I'm back from my cross country trip: Act V

markgm · Aug 27, 2016

It’s hard to believe that it had been 9 years since I took my first cross country motorcycle trip, and now I’m back from my fifth (Act I, Act II, Act III, Act IV). As we visit more and more of the country, it becomes difficult to plan a new route, but luckily there is still a lot of the country to see. The bigger issue is the timing of our trips. Since we take them over the summer, we have to factor heat into our route, which is a good place to start this story.

(Photos are after the wall of text!)

markgm · Aug 27, 2016

We initially planned a route that would take us to Death Valley. As the trip approached and the East Coast was hit with a heat wave, we decided to look at the forecast for Death Valley and saw the lowest high for the week was 123 degrees, and the lowest low was around 96. Oh, we were planning on camping too!

We started to plan the trip during the beginning of July, but didn’t seriously look at it until the week before the trip. I’m in the last year of my doctoral program, and didn’t have nearly the time I would have liked to dedicate to planning a route. The initial route had us staying mainly in the South, getting as far north as Kansas. We scrapped that plan due to heat, and instead took a more northern route that took us into Michigan (a state we never rode through), across North Dakota, Montana, and into Idaho. From there we headed south into familiar territory, riding through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and New Orleans before heading back home via the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, North Carolina.

There wasn’t a lot I had to do to get the bike ready for the trip. After four trips it just becomes second nature to gather everything up and load it on the bike. The only change I made was to use my iPod for music instead of my GPS (the Garmin motorcycle GPS doesn’t support .M4A, not that it should for $850), but for the first time on a trip, I never listened to music. After a quick oil change and wash, the bike was ready. We estimated the trip would be 6,560 miles, and it wound up being 7,113 miles. That’s actually the most we’ve ever been off before in an estimate, but part of that is because we removed one of our days off and visited Grand Teton National Park.

This year it was just Brooks and I again, so far every other trip has been the two of us. Makes me wonder who will come along on the next trip!

Day 1 – Friday, July 29 – Plymouth, CT to Somerset, PA – 439.4 miles

The day started by setting expectations of what the rest of the trip would be like, which is to say, it was raining. I had contemplated leaving the prior evening, but there was a pretty good storm moving across Pennsylvania, and I would rather ride in the rain during the day than at night. Luckily it only rained during the first hour of riding as I left Connecticut. Once in New York it was warm and sunny, so I took off all of my rain gear. The ride through northern Pennsylvania always impresses me; if you transported me there and asked me which state I was in, I don’t think I’d say PA.

As I reached western PA I noticed the sky started to turn dark. Very dark. I looked at radar on my GPS and it didn’t show any rain, so I figured I’d miss it, since in one mile I’d be hopping on I-99 south, away from the clouds. Boy was I wrong! At first it was funny, riding with my mesh gear in the rain, until all the cars in front of me slammed on their brakes, forcing me to do the same. All of that freezing cold water had one place to go, and it ran down my chest! I made the turn onto I-99 and 2 miles later the roads were completely dry. Talk about just having bad timing! Luckily I dried out pretty quickly and made it to Somerset without any more rain, though the skies did look threatening at times.

I was impressed that it was day 1 and I was already riding tank to tank, usually it takes a few days of riding to work up to that.

Day 2 – Saturday, July 30 – Somerset, PA to Mount Pleasant, MI – 478.6 miles

Today was my birthday, and riding cross country is as good as any way to spend it. We started to load up the bikes around 9:30, and as we were loading up it started to rain. It was a pretty steady rain that stayed with us through Pittsburgh. About 120 miles into Ohio the rain stopped and we took off our rain gear. Once again I was let down by Joe Rocket gear. My boots leaked to the point I could pour the water out of them. I don’t mind being a little damp, but having wet feet for 6 hours is frustrating.

After grabbing lunch at the slowest McDonald’s in the world, we got back on the bikes, and realized we were about to ride through rain again. We pulled over, put the rain gear on, and proceeded to get soaked. As we made it into Michigan the rain let up, but it looked like it was going to start raining again at any second. Since my boots were soaked, we walked to grab dinner at a pizza joint that I didn’t realize was a chain, The Italian Oven (there’s one where I grew up).

