Follow Along: 600rr to California

[rafiki911]

I was in Az last month and you need to stop in the town of Jerome. It's on the top of a mountain and has some wicked twisties. We did it in a packed minivan and it was fun. Total biker town to you will see more bikes than cars there.

[A.K.]

Now I have something to follow for the next 2 weeks! Way more exciting than the royal wedding!

Which Spot did you get? The older or the newer model? How do you have it mounted? Where? How long the battery lasts? Is it running off of AA? How painful it is to handle? Remember to turn on, send an OK message, etc...

[blkrx7]

Fatastic, wish i'd done this before getting too old and beat to really enjoy it. Live it up!

[Wheelieboy]

Just had my mcdonalds lunch somewhere in michigan. I got a treat for you guys. Will upload if i get internet tonight

[gixxerslickers]

Cant wait for the pics

[unL33T]

I dont really mind the cold, I can ride in below freezing temperature weather comfortably. The thing that gets me is the cold. The cold only slows me down minimally since I took longer than needed breaks by about 15 minutes each just to warm up..but I didnt take any unnecessary breaks on top of that.

The boots are nice and dry today. I put them on the heater.

The temperature right now is 1 degrees but at least its not raining. It should warm up to a comfortable 15 when I get to Minneapolis. I hope to make it to South Dakota by this evening and see Mt Rushmore tomorrow. Tomorrow night, I plan to couchsurf at a fellow advrider's place. Hopefully I get there in time. Gonna get up and pack the bike now. I'll update later today if I get internet!

I assume your bike doesn't have ABS? I actually really don't mind cold at all but ever since my first drop in the rain after locking up the front (even though I was trying not too... just not trying hard enough I guess) I'm very wary when it comes to wet weather traction. Especially when it's cold out.

I'm jealous of your trip and love that you're doing it on an SS. I like using vehicles for purposes they aren't suited for. I love driving my 944 through fields and taking it camping even though my friends all tell me I'm retarded. I'm currently working on getting some knobbier tires for my 650R to make offroad and gravel slightly less sketchy.

[fastar1]

Follow me in real time on SPOT: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...LvT4e2TyuQo1kq

How does this work? All I get is a grey screen with a little control box in the upper left corner. Same thing on any computer I try.

[unL33T]

How does this work? All I get is a grey screen with a little control box in the upper left corner. Same thing on any computer I try.

I get a Google Map with a bunch of points on it. Works here even at my work where the firewall likes to break things.

Is there an app for smart phones (preferably WinMo which no one seems to make apps for anymore) that does something similar? I guess Google Maps with Latitude allows your friends to track you but it doesn't make a pretty line showing where you've been and requires your friends to have some knowledge of how Google Maps works.

[just_luc]

Sounds like an awesome ride! Best of luck!

to those suggesting milk bags over the boots with elastics.. wouldn't over the socks but inside the boots be better?

[82CB900cNick]

to those suggesting milk bags over the boots with elastics.. wouldn't over the socks but inside the boots be better?

Milk bags over the boots PRIOR to them being wet I believe is what they mean! If they are wet, bags over the socks inside the boot would make a better idea but I think my feet would get awfully sweaty.

[Jayv]

How does this work? All I get is a grey screen with a little control box in the upper left corner. Same thing on any computer I try.

Works for me, he's just east of Chippawa falls.

[A.K.]

How does this work? All I get is a grey screen with a little control box in the upper left corner. Same thing on any computer I try.

Tracking site was down for an hour or two today. Works now. Try it again.

[shanekingsley]

Sounds like an awesome ride! Best of luck!

to those suggesting milk bags over the boots with elastics.. wouldn't over the socks but inside the boots be better?

Milk bags over the boots PRIOR to them being wet I believe is what they mean! If they are wet, bags over the socks inside the boot would make a better idea but I think my feet would get awfully sweaty.

Exactly. Bags over dry boots if possible, if not, then bags inside wet boots. If your boots get wet and they are exposed to the cold winds then your feet are likely to get much more cold, because the boots retain the cold temperatures more when they are wet. Or so my experience would have me believe.. The bag also acts as a mild wind barrier in addition to the water repelled. The down side is that bags on the outside tend to rip easily when you put your feet down on rough roads at stoplights and so on. Omnivore told me to do this on my way home from Deals Gap and it worked really well. Now I use cycling overboots/gators that I bought at MEC for $25. They might sell them at REI in the US. That way I could still wear my nice armoured boots and have waterproofing when I needed it.

Back to the ride/thread - Do you already have your return route planned out in stone? I was thinking it would be a nice ride to come back across the top of Lake Superior if it's not too cold up there then, because the ride form Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie is supposed to be loads of fun.. On the subject of cold, when you get internet access, you might be able to find a nearby shop that sells heated socks - they are awesome for increasing my cold tolerance.

I did the ride form Flagstaff, Arizona to Prescott, Arizona along Hwy89A and it is incredible.

