Ride Report - Long even though in abbreviated format

Abbreviated Ride Report

Dates - 5/25 to 6/27

Twenty (20) States / Provinces – GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, CA, OR, WA, British Columbia (Vancouver), MT, ID, WY, UT, CO, KS, OK, AR, and TN.

Exactly 8100 miles door to door. Not 8132 or 8096; exactly 8100 miles. Approximately 4000 of it was two up with my 21 year old daughter. God she was a trouper and a pleasure to have along. This was a dad – daughter trip of a lifetime.

25 days or riding – 324 miles average per rolling day. Some days were less than 200 and some were 400 or more.

Approximately 45 miles per gallon overall in spite of numerous long runs at 80 plus mph. Lowest mpg – just above 40. Highest – almost 50.

Elevation – sea level in San Diego to 13,200 feet in CO.

Temp range – 104 in AZ to 34 at various higher elevations.

Load – the VFR was loaded right to its rated load limit of 385 lbs. – me (210), Daughter (110) and two Givi E360 bags weighing approximately 60 lbs. and a tank bag. Pre-load set at max. Ride and handling was still quite good. (BTW, I am still running the stock rear shock and it worked well.)

16,224 bugs slaughtered. 1291 of them on my riding jacket, over 4000 on my helmet and the rest on the VFR! J Two birds, RIP.

Two new Avon Storms installed just before leaving. I had hoped to make the whole trip without having to change a tire. The front is still very good, rear changed at 7227 miles in Tulsa, OK at a CycleGear store on a Sunday afternoon. Thank goodness for the single sided swingarm on the VFR since I had to remove the wheel in their parking lot. Impression of Avon tires… good but not great. Harsher ride and somewhat less road feel and feedback than I normally get with Metzlers (M1, Z6) & Pirelli Stradas but with somewhat longer life. The Avons were a good choice for this trip but I am not sure if I will use them again. I sure wish the rear had made the whole trip! The rear was replaced with a Strada since I could not find anyone on my route that had the Avon Storm in stock.

One defective battery that posed as if it were a Regulator/Rectifier failure. Incidentally, the battery tested "good" but was not. It proved to be the cause of all of the charging system woes early on on the trip.

Most valuable gear – hydration pack bought at Wal-Mart ($20), Givi luggage, Nelson Rigg tank bag, Columbia Fleece jacket worn under TourMaster Jet Jacket when really cold and rain gear worn for warmth even when it was not raining.

Most valuable accessories – Throttle lock. It was indispensable. My right hand would have fallen off without it. Voltmeter. It told me when I was in trouble and told me when the problem had been corrected.

Nemesis – Wind, lots of high wind. First I rode across TX, NM and AZ practicing hanging off to go straight. I thought I had perfected the technique until we got just above Santa Barbara on the Pacific Coast Highway. Apparently there was a storm in the Pacific and the cross winds reached 40-45 mph with random gusts above that. By the time we got near San Francisco I could no longer safely control the bike and was forced to go inland near San Jose rather than continuing on to Half Moon Bay as planned.

Unused gear – Widder Electric Vest (I was ok without it and did not want to be toasty when my daughter was cold. Had she not been along, it would have been used more than a few times.)

Lodging - Nicest motel / hotel – Staybridge Suites in Vancouver, WA. Thanks to a friend who works with the chain, we got about a 50% discount on the room and then the manager of the facility upgraded us to a suite for free. (Thanks Hanni!) Nastiest motel – Economy Inn in Florence, AL. At the time I booked the room, it was rated as #1 among motels/hotels in Florence under $100 by TripAdvisor.com. I used TripAdvisor.com many times as a source of info about lodging options on this trip and this was the only time it really let me down. This was the nastiest place I have ever stayed at in all my life but I was too tired to seek out an alternative when I got there. Priciest accommodation on the trip – The Bunkhouse Inn in Steamboat Springs ($110). Cheapest accommodation – a Motel6 somewhere in TX for $32.99. Note: There seems to be little relationship between price and quality of accommodation when one is trying to stay at places for under $100 a night. Some $80+ a
night places were not as good as some costing less than $40 a night. In general, the new multi storied Motel 6s that look like a small hotel were the best value for the money (low $50 range) if you are traveling on a budget.

