Bob and Cheryl Fall Ride Through Appalachia
#1
01-05-2015, 02:21 PM
Bob and Cheryl Fall Ride Through Appalachia
It was 41 degrees at 6:30 a.m when we left. From where I sit typing this today, I can see the thermometer on the porch. It currently reads just south of zero. Winter officially arrived about 2 weeks ago. Four or so inches of snow and sub zero temps recently have sealed the deal. Forty-one degrees would seem like T-shirt weather right now. But at the end of October, 41 degrees felt a bit nippy. Never the less, we were committed. We had plans to be in Raleigh North Carolina by Friday night, and appointments to keep Saturday. It was Thursday. Plenty of time. We had about 600 miles to cover to make for an easy day tomorrow. Our arbitrary destination was Charleston, the capital of West Virginia.
Here's the route for the day -
Before we head out, I want to point out that we were doing things a little differently this time around. For starters, we're on a new bike. It's a 2014 Street Glide Special. I had traded the 2011 Ultra in on this bike on a trip down to Arkansas. It was not a planned thing. On the way down there were some things about the Ultra that bugged me. Don't get me wrong, it was a great bike. But the performance changes I did made it loud for touring. And it was hot! I'm not sure what the deal was, but heat just radiated off the Supertrapp 2/1. The other problem was that it was getting terrible mileage. I was lucky to get 150 miles of range. And at gas stops I was adding pretty close to the 6 gallon capacity. I foresaw a long walk in my future unless I started fueling up at 125. So down in Arkansas I made the mistake of renting a 14 SGS. The rest is history. The bike is quiet, has good power, runs cool, and gets a minimum of 200 miles of range. I did the necessary changes to make it long haul worthy like adding a detachable tour pack, Mustang seat modified by Mean City Cycles, 10 inch Windsplitter windshield, fork fangs, lowered boards for Cheryl and I both, and soft lowers vs the hard lowers on the Ultra.
A noteworthy difference besides the changes in performance between the old bike and the new one - Infotainment. Basically Harley Davidson's version of what is being put in cars, i.e. a modern stereo with navigation built in. I had used it for basic navigation back from Arkansas with no issues. But the Infotainment GPS is not really programmable like I'm used to on a Garmin unit. Sure, I'm told that one can do up to 10 waypoints and transfer a route to the bike via a flash drive. I tried to do that unsuccessfully a few times. I'll probably figure it out, but for this trip I elected to enter the data on the touch screen and select "Fastest" to get us to that night's destination. Later we would put "Scenic" to good use. Here it is at our departure. Apparently we're in for a 23 hour, 59 minute ride according to the Street Glide. I don't think so.
Another change was full face helmets with Senna SMH-10 headsets. We started out using half shell Bell helmets and plug in communications using the Harley's intercom system. It was ok, but not great. The wind and exhaust noise rendered the VOX unusable. So we would toggle when we wanted to talk. We also didn't dig being tethered to the bike. Eventually we just stopped using the headsets and blasted the stereo and shouted at each other. Old school. And that was ok, but after awhile we found that we didn't talk as much as we did with the intercom. We missed that component of our travels so I researched bluetooth headsets and settled on the Senna.
The full face helmets were not only chosen for the colder weather we would be riding in, but a nod to safety. I always used to ride with full face helmets. Recently I had relaxed my standards and went to half shell or even helmetless. I'm not going to preach. Everyone needs to decide for themselves where they draw the line on safety. I guess really, when it came down to it, I would never forgive myself if something happened to Cheryl because I didn't give her the best chance of surviving a crash. So, grudgingly, she agreed to wear a FF helmet for the first time in her life.
On departure we turned the units on and did the usual "test, test" routine. It was nice to hear Cheryl's voice loud and clear. I could tell by her voice that she was as excited to get rolling as I was. And roll we did.
Here's the route for the day -
Before we head out, I want to point out that we were doing things a little differently this time around. For starters, we're on a new bike. It's a 2014 Street Glide Special. I had traded the 2011 Ultra in on this bike on a trip down to Arkansas. It was not a planned thing. On the way down there were some things about the Ultra that bugged me. Don't get me wrong, it was a great bike. But the performance changes I did made it loud for touring. And it was hot! I'm not sure what the deal was, but heat just radiated off the Supertrapp 2/1. The other problem was that it was getting terrible mileage. I was lucky to get 150 miles of range. And at gas stops I was adding pretty close to the 6 gallon capacity. I foresaw a long walk in my future unless I started fueling up at 125. So down in Arkansas I made the mistake of renting a 14 SGS. The rest is history. The bike is quiet, has good power, runs cool, and gets a minimum of 200 miles of range. I did the necessary changes to make it long haul worthy like adding a detachable tour pack, Mustang seat modified by Mean City Cycles, 10 inch Windsplitter windshield, fork fangs, lowered boards for Cheryl and I both, and soft lowers vs the hard lowers on the Ultra.
