British Columbia Ride Details with Slideshow

 (February 16, 2015) My friend Mitch and I covered a lot of territory in a short time last Jun and July. I'm still absorbing it. I do regret not taking more pictures. Given that I had a phone and iPad in addition to a 35mm camera, it is hard to explain why I didn't capture more of the trip in color digital images.

My goal is to make the best of what I do have. Click on the image at right to access a slideshow for my ride to the US northwest and Canadian southwest, including Alberta and British Columbia. I've linked to a PDF-formatted version to avoid the image corruption that was occuring when I went to a .ppsx or .pptx format.

In addition to these slides, which include maps based on lines I traced on Google Maps, I'm including (below) a summary of the mileage for each day and a day-by-day summary for the first 13 of 14 days. (The last day was simply crossing North Carolina to get home in Cary from my daughter's home in Hendersonville.)

Summary of Itinerary

We rode more than 7,000 miles over 13 days, when you exclude the final day. For the final day, we crossed North Carolina to our homes in Cary on different days. Mitch road back on Friday (July 11) and I rode back on Saturday (July 12).

That's an average of 538 miles per day over an almost two-week period. More importantly, the median mileage was 547. There were more days by 7 to 6 when we rode at least 547 miles than we did less. Also important to note, there were two days when we rode more than 700 miles and three additional days when we rode at least 642 miles. In case you haven't gotten my drift: we pushed too hard.

Let's look at it another way. If you remove the final day, the average time in the saddle was 9.2 hours and the median time was 9.6 hours. There were six days when when saddle time exceeded 10 hours.

Here's what I've learned: limit your planned riding to eight hours in the saddle. That means you're probably not going to get any further than 500 miles in a day. Plan your ride that way. Then, if you need push a little on any given day, it will be the exception rather than the rule.

Daily Log (posted to Facebook)

Each evening on the ride, I posted a daily summary to Facebook. Here are copies of those posts.

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 1: Cary, NC to Terre Haute, IN (Saturday, June 28, 2014)

Mitch and I pushed a little extra today and rode almost 700 miles, reaching Terre Haute, Indiana. Here we are enjoying a fine room at the local Motel 6.

Tomorrow we plan to ride across Illinois and Iowa to Albert Lea, Minnesota with several important stops along the way. On Monday, we will ride to our first key destination: Badlands National Park in South Dakota, there to watch an awesome sunset of a very strange-looking landscape. ;-)

Peace. -Mike

Day 1 Route

I-40 west to US 52 north to I-74 west to I-77 north to Charleston, WV to I-64 west to US 35 north to the Dayton, OH area to I-70 west to Indianapolis to Terre Haute. (This was a minor error in planning by Mitch as we should have stayed switched from I70 to I-74 and Indianapolis and stayed in Convington, IN or Danville, IL.

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 2: Terre Haute, Indiana to Albert Lea, Minnesota (Sunday, June 29, 2014)

Mitch and I pushed a little more today and rode about 560 miles, reaching Albert Lea, Minnesota. The highlight of the day was a visit to the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa. We just happened to meet some local fellows on their Harleys along US61 near Long Grove, Iowa. I did what Mitch has taught me and struck up a conversation with them at the pumps. I mentioned where we were headed and they invited us to join them as they were going to Anamosa too. They led us along back roads through such places as Wyoming, Iowa (confusing, eh? We'll be in Wyoming later this week...the state that is), Toronto, and Lost Nation. I felt like we had gone into a time warp: some of these little towns look much like they probably did a hundred years ago.

And this evening, we are once again enjoying a fine room at the local Motel 6. At first, we tried a low-budget place across the street, but it failed to meet even our low standards. Yes, it was that bad. :-)

There are four US states with their name beginning with the letter "I". Today, we rode through three of them: Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, in that order. Only the Mississippi separates Illinois from Iowa. Later on this week, we will stay in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. We could have named this ride the "Four I-states Tour". (Yes, I'm a geography nerd.)

Tomorrow we plan to ride across southern Minnesota into South Dakota, with a stop in the eponymous Mitchell, South Dakota for a photo. We also plan to stop at the Klock Werks (http://www.kustombaggers.com) custom motorcycle store in Mitchell. Then we're off to a night tent camping in the Badlands National Park.

Peace. -Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 3: Albert Lea, Minnesota to Badlands National Park, South Dakota (Monday, June 30, 2014)

Mitch and I hit the road in the rain this morning around 8:45. We made a quick stop at Bergdale Harley-Davidson in Albert Lea and bought dealer pins, then got back on I-90 west.

