going to do a bit of riding in the rain but the road took us around the rain except for a short stretch about 20 miles from St Cloud. We quickly dried off while riding so no harm for foul.

There was not very much to see along the Interstate so not any pictures. Maybe tomorrow will be more productive on the photos.

We are continuing on I-94 to North Dakota and Montana.

I have managed to catch a cold so the coughs and runny nose are a pain while riding but on taking some meds to get that under control. Just inconvenient.

Bikes are doing fine so off we go in the morning.

Done for today.

Mike

Landed in Wisconsin

Got up early in order to get on the highway to my brother Al's home in Brookfield, Wisconsin and take advantage of the cooler temperature and light traffic.

The traffic was light in Kentucky and scenic.

Just before crossing into Illinois, I passed 4 Rivers Harley Davidson with a unique building.

It may be hard to tell, but the building looks like a side-wheel riverboat, including smoke stacks.

I crossed the Ohio River into Illinois and the weather was very comfortable but wind started to blow from the north-northwest and increase in velocity to about 10 miles an hour. This made the ride a bit of a strain in order to fight the wind pushing me to the right. The farther north I road the more the wind increased to about 20 mph.  At the end of the day, I was a bit tired.

Just after crossing the Ohio River, I passed Metropolis.......the home of Superman!!

Superman is painted on the water tower and in downtown they have huge statue of Superman.

http://metropolistourism.com/


On the way through Illinois, I saw many more bike riders. Here is one Patriotic Rider that passed me.

You have go to admire his patriotism.

With the wind blowing at a good clip, the few clouds were very high cirrus at about 20,000 feet.

Highway 57 took me to Chicago and ultimately to Brookfield and my brother's house. I arrived at about 3:30 pm after 9 hours and 583 miles riding time.

Glad to get off the bike and spend time with my family.

Done for today.