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Crossing the Border - BBB 2009


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Day 3 - Riding in the Rain.

The third morning I woke up in Craters of the Moon National Park.  It was dark out when I had entered the park, so the landscape that met me at sunrise seemed a little surreal.

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Unlike the previous night, this campsite had some facilities… real toilets and taps with cold running water.  No showers.  No hot water. But at least I didn’t have to squat behind a bush. I took a brief wander around the campsite with the camera before I headed out for the day.

With the road closure on my original route, I opted to return through Arco, and headed down the 26, then followed the 20 to Idaho Falls (at the time I didn’t realize that the 26 to Blackfoot would have been a shorter route).  As I headed down the 26, I realized that I had forgotten something at the campsite… when I had stopped for the night it was very late and dark, and I was planning to pay in the morning on my way out… I was quite a distance away (a couple of hours of riding time) when I realized that I had completely forgotten to do so.  It didn’t make a lot of sense to turn back, so I continued along the road.

I noticed that there was quite a bit of dust being thrown up by vehicles on the 26, and as I continued on my journey I noticed “construction zone” signs, and quickly figured out that the road was fresh chip-seal.  This is something that I am not familiar with, but recall seeing a few posts on the forum indicating that it is not the best surface for biking.  I carried on and reached a fresher part of the construction zone, where a flagman helpfully waved me to the front of the line.  He explained that cars would be throwing up a lot of rocks, and I probably didn’t want to be behind that… I thanked him for his thoughtfulness and talked to him for a while until the pilot car returned to take another stream of traffic through the single lane that was open in the construction zone.  Construction zones seemed to really chew up a lot of riding time, and reduced my daily milage.

Fresh chip seal was not as bad as I had been lead to expect, but is certainly not my preferred surface for riding. And this was as fresh as it got – I got to watch construction workers laying down chipseal as I rode past, and felt the rocks skating under the wheels as I passed over top of them.

My mid-morning coffee stop was in Idaho Falls, where I fuelled up before heading down a fairly boring piece of interstate.  I found myself very tired while riding, and when I caught myself blinking slowly, I would pull off the road for a break.  

So far on the trip I had passed through a lot of small towns – and there were two things that I seemed to see in all of them, regardless of their size.  The first was a fireworks stand.  The second was a Taxidermy shop.  I found this most humourous.

I reached Brigham City with no incident late afternoon as the weather was beginning to turn, and pulled in for a cold drink and another break.  I checked with a local about the timing of rush hour, and determined that I was going to hang out for a while.  I really was not interested in finding out how bad rush hour traffic was through Salt Lake City.  

As I sat I watched the storm system roll in.  This was the first real rain that I had encountered on the trip.  And it came in with some fairly high winds. By the time I was ready to leave it looked very grey and miserable outside.  I headed down through Salt Lake City on the Interstate – not a lot to see through the rain.  I noticed that my visor was beginning to cloud over a bit – but it didn’t seem to be from condensation inside.  When I stopped for gas I cleaned the visor and it made a huge difference to visibility.  Thinking about it later I concluded that there was probably a fairly high salt content in the rain water leading to the foggy white scum on the visor.

Even though rush hour was technically over, it took a long time to get through Salt Lake City. I continued south to Spanish Fork and then pulled off on the highway 6.  The weather was not very pleasant, and it was late enough that I was beginning to think that a campsite before full dark fell would be a nice change.  I wound up in Scofield, the area around which seemed to have a lot of facilities for RVs, but none for tents.  (We are talking about RV exclusive campsites – and no, they do not consider a bike to be an RV).  I stopped to ask directions for a tent camping site, and the Scofieldian that I talked to indicated that there was quite a distance to travel to find one that was accessible from a main road.  He made the offhand comment that there was nothing closer, unless I wanted to pitch a tent on his front lawn.  Well, I figured that he was being sarcastic, but we chatted for a few minutes, and shortly thereafter… well, you can guess where I put my tent.  This time the tent was pitched during dusk and in the rain.  Another night without facilities.

As odd as this must sound, the only time I took out my camera that day was to capture sunrise at Craters of the Moon.

Total riding distance for the day was around  665 km (415 miles).  This brought my total distance traveled to around 1945 km (1210 miles)

Click here for Map

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Day 3 - Riding in the Rain.

...

Fresh chip seal was not as bad as I had been lead to expect, but is certainly not my preferred surface for riding. And this was as fresh as it got – I got to watch construction workers laying down chipseal as I rode past, and felt the rocks skating under the wheels as I passed over top of them.

....

