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Abbreviated Road Trip

After too many years without a long ride, I was anxious to get back out on the road. A friend invited me to a small gathering the weekend after Labor Day, about an hour north of Montreal; I’ve wanted to explore New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for some time, so this seemed the perfect opportunity.

I scheduled a 10 day vacation, starting a few days before the holiday weekend. The plan was to head south to visit friends & family, then reverse course and head for Canada.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Before heading out on the for a long ride, I usually only have the vaguest of plans, deciding most things as I go. This decide on the fly approach is one of the things I love about road trips, but it does invite the possibility for things to go off course.

In this case, a number of forces conspired to derail my plans. First, HVAC issues at home pushed my departure date from Friday to Saturday, then from Saturday to Sunday. At the same time the trip was being delayed, Hurricane Dorian’s track was being updated, looking like it was going to hook north to make landfall around Georgia or the Carolinas. (This was before it was clear it was going to stall over the Bahamas – help if you can.)

With the possibility of driving into a serious storm and my bank account taking a hit from the HVAC repairs, I dropped the first portion of my trip and decided to focus on the ride to the event. As a straight shot, it’s about an 8 hour drive to the event, but I’m allowing 2 days on either side for wandering and sight seeing.

Mostly packed, and with the Vision freshly washed, I’ll be heading out tomorrow. It should be a fairly leisurely ride thru some beautiful country.

Back on the Road

10 Jun

Last year was quite busy with precious little riding (thus the lack of posts), but this year will be different: I am planning a three week road trip, departing around August 9th and returning home by September 1st (max. 24 days on the road). The only question is Where to go?

Option 1 – Northwest to Glacier National Park

I have been talking about visiting Glacier National Park, and riding the Sun Road, for a few years so maybe it is finally time. If I took this route, I could also visit Yellowstone since it is relatively close (close takes on a slightly different meaning out west). When I originally considered this trip, I figured on hitting the American Victory Rally in Spirit Lake, but sadly it is canceled this year.

There would also be the possibility of stopping to see friends in Detroit, Illinois and maybe Montana, many of whom I rarely see. (Sadly, I will not make it to Pennsic this year.) On the downside, it will be 5 heavy riding days – 2,300 miles – each way, not counting detours and visits. The other consideration is the weather, which could be anything and can change at any time; even now, some of the camping areas in Glacier are still closed and will not be clear of snow until June 13th.

Option 2 – Southwest to Monument Valley

Back to my favorite destination, and why not? I could hit Monument Valley & Antelope Canyon, both of which had to be skipped on previous trips. On the way out, I could hook a bit north to visit folks in Detroit & Illinois – this would add a hundred or so miles to the trip, but would also keep me far away from Missouri and that is a good thing. (Sorry to any who live there & like it, but it has always been misery for me.) On the way back east, I would come thru my future home town, Albuquerque, to see Jane & friends, and stop in Houston to spend time with the Doss family. I could also revive the plans from 2012 to see my brother in North Carolina and visit with many friends in various parts of Virginia.

Overall, the focus would be on visiting as many friends as possible. This would be slightly less distance than the Northwest option – minimum 2,100 miles to the most westward point – and have many more social occasions along the way.

Option 3 – North to Oak Island

A friend recently suggested riding up the east coast thru Maine, at which point I immediately thought of continuing on to Oak Island. I originally learned about Oak Island via In Search Of, and, more recently, was obsessed with The Curse of Oak Island.

I have been on a ride as far as Connecticut, and visited Boston numerous times (by car), but Maine would be a completely new experience. In addition, there are many folks in Boston I would love to see. This would also be a relatively short trip – only 847 miles to Oak Island – so I could hit some other areas. Possibly pick up the Virginia and North Carolina portion of Option 2.

Decisions, Decisions

Option 1 – amazing sights to see, but lots empty road to cover and weather concerns.

Option 2 – familiar, but also my favorite part of the country. (Is it odd to say a 2,100 mile ride is familiar?) Also, many, many friends to see.

Option 3 – most likely breaks down into multiple rides, never getting too far from home, but new areas to explore and plenty of visiting with friends.

I am currently leaning toward Option 2, but Option 3 definitely warrants more investigation. It is unclear when I will make the decision (possibly in the driveway on August 9th) but I should probably get my passport renewed, just in case.

2 Comments

Posted by RexRcr on June 10, 2014 in Blog, Motorcycle

Tags: albuquerque nm, Antelope Canyon, boston, Glacier National Park, houston, Monument Valley, Oak Island, touring, travel, vacation, Victory Kingpin, Virginia, Yellowstone

The Road Home

18 Sep

I arrived in Nashville late Sunday afternoon, checked into the hotel, then drove around town a bit. I think I need to come back to Nashville with friends and more time to go out & about. Ultimately it ended up being just a stop along the road to Geoff’s place in Morrisville, NC.

Watching the weather last night and again this morning, it was clear there was some nasty weather in the area. My trip to Geoff’s house would take me close to coast, then I would travel home via I-95 on Tuesday. The problem with this plan was the line of thunderstorms between me and Geoff; this was further aggravated by the forecast for Tuesday: thunderstorms, heavy rain, high winds & damaging hail, along the I-95 corridor.

Though it was disappointing, I decided it didn’t make sense to continue to Geoff’s place in Morrisville. To make matters worse, this is the second year in a row I’ve planned to visit my brother and had to abort.

