Expanded Great Lakes Ride
I wanted to take this opportunity to document the two-week vacation I took on my 1998 Honda CBR 1100 XX. My initiative for doing so is two fold. 1) Selfishly, I want to be sure that I do not forget the details of the trip and when I do, I have somewhere to turn, and 2) this serves as a great way to bring family, friends, and colleagues up to speed on what lead up to the trip, where I went, and any adventures in between. For those of you that ride, parts maybe a bit obvious so please bear with me.
To begin, this past winter Travis (2000 ZX900) a buddy of mine and I were talking about taking 10 days and riding around the great lakes (I am located in Minneapolis). He came up with the days that would work best (August 16th - August 25th) and they were set all the way through July 2002. Somehow, through a promotion at work, Travis lost his vacation leaving me with a two full weeks of vacation and no one to do anything with. Posted on a Blackbird Owner’s Forum that I frequent was a trip to PA that seemed like a great way to fill a weekend, unfortunately it was the weekend following Labor Day weekend when I was planning to return. As a result, I began to think about people and places I wanted to visit, Josh, a buddy in TX, Rick, a buddy in Manhattan, Deal’s Gap, Maine…but I did not think to tie them all together in one trip until another friend gave me a little inspiration.
In steps Derek. Derek was my motorcycle instructor when I earned my endorsement through the MN Motorcycle Safety Center years back. We have become friends riding a few times a year and swinging into each other’s houses when we are in the area (much to infrequently). Derek showed up at my house the week before my vacation in full on race gear riding some 1980’s vintage 250cc traditional street bike (Honda or Kawi, I cannot remember) that he had bought and fixed up for his girlfriends mother. It was a step down from his 600 Katana (commuter) and Gixxer 1,000, but he seemed to be having fun nonetheless. He started out by asking me if I was interested in doing an Iron Butt SaddleSoar 1,000 or BunBurner 1,500 out to Montana in September (FYI, the SaddleSoar 1,000 is a ride that follows the Iron Butt Association rules that covers 1,000 miles in 24 hours and the BB 1,500 is a ride that covers 1,500 miles in 36 hours). If you have never heard of the IBA, you can check them out at www.ironbutt.com for more information. Unfortunately, my vacation was already coming up, but it did peak my interest to look into the rules for the SS and BB since I was going on a ride anyway.
On August 14th, I
printed out the rules for the SS and BB and started to plot my route. I had remembered that back in 2000, a couple
of friends of mine had completed the Minnesota Y2K rally (2,000 miles in 48
hours) and their route had taken them down to Waco, TX and back. What a coincidence, Josh just happens to live
in
The rest of that week was dedicated to getting the bike prepared (I borrowed an Aerostich Suit and Soft Chase Harper Luggage from Travis), getting Gus (my dog) up to my mother’s, and implementing as many of the 20 tips from the IBA website to ensure success. Keynote: Best Tips I found were Visine, Aspirin and the $4.00 stadium seat pad I bought at Target that had a handle that locked under the seat perfectly. I estimate that I was able to stay in the saddle at least an extra tank of gas due to that extra layer of cushion. Knowing myself, I knew it would be best to take off early and ride throughout the day into the evening vs. taking off in the morning and riding tired into the night. As a result, I planned taking off at 3:00 AM and assumed 18 hours to Waco. Photo: Top Off gas and Official Start time, Gus the dog.
Taking off from Minneapolis I was able to make very good time for the first 2 hours of riding. Two reasons: 1) limited traffic, even in construction zones 2) It was cold and sprinkling and I was trying to make it to my first gas stop to change my gloves. In addition, about 1 hour North of Des Moines in a construction zone, I was rudely run onto the shoulder by a Nissan Maxima, running very fast without its lights on. The North bound lanes of I-35 were closed and as a result, Northbound traffic was running in the left Southbound lane separated by those flexible divider posts. The Maxima was coming north on the single southbound lane and without his lights on, it was a last minute defensive move to hit the shoulder. It felt to close and made me warm up quick, but it was not as scary as the two Iowa State Patrol cars that came out of nowhere in hot pursuit. They cared less then the Maxima who must have been trying to avoid me and at least hit a few of the flexible dividers right next to me, the ISP came right at me and barely gave me an inch. Suffice-it-to-say, I quickly warmed up, adjusted my seat position (anyone who has been in a similar situation would understand having to adjust their seat position), and continued through Des Moines onto Kansas City.
