| Author | Message | ||
     Bomber |
It’d been a silly couple of weeks at work, with little sign of that letting up any time soon (I even had to cancel a trip to Tejas to help Road_Thang with his scotch surplus!) – while I’ve enjoyed the 1200 or so miles I’d put on the 07 Tiger, almost all of the non-commuting rides had been at a fairly leisurely pace. Nuthin wrong with that at all, but I had the hankerin for a bit more, er, um, engaging ride. When I bought the Tiger, I’d started lookin at bikes that I could ride to the Gap (from the Northern Chicago suburbs), and enjoy once I got there. (I’ll spare you the lists I made, and the thoughtful manner in which I went about choosing this bike – suffice to say, it looked good at first, and close to 3K miles later, I’ve had no reason to change my mind – I love this bike!) Though there wasn’t enough time to blast to Robbinsville this weekend (and make it back in time for work), I did find myself entirely unsupervised – having mumbled about leading a small group of friends up to the Mindoro Cut area, and back through NW Illinois, I figured it’d be a good idea to do pre-run and re-acquaint myself with the roads – tough to choose a bad route through Southwest Wisconsin, and the pre-run was the excuse . . . . . . So, not much of an adventure, especially compared to some posted here, but an entirely enjoyable day – reminded my why I love to ride so much . . . . Woke up at oh-dark-thirty on Saturday, tuned in the Weather Channel, and proceeded to guess wrong on all counts – wore the leathers instead of the Stich, and slabbed west, towards Rockford, instead of North. This had me riding through light, but steady rain all the way to the state line at Beloit. I made a gas/coco stop at the Belvedere Trollway Oasis, and met a bunch of patchholders from Detroit – these guys were REALLY wet, and resembled some fellas you’d see on the ten o’clock news in a story tagged “gang violence escalates in projects.” By the time I got my helmet off, one of asked, “hey, man, how are YOU doin?” with a big smile on his face . . . I replied, “it’s Saturday, I’m not at work, I’m 100 miles from home on my bike, I’m doin GREAT!” “We all feel the same, then,” came back with a big smile. On good days, there IS something to this “brotherhood of riders” idea. Got back on the slab, and cranked up the iPod. For all you music listeners, here’s a suggestion – have someone of an entirely different generation/musical taste load your player. When I received my iPod, my then 20 year old daughter had loaded it up with her music. Soup to nuts, Dead Kennedys to Sinatra – while I’ve added a bunch to the music in the little black box, I am often surprised when something completely unexpected shows up. I roll down the slab, singing along with Dave Mathews (Ants), Buffalo Springfield (Bluebird), Rusted Root (Your Hands are Law), (my helmet mercifully sparing my fellow travelers form the sound), when up pops Richard Wagner (Ride of the Valkyries). I simply HAD to sing along with THAT! Don’t know the words? Sure ya do! “Kill the Wabbit, Kill the Wabbit . . . . . . . . . . Note – in two hours of really wet riding, the only other bikes I saw on the road were, wait for it, the favorite mount of poseurs, wanna bees, and pretend bikers everywhere – dresser Harleys – not a scientific study, by any means, but made me go hmmmmmmmmmm . . . . . . . Got to Beloit, the sky turned a glorious deep blue, the road was dry, and my fellow travelers thinned to the point where I was completely unaccompanied on the road – what joy! BTW, I proved, once again, that the best way to dry soaked leathers is to ride in em. I stopped at Sharer Cycle Center and Stables, west of Madtown, in search of the elusive front fender extender for the Tiger – released, discontinued, sent to Coventry, and forgotten, I was hoping that this dealership might have one on the shelves – they didn’t, but they’re really nice folks, and I got to spend 30 minutes playing fetch with the shop dog. Actually, I didn’t “get” to play fetch – the shop pooch was most insistent, dropping his squeaky blue whale toy on my foot, and banging on my leg with his noggin to get my attention (stupid human!). One of the folks working at the stable told me I was stuck for a while, and she was right. Note: always be nice to the shop dog – increases your good karma, and makes a good impression on the shop humans. Only downside is a slightly sticky interior of my right glove – a fair trade!) I headed west and north on lettered county roads, double lettered county roads, and, finally, roads that, if marked at all, were named – Reed’s Road – Kyle Lane – No Name Road (I couldn’t make this up!). I was surprised at the number of people that stopped working in their gardens, currying their horses, talking to their neighbors to smile and wave as I passed by. I waved back at each and every one, wishing to encourage this sort of behavior . . . . . . . Great roads up here – known to some as a mini-Deal’s Gap, that name isn’t far off . . .  Here's a shot that coulda been repeated several hundred times during the day  Can you hear Bono singin in the background? It's a Beautiful Day!  more ina bit, if I've not abused the bandwidth terribly! | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
very nice, sir. if i ain't ridin' my own self, it don't suck at all to be READIN' 'bout ridin', 'specially from someone who's havin' a good time, livin' large, and who knows how to put our religion to words. may we have s'more, please?  | ||