Funny thing, when I rode out there in '09 I ran across a lot of construction as well. My peeve was the way they watered the construction zones to keep the dust down. I love riding a VFR on mud. Honest.

Great report. I should do a real one sometime.

Glenn

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Wow - that was one bad incident. Good that you kept your wits about you and stayed upright. I tensed up just reading it.

For emergencies or situations that come up after dark, I carry one of these in my tank bag

Headlamp

Very compact, long battery life and extremely bright in the dark. The bonus is it leaves both hands free. I also have one in the car and one in house for power outages. I think they were about $35 ea.

Nice! I keep a cap in my side case (or tank bag) similar to the one below. It has three LEDs that light up at a pinch of the brim. Very bright light directed right at where you're looking. Great for doing anything (well almost anything) in the dark. Under $20.00. Also good for hiding helmet hair.

cubnew.JPG

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Meetup in Kanab

The fourth morning I woke up and climbed out of the tent.  All night I had been listening to people getting an early start on the 4th of July and setting off fireworks.  (I checked my phone a few times during the night, and they were being set off at 2am, 3:45 am, 4:30 am… well, you get the picture).  It was not conducive to uninterrupted sleep... and the sound of rain on the tent was a reminder of the morning weather.

When dawn finally arrived, I got dressed inside the tent, and got my gear ready to go.  I folded up the tent in the drizzle, eager to be off to locate a gas station with bathroom facilities.  Unfortunately the gas station in Scofield was closed – which led to a bit of anxiety as I worried if the bike would make it to the next stop for gas.

My original route had included a more scenic tour of Utah, but I opted to cut it a little shorter because of the foot. I still wasn’t keen on putting my left foot down when stopping the bike, but had become accustomed to shifting using the top of my foot and had figured out a walking gait that worked for me without putting pressure on the front of my foot, and without looking like I was limping too badly.

I rode through the rain and found a section of nice curves, which I honestly would have enjoyed a lot more on dry roads.  I discovered that Utah does not seem to have the same belief in guard rails and barriers to a vehicle driving off of a cliff that I am accustomed to, which lead me to ride fairly conservatively -- especially since I seemed to be the only vehicle on the road.  The experience from day two was still fresh on my mind. Hairpin turns still seem really strange to me – not something that I see a lot of in my home turf riding area.

I stopped in Fairview shortly after the rain let up to gas up and grab a cup of coffee.  My journey continued down the 89, passing through a number of small towns that evidently had a very strong Mormon contingent.  The 89 joined up with the I15 for a brief while, before dropping into some very interesting canyon country.  Both the roads and scenery were interesting, although I did not stop very frequently for photos.

Some of the canyons I rode through reminded me of the Louis L'Amour stories I had read in my youth. A very different world from the one I was accustomed to.

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The Open Road

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A warning sign that would have been apt a couple of days previous..

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Briefly I considered taking a detour or two on the way down to Kanib, but I knew that Aussie and Mudderduc would be arriving around noon, and I was eager to get there to meet them.

I stopped at a gas station to get directions to the rented townhouse where we were supposed to meet, and headed up the street.  It was very easy to spot – the first thing that I saw was a white truck with a Red Ducati… it was a clear give-away that I had arrived.  I pulled in and parked beside a silver VFR sporting a NFR sticker that bore a close resemblance to the one on my own windshield. I had arrived.

Knocking on the door I met Aussie, Mudderduc, and their friend Ms.LasVegas, who had come down to join us.  I quickly pulled in my gear from the bike and ran for the nearest shower.  I figured that I would do myself, as well as the group a huge favour, having not seen bathing facilities better than a service station sink since I had left Calgary many days previously.

After my shower, I also made acquaintance with my new helmet.  Found it just before my trip on clearance at a price that was difficult to resist, and had arranged to have it shipped care of Aussie to save myself the cost of shipping to Canada.  It looked even better in person, fit quite well, and to my surprise even came with a smoke visor (thanks for picking that up for me Aussie!). It was a relief to get rid of the old helmet which had never quite fit me properly -- although I hadn't realized just what a difference it would make until I started riding in the new helmet. Night and day!

Mudderduc and Ms Las Vegas were hungry, so we headed over to check out a local restaurant while we waited for Cruzinaz and Ethan to show up.  I’m not sure what took them so long -- I guess they had a long distance to travel.   :tongue:

A few hours later Cruzinaz and Ethan rolled in, and once again we headed out for a meal.  Rather than taking the bikes, we took the official support vehicle (Aussie’s truck).  Cruz really enjoyed the ride, encouraging Mudderduc to try sharp turns, rough roads and quick starts and stops... Not sure if Aussie or Ethan enjoyed the experience quite as much sitting in the back of the pickup.  At supper we discovered that nobody had brought a camera with them... I had left mine behind because I assumed others were bringing theirs. It came as a shock to others that I did anything without camera in hand.

