Colorado Rally Travel Follies

[JeffH]

Hope to get some Ride Report updates from the various travelers heading to XS Colorado 2017.
Sure hope that Kremmling is ready for this.

Jeff

[JeffH]

Day 1 Dixie Highway

Had an ok day. Kind of hot but the humidity wasn't as oppressive as it has been. Traveled the usual 60 miles or so to get out of Atlanta, luckily without incident. Just a lot of things can go wrong with Atlanta traffic so it was good to leave home without trouble.

Today was mostly sunny and 90 degrees. Rode US 41 Dixie Highway most of the way except for leaving Atlanta and getting around Nashville. The old I-24, I-40E to I-65. Took the Parkway by the Grand Ole Opry. Traffic was nuts. Excessive speeders like 100mph and changing lanes.

Since I left home later than expected (due to loading delays) I had to skip Waltzing with a Catfish dinner at the Riverside Catfish House on the Tennessee River on US41 at Nickajack. Had to settle for Taco Bell in Chattanooga.

Loading delay: The dummy sitting behind the handle bars 'should' have checked bike License, Registration, Insurance say last night. nope Or this AM while having leisurely coffee. nope Waited till loaded and ready to go. So looking at the wrong dates I panicked. Took me 1/2 hour of searching just to realize docs and paperwork was AOK. big duh ........

Had a nice ride over Monteagle Pass on US41. I'd never done that. US41 north of Monteagle was a surprise. Very technical twisty downhill. Now in Hopkinsville Kentucky. I will try and post a couple of pics of today's activities.

oh, not riding the 11 has its advantages. Rode 285 miles before stopping for gas. Put in 6 gal so that should be 47 MPG. Not bad. Gained about 2-3 MPG with a new air filter. Went 50,000 miles on the air filter. It surprisingly looked ok but i'd say 50,000 miles is a bit much.

I'll post this before internet crashes and start another post.

Jeff

[JeffH]

Fly - Drive

Last year Scott was the Fly - Drive participant. Flying in from LA to Denver.

Seems we have another Fly - Drive participant this year. So D.P. when you heading in? You on that DCA-DEN nonstop out of Dulles or you taking the BYOB 5 stopper jobbie out of BWI?

Looking forward to seeing you in CO. This will be fun. Anxious to see how that bike works out. I'm sure they make it easy since that's their business.

Jeff

[motoman]

Good to hear the ride is working out for ya Jeff. Definitely not familiar with any of what you've rode so far, but I and wife have ALSO settled for something to munch at that Taco Bell in Chattanooga when we drove down to Columbus,GA. some three yrs. ago when I first actually met you,Marty and Brent for lunch in Pine Mountain.

[dpotter58]

Last year Scott was the Fly - Drive participant. Flying in from LA to Denver.

Seems we have another Fly - Drive participant this year. So D.P. when you heading in? You on that DCA-DEN nonstop out of Dulles or you taking the BYOB 5 stopper jobbie out of BWI?

Looking forward to seeing you in CO. This will be fun. Anxious to see how that bike works out. I'm sure they make it easy since that's their business.

Jeff

Flying in Friday morning, direct from BWI. I'm so excited I can't stand it. Looking forward to trying that BMW.

[motoman]

Looking forward to meeting/visiting with you at the rally! Be safe and enjoy that Beemer.

[JeffH]

The BW had lousy internet connections last night so I gave up trying to post pics. Maybe tonight. (they even had to do a paper check-in so something was amiss)

Kentucky portion of the Dixie Highway marked as Dixie Beeline. Kind of a neat name. It's difficult to imagine a 1916 vehicle surviving a dirt & mud road from Chicago to Miami. See America. A good way to sell cars to the upwardly mobile America. River bottom and prairie mud to the mountains of Tennessee and North Georgia. Towns bargained hard to get the road into their respective towns. Only way from A to B before the Dixie Hwy was railroads.

Nasty humid at 7am today. Brutal even before putting on the gear. But did get better as I went along. Now on Illinois Highway #1 still heading north. Having Mexican lunch in Lawrenceville IL. Let's call it local taste Mexican. Ground beef on & in everything. I'm not sure what Made Right is but I think the beef slurry is like a Made Right. Couldn't sell this in Stockton CA.