A noteworthy difference besides the changes in performance between the old bike and the new one - Infotainment. Basically Harley Davidson's version of what is being put in cars, i.e. a modern stereo with navigation built in. I had used it for basic navigation back from Arkansas with no issues. But the Infotainment GPS is not really programmable like I'm used to on a Garmin unit. Sure, I'm told that one can do up to 10 waypoints and transfer a route to the bike via a flash drive. I tried to do that unsuccessfully a few times. I'll probably figure it out, but for this trip I elected to enter the data on the touch screen and select "Fastest" to get us to that night's destination. Later we would put "Scenic" to good use. Here it is at our departure. Apparently we're in for a 23 hour, 59 minute ride according to the Street Glide. I don't think so.
Another change was full face helmets with Senna SMH-10 headsets. We started out using half shell Bell helmets and plug in communications using the Harley's intercom system. It was ok, but not great. The wind and exhaust noise rendered the VOX unusable. So we would toggle when we wanted to talk. We also didn't dig being tethered to the bike. Eventually we just stopped using the headsets and blasted the stereo and shouted at each other. Old school. And that was ok, but after awhile we found that we didn't talk as much as we did with the intercom. We missed that component of our travels so I researched bluetooth headsets and settled on the Senna.
The full face helmets were not only chosen for the colder weather we would be riding in, but a nod to safety. I always used to ride with full face helmets. Recently I had relaxed my standards and went to half shell or even helmetless. I'm not going to preach. Everyone needs to decide for themselves where they draw the line on safety. I guess really, when it came down to it, I would never forgive myself if something happened to Cheryl because I didn't give her the best chance of surviving a crash. So, grudgingly, she agreed to wear a FF helmet for the first time in her life.
On departure we turned the units on and did the usual "test, test" routine. It was nice to hear Cheryl's voice loud and clear. I could tell by her voice that she was as excited to get rolling as I was. And roll we did.
Last edited by nevada72; 01-05-2015 at 02:24 PM.
#3
01-05-2015, 02:47 PM
Big Kahuna HDF Member
#4
01-05-2015, 02:57 PM
#5
01-05-2015, 03:39 PM
#7
01-05-2015, 04:06 PM
We briskly motored up the highway entrance ramp to I-43 and joined the Milwaukee commuters. It felt great to run through the gears and then settle into an easy stride at 65 MPH in 5th gear. The cool air pushed past the windshield and filtered into my open visor. It was refreshing. The sounds of the highway, car tires whining on the concrete, motors racing, all dulled by ear plugs. The bike, just a smooth hum and the wind, non-existent. The warmth from the heated gear was like sitting in a warm hot tub. It's these little things that put the joy into riding a motorcycle.
Milwaukee, typically, has a minor league rush hour. It consists of all 3 lanes being occupied with cars and the occasional slow down to 30 MPH. Today was a good day to be on the road and we were south of the city before we knew it. The road was a little wet here and there and I could smell rain in the air. Every once in awhile I would see spray on the Windsplitter. I don't know if it came from a car ahead or the sky. It didn't matter either way.
Just north of Chicago is our last chance stop known as the Lake Forest Oasis. Like many tollways around the States, Illinois places these convenience stops for motorists. Naturally, everything has a state premium attached. A Starbucks coffee that is $2 in Milwaukee is $2.75 at the oasis. But, the bathrooms are free and Cheryl wanted to make a last pit stop before hitting Chicago, which is smart for many reasons. Number 1, the farther away from Chicago you are, the safer you are. Two, getting on and off the tollway is easier away from the city.
Here Cheryl is, getting acquainted with the new full face helmet process -
The ride through Chicago was uneventful and not memorable. A good thing as anything memorable that happens on a Chicago highway is usually associated with something bad.
Come to think about it, I think as avid motorcycle tourists, our brains have de-evolved to an extent that all memory of boring things disappears immediately after doing that boring thing. It's a defense mechanism that allows us to repeat this exact same route time and time again without hesitation. And in the spirit of that, the next recollection I have of the ride down was being somewhere on I-65 between Chicago and Indy. Cheryl's SD card loaded with images helps quite a bit. Here we are on I-65 -
We didn't need a billboard to remind us that hell is real. We were on I-65 in nowhere Indiana. If hell is a freeway - this was it. And it was certainly hell for that critter laying alongside the road. What's that you say? I-65 isn't so bad? Ok....I admit I have been on worse roads. But uglier more boring roads? Not so much. And to me, hell is a place that lacks variety. But fortunately, we're riding through hell, not standing in it.
