Hamilton to Sturgis - Stumped in route planning :-(

**BeastieGirl** · 03-16-2012, 12:13 PM

What happens when a planner and a non-planner attempt to take a trip to Sturgis together?
Me (planner)– OK, we have a holiday Monday in the first week of August, so we can take the following Monday instead, leaving us with 10 days for our trip to Sturgis for Bike Week.
Friend (nonplanner) – well I’ve only the booked the Tuesday to Friday off, because that leaves me with an extra vacation day I can use to go to Friday 13th at Port Dover (I kid you not – Port Dover)– and I want to be home on the Saturday so I can rest up for a day before going back to work.
So that now leaves us with 8 days for the round trip. My friend doesn't want to do all Interstates and she doesn't want to do 10 hour riding days.
So my mission is to plot a route (without any input other than veto power from my travelling companion) which gets us there in 3 days without running interstates and not doing 10 hour days. I’ve actually come up with a couple of ideas, but they do involve a lot of Interstate riding and 10 - 12 hour days. Unless the earth’s Teutonic Plates shift before the first week in August and move Sturgis significantly closer to Hamilton, I’m thinking this is mission impossible.

**RichinOville** · 03-16-2012, 01:29 PM

Easy Peasy. Don't do the interstates and don't do 10 hour days.
Just don't follow any posted speed limits.
Twist the throttle open to full lock. Engage the throttle lock and hold on tight.

**SEVEN40iL** · 03-16-2012, 01:40 PM

I like the way he ^ thinks!

**RichinOville** · 03-16-2012, 01:52 PM

I did a quick trip to MS Streets and Trips. It is 2.5 days to get there, just doing the 401 and interstates all the way there.
I drove across the country last summer. Unless you have lots of time, you are stuck with interstates at least to the other side of Chicago. If you can avoid it, don't go near Chicago. Rush hour there makes Toronto rush hour seem like a Sunday drive.
After Chicago, there are some highways that cut across WI, IA and SD that parallel the interstate. So you might be in luck there.
Either way, unless you follow my prior post's suggestion, you won't have much time to hang around Sturgis.

**ATTS** · 03-16-2012, 03:17 PM

I thought you were talking about sturgess in Hamilton, I was wondering what kind of problems you could have going from hamilton to a bike shop in Hamilton.

Don't you have any other friends that want to go more on your timeline?

**GSXMAER** · 03-16-2012, 03:18 PM

trailer down.....you wont get tired.....you will make excellent time
you will have a headache...from her
ride around down there.....lots of time...no hurry
trailer back......making excellent time
make it back.....time to relax....take 4 tylenol at once
back to work

easier peasier

**fearlessbob** · 03-16-2012, 06:55 PM

I'm with ATTS. Dump that friend, she's cramping your style. Find someone else who wants to go on your schedule (which makes a lot more sense for that trip), or go it alone. Next best thing is GSXMAER's suggestion, be sure to pack lots of Tylenol

**BeastieGirl** · 03-19-2012, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by fearlessbob

I'm with ATTS. Dump that friend, she's cramping your style. Find someone else who wants to go on your schedule (which makes a lot more sense for that trip), or go it alone. Next best thing is GSXMAER's suggestion, be sure to pack lots of Tylenol

I think changing the trip is the best option. I’ve spoken with some of my cruiser riding friends and apparently riding a Shadow 750 (which is what my friend rides) full on highway speeds for 3 days is not impossible, but kind of brutal. So I’m more understanding of the limitations in that regards. I haven’t ridden a cruiser and its been awhile since I’ve ridden a lower-powered bike. I rarely get physically tired on the FZ1 – mental fatigue is a different story – but I do recall getting tired earlier on my Kawi ZR-7S – which had considerably less hp.

I do care about my friendship, I don’t care much about Sturgis bike week and I’m already planning my Utah/Wyoming/SD trip for next year. I just need to think of a tactful way to broach changing the trip. We’ve both done Blue Ridge and Deals Gap, but there’s lots of places in the area I haven’t been to yet – or I’m kind of psyched about Arkansas and the Ozarks and I’ll have a chance to scope that out on the way back from NM in June.

Or we’ll just give it a shot and see what happens - if we don't make it, well so what?