We had never been to Michigan before; probably because we assumed the entire state was like Detroit. Was I ever wrong! It was an amazing state to ride through. More surprising, it probably has the fastest drivers I’ve seen in a state. The drivers in this state have absolutely no respect for speed limits, and most times people were driving faster than us. In construction zones the speed limit was 60 when the highway went down to one lane and was zig-zagging from lane to lane. In Connecticut out Interstates are often 55 without construction!

For some reason my Garmin GPS decided to malfunction today. It would turn itself on and off as I was riding, usually at the time I most needed to know which turn to take! The bigger issue is it eventually stopped charging. We spent the night at a Super 8, and after dinner enjoyed a few beers before calling it a night.

Day 3 – Sunday, July 31 – Mount Pleasant, MI to Ironwood, MI – 482.7 miles

I woke up around 8:15 and packed up the bike before grabbing breakfast at the hotel. We got on the road around 11. It was a cool, sunny morning, which was a nice change of pace. Deceptively though, the sun didn’t stick around very long.

The ride into the upper peninsula of Michigan was really scenic, and once we crossed over the Great Lakes via the Mackinac Bridge the speeds of drivers went down only when an RV held things up. There was rain on and off the whole morning, but we didn’t hit it again once we crossed the Mackinac Bridge, and took our raingear off shortly after crossing it. It was at this point I noticed that my left riding glove was developing holes in the fingertips. Yay First Gear quality.

Brooks also did a little bit of work on his Speed Triple at this stop. He thought that he might have had some bad gas as it was running a little rough. This might have been the first symptoms of a problem you’ll read about later, but he noticed one of the spark plug boots wasn’t fully seated, and 2 of the breather hoses from the gas tank were disconnected. He attached everything how it should be and we kept on riding, chalking up the roughness as bad gas or the loose spark plug boot.

For lunch we stopped at a small restaurant (Duck Pond in Christmas, Michigan) with a nice outdoor seating area. It was great to spend some time in the sun! We spent the night at an AmericInn, and grabbed dinner at a Little Caesars, which was the first time I had a pizza from there since the last cross country trip!

The most amazing thing about riding through Michigan was how much the temperature dropped any time we were near one of the Great Lakes. There were times we couldn’t see them, but we felt that we were close because it was a good 10 degrees cooler.

My GPS completely stopped charging at this point, so I ran a USB cable from my tank bag to the back of the unit so we had navigation.

Day 4 – Monday, August 1 – Ironwood, MI to Fargo, ND – 375.5 miles

Despite waking up around 7 and packing the bikes up early, we didn’t get on the road until around 10. We were probably a mile away from the edge of the time zone though, so technically we were on the highway at 9. In general, we didn’t spend a lot of time on Interstates during this trip, and today was no exception. Despite the rural highways we were on, the speed limits were set pretty low, typically 50 MPH. The ride though Wisconsin was pretty cool temperature-wise due to the proximity to Lake Superior, though things warmed up as we rode across Minnesota. The ride through Minnesota was different than what I remember Minnesota looking like.

It looked like we’d hit rain all day today, but not only did we finally have a dry day, but the temperature really started to climb the closer we got to Fargo. When we got there it was around 91. We grabbed lunch at Taco John’s, and later checked in at the Sleep Inn, which was really nice. We made it in around 4:00 and grabbed dinner at a Smashburger. While we rode through Fargo I couldn’t believe how much it grew since the last time we were here in 2014. It was pretty much unrecognizable.

After grabbing burgers we picked up some beer and then tried to find some chain lube, but were unsuccessful. With all the rain we were going through we went through the can we brought along very quickly. We called it a pretty early night, enjoying our last night in a hotel for a week.

Day 5 – Tuesday, August 2 – Fargo, ND to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND – 377.3 miles

After an excellent night of sleep I was up around 8:00, and we were ready to hit the road around 9. It was to be a warm day, with highs in the 80s, and it was already pretty warm in the morning while loading up the bikes. Today was the first day of using my Camelback to stay hydrated. We grabbed lunch at Arby’s, and as we took a break we remembered the never-ending wind and bugs of North Dakota from our last ride through the state.