It was great to finally meet some of the NFR crew. I found myself feeling instantly at home with them - despite meeting them for the first time, it felt as if I were getting together with friends.

We hung out for a late evening at the townhouse shooting the breeze and consuming a beer or two… with Cruz, Ethan and myself listening to the late evening crickets... When they decided it was time to hit the sack, I checked out the first real bed I had seen in days.  It felt really weird to not have to climb into a tent, and to have such a large sleeping space that I was not sharing with all my gear.

Yes, Aussieinthe USA and Cruzinaz are also members here on VFRD, and they might even admit to knowing me. :laughing6-hehe:

Total distance for the day 400 km (250 miles).  Total trip distance so far 2343 km (1458 miles).

Click here for Map

Watch for part 4...

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Ah O, such goodtimes to be had when a group of people from all parts come together and are instant friends. This was your first trip where you've been in temps over 100F, maybe the first time you've been in these temps period :biggrin: but you got through it brilliantly....just like your writing. Was a great first meeting there at Kenab, one that would be repeated and hopefully will continue for a long long time.

Carry on..... :lurk: .

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What took us so long? Of course it was Ethan....you know how he obeys the posted speed limit signs :laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe:

Ahhh, good times for sure. Instant friendships that turned into long term. :biggrin::fing02:

Under 4 months till we meet again. :woohoo: :woohoo: ..now has anyone nailed down a destination yet??? :unsure: :unsure:

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Visiting the North Rim

The Fourth of July. I woke up to a very quiet townhouse. Eerily quiet. Recognizing that everyone else was being lazy, and that I was not going to get back to sleep, I got up and sat on the patio with a book. A few hours later Ethan and Cruz started to groggily move about, followed by an appearance by Aussie, and, finally, Mudderduc and Ms. Las Vegas. A few pictures of the area while people slept.

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Staying at the townhouse was an excellent solution for the group – it was a lot cheaper than individual hotel rooms, as well as provided us a place to hang out together in the evenings.

After a brief discussion about breakfast (food definitely seemed to be high on their priority list), we collected our gear, ensured that Mohawks were properly attached to helmets, and headed out to the bikes.

The “twins” – Ethan and Cruz

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Five bikes, six hooligans… a problem quickly rectified as our new professional pillion Ms. Las Vegas hopped up behind Aussie. We took off from the parking lot, and made our first stop… to fuel up.

We headed down the road, and must have been a strange sight as we streamed by with our matching Mohawks. It felt extremely strange to me to be riding in the right hand lane position – I do so much solo riding where formations just do not happen.

I had a few issues with my Hawk… it was not interested in sticking to my new helmet’s matte finish. At one point during the daily ride I could feel it tapping me on the back as it held onto the helmet by one suction cup. I had a good excuse not to wear one.

As we headed for the twisties, we passed a few vehicles, and had the first excitement of the day. Oddly enough it involved me and my bike. Aussie passed a car. I came up, did a quick check and pulled out to pass the same car… only to have Ethan scream past me on the left. (Cruz bringing up the rear apparently spent a few brief moments in feverent prayer). I held my position, and fell in behind Ethan after the pass. A little later on when we stopped I apologized to him, assuming that I had failed to do a proper shoulder check before pulling out. I was corrected that the person behind is the person responsible… He figured that I was not going to take the pass, and we both pulled out nearly simultaneously.

We continued up the road to Jacob’s Lake for fuel – for the bikes and the riders. I was glad to see my coffee, and the rest of the crew dug into the food with enthusiasm. At this stop we had a bit of excitement with Mudderduc, when she… (CENSORED). Well, I guess I’m not telling THAT story.

Gearing up at Jacob’s Lake

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Cruzinaz

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The group continued towards the Canyon, with the boys pulling ahead in a bit of a spirited ride through the corners, and myself and Mudderduc pulling up the rear. As we waited in line for our park passes, one of our members had a mechanical failure. Aussie’s bike decided that it was not interested in starting. He pulled off to the side, and with a bit of help got the bike bump started. Time for a battery! (Amusingly enough the same scenerio played itself out a year later with another of Aussie’s bikes... this time the VFR he had loaned to Wheatie. It seems the annual push start with Aussie on board is becoming a tradition, and one that started here).