**Morrissey** · 03-21-2012, 10:58 AM

Do it up A-Team style. Poke your friend with a strong sedative needle (like they used to do to B.A.) then bunjee cord the friend to the back of your bike and hit the interstate and do your 10hr days. There really isn't any way to make that trip in the time you have without long days on the interstate. The only other thing you can do is pull out the hard numbers (total distance, speed limits, fuel stop requirements, time willing to ride each day) and show your friend that there really is no other way to do the trip.

**oomis** · 03-21-2012, 11:10 AM

It's not possible, plain and simple. The shortest route on Google Maps puts it at 2280 kms, more or less. I'm sure your friend would understand the math if you laid it out.

**RichinOville** · 03-21-2012, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by BeastieGirl

I think changing the trip is the best option. I’ve spoken with some of my cruiser riding friends and apparently riding a Shadow 750 (which is what my friend rides) full on highway speeds for 3 days is not impossible, but kind of brutal. So I’m more understanding of the limitations in that regards. I haven’t ridden a cruiser and its been awhile since I’ve ridden a lower-powered bike. I rarely get physically tired on the FZ1 – mental fatigue is a different story – but I do recall getting tired earlier on my Kawi ZR-7S – which had considerably less hp.

I do care about my friendship, I don’t care much about Sturgis bike week and I’m already planning my Utah/Wyoming/SD trip for next year. I just need to think of a tactful way to broach changing the trip. We’ve both done Blue Ridge and Deals Gap, but there’s lots of places in the area I haven’t been to yet – or I’m kind of psyched about Arkansas and the Ozarks and I’ll have a chance to scope that out on the way back from NM in June.

Or we’ll just give it a shot and see what happens - if we don't make it, well so what?

Small world. I went from the venerable ZR7s to the FZ1. The only difference, I had a little affair with a Ural sidecar in between them.

**nobbie48** · 03-23-2012, 10:18 PM

FWIW
I got my new to me Goldwing in January 2008 and that summer decided to see Mount Rushmore. Since the bike was new to me I did a shakedown starter to Ohio. If the bike wasn't up to the trip I wouldn't be that far from home. I stayed at a good but cheap Best Western in Urichsville OH.

The next AM I did some local cruising and then decided to head west. Since I wasted a good part of the day I only got to Upper Sandusky that day.

Next night Galesburg Il.

Stopped a bit short the next night (Osseo Wisconsin) due to torrential downpour. Swung north due to floods in Iowa. Roads were open but damaged sections were fixed with crushed stone. Cagers were getting smashed windshields.

Bismarck ND next night. (Passed through Fargo but didn't see any woodchippers

)

From Bismarck I went to Mount Rushmore passing through Sturgis a week before bike week. Spent 10 minutes at Mount Rushmore (Got the picture).

Stayed in Wall SD (The town that shouldn't be) the next night.

Next two nights were in Brandon MB, visiting relatives.

Winnipeg the next night, more relatives.

Some middle of nowhere dive east of Kenora the next night.

Wawa and then TO.

Lots of interstates but still interesting scenery. North Dakota is south of Manitoba but has a different landscape. There are super roads in the Sturgis / Rushmore area, should have stayed longer. Even the less scenic sections enroute have something to offer.

I went solo and can't imagine travelling with someone with incompatible riding patterns. The prerequisite for a riding partner would be them having a few of their own long rides logged.

I spent 11 nights away and if I dropped the family stuff and Ohio could have cut it almost in half plus whatever time one would want to spend in Sturgis.

Like I said FWIW.

**regder** · 03-25-2012, 03:03 PM

Doing Interstates gives you the option to ride some really nice roads once you get there, South Dakota and Colorado are awesome. When I went in that direction, I bombed down the I90 and was in Rapid City, SD in two days. Went south from there. If you want to stretch it out, you can ride the north shore of Lake Superior, maybe hit some roads in northern Wisconsin, then boot across the I90 to Sturgis. I'd probably spend as little time in the midwest as possible.

Problem with doing side roads is that your progress is cut down by about half, no way you'll hit Sturgis in three days without riding like a bat out of hell. Google maps shows 2350km being the shortest route. Assuming that route, it's still almost 800km per day. 800km with food and gas breaks comes out to about 10 hours of riding for me.