Yesterday, we skirted the eastern edge of strong thunderstorms in Iowa. Today, we rode along the northern edge of strong thunderstorms in Iowa--with us just over the state line in Minnesota. We felt very lucky to experience only moderate rain whilst watching the lightning from a safe distance. 

An aside: Mitch and I agree, we love the way people talk here in the north, especially the ladies. We just try to avoid mentioning the movie Fargo, so as not to offend anyone. :-) 

Just as we reached the Missouri River, which by the way is bigger than I remember it, the winds picked up to tropical storm strength, with gusts out of the north of 50 mph or more. These lasted all the way to Badlands National Park. That was way more excitement than I like in a ride. My old helmet blew off the back of the bike and Mitch watched it split into multiple pieces on the pavement. It was an old piece of junk and I should have trashed it rather than bring it along. (I still have my good helmet with me.) I just regret littering in the road.

Unfortunately, I stacked my bags higher than my shoulders, and though secure, they caught a lot of wind like a sail. The wind really tossed me around quite a bit.

Setting up our tents here in the park was a real joy, given the blustery conditions. Hey, at least it's not raining...yet. Let's hope for a comfy sleeping pad and bag tonight. Then I will be a happy camper, indeed.

Tomorrow, we finish riding through the park and end our day at the Tetons near Jackson, Wyoming. Peace.

-Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 4: Badlands National Park (South Dakota) to Teton National Park (Wyoming) (Tuesday, July 1, 2014)

The wind howled all night long and made sleeping a challenge; but we went to bed early and got enough rest to rise with the sun. We were on the road out of the Badlands at 0700. It was cloudy and cool (in the 50s) and began to rain as we rode along a desolate South Dakota route 44 to Rapid City.

The weather cleared slowly as we rode into Wyoming on US 18. By the time we got onto I-25, it was clear skies and in the low 70s. Mitch and I got split up briefly on I-25 but used our mobile phones to meet at exit 150. I thought of it as a great test for our communication system.

Mitch brilliantly chose to enter the Tetons area by way of US 26. From Dubois to Jackson Hole, the views were fantastic. We stopped at the Togwatee Pass at 9,658 feet elevation for photos. We also stopped along the road right by the Tetons themselves to take photos of Bison that were grazing right along the road. And, of course, we took some photos of the majestic mountains themselves.

It's not all good news, however. We did hit some bumps along the way, literally. In Jackson Hole, we were instructed by the manager of the Hostel at Jackson Hole to use a road that was in very bad condition and I broke a weld on the rear of my bike. It's not critical and the ride will continue, but it is a nuisance. To add insult to injury, the Hostel manager failed to reserve a room for us. Rather, he reserved a *bed* for Mitch in a room with three other guests. No reservation for me. Rather than getting a great deal on a room, we paid $120 (with taxes) for a room to ourselves, though still a hostel room with four twin beds. As Mitch noted, Motel 6 was looking really good to us this evening.

I almost ran out of gas in what looked like the middle of nowhere. Signs along US 26 in Wyoming would list towns ahead with their respective distances but then no such towns appeared along the road. I was down to 0.3 gallons when I rolled into Shoshoni. It kind of just appeared out of the desert. I was very much relieved.

We put in another 600+ miles over 12 hours. It was a bit grueling. Tomorrow will be another tough one as we attempt to visit (1) Lake Jenny, (2) Old Faithful, and (3) ride the Beartooth Pass (US 212 between Cooke City and Red Lodge, MT), and then get to Ennis, MT before dark. We're staying overnight there at the home of Mitch's friend John.

It's been a bit of a blur so far. Good thing we're taking pictures. :-) Peace.

-Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 5: Jackson Hole (Wyoming) to Bozeman, Montana (Wednesday, July 2, 2014)

Well, it's only Day 5 but it feels like Mitch and I have been riding for twice that long. We had another 11.5 hour day today. We started with a ride from the base of the Tetons into Jackson, Wyoming and then north to Jenny Lake, which sits at the eastern base of the Tetons. We made several stops for photos and then headed north to Yellowstone.

We made an expedited tour through Yellowstone National Park stopping only about a dozen times, once for lunch at Grant Village. We followed the eastern side of the loop that forms the core travel route for the park, riding the western shore of the West Thumb part of Yellowstone Lake and Yellowstone Lake itself. We also passed the Sulphur Caldron and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I was pleased to see many herds of bison all over the park where we rode.