As I entered Kansas City, it again began to sprinkle, but it was finally in the 70’s and my dry, Olympia cold weather gloves were keeping me warm. It only took about another hour and I was on the Kansas Toll Way that I needed to revamp my wardrobe. As the temperature climbed into the high 80’s, the vents in the Aerostich were opened and I proceeded to swap my gloves. I had not rigged my outfit to include the ability to drink water on the fly, but I did carry just under a gallon of water at all times. I found pounding a liter bottle of water at every gas stop kept me hydrated, but not so much that I needed to stop and use the bathroom. As a matter of fact, I found that I only had to stop to relieve my bladder every two tanks of gas as I was sweating most of the water out. Kansas was as nice as long, straight, flat interstate can be. I was able to make good time cruising most of the trip between 90 MPH and that speed when my neck would start to hurt holding my head on (short bursts here and there to break up the monotony).
As I entered Oklahoma, I made myself believe I was on the home stretch (which I was being 700+ miles into the day) and logic dictated that in a big, flat state like OK, the chances that any LEO’s would be on the exact piece of road I am and able to gun a fast moving object like me seemed pretty slim. As a result, I hit the border, positioned myself right next to the right hand shoulder (I hear it is tougher to gun a bike in this lane position) and hammered down. About 30 minutes into the state, I thought I was doing great. Looking ahead, checking the median, no bridges to speak of, enough adrenaline to keep my body from hurting, am I forgetting to look anywhere? Oh yeah, the mirrors! Cruising at a sustained 115 MPH, tucked in as low as I could, looking into the mirrors can be a challenge. It was only when the LEO pulled right up next to me with his lights on that I noticed he was there. It was quite a surreal moment of the trip. I did not even let off the throttle right away. Being a bit shocked, I casually looked to my left to see a young, 30 something OK Highway Patrolman smiling with the biggest shit eating, I have just nailed you, smile I have ever seen. For a moment, I almost wanted to smile back. I still had not let off the throttle at this time. The LEO then threw his right hand up, pumped it up and down a couple of times with his thumb pointing down. My only response was to nod agreeably and roll off the throttle. To my surprise, he accelerated away, off to catch a bigger fish or respond to an accident. I do not know if in fact he was to busy, a rider too, or happy to see that at least I was in full on gear in what was now 90 degree heat, whatever the reason, I still today breathe a sigh of relief.
As a result of that run in, I proceeded to return to my 90 MPH cruising speed that seemed to get me through OK pretty quick. In my opinion, this route was quite nice since in every 3-5 hours, I was hitting another major city (Des Moines, KC, OK City, DFW). In addition, not having done an Iron Butt before, I did not stop to enjoy any scenery or historic sites. As I crossed into Texas, I realized I was well within my 24 hours so I did stop at the Arbuckle Anticline to snap the picture below. This area is pretty cool looking and from what the sign said, pretty unique. For me, it just gave me a chance to dismount and get the blood flowing to my lower extremities again.
My biggest frustration on the trip came when I hit rush hour Traffic in Fort Worth. My log showed at least a 35-minute delay caused by getting through the traffic. However, I did get through and arrived in Waco 18 hours after leaving MSP. My odometer read that I had covered 1,168 miles, which is about right given odometer error against Mapquest. Upon arriving, Josh, his roommate Jason (rides a 2001 ZX 12 and a 2001 Aprilia Mille) and I headed downtown Waco for dinner. I was exhausted and with a 5:00 AM start planned for the next day, I was in no mood to stay out. We returned to Josh’s house and a quick once over of the blackbird showed that my rear Metzeler M4 had been run pretty hard. I think with the hot weather, weight and speed, it lost a lot of tread. Fortunately, as Josh and I were planning to go to South Padre for the weekend, Jason was heading up to Dallas for a weekend at the track. I asked him to find me a new back tire and I would even take a track take-off if necessary. Jason came through with a slightly used Metzeler Rennsport that, once I returned from South Padre and mounted the tire, it unbelievably ran the remaining 4,500 miles and is still on my bike 3 weeks later (it is in much need of replacement now, but I just have not had time). Into the house for some much needed ZZZZZ’s.