Choosing a new path, I momentarily considered heading back to Albuquerque, but that was just wishful thinking: I’m planning to move to Albuquerque in the near future, but need to make many arrangements before that can happen. I decided the best path was to head north, and a little bit west, to break thru the storm front and find some dryer weather. It was a soggy ride with steady light rain, interrupted by some heavy downpours. By the time I reached Illinois, I had cleared most of the weather.

Riding in the rain isn’t too bad if you are prepared, but there are a couple of annoying points: bathroom breaks take a while as you have to remove most of the gear; all the plastic gear gets that sticky damp feeling. Even though my gear worked, I’m still going to look around and see if I can find something better for future road trips.

Tomorrow, while the east coast is getting the heavy weather, I’ll be riding I-70 into Ohio. It may be a bit chilly and I’ll have to be careful not to drive back into the storms which are moving east ahead of me.

Today’s detour will cost me my decompression day: at the end of a long trip, I like to have a day at home to get back into the swing of things before going back to work. I had planned to get home on Tuesday night, but my arrival has been postponed until Wednesday afternoon. Even though I will need to be at work the next morning, it’s still better than riding thru a massive storm.

1 Comment

Posted by RexRcr on September 18, 2012 in Motorcycle, Touring

Tags: I-95, nashville tn, rain, thunderstorm, touring, travel, Victory Kingpin

Leaving Houston

16 Sep

I had great time in Houston, visiting with Kristen and family, highlighted by taking Grayson & Caroline for rides around the block.

Everyone else in the house had to get up early on Friday for school or work, but they let me sleep in. When I got downstairs, my things all packed up and ready to go, I found this touching farewell.

My next destination was Nashville, which would be a 2 day ride. I’ve never ridden thru this part of the country and this would be my first visit to Arkansas.

Approaching Arkansas, weather radar showed scattered showers, but they looked small, and rain gear seemed unnecessary. It turned out the storms were small, each one taking only a few minutes to ride thru. What I didn’t account for was the amount of water coming down: in just a couple minutes of rain, I was soaked clear thru.

When I stopped to dry out, I discovered serious thunderstorms over Little Rock. After misjudging the previous storms, I decided to stop a little early and stayed that night in Hope, AR.

I woke the next morning to scattered showers across Arkansas, a head full of congestion and a bit of headache. I took some cold med’s, donned my rain gear and headed out.

The rain wasn’t bad, drizzle to light rain, which never lasted long. The fog in my head was much worse. Most cold medications effect me strongly, so the one I had taken was quite mild; as a result, it didn’t really help.

As I approached Tennessee, I realized I needed to stop and decided to stay the night in West Memphis.

When I was planning this trip, I chose to visit Nashville based on recommendation of my friend Michelle. Since I stopped so early today, it will be a short ride tomorrow which should leave me the afternoon to walk around and check out the town. The only potential problem is, once again, the weather. The forecast for tomorrow is scattered showers in the afternoon. If it’s really nasty, I may just ride thru, but hopefully I’ll get a break.

One final note: the fog in my head not only prevents riding, it also makes blogging difficult; this entry required more edits than I can count.

1 Comment

Posted by RexRcr on September 16, 2012 in Motorcycle, Touring

Tags: arkansas, rain, texas, touring, travel, Victory Kingpin

Next Stop: Houston

13 Sep

The ride from Albuquerque to Houston took 2 days. During last year’s ride, I took a slightly longer, southern route so I could stop at Carlsbad and Roswell, but this time I made a straight shot across Texas.

The scenery was less interesting (there are only a couple pictures in the photostream), but the northern route was a quicker ride. For the most part the ride was uneventful, although I did get pulled over by the highway patrol. The speed limit was 70 MPH, which is what I though I was doing, but the police officer said I was a bit over. The officer was polite & friendly, with many questions about the Kingpin – apparently Victory Motorcycles are not in the Texas Highway Patrol’s computer system. It was a quick stop and, thankfully, I received only a [written] warning.

In Houston, I’m visiting with my friend Kristen and family. The next destination will be Nashville and should take about 2 days. It looks like it may be a rainy ride, but schedule dictates that I get back on the road.

Madrid & the Devil’s Throne

09 Sep

Jane had asked her friend Jonathan for a good riding route to Madrid and this is what he recommended:

Unfortunately, we made one wrong turn getting off I-25 and ended up on Waldo Canyon Road. This is close to the route we took:

Unlike the recommended route, which is paved, this road is washboarded gravel. The road is clearly for the ranchers driving all wheel drive trunks – not for a street bike. There were ups & downs with some tight turns, but just before reaching Cerrillos, there is switchback which is slopped downward at a serious angle. The decline is so steep, I would guess that some 4 wheel drive vehicle have trouble traversing this section of road.

We made it safely to Madrid and once there, one of the gallery owners advised us on our route. He helped us figure out where we went wrong, what road we were actually on and the name of the steep switchback: the locals call it The Devil’s Throne. Wrong turns and exploring new areas are all part of the adventure!

Slightly different from the portrayal in Wild Hogs, the town of Madrid is a mixture of artists, hippies & bikers. The main drag is populated with galleries, which contain some amazing works, a few eateries and the Mine Shaft Tavern. If you are in Albuquerque, even if you aren’t riding, Madrid is definitely worth visiting.

Ticket to Ride