The highlight of our day was Beartooth Pass, which is US 212 from Cooke City, Montana to Red Lodge, Montana. Most of the pass itself is in Wyoming. It is no exaggeration to say it was awesome. It was scary at times and breathtaking in its views. We found ourselves looking way down at dozens of snow-covered mountaintops. There were snow banks along the road higher than our heads. It had just snowed there a couple of days ago. We were so far above the tree line that it looked like left planet earth and had arrived on Mars. All that was there were rocks.

It was weird that in the morning we were looking up at the snow-covered Tetons and by late afternoon looking down at their mountainous companions.

From Red Lodge we rode Montana route 78 to I-90 west to Bozeman where we met Mitch's friend John for dinner. John then guided us to his house in Bozeman where are staying for the night. Tomorrow we're off to St. Mary's, Montana and Glacier National Park.

Peace. -Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 6: Bozeman, Montana to St. Mary, Montana (Glacier National Park) (Thursday, July 3, 2014)

We spent the night at John Goodman's home in Bozeman. I got a good night's sleep, which was very important as my cold has returned. I need all of the rest I can get.

Mitch and I spent all morning at Yellowstone Harley Davidson in Belgrade, Montana. I had to have the service team there weld a broken bracket on my rear fender. Alex, the service department manager also inspected my oil leak and concluded it's from the inner primary or transmission and that I should be OK regarding that problem for the rest of the ride. I also had him look at my voltage gauge and he agreed that it wasn't my battery, but rather the stator that was the problem. Again, he concluded that as long as the needle returns to 14V and I don't have any problems starting the bike, I can make it home as is.

Mitch and I left Yellowstone Harley Davidson at 12:50 and rode I-90 to US 287 through Helena, the capital of Montana. We continued on US 287 to us 89 to St. Mary, which is just outside Glacier National Park. We're tent camping at the KOA here.

We saw lots of animals on the way here, including horses that were on the wrong side of the fence. Also, as we are on the Black Foot Indian Reservation, there is open range and cattle are free to walk onto the roadways. We saw a bunch of cattle and horses along US 89 here on the reservation. We also had a dear run across the road in front of us, etc., etc. The usual stuff.

It was hot here today, in the 90s. We were roasting. No hurricanes to worry about though. :-) It's cooled off here now that we're near Glacier. We should sleep well, if people can refrain from blowing off fireworks late into the night.

We met lots of interesting people today, such as two guys on very expensive Harleys at the dealership this morning from Salem, OR. We also me Fritz from Austin, Texas here at the KOA. Fritz has ridden to Prudhoe Bay and back 12 times. He's on his way back home from his latest ride there. He has the strangest setup on his little Honda: he built a large box that he mounted over the passenger seat and luggage rack. No saddle bags, because as he said, they collect a lot of mud.

It won't get dark here until about 10:00 p.m. because we're so far north. That's different for me. Tomorrow we're off to Banff in Alberta by way way of the "Going to the Sun Road" in Glacier National Park. We'll have breakfast in Whitefish. A hotel room awaits us in Banff. I'm looking forward to it.

Peace. -Mike

 Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 7: St. Mary, Montana (Glacier National Park) to Banff, Alberta (Friday, July 4, 2014)

We had another long and fascinating day on the road. It occurred to me today that the theme of this ride should be "large mountains" with a sub-theme of "critters in the road."

Today we road on the "Going to the Sun Road" in Glacier National Park and were awed by the scope of these mountains and how much snow is still up there melting, even in July. It was a chilly 47°F on that road. Seems like we've been alternating between hot and cold.

We then had a late breakfast at a great little restaurant in Spearfish, Montana. Classic fare that we both enjoyed, enough to last us until dinner. We rode US 93 to the Canadian border then on BC (British Columbia) 93 to Canada 1 to Banff for a quick ride through and then further on to Canmore, Alberta where we have a nice hotel room for two nights.

All day we've been surrounded by huge mountains in long chains. While we were impressed by the Tetons when we saw them earlier in the week, here we see the equivalent of dozens of Tetons. Amazing.

We saw all kinds of animals on or near the road from Montana through BC to Alberta. Up here, you definitely want to avoid riding at night!

My bike had a strange electrical problem just south of Banff. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, all of my instruments shut down, e.g., the tachometer and speedometer went to zero as did the others, if I recall correctly. The speedometer and tach failing is what really got my attention.

The check engine light also came on. I pulled over (on BC route 93) and immediately pulled each fuse out one at a time and inspected them. I happened to drop one and Mitch wiped it off. Anyway, after I put everything back together--having no obvious problem with the fuses--I fired up the bike and it was functioning normally.