After sleeping the night, Josh on his ZX-12 and me on the XX, got up and were on the road at 5:00 AM to finish off the BunBurner and enjoy the weekend in South Padre. Down through Austin and San Antonio and then across the state to Corpus Christi. For anyone that has taken I-37 from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, if you are ever looking for an endless run of straight road to stretch your bikes legs, this road is phenomenal. We were sustaining 90-95 MPH with runs up into the 140 MPH mark. The rear Metzeler M4 tire I was running did a whole bunch of melting along this stretch. It was hot (upper 90’s) which did not help with wear, but it did make it down and back with not cords showing. Once through Corpus Christi, we turned south on US-77 to complete the ride. I believe Josh will agree that the XX (with or without the Blue Pad) is a more capable sport tourer then the ZX-12. The vibration of the 12 will put your whole right side of your body to sleep within 100 miles. Thank you dual-counter-balancers!!!!!
Upon reaching TX-100 that takes you out to South Padre Island, I did some quick math in my head that resulted in me believing I was 20 miles short of the comfort zone I had estimated to be sure I was over 1500 miles. As a result, I forced Josh to ride with me down to Brownsville for a quick gas and go to add 30 miles to the trip. However, upon returning, I discovered my math was accurate (whew!!) but I had forgot that it was about an additional 28 miles from US-77 on TX-100 to get to the Island. Give me a break, I was tired and I guess I would rather be safe then sorry. We arrived in South Padre at about 1:00 PM and my total mileage for the two days showed 1,670 miles. I am still waiting on my certifications, but I believe it should be plenty of miles to earn the BB too.
We checked in at the Holiday Inn on the beach and I found an end eyewitness to complete my IBA requirements in Juan Leal, the security guard at the Holiday Inn. He happily took down some notes and signed my documentation. Josh and I went for a quick ride to take the pictures above/below and tour the Island. We did some playing around on the bikes, some action shots at the North End of South Padre Boulevard, and within an hour, we found ourselves back at the Holiday Inn, down at the Tiki Bar by the pool, getting started on what would be a $70 night of drinks and R & R.
We stayed through Sunday and headed back to Waco Monday morning about 10:00 AM. When we arrived back in Waco, we found Jason who was unharmed from his track weekend in Dallas and we also found my much needed new/used tire that I would have mounted the following morning at Barger’s Allsport in Waco. Josh left me his car that Tuesday so I could run some errands and get the tire mounted. By noon, I was back at the house with the XX back together and ready to go. However, Josh was heading to Dallas that evening for some training Wednesday morning so I decided I would just ride with him. I loaded the XX on his trailer and we headed up around 6:00 PM to his Aunt and Uncle’s house in Dallas. It was an early night for me as I was going to head out the following morning on my way to Deal’s Gap south of Knoxville, TN.