At 377 miles it was a short day of riding to Teddy Roosevelt National Park. We got to the park at around 2:30 and went to go find a camp site. The ranger at the gate said that it was filling up, but there are still a few sites left. We lucked out as there was a site that no one took (we assume because you had to walk 500 feet to get to it) that was right on the Little Missouri River. We had an awesome view all evening.

After we set up the tents we sat around for an hour or two enjoying the scenery while discussing what to do next. We originally were going to take the next day off and explore the park, but it didn’t seem like there was a ton to see. We decided that we’d eliminate the day off and add a stop at Grand Teton National Park. The only downfall to this is we didn’t have a day off until 8 days later, and I was beginning to feel it!

We rode the park loop, where we saw a coyote, prairie dogs, bison, and wild horses. After finishing the loop we stopped into town to pick up some dinner, which consisted of bison summer sausage, cheese, and crackers! While it was hot in the sun, there was a good breeze to keep things comfortable.

As the evening rolled in so did the clouds. We saw a storm approaching off in the distance, though we’d stay dry all evening. Brooks said it rained at some point in the night, but I slept through it. Oddly, when I woke up, the inside of my tent was covered in sand. It was all over my sleeping bag and pillow, so it must have been a pretty windy night.

Day 6 – Wednesday, August 3 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND to Livingston, MT – 439.2 miles

Despite getting to bed around 11:30 to previous night I was up at 6:15. We took our time packing up the bikes, and headed to a café in Medora around 9 before heading over to Livingston, which is just outside of Yellowstone National Park. Once we crossed into Montana the speed limit went up to 80, so we made really good time. Despite the high speed limit, we were surprised to see so many people pulled over.

Yesterday and today were rode primarily on the Interstate, and it was a pretty brutal ride with most of the state under a red flag warning. The winds hit us at a diagonal, and averaged 20 to 30 MPH with gusts of 35 to 45 MPH. There were long stretches of highway where we were leaned over on the bikes yet riding in a straight line. That kind of wind is exhausting to ride through, especially on naked and semi-faired bikes.

For lunch we stopped at a McDonald’s before making it to a KOA. Brooks called to get a campsite around the Grand Teton, but they were booked, so we decided to hit Craters of the Moon up tomorrow, and then Grand Teton the next day.

The KOA we stayed at was right on the Yellowstone River and had great views. After setting up our tents we ventured back into town and picked up a pizza and beer that we brought back to the campsite. Before heading to bed we did laundry. That night it got down to 45, though I was pretty comfortable all night.

Day 7 – Thursday, August 4 – Livingston, MT to Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID – 361 miles

The cold night turned into a cool morning, and we were on the road to find breakfast around 9:30, stopping at a small diner. The ride was a pretty chilly as we rode through the scenic northwestern corner of Yellowstone National Park on our way to Arco, Idaho, with a claim to fame of being the first town in the world to be powered by atomic power (but only for an hour according to Wikipedia). I can see why they picked this area, because hardly anyone would notice if it were blown off the map! Most of what we rode through was part of the Idaho National Laboratory, which encompasses 890 square miles.

As we rode further into Idaho the temperature climbed quickly, and the forecast turned to ‘smoke’. We’ve ridden through Idaho a few times on previous trips, but I’m pretty sure it was dark every time. Seeing the state during the day, I was amazed at how arid it was. I didn’t realize so much of Idaho was desert. I wound up drinking all of the water in my Camelback in between stops. My GPS completely gave up today, displaying a screen like it was connected to a computer.

After setting up our tents at the KOA we headed over to Craters of the Moon National Monument. The temperatures were still pretty hot, but since we pulled into the park around 5:00 the sun wasn’t quite as oppressive. The park (or monument) was pretty spectacular. The volcanic rock was primarily black, though the color doesn’t really come through on the photos. After walking a few of the trails and hiking up a volcanic hill we visited a few of the caves, enjoying them by ourselves. This place had the fewest number of tourists out of any park I’ve been to (though Theodore Roosevelt National Park was pretty empty too). Around 8:00 we headed out of the park to grab dinner at a local restaurant and then called it a night. Despite being in the middle of a desert, we were kept up by a sprinkler system that was left running all night long. The irony was the bathroom had a sign asking us to conserve water.