I've been texting with Kevin Albritton, my Harley mechanic, and he has a theory on what might be causing the problem. Because I do not have the needed tools with me, I will either have to buy them tomorrow, find a shop that will do the work for me, or do nothing and hope the problem does not recur.

Because of my latest bike problems, I may skip the ride to Jasper National Park tomorrow with Mitch. Peace.
-Mike

P.S. It's 9:42 p.m. here and still quite light out. That's how far north we are.

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 8: Banff/Canmore, Alberta to Jasper National Park (Mitch) and Calgary (Mike) (Saturday, July 5, 2014)

Mitch and I took different paths today, just for the first two thirds of the day.

I took my bike to Kane's Harley Davidson in Calgary. The service manager checked it out and he and the owner, Mick Kane (?), agreed the battery and stator are fine. The problem yesterday was a bad fuse connection. I sat in the dealer's garage and applied dilectric grease to every fuses' contacts, as he recommended.

Mick also let me use his facility to wash my bike. Boy, what an improvement! I actually had to wash it twice, three times in some places, it was so coated with road dirt, paint (from newly painted lines on the road in Montana), bugs, etc.

Mitch experienced Wild Kingdom on the Icefields Parkway, which runs from Banff to Jasper. Among other critters, Mitch saw a very large bear along the road, possibly a grizzly. He also saw six or more glaciers in Columbia Field, and he enjoyed a great cup of coffee at Paws II in Jasper.

Mitch and I then met at Lake Louise around 5:00 p.m. and road together to Banff for dinner. The place was packed, wall-to-wall people. We were very lucky to get a great little spot on the second floor of an outdoor bar. We could watch people walk by. I even had an intoxicated Canadian fellow sidled close to me and began waving to young women on the second floor patio at a restaurant across the street. He then began to expound on the important elements of life. Fortunately, his philosophy is narrow in scope and he departed after only about five minutes.

We walked to a gift shop that offered a small selection of Cuban cigars, all far more expensive than Mitch and I could afford and we left empty-handed. No big deal, we've come back to our hotel in Canmore and are enjoying flavorful but affordable stogies.

Tomorrow, we take a long, very scenic route along Canada 1 to BC 97 to the Canada-US border at Osoyoos, BC. We then will continue on to US 97 and work our way to a Motel 6 in Spokane, Washington.

Peace. -Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 9: Banff/Canmore, Alberta to Spokane, Washington (Sunday, July 6, 2014)

Today was the hardest day of riding yet. We started out on a mountainous and beautiful Trans-Canada Highway from Canmore, Alberta to Sicamous, British Columbia. But then we turned onto BC 97A.

It wasn't the mileage itself that made the day so hard, it was the slow pace of traffic on BC 97A and BC 97. As Mitch pointed out, he'd never seen so many RVs. Among other obstacles, we had to deal with a landslide along BC 97 near Kelowna that closed the southbound side of the highway and a major traffic accident on US 97 in Washington that forced us to take a detour that included a dirt road.

Also making the day tougher on my psyche, the oil leak is much worse and my speedometer and tachometer cut out again on US 97 just after that detour. I continued riding in spite of their apparent coma and an illuminated check engine light because everything else seemed to be working fine. After I stopped for gas in Beaver Trap, Washington (along a scenic WA 20), the turn signals flashed on and off a few times and then the speedometer and tachometer came back to life as normal.

I will be so happy to get this bike back into my garage or Jockeys Cycle's shop for a good beating, er, I mean repair work.

Anyway, the slogan on the BC license plates is "Beautiful British Columbia"*, and it sure is. Mitch and I enjoyed riding through the Canada Glacier National Park. So, on this trip we've visited both the US's Glacier National Park and Canada's. It's remarkable how much snow remains unmelted.

It was quite chilly this morning as we rode north and west on Canada 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) through BC. But then, as most anyone could have predicted, it warmed greatly as we headed south. By the time we neared Kelowna, we needed to strip off a couple of layers. Whereas it was in the 50s in the park, it was in the 80s in Kelowna.

We've made it to Spokane, Washington and are enjoying another evening at a Motel 6 just off I-90. Today we crossed into the Pacific time zone and it's almost 1:00 a.m. on the east coast as I'm writing this. It should be no mystery that I am very tired.

Tomorrow we ride to Ogden, Utah to spend the night at my brother Tom's house. It'll be 680 miles but 99% of that will be on interstates: I-90 & I-15. Peace.