A little south of hell and just north of Indy. At least it wasn't raining. -
We elected to have an early lunch at Denny's in Lebanon IN and top the tank off as well. That way we could cruise right through Indy. The nice folks at Denny's cheerfully greeted and seated us. That's been pretty much the norm when I travel with Cheryl. When on my own, I'm just some biker stopping for grub and people leave me alone. With Cheryl along, all of a sudden people are super friendly. I would take it personally but that's the way it is everywhere we go - even here at home. I guess it's because she's so smiley. Folks usually start out with the weather. In this case it was "Pretty cold day for a ride!". Then it's "Where are you from?", "Where are you headed?", and so on. Almost every time, it ends with "Have a safe trip!" I like that. It makes me feel good that perfect strangers are interested in what we're doing and sincerely wishing us safe travels. It's a good vibe.
Non-memorable brunch in bellies, we are entering Indy. Fortunately it's not rush hour.
And before long, Ohio. I've posted this sign up before, but here it is again from a different angle.
Sometimes I feel like there's a semi-circular line of demarcation from where we live. It's as if God (or deity/phenomenon of your choosing), when shaping the surface of the earth, took out a giant compass and stuck the pointy end into what's now known as Milwaukee. The other end is measured out to be approximately 350ish miles and arcs to the south of us. Once scribed out, I think God got distracted and never got back to it. Or maybe he has future plans for it, ala the New Madrid fault. Not sure. It's usually around that point that one sees rock formations, rivers, and cool bridges. What I do know is the trip really starts here, just outside of Dayton OH.
Milwaukee, typically, has a minor league rush hour. It consists of all 3 lanes being occupied with cars and the occasional slow down to 30 MPH. Today was a good day to be on the road and we were south of the city before we knew it. The road was a little wet here and there and I could smell rain in the air. Every once in awhile I would see spray on the Windsplitter. I don't know if it came from a car ahead or the sky. It didn't matter either way.
Just north of Chicago is our last chance stop known as the Lake Forest Oasis. Like many tollways around the States, Illinois places these convenience stops for motorists. Naturally, everything has a state premium attached. A Starbucks coffee that is $2 in Milwaukee is $2.75 at the oasis. But, the bathrooms are free and Cheryl wanted to make a last pit stop before hitting Chicago, which is smart for many reasons. Number 1, the farther away from Chicago you are, the safer you are. Two, getting on and off the tollway is easier away from the city.
Here Cheryl is, getting acquainted with the new full face helmet process -
The ride through Chicago was uneventful and not memorable. A good thing as anything memorable that happens on a Chicago highway is usually associated with something bad.
Come to think about it, I think as avid motorcycle tourists, our brains have de-evolved to an extent that all memory of boring things disappears immediately after doing that boring thing. It's a defense mechanism that allows us to repeat this exact same route time and time again without hesitation. And in the spirit of that, the next recollection I have of the ride down was being somewhere on I-65 between Chicago and Indy. Cheryl's SD card loaded with images helps quite a bit. Here we are on I-65 -
We didn't need a billboard to remind us that hell is real. We were on I-65 in nowhere Indiana. If hell is a freeway - this was it. And it was certainly hell for that critter laying alongside the road. What's that you say? I-65 isn't so bad? Ok....I admit I have been on worse roads. But uglier more boring roads? Not so much. And to me, hell is a place that lacks variety. But fortunately, we're riding through hell, not standing in it.
A little south of hell and just north of Indy. At least it wasn't raining. -
We elected to have an early lunch at Denny's in Lebanon IN and top the tank off as well. That way we could cruise right through Indy. The nice folks at Denny's cheerfully greeted and seated us. That's been pretty much the norm when I travel with Cheryl. When on my own, I'm just some biker stopping for grub and people leave me alone. With Cheryl along, all of a sudden people are super friendly. I would take it personally but that's the way it is everywhere we go - even here at home. I guess it's because she's so smiley. Folks usually start out with the weather. In this case it was "Pretty cold day for a ride!". Then it's "Where are you from?", "Where are you headed?", and so on. Almost every time, it ends with "Have a safe trip!" I like that. It makes me feel good that perfect strangers are interested in what we're doing and sincerely wishing us safe travels. It's a good vibe.