We continued up the rest of the road to the Canyon, and Aussie thought it was Christmas with all of the curves that unfolded in front of him. Ms. Las Vegas proved to be a very competent pillion – especially since this was her longest trip yet.

At the top we pulled into a parking space and divested ourselves of unnecessary gear, located cameras, and went to check out the main attraction. The weather was quite warm and I was glad that I had shorts and a T-Shirt under my suit… although I had managed to leave a change of footwear behind. So I boldly set a new fashion statement wearing SIDIs and shorts. (You can quit laughing any time Ethan…).

Cruzinaz and AussieintheUSA sporting matching ride shirts

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Mudderduc (Aussie’s better half) and Ms. Las Vegas.

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The weather was perhaps not the best for viewing the canyon – apparently on a clear day you can see across to the south rim. But regardless, it was something to see. I took one or two photos since I was there.

...Actually that was more like one or two hundred... but I’m only sharing a few of them here out of deference to bandwidth.

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After checking out the canyon, we decided it was time for THE official photo shoot…

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The gals seemed to have something for Cruz… at least this gal in particular could NOT leave him alone. This butterfly decided that his pants were irresistible… Must be his aftershave?

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Heading out we stopped for a picture or two of the bikes. Two VFRs, one CBR, a Ducati and a Beemer…

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We stopped again at Jacob’s Lake for fuel, and I missed the perfect photo opportunity… Ethan and Cruz wearing matching Honda jackets push starting Aussie’s VFR again. It would have been an instant classic!

We had to stop again on the way back to town because Aussie had to give this dummy the finger… for some very strange reason he decided to leave his bike running. Luckily this was the only cop we saw all day, as the fast group could have picked up a very expensive ticket… Mudderducs and myself comprised the scenic group. But we all enjoyed the road.

Aussie certainly has a LOT of respect for the law

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Returning to the townhouse, we parked the bikes and divested ourselves of the warm gear. Cruz may have mentioned that it was time for a beer (it sounds like something that he would say).

After returning to the townhouse, Ethan noticed my rear tire, and suggested that riding home on it would be a very poor decision. The guys didn't think that it would last long enough for me to get home. Over dinner, Cruz offered to have me follow him and Ethan back to Tucson where he had a tire he could swap over on the bike, but Vegas was closer and a shorter ride in the desert heat. I figured that the ride down to Tucson would cost me two extra days for travel, whereas Vegas would only be one. Salt Lake City was the third option – however nothing there would be open on a Sunday, and I would have to rely on a dealership to remove the tire since I didn’t have a center stand on the bike… so Vegas it was! (I still want to check out Arivaca sometime Cruz!) It was great to have so many options open to me!

It was clear that BS was the order of the day – and the ladies decided that we liked the way that Aussie pronounced the word B**S****, and Mudderducs kept on encouraging him to say it. Pity we don’t have a sound file of it on here!

Click here for map

Daily mileage 260 km (160 miles)

Total trip milage to date 2603 km (1618 miles)

Stay tuned for day 5...

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That wasn't a very long day in the saddle but it sure was a BLAST. Its a dang good thing there was a dummy in those cars instead of real Timmys...we "may" have been in a bit of trouble :laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe:

Thanx for posting this ride Olive, I'm re-living every moment once again :biggrin::fing02:

BBB3 is just around the corner :cool:

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The day after…

The morning following the Canyon Run everyone started packing.  Cruz and Ethan wanted to get an early start to beat the worst of the day’s heat.  Either that or they were fleeing the group in horror. Since they were obviously willing to subject themselves to the group again I think it was indeed the former.

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As everyone packed up their gear, we loaded Mudderduc’s Ducati back in Aussie’s truck for the trek across the desert back to Vegas.

Got to love that style Aussie!

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Ummm… Cruz?  Are you riding pillion?

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Maybe not...

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Cruz cruzin’ back to Az

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We saw them off, and with dwindling numbers got ourselves organized for the trip to Vegas.  I stowed my gear in the support truck – no need to cart it back on the bike.  Aussie and myself made a quick stop at the gas station for fuel, added some air to my front tire which was a little low, and took off for the desert heat followed by Mudderduc and Ms. LasVegas in the truck. A dreaded "gas station shot".

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Aussie took a moment to give a special salute to the dummy police car on the way out of town, and set a brisk pace.  This was the warmest weather that I had ridden in so far during the trip, and at one point I had to flag down Aussie for a roadside stop because I needed to deal with a mix of perspiration and sunscreen that was running into my eyes.  Not something that you can effectively deal with while moving.