It was another cold night, and I fell asleep around 11:30. I woke up at one point chilly, and I figured the next cool night I’ll throw on another layer.

Day 8 – Friday, August 5 – Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID to Grand Teton National Park, WY – 265.7 miles

I woke up around 8:30, and we were packed up around 9:20 then grabbed a waffle breakfast at the KOA. I decided to investigate the issue with my GPS, and popped the side cover off my bike where the electrical connections are. As soon as I touched the wire for the GPS it came to life, so I guess somehow the connection wasn’t secure. After making sure all of the connections were tight the GPS worked without too many issues the rest of the trip.

The ride to Jackson, Wyoming was very scenic, and the weather was nice as we climbed to around 6,500 feet. We also had our first (and only) run in with the law. Most of the roads were 2 lane roads with a passing lane every 20 or 30 miles. The roads were pretty twisty, so there weren’t a lot of opportunities to pass. I was in front, and we were behind an 18 wheeler when the opportunity to pass arose. I was passing the truck at around 61 MPH (in a 55) when a cop went by. Turns out Brooks might have passed the truck going a little faster, and a few seconds later the cop did a U-turn and pulled us over. The funny thing is, we doubt he had any idea how fast we were going, he just knew Brooks was going fast. He obviously got a lock on the semi (it was going 58), but kept asking us “do you know how fast you were going?” I don’t think anyone was about to self-incriminate themselves! We got off with two warnings (the first time in my life I got off with a warning). The worst part was we were less than 5 miles from our destination. We hopped back on the bikes and the cop pulled out behind us. Less than a minute later his lights were on, and he was pulling someone else over. They must do really well there!

We finally made it to another KOA campsite, this one on the Snake River, and set up our tents. We then headed to Teton Village to grab lunch (Sidewinders Café), and then headed into Grand Teton National Park. We evidently didn’t enter through the main entrance, and we were riding on a gravel/dirt road that had some serious potholes (for $30 a car / $25 a motorcycle it seemed like the road should be in better shape). Soon we were on the main road, but once we got to the end, for the first time in a national park we both looked at each other and asked “is that it?” The sky was threatening rain, though we only got a few drops. Turns out we missed a big storm by only 15 minutes.

We left the park and headed back to the campsite. Riding through Jackson, Wyoming it was clear that this is a huge tourist town. I could see coming back in a car and spending some time hiking around the park. I was feeling pretty sore at this point, despite it being a relatively low mileage day. For dinner we just had some snacks since neither of us were terribly hungry after a big lunch. It rained overnight (I should have guessed it would), and I left some of my riding gear out on the table the night before, but it dried quickly.

Day 9 – Saturday, August 6 – Grand Teton National Park, WY to Moab, UT – 504.3 miles

We woke up pretty early again, though we were packed up around 10:30. I expected it to be pretty cold overnight again, so I bundled up, but it turns out that the rain kept the cold away, so I pretty much slept on top of my sleeping bag all night.

The ride out of Wyoming was scenic, though as we entered Utah we saw an ‘end of the world’ storm cell in the distance. I put an In-N-Out burger into the GPS as our destination, and each curve in the road made us uncertain about whether or not we’d hit the storm. We got off the highway and were 1.4 miles away from the restaurant when it started to rain. And then it started to pour. We were beyond soaked. I pulled into the parking lot, grabbed my GPS and tank bag, and ran into the restaurant. After placing my order I looked outside to see marble-sized hail coming down. https://youtu.be/hnChLJPGKsw I was positive the bikes were going to sustain some pretty heavy damage, but amazingly they came out unscathed. After the hail came more rain, and it turned out the area doesn’t have good drainage, and our bikes were sitting in about 6 inches of water. We ate lunch and waited about an hour for the water to recede (it didn't) before Brooks freed the bikes. My leaking ‘waterproof’ boots were no match for the water.

Once we were back on the highway the mercury climbed and we were roasting in the Salt Lake traffic. The roads were amazingly dry. The temperature in Moab was 91, so I never bothered putting on my rain gear for the small pockets of rain we hit along the way. We made it to the Moab KOA around 7:30, though before the storm we expected to make it in around 5:00.