I rolled out of bed around 6:30 AM to find Josh’s Uncle Jay downstairs eating some breakfast. We spoke for a while, but by 7:30, I was loaded up and underway. Not really having a destination, I thought if I made Memphis that day I would be doing good. I headed out on I-30 E and had a pretty uneventful ride, until I hit Arkansas. Still on I-30, I quickly learned that construction is not only a season in Minnesota. Every 10-15 miles I was hitting another construction site. Being on a bike you are much more flexible to find the fast moving lanes and I was pulling out all the stops (until my next run-in with another LEO). Who knew a sign that says “Merge Now” in a construction zone would actually be a law in Arkansas. I quickly found out that it is as I ignored the sign and saved about 2 miles of waiting in the backed-up lane. As I reached the construction zone, I found a LEO waiting for someone just like me to arrive. As I rode up to him he turned on his lights and informed me of the law. I acknowledged that I rode right by the sign and ended up dodging another bullet as he graciously told me to get in the other lane. In Little Rock I continued east but on I-40 to Memphis. I arrived in Memphis about 3:00 PM and felt good enough to continue. I finally did stop in Jackson, TN and found the cheapest little Motel in Jackson, the Airways Motel ($22/night). The only redeeming quality of this Motel is that I ended up leaving my mobile phone and charger behind, completely cutting me off from work and civilization. For the nominal fee of $4.00, the Motel attendant did send my phone back to my house.
On Thursday morning, I left Jackson about 7:00 AM. I continued heading East on I-40 until just West of Knoxville where I grabbed the I-140 spur down to where it hooks up with US-129. I turned South on 129 which all of you riders will know leads to the infamous Dragon at Deal’s Gap. This 11-mile stretch of road with 318 “sharp” corners is a riders dream (except for the Hayabusa rider that crashed about 3 miles from Deal’s Gap leaving an oil slick across both lanes). I unfortunately did not find the Oil Absorber or the badly bruised busa until I started into the corner. Fortunately, I was able to scrub enough speed before hitting the sand like material to keep the Bird on two wheels. I ended up running the Dragon twice, once down to Deal’s Gap, and then back to catch I-40 East so I could get on my way up I-81 towards New York City, my next destination. The ride down was awesome other then the unknown oil spill, but the ride back was a bit more slow. I ended up caught behind a local on a 2002 Goldwing that, although he was not going as fast as I would have liked, I could not get around him (hey, give me a break, there is no where to pass a 1600 GW that is accelerating hard in those short straights, I do not care what you are riding). He knew the road quite well and was not afraid to grind some parts. I was truly amazed (I gave him a high-five when he stopped at the end of the Dragon to commend him on his spirited riding). Picture(s): XX next to the reservoir lake on 129, XX at Deal’s Gap.
It was about 2:00 PM when I finally hit I-81 and turned north towards Virginia. It was NASCAR weekend in Bristol that a lot of people were heading to and not driving slow. I-81 quickly became an International Speedway that I needed to be doing over 85 MPH to stay ahead of the trucks towing campers and RV’s. I took a quick detour off of the beaten path to go see the raceway but the closer I got, the more backed up traffic became. I only waited about 10 minutes before I turned around and got back on the slab. I arrived in Wytheville, VA about 7:00 PM and bedded down for the night at the local Holiday Inn (I burned some frequent stay points to cut a bit of the trip cost). For being an Interstate, I-81 is a pretty nice ride. I do not know if I was in the thick of the Appalachian’s, but the rolling hills were pretty scenic.
The following morning I was on the road at 8:00 AM (late morning, due to previous long day). My destination was Newark, NJ to stay the night before traveling downtown Manhattan for the weekend with my buddy Rick (Rick lives on 72nd Street on the Upper West Side, about 1 block from Central Park). I arrived in Newark about 8:00 PM and went straight to bed. It was a nice ride up and over through Roanoke, Harrisburg, Allentown and into Newark, but I was very focused on the destination and 3 long days on the bike were starting to get to me. Harrisburg to Newark was the toughest stretch as every bump and pothole vibrated throughout my whole body (my lower back was getting a little sore). The night sleep was great and the following morning I got dressed up for the 30-minute ride downtown. I ended up choosing the Holland Tunnel as the Lincoln was backed up to get to Manhattan.