We skirted Vegas on roads that seemed half empty, eventually pulling up in front of a very nice house with a triple garage.  The garage was very spacious and well organized – had me more than a little jealous. And that was just the garage.  I was taken on a brief tour - Aussie and Mudderduc have an absolutely beautiful home!  

Aussie pulled my bike into the garage and commented about the size of my tank bag – yes, it was a little on the large side, and certainly something that needs to be scaled down for the next trip. I found it a hindrance if I wanted to lean into the bike.

After unloading the truck and grabbing a cold drink we got to work on the bike.  Aussie took the lead, having a much better idea about changing the tire.

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Since my bike does not have a centre stand (yet), we checked out a few possibilities for lifting.  My initial idea was to kill two birds with one stone, and simply pick up and install the centrestand for my bike.  Unfortunately the local BMW dealership was closed both Sunday and Monday, ruling that possibility out.  The pitbull stands were out because we did not have the right size of attachments for my bike, and none of the jacks we had at our disposal would work.  

We tested out a few different theories... and weren’t thrilled with the solutions we were finding.

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In the end we wound up running the bike into a front wheel chock, and using Aussie’s canyon dancer to secure the bike.  Aussie built a secure stand using cinderbrick, and we then lifted the back of the bike while Mudderduc slid some wood underneath to support it.  Once satisfied that the bike was stable, we fought with the exhaust and removed the wheel.

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This is the actual tire that came off of the bike (viewer discretion is advised!) – it had a small flat spot on it which enabled it to stand unassisted.  And that flat spot also explained why it was really tippy going into corners. I have to say that I was not very impressed with the Metzler Sportec tires that were factory with the bike – I noticed them flatspotting very early in their life, and taking them on a bit more slab and over chipseal roads did little for them. It wasn't until I got some decent tires on the bike that I realized how confidently it handled on corners - it made a huge difference.

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Then we were off to the local Cyclegear to get a new tire installed and I met Aussie’s daughter Kirstin.  Aussie’s connections came in very handy – he got me a decent deal on a Pirelli Diablo, which would do well on the slab conditions that I was going to be taking back to the north to make up time.

I was very glad to have Aussie with me working on the bike as we tried to wrestle the exhaust back into place – it was a tad reluctant to be refitted in the original location.  (Sorry Aussie… these types of things always seem to happen to me…)

While Mudderduc and Ms. Las Vegas made an excellent Steak Dinner, Aussie and myself hit the road to scrub in the new tire – I let him have the honours, and checked out my very first VFR.  I loved the VFR, and it was really different riding something that was actually marked in MPH.  Little was I to know just how soon in my future I would have one of these beauties to park in my own driveway. But that’s another tale (see The Commute Home).

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Kirstin joined us for the run – Aussie seems to have something about taking riders pillion.

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After a really decent dinner (Kudos to Mudderduc and Ms. Las Vegas), we headed out to check out the strip - a requirement of a trip to Vegas!

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We headed back to Aussie’s place for a short night. He had to work the following morning, and I was planning on an early departure.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Aussie and Mudderduc for their fabulous hospitality.  Thank you again for everything!

Another short day -

Map is here

Total distance travelled 265 miles / 425 kilometers.

Stay tuned for the next instalment...

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Heading Towards Home

The next morning Aussie had to start work at oh-dark-early, so I loaded up the bike, ensured my camelback was full and followed him to the freeway where our paths parted.  My last glimpse of Vegas was a gas stop.

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I headed across the desert making my first stop in Mesquite for coffee.  As I was heading down the highway I noticed that my back was damp. Apparently there was a bit of water on the outside of the camelback. The dampness spread, and the water slowly found its way into the suit and trickling down my back. The camelback had sprung a leak, and in short order I had a litre of water drenching my shorts. Since the suit was perforated the air blowing through dried my back and my legs. But there were no perforations around my seat or the back of my legs, and the moisture in those areas felt a bit like sitting in a hot sticky sauna. The suit didn’t properly dry out until the next day. Lesson one about using a camelback -- check it for leaks.

Making good time I headed towards Salt Lake City keeping to main routes to make up for lost time. As I went down the highway, the wind began to pick up… and it also decided to try to pick up something on my bike.  I cautiously pulled over to the side of the road to stop while carefully securing my tank bag to my bike with my body.  I had failed to fasten the clips before I had taken off.  As seemed to become the norm on many of these stops I had been approached by a few curious individuals who noticed the plate was from out of state. A few people also picked up on the fact the plate was from out of country as well.  A lot of curiosity seemed raised by the fact that I was female and traveling alone.  Regardless, my routine had been interrupted, and when I returned to it, I totally forgot about fastening down the tank bag.  