Special people along the way – my sister and Brother-in-Law in Ft. Worth with whom I stayed one night, Tom (my buddy in the Phoenix area who I had not seen in 40 years and with whom I stayed two nights) who had copious amounts of cold Bud Light on hand, served up great food and offered me a nice spare guest room (we had a great time catching up with each other after all these years), my cousin and his wife in Escondido, CA with whom I stayed 4 days awaiting the arrival of my daughter from Dublin, Ireland, Dean and Carol in San Francisco who hosted us for two nights and took us on a driving tour of SF the first night we were there and Dean who took a day off from work and took us on a day long riding tour of SF which was capped off by dinner at the Faculty Club at U Cal Berkeley, Eric (a list lurker) and his wife Arden in Seattle who took us in sight-unseen for a night and then provided a two hour riding tour of Seattle the next morning before we left, my wonderful niece
and her Iron Man husband in Boulder who put us up, fed me a yummy buffalo burger, great veggies and a very unusual but tasty combo of items including numerous vegetables in the most creative omelette I have ever had. Thanks also goes to Jimmy in Corinth, MS who helped me find the house that my mother grew up in as a child. I now have some good pictures of the “old homeplace.”

When I ran into electrical problems early on, I posted notes on the VFR Big List (vfr-request@ cs.wisc.edu) and on VFRD and was overwhelmed by the # of people who offered assistance. Since I have been active on the VFR list for quite sometime, I was appreciative of but not so surprised by offers of assistance from many of the people on that list. I was, however, very surprised by the # of people on VFRD who offered assistance since I had virtually no relationship at all with that group before then. Suffice to say, the nicest people ride VFRs. I cannot even begin to list all of you by name. Thanks to all of you.

Thanks also to several of you who helped me plan the trip and offered guidance about good roads, luggage recommendations, etc. Even Oil Guy came back from the dead and chimed in with numerous great route suggestions, etc. Having all of this sorted out ahead of time significantly contributed to this trip being a great one. And last but not least, thanks to my buddy Leon who is the consummate Iron Butt Rider and who served in large part as the inspiration for this trip. Leon offered sage advice and encouragement and followed up with me from time-to-time to see how the trip was going. He is a very special guy who never takes the path of least resistance but instead finds pleasure in doing what no one else would even consider. For instance, in 2003 he did the full Iron Butt Rally on a Ninja 250 and placed 12th overall on it! We met numerous Iron Butt Riders along the way and every one of them knew or knew of Leon. He is truly a legend. Honorable mention also goes
to the two police officers who elected to coach me about riding within the speed limit and passing etiquette instead of giving me written performance awards in Globe, AZ and in Eastern Washington State. I think being old does have a few advantages!

Best Restaurant in 8,000 miles - Montana’s Rib and Chop House in Livingston, MT. It is owned by some Cajun restaurateurs who served up one of the best large bowls of Jambalaya this boy from Louisiana has ever had. What an unexpected treat!

Best ad hoc route change – taking Hwy 20 from Sedro Woolley, WA to Twisp, WA rather than our previously charted route. Not only was it a GREAT road across the Northern Cascades, it provided us with the opportunity to meet up with another rider, Christy, who we would otherwise have not had the chance to meet. Thanks for going 100 miles out of your way to meet up with us Christy. It was a pleasure.

Least helpful advice – on my return, and only a few hundred miles from home, I stopped in northern Alabama to see a friend I had not seen in a few years. He looked at me incredulously and told me I should give up the Road Warrior thing and go home and buy a mini-van. Even after that comment I still like him.

Best roads - I cannot even begin to itemize them all. What’s not to like about sweepers and twisties by the thousands especially when they are framed by such things as cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Cascades, the Tetons, the Rockies, roaring mountain rivers, etc.? I will tell you the best roads were not between Atlanta and San Diego on the way out or between Denver and Atlanta on the return trip. Having said that, I’m still glad I rode every mile of it. What one likes most can only be realized through contrast.