Looking forward to some pics and hope your ride is safe and dry.

[Wheelieboy]

Oh hello wisconsin state patrol

[Wheelieboy]

How does this work? All I get is a grey screen with a little control box in the upper left corner. Same thing on any computer I try.

Javascript enabled?

[A.K.]

Oh hello wisconsin state patrol

What was the outcome? Warning? Ticket? I guess he didn't stop you to say hello...

[TIBURON]

Take a look at this video and this guy's channel on you tube, a lot of cool stuff!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCZOo...&feature=feedf

[VanillaGorilla]

enjoy wheelieboy, we are all living through you for the next 2 weeks. lots of pics please

[klr_guy]

Subscribed. OP - ride safe, enjoy the trip.

[Wheelieboy]

Day 2: Po-po shut me down

I’ll start off by saying today was pretty eventful. Started off with as a pretty uneventful day though.

Got out of bed early because I kept waking up from the room being to cold and then too hot when I turned the heater on. Packed my bags and strapped my stuff on the bike. It took me longer than expected to strap everything on the bike and make sure that everything was right. It was 1 degrees in the morning which was pretty cold but I was okay with it because of the amount of gear I was wearing. The only thing that was cold was my neck. I suppose I should invest in a scarf.

Roads were pretty empty and I’d only see a car every couple of miles so I picked up the speed to cover ground since I was a little behind schedule. I covered backroad after empty backroad and didn’t see a cop or any animals so I picked up the pace a little more. This went on for most of the day. I was careful to pick spots to speed up and slow down.
As a rule of thumb:
School Zones=Speed Limit
Towns=Speed Limit
Cars oncoming/in sight=Reduced Speed
Areas around town=Reduced Speed

I thought it was all figured out, but I ended up breaking one of my rules, and it just so happened that the first cop I saw today was coming in the opposite direction. I didn’t see him until it was too late because I was enjoying the scenery, looking into the trees and didn’t realize how fast I was going. Plus its harder to spot them in the US because they don’t run Daytime Running Lights, which in Canada is a dead giveaway when spotting the ominous Crown Vic headlights. He pulled off to the shoulder and as I passed, he lit me up so I pulled over right away. Shut off the bike, took off my helmet, and waited there.

Cop: Going a little fast there?
Me: How fast was I going? (I really didn’t know and I wasn’t going to play stupid as Im not planning on fighting the ticket)
Cop: 79
Me: Ouch.
Cop: You have your license with you?
Me: *Gives license*
Cop: A Wisconsin license?
Me: Nope, I’m from Canada.

So he walks back to his car and I’m trying to figure out how much over the speed limit I was. The last time I saw the speed limit sign, it was 55mph. 29mph over the speed limit. Now how much is that in km/h? A lot.

Hes sitting in his car for a while and I’m getting a little worried. Is he calling me a tow truck? Calling for backup? 20 minutes later he calls me over to his car. It turns out he couldn’t find me in the system since the computer wont let him put in a postal code. Lucky day I thought. Nope, he kept trying. Eventually he got in to the system and wrote me up a ticket. $229 and 6 (Wisconsin) demerit points. He told me that you get a suspension at 12 so I was a saint coming out of Wisconsin.

Later on in the day, I was taking I-90 to head West to South Dakota. It’s a long straight boring road. Very windy too. I passed a bunch of wind turbines and that’s when I started feeling strong gusts of crosswind. At least my tires would get rounded out from having me lean into the wind. I saw a storm in the distance and lighting all around. But there was an opening in between and it just so happened that the opening was on I-90 but it was 30mi away. Should I try to catch that opening? The storm is blowing over and I don’t want to get caught in it. I took the gamble, besides everyone else was travelling fast as well. Covered some good ground and made it out of there (mostly) dry.

It came the time to find a place to stay for the night as it was getting dark. Further into the distance I saw another storm and wanted to find a place quick. My GPS told me that there were motels but I’d have to go backward and I didn’t want to do that. So I pushed on and my GPS found a Best Western for me. When I got to the location, it was in the middle of nowhere and no Best Western to be seen. Even worse, I’m about 2 mi from the thunderstorm and its pitch black. I consult my GPS again and it tells me Best Western is 12mi West….on a dirt road. I wasn’t going to take that way, it was too dark and theres no telling if my GPS was trustworthy enough. Hopped back on I-90 and went the long way. Eventually I make it there just as the rain came pouring down. I’m tired and wet, just want to go to sleep and that’s what I’ll be doing.

Covered some good ground today...

I apologize for not too many pictures today, I was trying to cover as much ground as possible. Tomorrow I’ll be seeing Mt. Rushmore and hopefully Crazyhorse (as the border guard suggested yesterday). I’ll also be meeting an advrider in Boulder who will be letting me stay at their place for the night. If I can make it there early enough to the adv meet, I’ll be able to meet some other advriders. Should be fun!