Given that the tank bag contained my camera, wallet, cell phone and a few other fragile items of importance, I did not want it sailing off of my bike.  The non-slip base pad did a very good job of keeping it on the bike until a strong wind gust was introduced into the mix.  Since the BMW has a plastic hump a magnetic bag won’t work for me, and I have to rely on straps to hold everything in place. (The plastic hump is a cover for the battery and air filter. The gas tank is also plastic and under the seat keeping weight nice and low on the bike).

Since I was stopped anyhow, I paused for a few photos, getting some really odd looks from other vehicles on the road as they whizzed past me.

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Stopping was discouraged on the Interstates… signs advised against it, so camera stops were few and far between.

As I rode I made regular stops for gas and took breaks, as typical for this type of trip.  I stopped here for gas – the name amused me.

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I carried on up the I 15 enjoying some of the marvelous scenery, a bit disappointed that I did not have enough time to check out some of the more inviting detours.  Perhaps some day I will win the lottery and be able to just ride where the wind takes me -- but until then real life insists that my time on the road is limited.

Since I’m from Canada I certainly was not used to riding in that type of heat, and later that afternoon I found myself getting a little dizzy – the heat was getting to me.  So I pulled off for a cold drink and to plan the shortest route to the nearest campground.  

This evening I camped at an RV campground near lake Utah Lake.  I was a little disappointed that I had not made it through Salt Lake, but thought it inadvisable to push on in the oppressive heat.

Checking into the campground I had a very amusing experience. I was wearing full gear and put my helmet on the counter. It was pretty clear that I was on a motorcycle. The woman at reception handed me a card to fill out while she was getting my change. When I handed it back to her, she returned it because I hadn’t put down my husbands name and they wanted the names of everyone staying at the site. Bemused, I explained that I wasn’t married. She smiled, and then asked for my boyfriend’s name. Smiling, I told her that I didn’t have one of those either, and it was just me. At this a very confused look crossed her face, and she asked “but who’s driving the bike then?”. Hmmm... apparently a single female Canadian doing a cross country solo was a bit of an anomaly for her.

My bike with a collection of RVs...

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As usual, my tent attracted a bit of attention.  Apparently it was a little smaller than what might be considered normal… and really stood out against the backdrop of RV

In preparation for the trip I picked up a very inexpensive tent. One of the main selling points was that it packed into a small package that would easily fit on the bike. And no, it wasn’t quite the advertised size of six feet long, closer to five feet - unless I’ve suddenly grown a couple of inches when I wasn’t paying attention. I had to lay crosswise and keep my knees curled in order to fit into the tent. It just shows that you don’t need super expensive or specialty gear. For my next trip I picked up a better tent allowing a little more room, but still keeping a reasonable budget. I also learned a valuable lesson about the blue foam mats for under a sleeping bag. When they reach the age of 25 years, they are well past their best before date and don’t offer a lot of cushioning. But these lessons are all part of the ride. Sometimes it is the discomforts that make the best memories.

The infamous tent along with bike and rider for scale.

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Total daily distance 393 miles / 633 km

Total distance travelled 2268 miles / 3661 km

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Another great installment. I am planning two fairly soon coming road trips and this addition will have me thinking about the little things that might be forgotten on a road trip... Securing things, weather protection, etc. It was also interesting to see the premonition of your new bike!! How cool is that!? Thanks again, Olive!

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Skirting Yellowstone

After a night spent in an overly warm tent, I was glad to get moving once again.  The campground had full facilities which I gladly took advantage of.  

Finishing loading the bike, I hopped on and took a quick detour over to check out Utah Lake, before returning to the I15.  I headed up the access ramp to the I15.  Another short detour into Salt Lake City, this time to take a look at the Tabernacle on Temple Square – didn’t stop, just detoured past it, and returned to the I 15.  My morning coffee stop was in Brigham City, where I had passed through a few days before.

At one of my gas stops, I got into a conversation with a few people traveling on trikes pulling trailers.  They certainly believed that it was impossible to camp if you didn’t take it all with you…  And they were certainly prepared for anything wearing a protective T-Shirt and the all important headgear… a dew rag.  It amazed me how few people I encountered who were actually wearing proper gear – or for that matter were bothering with helmets.  I guess it’s just not fashionable.

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I carried on up the I15, and then over to the 20, hoping to pitch my tent in Yellowstone.  Stopping off at the “Last Chance General Store” before heading for West Yellowstone.

