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FNG :)
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Jacksonville
Posts: 2
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Notes on SS1000 & BB1500 (long)
(Rides are awaiting IBA certification)
Hey Everybody,
On Monday, 9/12 at 8 in the morning, I decided to take a bike ride and I arrived in Roswell, N.M. on Tuesday 9/13 around 12:30 P.M. local time. Actually, I have been planning this Iron-Butt ride for some time. After I arrived, I Got fueled up (need receipt for time/location) and my end-ride paper work filled out by a parts guy at the local H-D shop. 1,000 miles in 15 hours and 1701 miles total in just over 30 hours, with a 4 hour nap at a truck stop just out side of Oklahoma City, Ok. Weather here is very hot, lots of sun, yes it's a dry heat but damm it's hot. I got some Arbby's for lunch/dinner and after I finish writing I'm going to the self serve car wash and clean up the bike, amazing how may bugs their are between Jax. and Roswell. I'll be heading off to Ruidoso, N.M. (AMA Golden Aspen Rally) around 6A.M. tomorrow so I can eat the free breakfast at 8 then sign up for the scenic tour that leaves at 10. After the tour I'll check out the vendors, look at the bike show entries and then head off to my Aunt Fran who lives in Albuquerque. Not sure which way I'll head back to Jax. (West-Texas/Oklahoma is flatter and straighter than Fla. roads) but I'm leaning towards a ride through Colorado, before the snow, then across flat Kansas, Missouri back to Jax.
I'm not planning on being back before the 28th. of Sept. so try to manage with out me.....LOL
Have a great day, I know I will...............Later, DB
Hey gang, After spending 4 days with Auntie Fran and my Mom, who was visiting from England, I set out for another long distance Saddle Sore 1000. This ride was from Albuquerque, NM. through Colorado, Nebraska and arriving in Anamosa, Iowa home of J&P Cycles and the wonderful National Motorcycle Museum. The total mileage was 1,297 and the total time was 20 hrs. 20 mins. with a 2 hour nap at a Lincoln, Nebraska roadside rest area. The ride up through Colorado was alongside the mighty Rockies with a crystal clear day and all of the peaks were visible, including Pikes Peak, which is just outside of Colorado Springs. The traffic was moving at a brisk pace, which suited me just fine. At Denver, a slight right turn headed me towards Nebraska. Now the only worry I had on riding at night in Nebraska was DEER!!!! Many stories I've read and heard about night riding in the West was simply stated by the riders as....... "I saw the deer then 'crash.'" So all night long I was telling myself, DEER-CRASH.....which kept me wide awake. I have added extra high powered lights to my Road Glide, in anticipation of the night riding with Bambi.....As soon as I thought I was out running my lights, (not being able to stop in the length of the light beam) I would slow down and let a car get in front of me and act as a run blocker, a football term, or I should say, a Bambi blocker....... no mishaps, in fact, I didn't even see a deer....... I arrived in Anamosa very early Tuesday morning, had a small breakfast, checked into the local Super 8 Motel, showered and with plenty of energy still available I rode downtown to the museum. Marvelous, simply Marvelous.......pristine motorcycles spanning the ages from the turn of the century to the present. Several Steve McQueen bikes that he raced in the Baja 1000 and road in the movie, On Any Sunday, were on display as well. I had never seen a steam powered motorcycle, but there it was on the museum floor. No throttle, but 2 valves the 'rider' would open to allow the steam from the boiler to the twin pistons that powered the rear wheel......weird looking, kinda like a locomotive on 2 wheels best describes it. The museum has a huge collection of motorcycle nick/nacks from countless donators that is on display also. A very nice place to visit if you are interested in the history motorcycling........Later, DB
Hey friends, Part 3 for those keeping count,
I left J&P Cycles (Anamosa, IA.) around 9:30AM on Wen. and had a wonderful 2 1/2 hr. ride through the Iowa countryside on my way to Davenport, IA to catch I-80 east towards Ohio. Typical Interstate riding through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio arriving in Dayton around 5:30PM for an easy 510 miles in 8hrs. Located the United States Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Field and noted the opening time for the Museum, located a motel nearby, unpacked the bike, got some dinner, a shower and sleep. I got to the museum at 9:30 Thurs. morning and spent the next 3 hours walking in 4 huge airplane hangers looking at some of the most rarest and pristine reconditioned airplanes, balloons, missiles and aviation memorabilia ever collected in the world. These hangers are setup so you walk from one hanger to the next in a timeline with the history