Once in New York, I shot straight to Rick’s to get settled in for the weekend. He had left the key to his apartment with his doorman so I schlepped my stuff up to his apartment and ran downstairs to lock up the bike and take a couple of pictures (I used a simple brake disk lock and set the Gorilla Bike alarm). That night, Rick, Britt (a friend of Rick’s) and I grabbed dinner and hit the bars. It was an early night (about 1:00 AM) for Manhattan standards, but I was pretty tired. When we got back to Rick’s apartment, we decided a couple of wheelies down 72nd Street at 2:00 AM were in order (at the time of me writing this I am still waiting on Rick to get the pictures developed). Two spirited accelerations down 72nd earned us several car alarms going off and one guy to yell out his window, “knock-it the F#%& Off”. We scurried into his apartment building like two kids that had just rang someone’s doorbell and ran away. It was pretty fun though. Picture: XX parked on 72nd Street.
The following morning I got up and shot down to the South Entrance of Central Park to take the picture below. I wanted to have a picture with a New York landmark and the Park was the closest. I quickly rode my bike up on the sidewalk, put down the side stand, grabbed the handlebars and spun the bike around, jumped in the street and took the photo, and got out of there before any police could yell at me. Fortunately, other then a couple of people mentioning “nice move” on spinning the bike around on the stand, I got away clean. At about 1:00 PM, Rick, Donna (another friend of Rick’s) and I headed up to Rick’s boat that is docked on the Long Island Sound. Typically, Rick would have wanted to throw a line in and do some fishing but instead, we headed out to one of the beaches, anchored the boat, and just spent the afternoon soaking up the sun. Being in the Sound is pretty cool because on a clear day, you can see the Manhattan skyline. That night we grabbed dinner and then headed back to the apartment because we both had early mornings (I was leaving for Maine and Rick was heading to Atlanta). Picture: XX at Central Park.
Being that I was on an air mattress in Rick’s living room, his Monday morning of 4:30 AM quickly became my morning as well. However, I was able to fall back asleep and at 8:30 AM, loaded up the bike to head North to Maine. Leaving Manhattan, I headed out on the Henry Hudson Parkway and caught various Interstates and back roads until I hit Hartford, CT. To be completely honest, I used “the force” to find my way and accidentally hit Hartford on a fluke right turn on some country road. My rationale was that if I know I am heading North/Northeast with a big ocean on my right to keep me from going to far East, I really couldn’t go wrong working my way along on un-mapped roads. In addition, I love that part of the country and unless you really mess up, you really can’t miss running into Maine. Once in Hartford, I worked my way to I-95 (avoiding Boston) and up into Maine. Once I crossed into Maine, I made a couple short runs over to US 1 to run the coast (which was tough to see) and get a good look at what I thought Maine was all about, the coast and fishing. Once I got to Augusta, I made the decision to take ME 27 North into Quebec versus the more heavily traveled US 201. I think it was the right decision. The ride up 27 was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (the real UP between Houghton and Cooper Harbor) with its rolling, green Mountains/Hills and occasional Moose crossing. I ended up staying the night in Farmington, ME at this excellent $40/night Motel (The Farmington Motel). This area is surrounded by a number of secluded lakes with small, quaint resorts on them. The whole time I was thinking that this would be a great place to vacation/honeymoon (with the bike too of course). Photos: ME 27 and Lake off of ME 27.
The following day (Tuesday) was a very long day. I covered 915 Miles from Farmington, ME to Port Huron, MI. I followed ME 27 into Quebec and back roads down to Sherbrooke where I caught CA 10 and followed it into Montreal where I finally caught 401 all the way to Port Huron. Crossing over from ME to Quebec was quite neat. Riding through rural Quebec felt like I was riding through a European countryside. The architecture is different and of course all the road signs being in French gave the ride a different feel. The roads were pretty beat up and within 30 miles of crossing the border, the terrain changed from lush, mountain roads to high rolling plain. I also found myself moving along much faster then usual trying to rationalize to myself the 100 KMH vs. 100 MPH argument (I am just an ignorant, English only speaking American that does not get the metric system?). Fortunately, I never had to use this weak position that I had all but convinced myself would earn me a ticket. The ride down to Montreal was long. I got pretty sick of the 4-lane highway, but I was making such good time I could not convince myself to go and ride along the slower, but more scenic north shores. I was also trying to make it back to Minneapolis in time to get up north to the lake house to enjoy Labor Day weekend. So on I pushed. Photo: Entering Canada.
