Trip report:
Got up at 4am in order to catch the 5.45am flight from Boston to Green Bay, WI with a changeover in Detroit. Arrived at 9.05am local time (10.05am Boston time) and met Chuck the seller who very graciously took me to breakfast across the street at a local casino. Then it was a 1hr drive back to his place - Leopolis, WI - which is in the middle of farm country. Very nice guy and very helpful. Took a while as we tried 3 different windshield (short v tall) and I decided the tall one would be best (how true that was!).
Had planned to leave his place at 11.30am. In actual fact left around 12.15pm or so and I was eager to hit the road. Weather - sunny, blue skies, low 40s...
First impressions of the bike - Vstrom DL1000 - huge!! This thing was massive. Tricky to move around at first as quite top heavy. Acceleration and speed were too easy. Better be careful I thought to myself.
Met Trevor (Hoodellyhoo) at Oshkosh and saw his CB350 - see pics - what a great bike and Trevor is definitely a rider - really nice guy and I was glad to have the opportunity to meet him. Sorry it had to be so quick...time was now 1.30 or 2pm I think...and I had a sexy Filipino girl to meet in Chicago...
Trevor and his 350...
Ride down to Chicago was uneventful, busy and I was just eager to turn the corner east. Sunny skies were being replaced by dark clouds and it showered now and again.
Arrived in Chicago around 5pm and hit traffic which was slow moving...
Called the Filipino girl and she had just left 10 min ago and was heading east going to a game at Exit 31 on I-90...meet me there she says...ok...
I take a wrong turn getting onto I-90 Skyway Indiana toll road and end up in a colourful part of town...not really the place youd want to break down or ask for directions...sun was going down and I was eager to get on the Toll road. Found it eventually and pressed on...rain started...road got worse due to roadworks...cold set in...ok exit 21....concentration was high due to dark, rain and cold....cruising speed around an indicated 80-85mph (but speedo likely overreads so maybe more like 75mph. I was concentraing so hard I missed exit 31 and the chance to see my old Filipino friend...ah well keep going east....I called Ray (myhondas) at around 8pm and said I was still west of South Bend and likely wouldnt make Cleveland that night. That and I was getting cold....temps were dropping and were around 33 -35F. I would make it 40 miles east of Toledo (80 miles west of Cleveland) arriving at Port Clinton at 11.15pm.
Biggest concern riding here at night were the Suicide Deer Squads...the road was littered with deers that had been freshly run over. One eye was always on the side of the road...not much you can do though at 80mph...
The heating in the hotel room didnt work and the shower was luke warm...i was pretty cold. Awoke the next morning to sunshine and frost on the bike. Temps according to the weather channel were 32F. I set off at 7.40am as the sunrose...
Port Clinton, OH
Ride to Cleveland was quick and then spent 30 min getting lost as I-90 had been closed and the detour signs werent very helpful. Eventually found my way back on I-90 and cruised along Lake Erie to exit 189 to meet Ray (myhondas) - really nice guy (thanks for breakfast and the wooden key ring!) and it was good to chat. Ray had got out his car and immediately took a photo of the bike - the couple next to me in the diner said "look at that man taking a photo of that bike, how strange"...
Ray with his laser engraved Honda logo on his jacket - very cool!
Left Ray at around 10.454am and set off in the sunshine to Erie, PA then Buffalo, NY then Albany, NY - the whole way was sunny and mildly warmer temps than the previous day. Traffic speed was zipping along and I followed a couple of cars. Stopped for lunch at some rural upstate NY gas station that i had to come off I-90 to find as I was running low on gas...only other customers were hunters....
By the time the sun went down I was in Albany at 6pm. Then it got cold. As soon as I crossed into Mass the snow/freezing sleet started. Then the wind picked up. The lashing freezing rain alternated with the snow as the elevation rose then dipped. My visor had to be propped open a little at the bottom to stop it fogging up which made my head cold. At the service stations I would get funny looks ;-)
Conditions were treacherous, with speeding Mass drivers, water on the road, spray from the other cars and trucks and snow on the shield. Speed alternated between an indicated 55 - 70mph. All this actually invigorated me and kept concentration super-high. Every mile was felt!
Made it back for 10pm. 1250 miles in total.
Never again ;-). Now this bike could ride all day and go much longer/day no problem. The issue here was the cold...body-numbing sustained cold...so while I never used heated gear it would likely have made it much more comfortable.
Got up this morning and rode the 750 K4 to work...wow feels so different!!
cheers
Andy