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When I arrived at Yellowstone I discovered that all of the campgrounds were full.  And as much as I wanted to check out Yellowstone, I thought it advisable to secure a campsite first.  So I  started exploring, and located a Forestry Service Campground that had space.  This particular campground was down an unimproved road.  This meant lots of ruts, washboard, dirt and gravel – certainly not suited to the 800S, but I took a loose grip, flipped on my flashers and took the road nice, easy and slow.  And the road continued to run on and on and on.  I kept on promising myself that the campground was around the very next corner… and very relieved when I actually found it.  After riding that road I was no longer quite as eager to head back to Yellowstone to explore, or even to check out what the West Yellowstone townsite had to offer.  Eating a can of cold Chefboyardee suddenly had a lot more appeal than it had half an hour previous. (I don’t bother to take cooking gear when I’m bike camping, and during this trip I didn’t even have a fire at any of of my campsites.)

I was also eager to get out of my leathers – they seemed to remember the previous day’s water spill and were still rather damp in the seat and back of legs, areas where the leather was not perforated.

One of the better sections of road.

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To my surprise I was not the only bike at the campground.  Another fellow on a Harley had already pitched a tent.  He came over to talk to me as I unloaded the bike, curious that I would take a BMW across that type of road.  I believe his comment was that he had enough problems with his bike and thought his fillings were going to be shaken out of his head.  

I wound up heading over to his campsite to check out his bike.  He insisted that I take a seat and see how super comfortable Harleys are.  (To tell the truth, I find my bike significantly more comfortable… but I didn’t say that to him.).

As I pitched my tent the mosquitos came and checked out what I had to offer, despite the fact I had almost bathed in DEET.  

The night was cooling off quite quickly – what a change from earlier in the day.  I walked over and checked out the lake and took a few photos, before retiring to my tent for the evening.  This time I grabbed a few extra items of clothing from the bike to layer up in to stay warm.

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Total Daily Distance

382 miles / 615 km

Total Distance Travelled

2658 miles / 4276 km

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Beautiful lake pics!! I bet Vegas was very pretty at night!! The Princess and I will do that trip. We dont gamble, but of course, there is more to do in vegas than lose money... you can just spend it!!

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Marathon Run

It was another cool night in the tent, and I huddled inside my layers trying to keep warm.  I poked my nose outside of the tent, and looked at the bike sitting in the dark.  Nope, I was going to wait until it warmed up a few degrees and the sun peeked over the horizon.  I certainly did not want to tackle the washboard in poor lighting.

I found Wednesday a bit strange.  I was supposed to be heading in to work that day – well, the commute was a little far.  While I had a very good excuse to be running late (the tire), I still felt guilty about it.  

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When I finally got dressed and started folding up the tent, it was only a few degrees above zero.  And my leathers were still a little damp in the back of the leggings.  I was very happy to have heated grips on the bike.  I slowly made my way out of the campground without incident, and turned onto the main road.

The skies looked threatening, and it didn’t take long until I felt a need to stop the bike and put on my rain gear, and install rain covers for the luggage.  And shortly after I got moving again the rain hit and was joined by the wind. Conditions that I was going to ride in throughout the day.

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I had a lot of ground to cover because I was already a day late, and was determined that I was going to make it home that day.  I pressed on through the rain and high winds. As I rode I had a few brief breaks in the weather.  

By mid-morning it seemed to be clearing up the direction that I had come from…

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Earlier in my ride Skuuter had made the comment that I ought to take a detour to “Townsend”, so I figured that I should get some photographic evidence of the stop (check out the coffee cup).

It was time for late morning coffee, having been on the road for nearly five hours and a chance to warm up.  I decided to order something to eat.  Yes, this is the first food picture of my trip.  But at least I remembered to take one for Skuuter.

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Heading back out on the bike, I checked the rain covers, and continued north on the 287.  I was still cold – hadn’t warmed up yet the entire day.  The windbreaker I was wearing over the top of my leathers was doing a decent job of keeping me dry.  It would have been nice to have some rain bottoms as well, however the legs of the suit didn’t let in too much moisture.  I found myself wishing that I had brought some of the desert heat with me.

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As I rode I was keeping a careful watch on Alberta weather.  A friend had emailed me that Calgary was being hit by weather fairly hard – and sent me a copy of the Environment Canada weather warning which advised of potential tornadoes.  While I consider torrential rains, thunderstorms, high winds and hail to be somewhat normal for this time of year, tornadoes are rather unusual. The watch had been lifted by early evening, so it did not impact my travel plans.