Non-memorable brunch in bellies, we are entering Indy. Fortunately it's not rush hour.
And before long, Ohio. I've posted this sign up before, but here it is again from a different angle.
Sometimes I feel like there's a semi-circular line of demarcation from where we live. It's as if God (or deity/phenomenon of your choosing), when shaping the surface of the earth, took out a giant compass and stuck the pointy end into what's now known as Milwaukee. The other end is measured out to be approximately 350ish miles and arcs to the south of us. Once scribed out, I think God got distracted and never got back to it. Or maybe he has future plans for it, ala the New Madrid fault. Not sure. It's usually around that point that one sees rock formations, rivers, and cool bridges. What I do know is the trip really starts here, just outside of Dayton OH.
Last edited by nevada72; 01-05-2015 at 04:09 PM.
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#8
01-05-2015, 04:59 PM
Or so we thought.
From Dayton we took Hwy 35 all the way to Charleston. It wasn't interstate so it was a bit better of a ride. But if I knew then what I know now, I would have taken Hwy 73 to Hwy 52 to Hwy 3 and over to Charleston. It would certainly add some time, but worth it. But the way it was, Hwy 35 was a decent ride, if not incredibly scenic.
As you can tell by the headlights, it was getting on to the end of the day. The sun sets early in the Fall and it shortens our time on the road considerably. I was antsy to get to Charleston, or whatever big city ahead.
Fortunately, we were making fairly good time. Not having to stop for gas every 150 miles helped some too. We made it to Charleston with a little daylight left.
Prior to our departure I had done a little investigating as to where to stay in Charleston. I didn't want to commit, necessarily, in case we were delayed and had to stop earlier. My Go To source - Trip Advisor had the Red Roof Inn as a top rated hotel in Charleston and at a reasonable 50 bucks. So, on the fly and a few miles back, I toggled through the menu on the Infotainment system to find a hotel on our route. Scrolled through the options, clicked on Red Roof Inn, and navigated right to their doorstep. I like technology!
The rooms were nice and clean. There was a group of construction workers staying there for a project not local to them. They advised us that beer could be had from the gas station, so I walked over and secured our eastern favorite - Yuengling Lager. We first had it on our trip to D.C. and have enjoyed it every time we head east as it's not available in Wisconsin. I ordered a pizza and it showed up as soon as I walked back beer in hand. Yep - beer and pizza. We are nothing, if not consistent.
Miles - 591
Temps - 41 to upper 40s
Travel Time - about 11 hours
States (not including WI) - 4
Beers - 6
Pizza - 1
Gas station Lottery tickets - 5
Hell - well behind us.
From Dayton we took Hwy 35 all the way to Charleston. It wasn't interstate so it was a bit better of a ride. But if I knew then what I know now, I would have taken Hwy 73 to Hwy 52 to Hwy 3 and over to Charleston. It would certainly add some time, but worth it. But the way it was, Hwy 35 was a decent ride, if not incredibly scenic.
As you can tell by the headlights, it was getting on to the end of the day. The sun sets early in the Fall and it shortens our time on the road considerably. I was antsy to get to Charleston, or whatever big city ahead.
Fortunately, we were making fairly good time. Not having to stop for gas every 150 miles helped some too. We made it to Charleston with a little daylight left.
Prior to our departure I had done a little investigating as to where to stay in Charleston. I didn't want to commit, necessarily, in case we were delayed and had to stop earlier. My Go To source - Trip Advisor had the Red Roof Inn as a top rated hotel in Charleston and at a reasonable 50 bucks. So, on the fly and a few miles back, I toggled through the menu on the Infotainment system to find a hotel on our route. Scrolled through the options, clicked on Red Roof Inn, and navigated right to their doorstep. I like technology!
The rooms were nice and clean. There was a group of construction workers staying there for a project not local to them. They advised us that beer could be had from the gas station, so I walked over and secured our eastern favorite - Yuengling Lager. We first had it on our trip to D.C. and have enjoyed it every time we head east as it's not available in Wisconsin. I ordered a pizza and it showed up as soon as I walked back beer in hand. Yep - beer and pizza. We are nothing, if not consistent.
Miles - 591
Temps - 41 to upper 40s
Travel Time - about 11 hours
States (not including WI) - 4
Beers - 6
Pizza - 1
Gas station Lottery tickets - 5
Hell - well behind us.
Last edited by nevada72; 01-05-2015 at 05:04 PM.
#9
01-05-2015, 06:01 PM
Road Warrior