Is The Grass Greener? I am now home after having ridden the best the west has to offer and while the west was truly wonderful, I am very content to be back home. The first night I was home I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the rest room and found myself in that twilight zone thinking "what a nice motel room" until I realized I was in my home and in my own bedroom. It made me smile. In addition to enjoying the comfort of my own home, in my opinion some of the very best riding in the entire US is just a stone’s throw from my home. Out west things are big; really big. You can spend days in one state and you can ride literally hundreds of miles to get from one good riding area to the next special one. Not so here. In the area I call home I can be in the mountains of North Georgia in about an hour and from there I can ride some of the prettiest roads in America and never be more than a few hundred miles from home. To me the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Cherohala
Skyway, highway 28 from Deal’s Gap to Highlands, NC, highway 60 from Suches to Morganton, GA and a bunch of other great roads are right under my nose and they have welcomed me home in the nicest sort of way. I enjoyed the trip out west immensely but it is nice to live in a place that you like so much that returning home from a trip like this is not a let down. I have been home less than three days and have already spoken with a buddy about a ride we should take in the near future. Life is good!

Vic



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Really good abbreviated read. Not too wordy, and I felt as if I was along
watching your trip from the sidelines.



Denny



From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
vic5491@xxxxxx
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 7:19 PM
To: vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: Ride Report - Long even though in abbreviated format



Abbreviated Ride Report



Dates - 5/25 to 6/27



Twenty (20) States / Provinces - GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, CA, OR, WA,
British Columbia (Vancouver), MT, ID, WY, UT, CO, KS, OK, AR, and TN.



Exactly 8100 miles door to door. Not 8132 or 8096; exactly 8100 miles.
Approximately 4000 of it was two up with my 21 year old daughter. God she
was a trouper and a pleasure to have along. This was a dad - daughter trip
of a lifetime.



25 days or riding - 324 miles average per rolling day. Some days were less
than 200 and some were 400 or more.



Approximately 45 miles per gallon overall in spite of numerous long runs at
80 plus mph. Lowest mpg - just above 40. Highest - almost 50.



Elevation - sea level in San Diego to 13,200 feet in CO.



Temp range - 104 in AZ to 34 at various higher elevations.



Load - the VFR was loaded right to its rated load limit of 385 lbs. - me
(210), Daughter (110) and two Givi E360 bags weighing approximately 60 lbs.
and a tank bag. Pre-load set at max. Ride and handling was still quite
good. (BTW, I am still running the stock rear shock and it worked well.)



16,224 bugs slaughtered. 1291 of them on my riding jacket, over 4000 on my
helmet and the rest on the VFR! J Two birds, RIP.



Two new Avon Storms installed just before leaving. I had hoped to make the
whole trip without having to change a tire. The front is still very good,
rear changed at 7227 miles in Tulsa, OK at a CycleGear store on a Sunday
afternoon. Thank goodness for the single sided swingarm on the VFR since I
had to remove the wheel in their parking lot. Impression of Avon tires.
good but not great. Harsher ride and somewhat less road feel and feedback
than I normally get with Metzlers (M1, Z6) & Pirelli Stradas but with
somewhat longer life. The Avons were a good choice for this trip but I am
not sure if I will use them again. I sure wish the rear had made the whole
trip! The rear was replaced with a Strada since I could not find anyone on
my route that had the Avon Storm in stock.



One defective battery that posed as if it were a Regulator/Rectifier
failure. Incidentally, the battery tested "good" but was not. It proved to
be the cause of all of the charging system woes early on on the trip.



Most valuable gear - hydration pack bought at Wal-Mart ($20), Givi luggage,
Nelson Rigg tank bag, Columbia Fleece jacket worn under TourMaster Jet
Jacket when really cold and rain gear worn for warmth even when it was not
raining.



Most valuable accessories - Throttle lock. It was indispensable. My right
hand would have fallen off without it. Voltmeter. It told me when I was in
trouble and told me when the problem had been corrected.