-Mike

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*As one of the local vendors told us, the unofficial slogan is "BC: Bring Cash."
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A note about last night: we met a fellow named Jess from Edmonton whose parents own a cottage in Holly Ridge, NC near Surf City. Jesse has even been to the infamous "Trailer Bar."

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 10: Spokane, Washington to Ogden, Utah (Uhl household in West Haven) (Monday, July 7, 2014)

Mitch and I put in a second hard day in a row, riding from Spokane, Washington to West Haven (Ogden), Utah. We took the fastest route (I-90 to I-15), but it was still 685 miles, and there's no way to make that easy. At least the weather was great. That big Montana Sky looked especially big today.

I started the day working on my bike. For once, I actually got up before Mitch because I was obsessing about what to do with my bike's problems.

While Mitch rode out for coffee and a quiet time, I rode over to the nearby O'Reilly Auto Parts store. I there purchased a set of Allen wrenches and some motor oil. It turns out that even though I brought a set of Allen wrenches, the very important 3/8" was missing. That's the one I need for the transmission dip stick. (It's also the size you need to remove the air filter cover.) The transmission lubricant level looked low; the stick came out dry. So I added 1/3 quart. I also added 1/3 quart to the Primary case. The engine oil looked fine.

This bike is killing me...today, I had to use duct tape on my windshield. The left screw fell out somewhere on the highway--even though I checked and tightened all of the screws this morning. Now there's an ugly piece of gray duct tape holding the windshield to the fairing. And then there's the oil leak. Mitch pointed out to me that I am losing a substantial quantity of oil blowing back out through the air intake. In fact, so much oil is coming out that way and streaming down the side of my engine case to the ground, it seems to be a much bigger source of the puddles that appear under my bike than from the engine leak itself.

Riding through Idaho and Montana in the morning was beautiful. I thought that these would make great places to vacation if I had an RV or home out here. As we progressed south on I-15, the mountains became features we could see around us rather than challenges we rode over.

Fun moments of inspiration occurred when we rode through the Montana towns of Opportunity and Wisdom, and passed by Paradise.

The biggest disappointment today was arriving just five minutes too late to get a dealer pin at Grand Tetons Harley Davidson in Idaho Falls, Idaho. But, we took pictures and I'll purchase the pin mail order.

No more hard days, as long as the weather remains decent. We will ride until we've put it in 9-10 hours each day and then we'll get a hotel room for the night. We're both pretty wiped out now and need to slow the pace down a little. We now have ridden 5,240 miles on this adventure and I rolled over 99,000 miles on the odometer around noon today.

Peace. -Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 11: Ogden, Utah to Sidney, Nebraska (Tuesday, July 8, 2014)

First, let me (us) offer a special "thank you" to my brother Tom, his wife, Pat, and their daughters Elizabeth and Barbara for hosting Mitch and me at their home last night. We both slept very well on an enormous couch in a beautifully finished basement. My brother's house is like two houses in one with a huge outbuilding, in addition to an attached three-car garage. The basement itself is as big as a house with a kitchen, bathroom, rec room, etc. It's huge! 

 

Anyway, Mitch and I are eating dinner together at Dude's Steak House in Sidney, Nebraska. It's remarkably busy in here tonight because Sidney is the headquarters for Cabela's and there is a big meeting here this week. Oh, lucky us: the hotel rates are at least 50% higher this week in little Sidney. We settled on the Sleep- 4-Less at about $85 for the night, but it's a mile and a half from the highway. 

Mitch and I stopped at the Harley-Davidson/Honda dealership in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Mitch had his oil level checked (it was a bit high) and I had the mechanic look at my breather/oil blowback issue. He said it's not supposed to do that, but it's common. With the S&S heads, there might be a way to rectify it. He also determined that it is most likely my transmission that is leaking, though the underside of my bike is so coated in oil, it's hard to tell. This makes sense because the low oil level in my transmission might have caused my speedometer and tachometer to fail when the sensor no longer had sufficient lubricant. 

Yesterday and today we saw the highest posted speed limit so far: 80 mph on I-15 in Utah and I-80 in two places in Wyoming. We did not exceed that limit! 

I can't wait to get my old Harley into my garage so I can sleep better. Now it's got some strange rattle that is rattling my nerves. Hondas are looking better and better every day.

Tomorrow we're shooting for Columbia, Missouri and home Friday night. (I'm planning to go to Hendersonville, NC on Friday.) 