Oddly enough since this trip every single time I have passed through Montana I have been greeted with torrential rain, high winds and the promise of nasty weather the rest of the way home. It seems to have become a tradition.

The wind continued to increase as I headed on, and northern Montana was the worst for wind gusts.  The last day had a lot of fun roads on it, to make up for the slab that I had taken the previous days to make up time.  Although I must admit that I don’t enjoy curves nearly as much when the wind is battling me to determine lean angle.  

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I stopped briefly for gas in Kiowa – a small town on an Indian reservation.  I have to say that this was the LEAST friendly place that I had seen the entire trip, and I really did not feel comfortable here at all.  Gas prices were really inflated, and I went in to prepay for my gas.  I handed the clerk a $20, and went back in for my change.  The clerk argued that I had put in a full $20 worth of gas… and after realizing the futility of the discussion, I returned to my bike, figured that it was only a couple of bucks, and headed out of town.

There is a very nice collection of curves headed towards St. Mary although I was not very impressed with the road conditions.  There were a lot of fatality signs along the side of the roadway, but no guard rails, and very poor markings of the side of the road.  The forest also encroached close to the road in locations.  (Yes, I think that there just might be a causal connection between the accident rate and the condition of the road).  I also noted very early on that the curve signage seemed to be out to lunch.  A curve that was marked at 25, I could have easily taken at 70, and one that was marked at 60 was a really tight hairpin. Needless to say, I drove that section with a lot of caution and was grateful to see the west entrance of Glacier National Park come into view.  

I stopped for another coffee and a chance to warm up before returning to Canada.

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I continued on through the border, and hit Alberta.  The wind relented a bit, but the rain continued.  Dusk came, followed by dark.  I paused at the side of the road to change the visor on my helmet, and continued on.  As I came up on High River, the rain decided to turn to hail.  So I pulled into town and hung out at the local McDonalds for a while, getting some curious looks from the locals.

Heading out into the darkness, I continued my run to Calgary.  Entering the city the rain was coming down quite hard, and the wind picked up once again.  Visibility was quite poor, and the streetlights did nothing to improve it.  I passed by a hotel on the way into town and briefly considered it – the thought was amusing.  I passed by and continued through town.  By the time I arrived home my visibility was less than a foot ahead of the bike, and I was ready to stop.  Given any different conditions I would have taken a bit of a detour – and added an extra 8km to the trip just to round out the mileage, but decided that I would live with the odometer reading as it was.

I hauled my gear into the house, and set it out to dry, and noted with amusement that somewhere between High River and Calgary I had lost one of the rain covers on my soft bag luggage.  The contents of that side were actually drier than the bag that still had the rain cover – which had picked up a generous helping of water inside the cover.  It says something about the direction that the wind was driving the rain.

The last day was certainly a marathon run, and was the nastiest weather that I had encountered during the entire trip.  But I made it back into town on the Wednesday with a sense of achievement for having run the gauntlet in the storm.

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900 kilometers / 559 miles

Total trip distance 5176 kilometers / 3217 miles

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NOTE: There is a small discrepancy on the mileage traveled.  The numbers I have used in these report have been based off of the Google Maps, and only cover the main routes of travel, not the additional small detours that I took during the trip.   The reason I did not use odometer readings is because I did not track my daily mileage.  According to my odometer I traveled 5068 km (3150 miles).

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Great addition! I noticed from your previous report that the Indian reservation seemed very... anti social. With respect to history and the (mis)treatment of many ethnic groups, I think its very sad to still carry that heaviness-- sharing it with everyone that drives or rides through... (Sorry HS; if i've offended, please feel free to edit.)

I also noticed that you seem to have WONDERFUL weather whenever you return to Calgary: I think I know a solution... LOL!! :cheerleader::cheerleader:

Thank you for being dilligent to share you trails and tales!!

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One last note about the foot. I was still favouring it on my return. Still shifting using the top of my foot. So I got it checked out. Yup, broke the toe in multiple places. But I'm glad that I didn't cancel my trip for a minor setback.

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One last note about the foot. I was still favouring it on my return. Still shifting using the top of my foot. So I got it checked out. Yup, broke the toe in multiple places. But I'm glad that I didn't cancel my trip for a minor setback.

Olive,

Great trip report, fantastic pics, makes me wanna hit the road for sure. Sorry about the foot--seems like a small price to pay for such a nice trip.

Reminds me of short trips I do in the interior here. Thanks for making me nostalgic! :blush:

C

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