Nemesis - Wind, lots of high wind. First I rode across TX, NM and AZ
practicing hanging off to go straight. I thought I had perfected the
technique until we got just above Santa Barbara on the Pacific Coast
Highway. Apparently there was a storm in the Pacific and the cross winds
reached 40-45 mph with random gusts above that. By the time we got near San
Francisco I could no longer safely control the bike and was forced to go
inland near San Jose rather than continuing on to Half Moon Bay as planned.




Unused gear - Widder Electric Vest (I was ok without it and did not want to
be toasty when my daughter was cold. Had she not been along, it would have
been used more than a few times.)



Lodging - Nicest motel / hotel - Staybridge Suites in Vancouver, WA. Thanks
to a friend who works with the chain, we got about a 50% discount on the
room and then the manager of the facility upgraded us to a suite for free.
(Thanks Hanni!) Nastiest motel - Economy Inn in Florence, AL. At the time
I booked the room, it was rated as #1 among motels/hotels in Florence under
$100 by TripAdvisor.com. I used TripAdvisor.com many times as a source of
info about lodging options on this trip and this was the only time it really
let me down. This was the nastiest place I have ever stayed at in all my
life but I was too tired to seek out an alternative when I got there.
Priciest accommodation on the trip - The Bunkhouse Inn in Steamboat Springs
($110). Cheapest accommodation - a Motel6 somewhere in TX for $32.99.
Note: There seems to be little relationship between price and quality of
accommodation when one is trying to stay at places for under $100 a night.
Some $80+ a night places were not as good as some costing less than $40 a
night. In general, the new multi storied Motel 6s that look like a small
hotel were the best value for the money (low $50 range) if you are traveling
on a budget.



Special people along the way - my sister and Brother-in-Law in Ft. Worth
with whom I stayed one night, Tom (my buddy in the Phoenix area who I had
not seen in 40 years and with whom I stayed two nights) who had copious
amounts of cold Bud Light on hand, served up great food and offered me a
nice spare guest room (we had a great time catching up with each other after
all these years), my cousin and his wife in Escondido, CA with whom I stayed
4 days awaiting the arrival of my daughter from Dublin, Ireland, Dean and
Carol in San Francisco who hosted us for two nights and took us on a driving
tour of SF the first night we were there and Dean who took a day off from
work and took us on a day long riding tour of SF which was capped off by
dinner at the Faculty Club at U Cal Berkeley, Eric (a list lurker) and his
wife Arden in Seattle who took us in sight-unseen for a night and then
provided a two hour riding tour of Seattle the next morning before we left,
my wonderful niece and her Iron Man husband in Boulder who put us up, fed me
a yummy buffalo burger, great veggies and a very unusual but tasty combo of
items including numerous vegetables in the most creative omelette I have
ever had. Thanks also goes to Jimmy in Corinth, MS who helped me find the
house that my mother grew up in as a child. I now have some good pictures
of the "old homeplace."



When I ran into electrical problems early on, I posted notes on the VFR Big
List (vfr-request@ cs.wisc.edu) and on VFRD and was overwhelmed by the # of
people who offered assistance. Since I have been active on the VFR list for
quite sometime, I was appreciative of but not so surprised by offers of
assistance from many of the people on that list. I was, however, very
surprised by the # of people on VFRD who offered assistance since I had
virtually no relationship at all with that group before then. Suffice to
say, the nicest people ride VFRs. I cannot even begin to list all of you by
name. Thanks to all of you.



Thanks also to several of you who helped me plan the trip and offered
guidance about good roads, luggage recommendations, etc. Even Oil Guy came
back from the dead and chimed in with numerous great route suggestions, etc.
Having all of this sorted out ahead of time significantly contributed to
this trip being a great one. And last but not least, thanks to my buddy
Leon who is the consummate Iron Butt Rider and who served in large part as
the inspiration for this trip. Leon offered sage advice and encouragement
and followed up with me from time-to-time to see how the trip was going. He
is a very special guy who never takes the path of least resistance but
instead finds pleasure in doing what no one else would even consider. For
instance, in 2003 he did the full Iron Butt Rally on a Ninja 250 and placed
12th overall on it! We met numerous Iron Butt Riders along the way and
every one of them knew or knew of Leon. He is truly a legend. Honorable
mention also goes to the two police officers who elected to coach me about
riding within the speed limit and passing etiquette instead of giving me
written performance awards in Globe, AZ and in Eastern Washington State. I
think being old does have a few advantages!