Peace. -Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 12: Sidney, Nebraska to Columbia, Missouri (Wednesday, July 9, 2014)

Mitch and I just got back from dinner at Booches on South 9th Street in downtown Columbia. They serve only one food item: hamburgers, and they're great. Two burgers and a cold beer...it just doesn't get any better than this. Thank you Cutter (Jeff Northcutt) for the tip on Booches.

We rode more than 680 miles today, making it one of the higher mileage days of the ride so far, but the not the hardest. The weather was great and traffic was light the entire route. A key factor in our ease of travel was a tip we got from a couple near Nebraska City. The husband overheard us mention Columbia and asked if were going there. When we told him yes, he said he lived there and was headed home. When I mentioned my concern about Kansas City rush hour traffic, he told us about a route that bypassed Kansas City: US 36 (east) out of St. Joseph, MO to Macon, MO where you then take US 63 south into Columbia. It was great: fast and little traffic.

We passed the 6,000 mile mark for our trip today and I rolled over 100,000 miles on my Harley near North Platte, Nebraska. Mitch says we will hit right around 7,000 miles for the entire trip by the time was arrive home in Cary. My engine is running great--thank you Jockeys Cycle--but the rest of the bike seems determined to shake itself apart. I'm looking forward to getting into my garage and take apart for cleaning, inspection, and maintenance. Mitch's Gold Wing has also suffered a little, as one might expect after 6,000 miles of continuous riding.

We stopped at one Harley Davidson dealership today, in Grand Island, Nebraska. We stopped there because when we were last there in 2006, they were closed. On our way back to the interstate I had a strange experience. We were on a four-lane divided highway and I was in the left lane going about 60 mph. A couple of miles down the road I could see a vehicle. It looked strange because it was in my lane and it looked like it was coming at me, rather than away from me. I moved to the right lane. Sure enough, an older lady had apparently gotten confused and was driving the wrong way. I signaled to her and then Mitch did, but Mitch says she seemed to think we were just being friendly and waving to her.

We've made our last two days of riding a little easier because of our extra effort today. We expect to be "home" on Friday. For me, I will stay over in Hendersonville with Sam, Meghan, and Christian until Sunday, and then return to Cary.

Peace. -Mike

Canadian Rockies Ride - Day 13: Columbia, Missouri to Hendersonville, NC (Thursday, July 10, 2014)

OK, I admit, we're certifiably nuts: we rode 742 miles today. Mitch reports that we also rolled over 7,000 miles for the trip as a whole. My tush and shoulders feel it all.

But here we are, back in North Carolina. Mitch plans to ride back to Cary tomorrow and I will ride back on Saturday. Technically, we're not finished with the ride until we actually return to Cary, but this will be my last ride post to Facebook.

What characterized today was stressful riding through several cities: St. Louis, Nashville, and Knoxville. I almost got pinned between to vehicles in St. Louis as one was trying to merge from the right while a small pickup truck was moving to the right into my lane. That was a test of my brakes and nerves.

We hit Nashville at rush hour. Oh, joy. That made my tense shoulders even tenser. Mitch agreed that our experience in Nashville just about caused him to call it a night there and get a hotel room. I was surprised by how big and busy Knoxville, Tennessee is! What's going on there?

Mitch planned our route today. We took I-70 (east) to St. Louis where we picked up I-64 (east), then across Illinois to I-57 (south) to I-24 (east) to I-40 (east).

We saw a lot, learned a lot, and took many pictures. I will write a series of blog posts on my web site over the next couple of month:

mikeuhl.com/blog

Please read my posts and make comments. I'd appreciate it. Peace.

-Mike

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Some summary statistics:

Total miles: >7,200

Average miles per day: 554 miles/day

States (18) and provinces (2) traveled through:

Canada

1. Alberta
2. British Columbia

United States
3. Idaho
4. Illinois
5. Indiana

6. Iowa
7. Kentucky
8. Minnesota
9. Missouri
10. Montana
11. Nebraska
12. North Carolina 13. Ohio
14. South Dakota 15. Tennessee 16. Utah
17. Virginia
18. Washington 19. West Virginia 20. Wyoming

National Parks visited:

Canada
Banff National Park
Glacier National Park
Jasper National Park
United States
Badlands National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee/North Carolina) Tetons National Park
Yellowstone National Park

Major Rivers Crossed:

Columbia, Mississippi, Missouri, Platte, Snake, Yellowstone

As always, comments are welcome.

May we have a short winter.

-The Long Rider 

Rode 17K miles in 2014

(01/11/2015) In terms of mileage, I had the best year ever riding. I started 2014 at 89,996 on the odometer and ended at around 107,250.* I took the accompanying photo on December 1 and managed to ride another 250 or so miles before the end of the year.