| Road_thing |
Well, we missed you in Texas, but I'm glad you had a good ride! I'll take care of the Scotch surplus myself day after tomorrow. rt ps--nice pix! | ||
| Rotzaruck |
Very nice ride'n and write'n and illustrate'n Bomber. Us gimps can do our riding vicariously through sharing BadWeBbers. Thanks | ||
| Road_thing |
Peter Egan would've given us more pictures... | ||
| Rotzaruck |
Yeah,but Bomber was busy singing and waving,soaking and drying and tossing whales and such. Came within 3 clicks of forgetting all about the rest of us. I think I understand. you know, we have a road around here named Emanon Took me several years of wondering to figure that out. | ||
| Road_thing |
Well, we've got a town down here named Dime Box. I don't even wanna know... rt | ||
| Court |
>>>>I'll take care of the Scotch surplus myself day after tomorrow. Good timing . . . . that'd be your birthday! | ||
| Bomber |
LOL -- Pete Egan woulda SOLD you more pictures! But he's a nice fella, and worth every penny! Thang is clearly a youngster, as he still notices his birthday -- at some point, he'll realize the folly of such an act, and have a piece of scotch to observe the recognition of said folly, rather than his birthday. ;-} thought I'd posted this 2nd half last night -- once again, I had a conversation with someone who wasn't in the room! ah well When I got closer to Wildcat Mountain, I was reminded of the fact that there’s a fair size Amish community in this neck of the woods -- no, there were not signs advertising Amish Style Furniture, Quilts, or Preserves – there were, however, what amounts to the exhaust from the motive power for the many buggies on the roads. How is it that a horse can, almost every time, accurately make a deposit right at the apex of the turn? Luckily, I saw able to see these folks in plenty of time to slow down a great deal – no need to scare any more poop outa the horses . . . . No pics of horses, poop, Amish, nor buggies – having too much fun on the roads! The roads through and around Wildcat Mountain Park are in remarkably good shape, and were almost entirely empty – only other bike I saw was a fella from Team Triumph in Janesville wailing around on a silver Sprint with an Iron Butt plate holder – we spoke for a few minutes while fuelling up . . . . . try Wisconsin 33 sometime for a loverly ride! Of course, there are only two seasons in the upper Midwest – winter, and construction  Taking more silly roads further North and West (you really cannot choose badly round here), I work my way up to Mindoro Cut – while not as technical as the Wildcat Mountain area, the roads are very nice, well maintained, empty (again!), and good fun!   Many, many names carved into the rock on the north side of the cut – Julie must really be something for someone to go to all the effort!  Here’s a rare shot of the Stealth Scoot – the Givis seem to act as a cloaking device, as no one with hardbags could possibly be riding in an irresponsible manner, yes? The left hand bag had to be cracked open, just a little, to render the bike visible – kinda like opening the bomb bay doors on a stealth aircraft, I spose.  Fine dining during the ride was limited to Power Bars and Energy Drinks scored at gas stations along the way . . . no pics of them, either . . . . . . . I stopped at one of the State-supplied rest areas for a Power Bar and Energy drink – no other vehicles except a very aged Chrysler K car – while fiddling with the map, a fella walked over and stuck up a conversation – I noticed a Special Forces tattoo on his forearm (faded and old, the tattoo, that is) and it turned out we’d had very similar jobs in SEAsia, long ago, and far away . . . . I said, “Welcome Home, Sarge,” and proceeded to get his life story – about ten minutes into it, I also noticed the prison tats – as he won the war all over again, he became a mite agitated, and soon was wandering in circles hollering at the surrounding woods. As “motorcyclist’s remains found behind rest area” isn’t high on my lift of epitaphs, I slowly refolded the map (Milwaukee Map Service, btw, makes some ACES maps – as detailed, nearly, as DeLorme, but tankbagable), shook his hand, mounted up, and left, watching him continue his lecture in my mirrors . . . . there but for fortune, I remember thinking . . . . . . . . I was soon confronted by . . . . . . .  I tried em both, couldn’t decide which was better, so tried em both again . . . . . . The Tiger proved a wonderful tool for this kinda riding – I’d previously cranked up all the suspension settings to what the Owner’s Manual indicated would be appropriate for a solo rider with luggage (the Givis were only about half-full, but I’d never ridden with hardbags before, and I wanted to see what impact they’d have – not much, but noticeable) – the front was just peachy, but the rear was wallowing just a little – more preload will help, but the soft-ish springs, as noted in many of the road tests, are really the only fly in the ointment. Do these bags make my . . . . . . . Never mind  The map showed the Coulee Experimental State Forest just south of where I was – as it was getting on late afternoon, and I needed to head vaguely south, and having never heard tell of a Coulee, it seemed right to go check it out . . . . Seems there are many couless in SWWisconsin . . . . . . I saw Irish Coulee, Joe’s Coulee, and . . . .  