Best Restaurant in 8,000 miles - Montana's Rib and Chop House in Livingston,
MT. It is owned by some Cajun restaurateurs who served up one of the best
large bowls of Jambalaya this boy from Louisiana has ever had. What an
unexpected treat!



Best ad hoc route change - taking Hwy 20 from Sedro Woolley, WA to Twisp, WA
rather than our previously charted route. Not only was it a GREAT road
across the Northern Cascades, it provided us with the opportunity to meet up
with another rider, Christy, who we would otherwise have not had the chance
to meet. Thanks for going 100 miles out of your way to meet up with us
Christy. It was a pleasure.



Least helpful advice - on my return, and only a few hundred miles from home,
I stopped in northern Alabama to see a friend I had not seen in a few years.
He looked at me incredulously and told me I should give up the Road Warrior
thing and go home and buy a mini-van. Even after that comment I still like
him.



Best roads - I cannot even begin to itemize them all. What's not to like
about sweepers and twisties by the thousands especially when they are framed
by such things as cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Cascades, the
Tetons, the Rockies, roaring mountain rivers, etc.? I will tell you the
best roads were not between Atlanta and San Diego on the way out or between
Denver and Atlanta on the return trip. Having said that, I'm still glad I
rode every mile of it. What one likes most can only be realized through
contrast.



Is The Grass Greener? I am now home after having ridden the best the west
has to offer and while the west was truly wonderful, I am very content to be
back home. The first night I was home I woke up in the middle of the night
to go to the rest room and found myself in that twilight zone thinking "what
a nice motel room" until I realized I was in my home and in my own bedroom.
It made me smile. In addition to enjoying the comfort of my own home, in my
opinion some of the very best riding in the entire US is just a stone's
throw from my home. Out west things are big; really big. You can spend
days in one state and you can ride literally hundreds of miles to get from
one good riding area to the next special one. Not so here. In the area I
call home I can be in the mountains of North Georgia in about an hour and
from there I can ride some of the prettiest roads in America and never be
more than a few hundred miles from home. To me the Blue Ridge Parkway, the
Cherohala Skyway, highway 28 from Deal's Gap to Highlands, NC, highway 60
from Suches to Morganton, GA and a bunch of other great roads are right
under my nose and they have welcomed me home in the nicest sort of way. I
enjoyed the trip out west immensely but it is nice to live in a place that
you like so much that returning home from a trip like this is not a let
down. I have been home less than three days and have already spoken with a
buddy about a ride we should take in the near future. Life is good!



Vic





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Great summary Vic!

>16,224 bugs slaughtered.
You obviously did no riding at dusk! ;-)

> Two birds, RIP.
Out of curiousity, what were the contact points on the
bike or rider and in what state(s)? On one western
trip ('01 I think) I kept getting buzzed in NV and
nailed one with the helmet. I use that as an ATTGATT
example to riders who say they opt for the wind in the
hair experience when riding back country roads.

Cheers,
Greg





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Greg, you are correct. I do my very best not to ride at dawn, dusk or after dark but not due to the bugs. Messy as they are, I'm not skeered of them! I am, however, scared to death of deer, moose, elk and other nocturnal critters that can kill you. Even an armadillo (salient point "armor") can put you down. Hell, I hit one in college in a Triumph TR3 and it put a hole in my oil pan! In addition to this fear, my lights were virtually worthless since I had so much weight on the rear of my bike. My lights looked more akin to one of those lights fairs use to light up the clouds than they did a vehicle's lights.

Regarding the two birds I hit, one hit the front wheel and the other hit the faring just above the side marker light. I've never hit a bird before although I have had calls close enough to startle me. Thank god they were not crows or buzzards or the like.