In a typical year I ride only about 10,000-11,000 miles. What’s remarkable about riding so many miles in 2014 is that I did so while having so many mechanical problems with my bike. I cannot remember all of the various parts that failed in 2014. It’s a good thing I documented them all on this web site; now I can revisit those nightmares anytime I want. :-)

It’s a credit to the guys at Jockey’s Cycle in Morrisville, NC that I managed to get on—and stay on—the road so much. Kevin, Jim, Blake, and Matt were great to work with and I highly recommend them.

Earned my HOG 150,000 miles patch

As I rode across Nebraska this summer, I rolled the odometer over 100,000 miles. At 101,800, I reached 150,000 miles in the HOG mileage program. As of today, I need another 13,700 miles to earn my 175,000 mile patch.

I enrolled in the HOG Mileage Program in July 2000. Since then, I have averaged 11,195 miles per year. (I'm counting 2000 as a half year.)

2015

My frequent trips to Hendersonville, NC certainly added up and it looks like I’ll be doing them again this year. They’re about 500 miles (roundtrip) a pop. I figure I’ll do at least eight of those this year, so that’s good for 4,000 miles. I plan to make at least one trip to Buffalo, NY (1,400 miles) and one to Washington, D.C. (600 miles). 

If I manage to get a ride in to Seattle in 2015 (6,000 miles roundtrip), maybe I can match last year’s total. There’s always hope. ;-)

Speaking of hope…I hate winter! Pray for a short one.

Peace

-The Long Rider

*I actually rode more than the recorded miles because my speedometer was set improperly for a while after I got my new engine control module (ECM) and it was underrecording speed and miles.

A different kind of motorcycle tour...

(11/02/2014) A colleague who also vacationed this summer in Alberta and British Columbia recently handed me an advertisement he picked up at Jasper National Park. It’s for motorcycle tours in Europe and the United States from a company the refers to itself as Clutch.

Pull Google Maps and look up Faaker See in Austria. Let’s go for a little ride. Take 84 west to A2 north to A10 north to Salzburg, Austria. Head north/northwest on route 156 (just inside the Austrian border with Germany) to 156a to L205 at Oberndorf bie Salzburg. Stay on L205 as it becomes L501 and continue north. Just north of Ostermiething, make a right on Döstling and bear right onto Wolfing. Turn right onto Winham. You will find yourself in the small hamlet of Fucking, Austria. And no, that's not a typo. ;-)

Try Google Images. My favorite image is the headline in a London newspaper: Germans not amused.

The backside of this brochure makes a lot more sense when you know about this town with the unusual name and its proximity to the Faaker See (a small lake).

And please, pray for a short winter.

Peace.

-The Long Rider

Jump Off Rock (Laurel Park, NC)

(10/12/2014) Last weekend I rode out to Hendersonville, NC to visit my wife, daughter, and son-in-law. We revisited one of my favorite places in the area, which I recommend to you. In the town of Laurel Park, NC, just west of Hendersonville, you can find at the very end of Laurel Park Highway a scenic high point in the area called Jump Off Rock. While I recommend that you not actually jump off the rock, I do recommend you visit. Even though your elevation is only 3,100 feet, the location offers you an unexpectedly wide and long view of the area to the northwest. The experience makes the ride up the mountain well worth it.

What you can see (on a clear day)

Fortunately, we had exceptionally clear weather on a chilly autumn afternoon. We could see what is probably the maximum visible distance across the entire panoramic view. As indicated on the sign that is mounted on the fence at the edge of the observation platform (refer to photo), you can see a long chain of the Pisgah and Bue Ridge mountains, including Cold Mountain. Down and to the left you can also see the French Broad River, which flows through Asheville.

Broad River versus French Broad River

By the way, it can be tricky remembering that there is a Broad River and a French Broad River in North Carolina. The Broad River is to the east of Asheville and flows into Lake Lure near Chimney Rock. The French Broad River is the larger of the two and flows all the way to Tennessee. I believe the Broad River is east of the Eastern Continental Divide and the French Broad River is to the west, as indicated by its flow westward to Tennessee.