I still didn’t know what a coulee is, but this is what a wet one looks like . . . . . (Once home, with a good case of road buzz on, I spooled up Google and found this – “A coulee (or coulée) is a deep steep-sided ravine formed by erosion, commonly found in the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada. Most coulees were originally formed during the rapid melting of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age.”) With THAT mystery further murkied, a glance at the sun told me I’d best be heading further South and West – deer are think round here, and would make spirited back road riding very foolish, indeed – Double letter roads back to Spring Green (if you’ve never seen Taliesin {“Shining Brow” in Welsh, it says hear on page 43), Frank Llyod Wright’s place just south of Spring Green, you owe yourself a day trip), and single letter roads south from there – gorgeous country, great roads, back in the neighborhood of the Slimey Crud Run that takes place each Spring and Fall . . . . . . The construction turned what might have been a 90 minute wander towards Janesville into a three hour tour . . . . please do not mistake this for a complaint, for, armed with my map and Lowrance iFinder (absolutely useful in finding a misplaced i, for instance), I managed to find entertaining roads heading in a generally south and eastern direction). I picked up the slab just south of Janesville – as I’d seen a large number of suicidal whitetails, I opted for perceived safety over bigger grins – that, plus the fact that I’d demonstrated my fatigue by really over-cooking a corner and crossing the double yellow a bit, the slab and another 90 minutes or so home seemed like a good idea. The iPod lasted for about 14 hours before running outa steam . . . . the only problem it caused was self-induced. Note to self – do NOT sing, even under your breath, Jimi Hendrix while grabbing power bars in a convenience store late at night – the sight of a gray beard in leather seemingly mumbling to himself was apparently a lil disconcerting – “I’m bold as love! Just ask the Axis” had to poor girl dialing 9-1, just in case . . . . . . . Pulled into the Entropy Lab at 11:30 – having left at 7, 675 miles in 16 and a half hours seemed like a pretty good approximation of a home-to-the-Gap run, and I felt pretty good. All in all, a nice day trip, making me feel confident that I’d chosen the right bike for my needs. (Message edited by bomber on June 26, 2007) | ||
| Road_thing |
...he knows everything... rt | ||
| Bomber |
I LOVE it when you sing along, Thang! big-a$$ed grin! Ferrous -- thanks for the kind comment -- high praise from the master of the ride report (does this sound like something from Public Television to you, too? And now, from Western North Carolina, it's Ferris Bueller with the Ride Report! nah, prolly not!) (Message edited by bomber on June 26, 2007) | ||
| Mikej |
Sitting here at work waiting on a download to complete while trimming the bottom three lines off of each page of a pocket sized spiral bound notepad so it will fit into my pocket I stumble across this dialog with hisownself and the rest of us and find myself pleased and smiling, thanks for sharing the ride and the day with us more desk/homebound folks. A good day is a day that leaves you smiling, you had a good day, and now the rest of us have too. Was going to go to HalfPriceBooks at lunch to rummage around for PHP and website builder books, but now somehow a quick trip to the Trumpet shop is sounding much more interesting. Plus it's always fun to watch the salesguy dance when I mention I have a Buell I'm thinking of doing something with. ;) Looking forward to more Tiger Tales from Bomber, or should that be Bomber's Tiger Tales, or Tales from the Tiger's Tail, or, uh, well, I'll just have to wait and see.  === ps, I thought you had a GPSr, what's with this paper maps thing?????  (Message edited by mikej on June 26, 2007) | ||
| Court |
 | ||
| Bomber |
wow, man! last I remembered, the cover had some wax with lil teeny seeds suck in it . . . . Mike -- I gots an elderly GPS, which requires enough effort to get waypoints into to successfully guide the Lunar Landing Module into your garage -- I use it as a compass, and to mark where that cool road is that I know I'll never find again (using the, wait for it, "Man Overboard" feature -- Maps let me see a bigger view, and I LIKE maps ;-} more like "bomber gets lost again, and likes it" | ||
| Bomber |
btw, due to a terrible stack up of negative tolerances, I've spent the last couple of weeks doing what I used to do -- writing manuals (the folks I work with were much afraid! stock price went into the toilet, plauges of cicadas were spotted, the Cubs went on a winning streak) -- one of the folks I manage sent this to me -- made me smile  | ||
| Firemanjim |
Wow,you musta been sampling that scotch surplus cuz your spelling went in the toilet---plauges??, deer are think??? around here,Frank Llyod?? couless?? you were on a roll. | ||
| Road_thing |
Yeah, and he's writing documents for tech manuals this week...  rt | ||
| Blake |
Nice ride report Egan. | ||
| Bomber |
FMJ -- thankfully, I have an editor at work ;-} | ||
| Mxer83 |
Bomber if you go back to the gap you might have to pull the bags off for the dragon,they might scrape and yes they make your ___ look big lol! |