More later. Gotta go Ride. I'm at crossing of US50 that I took last year so I'm lined up with Pueblo. Another 130+ miles north and I'll turn west on US136 and be lined up with Fort Collins. yippie. Once I make the left turn west I'll have 1,100 some miles left to go to Ft Collins.

Looking forward to seeing everyone. Ride safe as you make your way to Kremmling. Joe, hope you have fun in Florida. We will miss having you at the Rally.

Jeff

[BA80]

Harry, Rich, and I will be staying in Salina Kansas Thursday night if you're near there then Jeff.

[DeanR]

[QUOTE=JeffH;500693] Another 130+ miles north and I'll turn west on US136 and be lined up with Fort Collins. yippie. Once I make the left turn west I'll have 1,100 some miles left to go to Ft Collins./QUOTE]

Have a good trip Jeff.
I did 36W when I headed to Colo, just south of your planned 136W. Lots of fun ??? Well at least it gets you there.
Hi to DuWayne and your BMW adventure.

[JeffH]

[QUOTE=DeanR;500697]

Have a good trip Jeff.
I did 36W when I headed to Colo, just south of your planned 136W. Lots of fun ??? Well at least it gets you there.
Hi to DuWayne and your BMW adventure.

I love riding across the center of the country. Actually its a real blast. That's part of the lure of heading west. Plus I stop a lot and talk with people and stop for interesting things. So much to see and pretty good eats too. Hope you can get to Iron Horse. just do it it would be great to see you there.

Let's see if i can post some pics.

Jeff

[JeffH]

Riding around is sure a HOOT ..............
For me a great trip for me is nothing but a bunch of consecutive 'Day Rides'.


Heading north on the old Dixie Highway US41 hitting the flat lands of Tennessee.
The mountains long gone in the rear view mirror


I still can't imagine folks in 1917 to early 1920's driving a torn up dirt road path (mud pit) in their car. Really quite an adventure. Certainly not for the faint of heart.


Dixie Hwy - Guthrie KY just at the TN-KY line
Americana is always amazing




Can't travel through Kentucky without Whiskey
Tobacco is still green so i didn't pick any samples for you to try


I really enjoyed the Dixie Highway. I was on it for 617 miles (excluding getting out of Atlanta then around Nashville). It really is a very enjoyable and scenic ride. I'd recommend it. Mountains to the rolling hills then 150 miles of flat farmlands. Forest to cornfields with some tobacco growing in KY. Pretty amazing. Pavement is usually A+ condition in the south. So portions in GA & TN & KY are very good. I was very pleased that Illinois Hwy 1 was not bumpy. Getting into the Rust Belt the roads get pretty rough. But IL 1 was a lot of fun too.


Looks like these pics will post so ............................ here's some pics

Jeff

[madmax-im]

Had an ok day. Kind of hot but the humidity wasn't as oppressive as it has been. Traveled the usual 60 miles or so to get out of Atlanta, luckily without incident. Just a lot of things can go wrong with Atlanta traffic so it was good to leave home without trouble.

Today was mostly sunny and 90 degrees. Rode US 41 Dixie Highway most of the way except for leaving Atlanta and getting around Nashville. The old I-24, I-40E to I-65. Took the Parkway by the Grand Ole Opry. Traffic was nuts. Excessive speeders like 100mph and changing lanes.

Since I left home later than expected (due to loading delays) I had to skip Waltzing with a Catfish dinner at the Riverside Catfish House on the Tennessee River on US41 at Nickajack. Had to settle for Taco Bell in Chattanooga.

Loading delay: The dummy sitting behind the handle bars 'should' have checked bike License, Registration, Insurance say last night. nope Or this AM while having leisurely coffee. nope Waited till loaded and ready to go. So looking at the wrong dates I panicked. Took me 1/2 hour of searching just to realize docs and paperwork was AOK. big duh ........

Had a nice ride over Monteagle Pass on US41. I'd never done that. US41 north of Monteagle was a surprise. Very technical twisty downhill. Now in Hopkinsville Kentucky. I will try and post a couple of pics of today's activities.

oh, not riding the 11 has its advantages. Rode 285 miles before stopping for gas. Put in 6 gal so that should be 47 MPG. Not bad. Gained about 2-3 MPG with a new air filter. Went 50,000 miles on the air filter. It surprisingly looked ok but i'd say 50,000 miles is a bit much.

