Friday, July 27
Cleveland to Rockford, IL
436 miles, sunny , temps 70’s
(Click on map for detailed track.)
I got away just after 8 AM this morning. It was a beautiful day, cool, gorgeous clouds, but with a fairly strong headwind. With the expanded bags, heading into the wind, and pushing 75 mph the bike made only 38 mpg, but she ran beautifully. I made several adjustments to the preload and damping on the rear shock to accommodate the increased load and the bike now handles very well, soaking up the bumps but planted and stable.
Not much else to report today. It was all interstate, and the traffic around Chicago was slow with occasional stop and go. It’s going so well that I think I’ll try to make Cut Bank by Monday so Paul and I can ride Glacier National Park on Tuesday before we leave for Canada on Wednesday.
Saturday, July 28
Rockford, IL to Fergus Falls, MN
505 miles, sunny, temps 70’s
It was a big day today – 11 hours. Traffic all the way from Rockford up to Wisconsin Dells was crazy – 40-60 mph most of the way with occasional stop and go. I should have known that on a Saturday morning in July the road would be filled with Chicagoans heading “up north.”
But it was a spectacular summer day. Cumulus clouds against a clear blue sky, a gentle breeze with low humidity, and Wisconsin’s gently rolling landscape dotted with dairy farms was picture perfect. If I had to fight traffic at least I had a beautiful view on a beautiful day for doing it.
The high point of the day was meeting Shayne from Maine at the Mobil station in the Dells. Shayne was on his way home from a 5 week trip around America’s West, and a more enthusiastic rider you’ll never meet. He got lost on some small roads – he wasn’t sure where – but he was having an adventure and he loved it. He had to take a couple of days off to install new front brakes and a clutch cable, but this is all part of the experience. Shayne is taking the slab the rest of the way home – I think he said he rode until 4 AM this morning before turning in for the night. That’s a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 he’s riding.
Sunday, July 29
Fergus Falls, MN to Bismarck, ND
246 miles, sun and clouds, temps in the 70’s – again!
I was beat after yesterday’s ride, so I rode only half as far today and turned in by 5 PM.
It’s a long way from Cleveland to Montana, and I have taken the slab (interstate highway) thus far just to make good time. I’ll take secondary roads the rest of the way to Cut Bank, sort of a prelude to what riding in Canada will be like.
I cruised at 85 mph today (actual speed more like 80) and the mileage dropped to 35 mpg. Those big side cases combined with the high speed and a headwind took their toll. I expect mileage to be at least 50 mpg on the secondary roads in Canada, and I need it to be at least that good since I’ll have one stretch of 230 miles between gas stations. I brought along a 1 gallon gas pack to make sure I don’t run out.
Monday, July 30
Bismarck, ND to Glasgow, MT
369 miles, full sun, temp reach 94 this afternoon
Today I secondary highways all the way – no interstates. Finally!
I took North Dakota Route 1804 north of Bismarck this morning, following the Missouri River basin. This is Lewis and Clark country and I’m sure the 1804 designation commemorates their legendary expedition. This particular stretch of the Missouri River looks much like it must have looked to them over 200 years ago. Coming early in my ride today when I was fresh and the air was cool, it was exhilarating and the butterflies aflutter in my stomach. What a change from the ten lanes of noisy, threatening Chicago traffic that I suffered through four days ago with man-made constructions totally obscuring any natural beauty. In contrast, this morning there was no traffic to contend with and the beauty of the natural environment was in abundance, and riding the small two-lane road I felt much more a part of my surroundings. This is the kind of riding I like.
A little further on I rode through the northern section of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, part the Badlands that extend all the way up from South Dakota along the Little Missouri River basin.
But then I rode into the fracking frenzy extending for 50 miles around Williston, ND, and soon began to realize that the spoils of oil extraction were blighting the environment, making it difficult to see the immense natural beauty of the area. As far as the eye could see, drilling rigs, oil wells, and staging areas were everywhere.
Less obvious but present nevertheless were the disposal sites for waste material from the fracking, and I also saw several public saltwater disposal sites. I wondered if the beauty of the area will forever be spoiled, or if the wells and pads will be removed when the natural resources are exhausted. One can hope.
Monday, July 31
Glasgow, MT to Cut Bank, MT
279 miles, hazy sun with high sirrus clouds, got up to 85
Not a long ride today, but my butt was feeling abused, so I was eager to get to Cut Bank and have some down time.
The first 30 minutes of the ride are always the best – I’m fresh, it’s cooler out, the bike is running great, and I’m all eyes and ears. Today was particularly outstanding because it was just Me, the Little GS, and The Road – wide open spaces, no traffic, and not even power lines to clutter up the view! This is riding at it’s best – U.S. 2 in north east Montana.
The main event of today’s ride was meeting my very good friend Paul at Cut Bank. Paul lives in Maine, had his bike shipped out to Great Falls, MT, and we met up in Cut Bank. We’ve done many rides over the past dozen years or so, and this promises to be one of the best. There’s a whole story about how Paul and I met, how we decided to ride motorcycles, and how we started the annual tradition of doing a “big ride.” I’ll get to that at some point…
Looking our our motel room we see the twin F700GS’s relaxing in preparation for tomorrow’s ride, the first day of the real ride up to Tuk.