We had pizza delivered to the KOA for dinner and enjoyed a relaxing night. Because of the rain (the area was under a flash flood warning) we lucked out with cooler temperatures than are normal for the area. We called it a night around 11:00.

Day 10 – Sunday, August 7 – Moab, UT to Albuquerque, NM – 454.4 miles

I woke up around 6:30 and we were packed up by 8:20; it was getting warm outside fast! We headed into the center of Moab and grabbed an ice coffee and some breakfast before hitting the road. The ultimate destination was Albuquerque, New Mexico, but the real highlight of the day was the route we took to get there: Million Dollar Highway, aka US 550.

We’ve ridden on a lot of the famous motorcycle highways (Angels Crest Highway, Beartooth Pass, Blue Ridge Parkway, Pacific Coast Highway, Pike’s Peak, US 191 in Arizona), and on many of the roads folks always asked us if we’ve ridden the Million Dollar Highway. We figured it was time to check it out, and we weren’t disappointed.

Even the roads to get to the highway were scenic, with plenty of switchbacks. It was also the furthest I’ve ever seen a highway patrol car away from civilization. Normally in the boonies you can drive as fast as you want without anyone but the animals seeing you, but for the first time ever we found someone stopped in the middle of nowhere.

Once we were out of Moab, UT the temperatures dropped, and we were riding in the 70s for most of the day until we got to the summits on the Million Dollar Highway, where it got into the 50s, with elevations over 11,000 feet. On the highway we saw a lot of storms in the distance, and though we got rain, I’m sure we’d have been fine if we kept the raingear off.

The Million Dollar Highway might be my favorite motorcycle road to date. On most of the switchbacks they cut into the mountain so you can see through the turn. The beauty of this is you can see if there’s a U-Haul that’s half in your lane before it’s too late, and you can see just how tight the turn is going to be. Additionally, they make the inner lanes a little wider so that trucks can stay in their lane while negotiating the tight turns.

For lunch we stopped at a BBQ place and then rode to Albuquerque. The last 200 miles were torture for me, I couldn’t find a comfortable position on the bike. It was also very scenic. As we were approaching Albuquerque we saw three epic storms in the distance, and once again we couldn’t tell if we were going to hit rain. Turns out, of course we would! It was the first time I really worried about riding in an electrical storm. We made it to the KOA campsite around 7:30, only to find that we didn’t have good cell signal. Turns out the power was out, and remained out for about an hour. We set up our tents, and when I unpacked the air pump for the mattresses I discovered the switch must have bumped against something and the pump turned itself on, draining the batteries to the point that they bulged out. Blowing up an air mattress via lung power while soaked in sweat isn’t fun!

When the electricity finally came back on we had a pizza delivered to the campsite around 9:30, then did laundry and played cards the rest of the night. We didn’t make it to bed until around 12:30.

Folks say “don’t mess with Texas”, but I’d say “don’t mess with New Mexico.” Every single road sign we passed had at least one bullet hole in it!

Day 11 – Monday, August 8 – Albuquerque, NM to Decatur, TX – 591.5 miles

Despite going to bed around 12:30 the night before, I woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t fall back to sleep. Today was to be the third highest mileage day for the trip, but since it was all highway miles (though not all on the Interstate) we figured it wouldn’t be too bad. Still, I was looking forward to a day off that wouldn’t come for two more days.

After packing up the campsite we grabbed bagels for breakfast and then hit the road for Texas. The last time I rode through Texas I absolutely hated it, this time I enjoyed the ride. It got hot fast, and stayed pretty warm through lunch; a BBQ place in Texas. It was pretty breezy, and we passed over 20 miles of windmills as we rode through Texas. Then came the rain!

We had about 70 minutes of rain until we could take our raingear off. To make the rain worse, I felt the effects of food poisoning. I was rapidly breathing in my helmet and breaking into a cold sweat. Outside my helmet, we were riding through a town with no drainage, and every intersection was flooded with 2 to 3 inches of water. I never had water hit my boots from the wake my tires were creating. To add to the fun, an 18-wheeler was beside us, sending a wall of water over us into the next lane, though one passing vehicle nailed Brooks! The storm was so intense that we were actually concerned about being hit by lightning. Once we got to Decatur we looked up to see if motorcyclists actually do get hit, and it turns out it happens frequently enough that we probably shouldn’t have been riding through it.