Directions (from Hendersonville)

Regardless of the route you take, the road will be a winding one and your average speed will probably be about 30 mph from downtown to the Jump Off Rock point. Here’s the route I prefer because while it may take a little longer to reach your destination, it’s about as simple as I can make it. From Main Street in Hendersonville heading south, turn right on Kanuga Road. After a short distance the road makes a sharp left. Just over the railroad tracks, turn right on Willow Road. At the stop light, turn right on Hebron Road. Carefully follow Hebron Road as it winds its way west. Bear right on Essowah Drive then left on Roberts Drive at the stop sign. Bear right staying on Roberts Drive and then make a left off of Laurel Park Highway. Follow this road until it ends at Jump Off Rock. (I recommend you refer to a map. It’s easy to make a wrong turn.)

Getting Better at Dealing with Rain

I rode out to Henderson on Friday (October 3) even though I knew there as a good chance of rain. I figured it was worth it as the weather forecast for Saturday called for clear skies. (I failed to pay attention to the temperature forecast, however). I encountered no rain until I got near Hickory and then it suddenly came down hard. Fortunately, I was close to exit 125 where Blue Ridge Harley Davidson is located. While struggling to see the road, I managed to get off I-40 and pull my bike under the covering at the dealership. (See photo.) The rain had not yet penetrated my outer shell, so I was still dry underneath. I stopped in for a cup of coffee and a friendly conversation with a local rider named Tom. Tom was also waiting for the rain to pass after having his new Road Glide serviced. After about 40 minutes I was back on the road and encountered no more rain. On the other hand, it was a chilly ride home on Saturday as I did not bring some of my usual cold weather garments. One more time I have had to learn this lesson. :-)

Keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider 

Headwaters of the Columbia River

(October 5, 2014) As I wrote in a recent blog post, on Day 7 of our British Columbia (BC) ride Mitch and I rode through Glacier National Park (US) on our way to Canmore, Aberta. We rode on US 2 west to US 95, just north of Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho. We turned right and took US 95 north to the Canadian border. We continued north on BC 95 and made a stop at the Harley Davidson dealership in Cranbrook. I needed to purchase some oil to replace what had leaked from my primary chain case.

In Cranbrook, routes 93 and 95 combine and we rode them north along the Kootenay River, past Columbia Lake, through Invermere, and on to Radium Hot Springs, where we turned east on BC 93. What we failed to appreciate at that time was we were riding alongside the headwaters of the Columbia River. I did not make the connection between Columbia Lake and Columbia River.

For the only time on the trip, we stayed two nights (days 7 and 8) in the same place, at the Mountain View Inn in Canmore. We spent Day 8 separately: Mitch rode north to Jasper National Park while I rode east to Calgary, where I visited a Harley Davidson dealership to make some repairs on my bike. (My visit to Kane’s Harley-Davidson in Calgary is a story for another time.)

On Day 9, we left Canmore and rode west on the Trans-Canada Highway (Canada 1) to Spokane, Washington by way of Osoyoos, BC. We made a large west-south-east arc out of Canada and into eastern Washington State. Just an aside: At Osoyoos, we were only four and a half hours from Vancouver, which was about 246 miles driving distance west of us. This is the closest I’ve been to the Pacific Ocean so far. Someday I shall actually reach it!

Between Canmore and Osoyoos, we saw great natural beauty in the many mountains, lakes, and rivers we crossed or passed. Once again I am reminded how true is the BC license plate slogan, Beautiful British Columbia.

As we made our way west before turning south, we passed through Revelstoke, British Columbia. (Refer to the map below.) It was at Revelstoke that I noticed a sign for the Columbia River and realized that it was the same Columbia River that passes through Washington and Oregon. 

When we first encountered the Columbia River, on Day 7, as it drained from Columbia Lake, the water flowed northward. On Day 9, we crossed it as it flowed north and south. At Golden, BC (first photo) it was flowing northward, but just 92 miles to the west, at Revelstoke (second photo), the Columbia was flowing south. The river had made a U-turn in the mountains to the north.

Later that same day, we turned east off of US 97 south and crossed the state of Washington on WA 20 (Sherman Pass Scenic Byway). Route 20 crosses the Columbia where 20 converges with US 395 near Kettle Falls, Washington. At that crossing, we could not help noticing the Columbia, it was much larger at this point in its winding path. I’ve included a photo from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/46322750, below, to give you an idea what the Columbia looks like at Kettle Falls.

I’ve seen the Mississippi at Bemijdi, Minnesota, where it’s a small creek you can wade across. I'm grateful I noticed the sign along US 2 that identified the otherwise unnotable stream. Every river has to start somewhere. Now I’ve seen where the Columbia starts. In the future, I plan to slow down and enjoy the experience a bit more...maybe notice more of the seemingly small things I pass.

Peace.

-The Long Rider