The most frustrating part of my trip through Canada was hitting the northeast side of Toronto at about 4:30 PM. It was about 8:00 PM by the time I got to London, ON which should typically take 2.5 hours. Stop-&-go traffic in 85-degree heat was exhausting. As a result of the traffic, I chose to bypass my trip to Niagra Falls that was only about an hour out of my way. I regret not making that trip as I only had a 3-hour ride the following day from Port Huron to Grand Rapids, MI where I would stay with my old friend from college Kyle for 2 days. At about 9:30 PM, I arrived in Port Huron and as I crossed the bridge back into the States, the blue and yellow Holiday Inn Express sign right off of the highway pleasantly surprised me. I quickly exited and found my way to bed for some much-needed ZZZZZZZ’s.
On Wednesday morning I woke up late (about 8:00 AM) and was on the bike and rolling by 9:00 AM. I rolled into Kyle’s driveway at about 11:45 AM after a very brisk ride across Michigan. I ended up at the tail end of 4 “sweeper” cars running 90-95 MPH all the way to Grand Rapids. Kyle, being a teacher and with school already starting the week before, left his house open for me to kick up my feet until he got home around 4:00 PM. 20 minutes after arriving, Kyle’s wife Melissa called me to inform me that her neighbor just called and thought I was breaking into the house (I was on a Sportbike for Pete sake????). I stayed with them until early Friday morning and then it was off to catch the ferry across Lake Michigan. The stay at Kyle’s was a nice break in the ride and putting on a cribbage clinic for Kyle (not really, I think it ended up 7-5), drinking a few beers, and banging our fists on the kitchen table to Linkin Park reminded me how much I missed hanging out with my good friends who are spread throughout the U.S.
On Friday morning, I got up and rode up to Ludington, MI to catch the 8:00 AM ferry to Manitowoc, WI. The car ferry has a ton of history surrounding it such as it is the last coal fired commercial vessel operating on the Great Lakes. The link to the ferry is www.ssbadger.com if you are ever looking to bypass going above or below Lake Michigan (it is a 4 hour ride). Once on the ferry, you personally strap down your own bike and the area is secured the entire time by ferry personnel (so you can leave your luggage, helmet, riding suit… on the bike). I only took my tank bag and headed up to the deck up front, found a vacant lounge chair, and fell back asleep for about 2 hours of the ride. The rest of the time I walked around and grabbed a bite to eat. Photo: Deck of SS Badger (where I slept, photo from the website), leaving Ludington, arriving in Manitowoc.
Once in Manitowoc, I quickly unstrapped the bike and headed north to Green Bay. Once in Green Bay, I turned west on WI-29 and finished the home stretch of 280 miles back to Champlin, MN. As a result of the trip, I ended with putting on just under 6,500 miles and the XX totaling 37,750 miles to that date. On Friday, August 30th when I arrived at home, I went online and ordered new tires in hopes of getting them in time to make another ride to Pennsylvania with a group of XX owners the following weekend (The NEXXT ride for those of you who know). Unfortunately, the tires did not arrive until Thursday and I ended up missing the ride leaving 2 months of planning to meet another rider, Tim (REDBIRD) in Chicago in the dust (sorry for that again Tim). Suffice-it-to-say, the trip was just what I needed to put things into perspective and do some serious thinking, about everything (plenty of time to do so). I also was able to see a big chunk of the US via a sport I absolutely love to partake in. In addition, I also demonstrated to myself again why I ride a Honda. I was prepared by the IBA and my old Boy Scout Training for most of the common problems with long distance riding. However, IBA should put asterisks by any of the mechanical precautions in their preparation list and at the bottom of the list it should read, *Unless you are riding a Honda. Picture: Home Again, 6,500 miles later.
Cheers,
Mac Carkhuff (aka: MAXX)