Today was the first night back in a hotel, an EconoLodge. It was a warm evening, with a huge storm a few miles off in the distance. I poured the rain water out my boots and we picked up snacks and brought them back to the hotel. We called it an earlier night since we had another good day of riding ahead of us.

Day 12 – Tuesday, August 9 – Decatur, TX to New Orleans, LA – 603.8 miles

The previous night was the best night of sleep I got on the trip. It was a pretty warm morning as we loaded up the bikes and headed next door to a bike shop to pick up another can of chain lube. We lubed the chains and then headed across the street to a Starbucks for an iced coffee before hitting the road for New Orleans.

We were on the road around 10:00 and the temperatures were hot and oppressive the entire way. As we were finishing out our first tank of gas we stopped for lunch, and the sky opened up. We weren’t even expecting it to rain! We appreciated the perfect timing, as it was dry by the time we finished lunch. The ride through Louisiana was interesting, as there were all sorts of odd smells, best described as a urinal mint.

As we approached New Orleans we hit traffic which brought us to a complete stop for about half an hour. For the first time I had to switch to my clear visor, though without the traffic jam we would have made it in before dusk. There were some pretty intense storms off in the distance, though we never did hit them. I thought we hit a small cell riding over Lake Pontchartrain, but it turned out to be bugs!

Soon we were in downtown New Orleans and we checked into our hotel. The room was pretty amazing, with 20 foot ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. We had a corner room, which meant half the room was windows. For dinner we rode over to Deanie's Seafood for a combination platter of fried seafood. We then walked Bourbon Street, telling each other we’d be okay if we never saw it again. The smell was unbearable. We walked back to the parking garage and rode back to the hotel, spending another half hour to figure out the parking situation for motorcycles. New Orleans doesn’t seem to be very vehicle friendly. We then walked back to the hotel in the sweltering heat. Brooks commented that he never saw me sweat as much as I was that night.

When we were finally in the air conditioned comfort of our rooms I thought I was in paradise, until I realized our room smells like marijuana. Turns out the people next door were having some sort of party. We called the front desk 4 times, and finally on the 5th call at 1:30 they called the cops and the noise quieted down and we were able to get some sleep.

Day 13 – Wednesday, August 10 – Day off – 0 miles

The forecast, starting today, called for 5 to 8 inches of rain, with 10 inches possible. You can’t make this stuff up! Luckily it was our first day off, and we wound up not even walking past the bikes. Turns out, today would be the start of the historic flooding that would hit New Orleans.

I didn’t get a ton of sleep, about 4 hours, because bright and early I was woken up by the sounds of construction outside the window. I got dressed and we began our exploration of New Orleans. We started off with breakfast at Café du Monde, followed by our first lunch at Central Grocery. From there we took an Uber to Domilise’s, run by perhaps the sweetest women in the world. While we were enjoying a beer one of the ladies came over with the local paper, mentioning that the content isn’t that great, but there’s a nice crossword puzzle in it I might enjoy! After the second lunch we headed back to the city center and wound up back on Bourbon Street. It’s a lot nicer during the day! We stopped at a bar with over 100 beers on tap. When it was time to grab dinner we looked outside and saw it was pouring. At least it washed that smell away! Dinner was at K-Pauls’s, where we again had an awesome waitress and great food.

I went to bed around 9 and slept like the dead.

Day 14 – Thursday, August 11 – New Orleans, LA to Deals Gap, NC – 635.9 miles

I woke up around 7:30, getting around 10.5 hours of sleep. We got on the bikes around 9:15, which was an ordeal because they were parked in a garage 5 blocks away from the hotel. When we finally started to load up the bikes, you guessed it, it started to rain again. I think kickstands were up around 10:00. Today was the second longest mileage day of the trip.

While the day started off wet, it slowly dried out as we entered Mississippi. This was my first time riding through Mississippi, and it wasn’t at all what I expected, though we mainly stayed on the Interstate. I don’t think I expected everything to be so green! We hit on and off rain as we rode through Alabama and Georgia, but not enough to put on the raingear as it was pretty warm out. As we approached North Carolina the highways became scenic, though for the second time I had to swap out the visor to a clear one, as we made it to the cabin near Deals Gap, NC around 9:30.