I'll post this before internet crashes and start another post.

Jeff

No doubt about that..I was amazed you took the 11 last year...I wouldnt have been very comfortable on an 11 going that far..Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable colorado rally...the GL1800 is the right machine for this ride IMO...
And..@ Dean..When are you going to come down here for the XSSE rally???...you have ridden everywhere else and you're still missing the best XSrally in the country...come on man...

[JeffH]

Obligatory Super Cells

Got this morning at 6AM. Stayed in Le Roy IL which is north central IL. Turned on the Weather Channel. Severe 100 mile + line of T-Storms covering most of eastern iowa and coming right towards me. Tops reported at 50,000 feet. What the heck? At 6 AM.

Got going about 7:30 and rode 30 miles due west on US136. Stopped to check NOAA weather and the map. Didn't want to just waste time waiting for line of storms to reach me so noticed a small one horse town 22 miles ahead. San Jose So i rode to San Jose as the squall line hit. Luckily the town had 1 gas station and it had a canopy. So i get under the canopy. It didn't matter. Rain was blowing & gusting sideways from different directions. Trees across the street snapping. WOW glad i made it. Rained hard like that for almost 1/2 hour.

Toward the end two guys on Harleys heading east pulled in. They were from Ontario Canada. They had left Iowa and thought they could stay ahead of the squall line. They didn't. One guy was blown off the road into the ditch. It was a low speed crash but unnerving just the same. He said rain was so heavy it was impossible to see. And of course out there it is just miles and miles of corn with no houses or people. He bent up his crash bar and got some grass & mud so he was lucky. Getting nailed by lightening out there where your helmet is the highest object for miles; well that would really be ugly.

I left after the worst of it. Going west i got light rain for 50 miles. Wet roads for 100 miles. Powerful storm for so early in the AM. About same deal as last year when i was leaving Ottawa Kansas. flash-bang-boom

Jeff

[3Phase]

Keep your head down and fly! Fly like the wind outta there!

[JeffH]

Update:
Ride is going well. Still having fun.
Bike is running well. Rider is doing fine too. No aches, pains, ailments or issues with the heat.
Had 620 miles of 15-20-25 mph tail winds as i headed north up the Dixie Highway which of course has turned to 15-20-25 mph left to right crosswinds as i head west.

Traveled 1,073 miles so far. In Clarinda Iowa tonight. Looks like 575 miles from here to Fort Collins then another 120 or so Friday over CO 14 then Kremmling. Made it across the Mississippi River just after high noon so to celebrate i had a nice long lunch in Keokuk Iowa. Served me beef, pork & large bowl potato salad that had pickles, celery and onion in it. Gotta get some veggies to people somehow.

Most of the route has been light to no traffic. Mostly little if any traffic at all. Went by a couple small towns that had some manufacturing plants in Indiana but mostly just remote rural highways & byways. Nice to just roll along and have the road basically to yourself. Has been pretty soupy humid though. Very soupy moisture off the Gulf of Mexico sitting supercharged waiting to make big storms. Ah those winds. Think is was 106 degrees in McCook NE today so hopefully tomorrow is cooler. Soon will be in the "dry heat" so 100+ is no problem. 115+ yes but 100 no.

Rode US136 from Le Roy to Keokuk today then got on Iowa Hwy 2. Rolling hills and step climbs gaining altitude going west. Road some straight and some curves following the ridge lines. Quite scenic. Lots of green, some forest, some corn, some beans, some pasture grazing rolling hills sort of thing. Lots of colorful flowers in the ditches.

Greg: so I will be a day ahead and further north so won't meet up in Wichita. I plan to stay in McCook Nebraska tomorrow (Wed night) so I'll be like 330 miles NW of you once you get to Wichita. Have a good ride up from Tulsa then fun zip west to Kremmling. So you the only 11? Guess Harry on the FJR. Can we expect John to be a surprise guest?

May get lazy and watch TV for a bit vs posting pics. May try that from McCook tomorrow night.

Jeff