of aviation ending at the Outer Space exhibitions, including 4 different Titan launch missiles in their ready to launch position, these babies are tall!!!!!! If you have an interest in aviation at all, I highly recommend you make this museum a MUST visit, simply incredible....... Leaving the Dayton area I headed east to Pickerington, Ohio for a visit to the AMA Museum of Motorcycle Heroes. Located just off of I-70 and a short countryside ride from Columbus, Ohio, the AMA Museum constantly changes the motorcycles and the exhibits every year to honor different motorcycle manufacturers and types of motorcycles. Parking at the Museum was first rate, covered parking for motorcycles only.....sweet.......The displays this year were honoring BMW motorcycles and motocross racers. Very nice displays on 2 separate floors, BMW's located on the lower floor with at least a dozen very old and well maintained bikes, a time line display showing the history of BMW bikes and the upper floor having the motocross bikes and memorabilia. All were laid out in realistic displays with the motocross bikes positioned on dirt jumps, each with a placard describing the importance of the bike in the history of motocross racing. Leaving the Museum, I pointed the Road Glide south from the Columbus area for a countryside ride through Ohio headed towards Asheville, NC...... Next adventure,
riding the BlueRidge Parkway at night........awesome.........Later,DB
Part 4,
Riding through Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia, all back roads, was a sensual delight as many of you know. Back road curves and small town Americana at it's finest, easy riding with no time/destination other than to be in Asheville, NC to ride part of the BlueRidge Parkway on my way to Suches, GA. Enjoying the back roads, I forgot how much time it would take to get to Asheville, but I was feeling good, the bike running great and the weather was a real pleasure to enjoy while biking, I finally arrived in the outskirts of Asheville around 2AM Friday. Stopping for a light breakfast at a Waffle House, fueled the bike and stretched the legs some, I was still feeling very good and decided to head for the nearest onramp for the Parkway. Again, knowing DEER-CRASH was an ever-present possibility, I took it nice and easy on the Parkway. Riding the Parkway at night, or anytime for that matter, can be very intimidating to some bikers, but the beauty of the Parkway under a near full moon was a riding experience I will never forget.......Me, the Parkway, my Harley and the moon were all in sync as I rode for nearly 2 1/2 hours......the moon outlining the mountain sides, the town lights below as I pasted overhead on Parkway bridges that span the mountain gaps, the high-powered headlights/fog lights showing me the way from curve to curve and the excitement of what's around the next curve keep me in such a state of concentration and euphoria that before long I was off the Parkway and riding through the town of Cherokee at 4:30 in the morning. For over 2 1/2 hours, I didn't see anybody or any cars, just 2 deer on the Parkway that ran away as soon as the headlights lit them up. Cherokee is very easy to drive through when you are the only one on the road, infact, US-19 was very easy all the way down past US-129 (Tail of the Dragon) to Murphy, NC where I stopped for gas and coffee and spent some time reflecting back on one of the most incredible rides of my life. I rode on to Suches, GA to the motorcycle resort, Two-Wheels-Only. Many of you have been there and for those of you who haven't, you need to treat yourself to a wonderful experience of being at a 1st. class resort for bikers only. I have been to TWO before, not to stay overnight, but just to visit, but I didn't know that you must have reservations to stay in the lodge, but camping does not need reservations. Not having a tent, and being pissed that I didn't know about needing a reservation, I stubbornly headed for home, another 410 miles to go, after traveling from Pickerington, Ohio 500 miles ago. Getting to the beltway of Atlanta was easy enough, jockeying with cars and construction zones was a little intense, but once passed Atlanta it was a typical boring ride down I-75 to the I-10 turn off. Once on I-10, I stopped one last time to top of the gas tank and pointed the Road Glide towards J-Ville. Traffic was cooperating and a little over an hour later I was stopped underneath an overpass on I-295, putting on my rain gear for the 1st. time in almost 2 weeks, to be welcomed back by a typical frog-choker thunderstorm for the last few mile to Mandarin. WHEW......what a great ride it has been.......5099 miles, 18 States, no flats, almost no rain, no problem with getting gas for the bike, no performance citations, nobody to wait on and nobody to bitch at me for riding to fast or to long.......... Marvelous...............Simply Marvelous.........Later, DB
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