Today might have had us riding through the most states in a single day; riding through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. If it’s not the most it ties for the most! I also had another equipment failure, with the sole of my boot coming about halfway off and flapping in the breeze. Luckily Gorilla Tape is really strong stuff.

Despite it being a long day and wanting to grab dinner, the campground host talked to us for about an hour. We rode over to a McDonald’s and grabbed a late dinner before calling it a night around 11:45.

Day 15 – Friday, August 12 – Day off – 143.1 miles

I woke up around 9:00 this morning, and were ready to ride around 10:00. We stopped at The Hub, a gas station turned into a diner in Robbinsville, NC, basically the entrance of the road that connects to the Tail of the Dragon. It was odd riding around an area that consists almost entirely of motorcycles.

Despite the Tale of the Dragon being one of the most famous motorcycle roads in the US, we’ve never ridden it before. In fact, we hit six states in the South that we never rode through before. That leaves 7 states in the United States that I’ve never ridden my FZ6 through (Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Maine, and South Carolina).

We didn’t know what to expect when riding the ‘The Dragon.’ Our host the night before was kind enough to tell us that one of his guests staying there last week crashed and died while riding it, and there are plenty of videos on YouTube of people wrecking. Both Brooks and I assumed that the road has this reputation because it’s closer to civilization than roads like Beartooth Pass and Million Dollar Highway. And for the most part, we felt this was the case after riding it. We decided to ride it from south to north, as we figured there would be a lot more traffic later on in the day since it was a Friday. This turned out to be a really good idea.

There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the road. When we got behind slower motorcyclists a few times they pulled over so we could pass, and we pulled over near the end to let a group of sport bikes through that were riding a bit past their limits (if you can’t stay away from the centerline, you don’t have control!).

After finishing up the road we contemplated riding it again or riding the Cherohala Skyway, which seems to be a much more scenic road. We decided the later. We took 72 to 360, and ran into a closed road. Brooks turned off his bike, pulled out the map, and saw we could backtrack and take 411 to 68. Set on our plan, he went to fire up his bike, and was met with silence. We spent the next few hours trying to bump start it, (pushing it up a hill, and then me running behind him as he popped the clutch), and trying to top off his battery by connecting it to mine.

Remember that rough idle on day 3?

Since we were getting nowhere, just baking in the hot sun, I rode to where we had cell signal and started the process to get a tow from AAA when I heard his bike pull up. I couldn’t believe it. Turns out a construction crew came by to open the road, saw him stranded there, and were able to jump start the bike. We rode to a NAPA Auto down the street, though I noticed that his brake light and turn signals weren’t really working. Turns out his battery was dead, and the reason his batter was dead was because his stator was toast. We called the closest Triumph dealership and it turns out they’d need to order the parts, and it would take about a week to arrive!

We’ve often thought about what would happen if one of us broke down, or wrecked, but we were never faced with a showstopper like this. Luckily, we were only a day away from Brooks’ house, so he called up Nate, the guy who joined us on our last trip, and he drove down with his truck and trailer so Brooks could get his bike back home.

I waited around for a bit at the NAPA Auto as Brooks waited for the tow truck driver to arrive to get the bike back to the campground. It was now close to 5, and I didn’t want to ride in the dark so I headed off and rode the Cherohala Skyway. It was odd doing it solo. At times I was the only person in sight. And, of course, it started to rain! It didn’t last long, though it did make the newly paved road very slick at times.

I made it back to the cabin and Brooks got to ride the Tail of the Dragon a second time, this time in the front seat of a tow truck! I rode over to a pizza place and picked up dinner for us, and we spent the rest of the night talking about the events of the day.

markgm · Aug 27, 2016

Day 16 – Saturday, August 13 – Deals Gap, NC to Middletown, DE – 700.4 miles

I woke up around 8:30 and was ready to hit the road around 9:20. Originally the miles home was calculated to be 570 miles, but in reality it was a 700 mile day, which I think is the second highest I’ve done. The day wound up being a scorcher, with the entire East Coast under an excessive heat warning. I ran to McDonald’s and picked up some breakfast sandwiches and iced coffee (a first to transport on the motorcycle) to bring back to the cabin, and got on the road around 10:20.