Re: advising people to wear helmets for protection, I prefer to let Darwin work. It strengthens the future gene pool. :)

Vic



Greg Verderber wrote:
Great summary Vic!

>16,224 bugs slaughtered.
You obviously did no riding at dusk! ;-)

> Two birds, RIP.
Out of curiousity, what were the contact points on the
bike or rider and in what state(s)? On one western
trip ('01 I think) I kept getting buzzed in NV and
nailed one with the helmet. I use that as an ATTGATT
example to riders who say they opt for the wind in the
hair experience when riding back country roads.

Cheers,
Greg





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John, of course I agree with you. My comment was made tongue-in-cheek. Maybe rather than states resisting the ABATE lobby they should simply require a carefully worded living will from those who want to ride without a helmet.

JES_VFR wrote: At 01:46 PM 7/5/2007, you wrote:

>Greg, you are correct. I do my very best not to ride at dawn, dusk
>or after dark but not due to the bugs. Messy as they are, I'm not
>skeered of them! I am, however, scared to death of deer, moose, elk
>and other nocturnal critters that can kill you. Even an armadillo
>(salient point "armor") can put you down. Hell, I hit one in
>college in a Triumph TR3 and it put a hole in my oil pan! In
>addition to this fear, my lights were virtually worthless since I
>had so much weight on the rear of my bike. My lights looked more
>akin to one of those lights fairs use to light up the clouds than
>they did a vehicle's lights.
>
>Regarding the two birds I hit, one hit the front wheel and the other
>hit the faring just above the side marker light. I've never hit a
>bird before although I have had calls close enough to startle
>me. Thank god they were not crows or buzzards or the like.
>
>Re: advising people to wear helmets for protection, I prefer to let
>Darwin work. It strengthens the future gene pool. :)
>
>Vic
>

I would agree with that last point except for the fact these days,
the morons get "saved" and end up as money sucking basket cases that
we the taxpayers fork millions of dollars up to support.


JohnS
A Dragon Ascending
"Forging my body in the Fires of my Will"




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On 7/2/07, vic5491@xxxxxx wrote:
>
> *Abbreviated Ride Report*
>
> Unused gear – Widder Electric Vest (I was ok without it and did not want
> to be toasty when my daughter was cold. Had she not been along, it would
> have been used more than a few times.)
>


Hey, Vic! I've been waiting to hear how your trip was. Glad it went well,
and the electrical issues were only a temporary setback.


On the topic of the unused gear, while your comiseration with your daughter
was admirable, I'd suggest an alternate rationale on the subject: By using
the gear, you'd ward off your own chills -- which lead to fatigue and
inattention, clearly a safety issue for rider and passenger alike. And don't
forget, the rider blocks quite a bit of wind from the pillion, so they might
not be quite as disadvantaged as you think.

When riding in such conditions with my wife, I use the heat. And I trust
her to tell me when we need to stop for her to warm up.

Just something to think about for next time.


Cheers,

Nate

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Nate, your point is well taken but I never got cold enough for the cold to affect my judgement, reflexes, and therefore "our" safety. Had I, I would have used the electric vest for just the reasons you state. Maybe I am just tougher than you are. :)

Vic

"Nate in N.E." wrote:


On 7/2/07, vic5491@xxxxxx wrote: Abbreviated Ride Report

Unused gear – Widder Electric Vest (I was ok without it and did not want to be toasty when my daughter was cold. Had she not been along, it would have been used more than a few times.)


Hey, Vic! I've been waiting to hear how your trip was. Glad it went well, and the electrical issues were only a temporary setback.


On the topic of the unused gear, while your comiseration with your daughter was admirable, I'd suggest an alternate rationale on the subject: By using the gear, you'd ward off your own chills -- which lead to fatigue and inattention, clearly a safety issue for rider and passenger alike. And don't forget, the rider blocks quite a bit of wind from the pillion, so they might not be quite as disadvantaged as you think.



When riding in such conditions with my wife, I use the heat. And I trust her to tell me when we need to stop for her to warm up.

Just something to think about for next time.


Cheers,

Nate



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