The ride to Delaware was pretty uneventful, but it was hot. Since I was riding alone I was able to stretch out my fuel stops. We used to fuel up around every 160 miles, but now I could go to up to 220 miles. Once I hit Virginia the traffic was pretty heavy and I realized I was back on the East Coast as no one would get out of the left lane.

Once I hit Virginia, I hit rain again, followed by folks slamming on the brakes. In Baltimore I thought I’d hit rain again, but the storm (and intense lightning) stayed off in the distance. For the third (and final) time I had to swap visors, and made it into Delaware around 9:00. Dinner was once again pizza, the 7th pizza dinner of the trip! I did laundry and fell asleep around 12:30. I never did hear Brooks get in, which happened around 3:30.

Day 17 – Sunday, August 14 – Middletown, DE to Plymouth, CT – 248.9 miles

I woke up around 8:30, packed up, and was ready to head out around 9:30. Brooks was still sleeping, but Nate was up and wanted help getting Brooks’ Triumph off of the trailer. We got it off, and by that time Brooks was up, so I said my goodbyes and hit the road for home. I was on the road a little before 9:30, and made it home at 1:35, which was really good time. I used my horn more during those 4 hours than I did the previous 16 days, almost getting sandwiched between an SUV and a cement wall from a driver who couldn’t be bothered to use a mirror or get off of her cell phone. After getting stuck behind car after car driving slowly in the left hand lane, I was finally home. It was in the mid-90s all day with high humidity as the heatwave lingered over the East Coast, and I was grateful to sit on a comfortable couch in air conditioning as I reflected on the completion of the fifth cross country motorcycle trip.

My 2004 FZ6 now has 58,745 miles on it. I have a feeling it will outlast me! When I bought it in 2006 it was the perfect bike for someone who didn’t want to spend a lot of money and is 6’5” tall. After 10 years of riding it I am starting to eye something with a little more leg room. I really like the FZ6 though, and when it’s at high RPMs pulling through turns I’m all smiles. 600cc motorcycles aren’t quite as popular anymore, especially for touring, but it’s hard to argue with the power and reliability of this bike. Aside from a throttle position sensor that was replaced under a recall, the only maintenance needed has been filters, fluids, tires, batteries, a chain, and sprockets.

Here are the stats for those interested:
Total trip miles: 7,113
Max Miles per tank: 214.8
Max Gallons per tank: 4.511
Max Cost/Gallon: $2.699
Max Cost Tank: $10.19
Min Miles/tank: 33.5
Min Gallons/tank: 0.755
Min Cost/Gallon: $1.719
Min Cost Tank: $0.755

Total Gallons: 153.8
Average MPG: 46.26
Average Cost/Gallon $2.16
Average Cost/Mile $0.047
Gas Total $331.82

I hit reserve 7 times for an average of 5.75 miles and a maximum of 12.6 miles.

markgm · Aug 27, 2016

Our route for our 5th cross country trip.

The states we hit on the route.

All clean and shiny. I don't think I washed it in over a year!

Bike is all packed and ready to go. Of course, that's rain on the driveway.

Right after we rode over the Mackinac Bridge. We finally left the rain behind once we crossed over it, for now anyway!

Intently studying the beer, err, food menu! The sun was shining bright once we were in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

I've never seen an automatic pancake maker before. This made the least fluffy pancakes I've ever had the displeasure of eating.

Our first national park of the trip.

The views of Theodore Roosevelt National Park reminded me of Badlands National Park one state south.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

A herd of bison at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Go zoom lens!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Dinner at our campsite at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. After seeing the bison we figured they would make an appropriate dinner!

Views from our campsite at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Views from our campsite at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. You can see the storms starting to roll in.

Riding through Montana.

Brooks delivering pizza to the campsite!

Views from our campsite a bit outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Riding through the northwest edge of Yellowstone National Park.

I don't think I've ever seen a forecast of "smoke" before.

Craters of the Moon National Monument. It really looked like another world.

markgm · Aug 27, 2016