It's The Journey That Transforms

[flying_hun]

Day 13 continued.

After the stop at the winery, I blundered into the town of Richland Center where I saw a huge powersports dealer, and figured they'd know where the good roads are. I thought maybe there would be guides to the local area, or people working there would have a secret stash they might be willing to share with an out of towner. Curiously, not so much. The first road they recommended was Wisconsin 60, where I had been, but had left looking for something more engaging.

As a sidebar, this brings up the whole idea of whose definition of a "good" road is applicable. Wisconsin 60 is very nice, very scenic, and if you and 50 of your friends are riding your cruisers, it's probably perfect. I was looking for something a little more intense.

Then the guy mentioned Wisconsin 171, saying that it ran west towards the Mississippi, the opposite of the direction I needed to go to get to my niece's house near Madison. Hmmm, put it down for maybe tomorrow.

I looked on my phone for suggestions, and some weren't helpful, but one mentioned the semi-annual ride of the Slimey Cruds, and their lunch stop in Leland. If you don't know, Peter Egan has written about this ride several times, so I figured there had to be some good riding in the area, even if I didn't know the exact route. So, I plugged Leland into my phone as a destination, and set out for Sprecher's for lunch.

It mostly had local farmers in for lunch that day, but it was fun to stop by the legendary spot.

Turning to the east to skirt around the north side of Madison, I saw a few more things worth mentioning. The best was this octagonal barn. I love this kind of stuff!

While I could not get a good photo of them with my phone, scanning to the right about a 110 degrees from that barn, there were two sand hill cranes hunting in the fields. I'd never seen any in the wild before, so that was exciting!

One more shot on this day. This one got my attention because it contradicts some of the things "everyone knows" about the Midwest. Big rock outcrop and technical roads (15 mph corners), combined with an absolutely gorgeous farm.

Then it was off to the home of my niece and her family, and a fine night out on the town in Madison, a very beautiful city!

To be continued.

 

[budman]

Transforms = scenic beauty, friends visited and the vibe of the ride.

Hun delivers.

 

[flying_hun]

Transforms = scenic beauty, friends visited and the vibe of the ride.

Hun delivers.

Thanks, Bud!

Day 14 map

The thing about the trip between my subsequent overnight stops of Madison and Rockford is that they're only about an hour apart. What's the point in that when there are all those Driftless roads calling my name? Obviously, the prior day's recommendation of Hwy 171 needed to come into play. Once again, the map doesn't capture much of the messing around.

This part of Wisconsin is also very touristy, what with the wineries, and it being the home of many of the more famous cheese makers, plus farm stands, restaurants, and more. Cool stuff, but none of it very interesting to me. I mean, under other circumstances, sure, but I was there to ride. So I headed west back to Richland Center, and then sought out 171.

On my way, I passed a few places that caught my eye. I kept seeing buildings that were at least partially built from locally quarried stone, which I believe to be sandstone (though I've seen references to limestone too). So, when I came upon a local church built from stone I had to take a photo. You may recall an earlier ride report I posted about Yorkshire in which I included photos of the York Minster, a huge gothic cathedral built from sandstone, and while this one is quite modest by comparison, like York Minster, its stone glows in the sunlight.

You can see that it was built by Swiss immigrants and their descendants.

So many of the barns were so gorgeous, and when I saw this one with the first story being made of stone, I had to get a pic. The sister of the owner was working in the gardens, and she gave me some background on the barn. When her brother bought the property, the barn was in disrepair, and was in danger of falling down. The roof was sagging, and when he decided to rehab it he had to bring in a big crane to lift the peak roof beam, and rebuild beneath it. He did a great job.

And just across the road, a covered bridge!

In case you were wondering, 171 delivered. Good road. In places, surprisingly hilly. Nothing that is going to rival the Sierra, or even Mt. Ham, but fun nonetheless. On 171 and 131 there were high ridges with apple orchards reminiscent of those around Apple Hill east of Sacramento. The descents from those ridges were surprisingly steep.

Eventually, I got to the river again at Prairie Du Chien, then needed to head back east to get to Rockford, so I was able to ride the little bit of the Driftless in northwestern Illinois. I got into Rockford in time for dinner, and had a pleasant night.

A couple more notes on the Driftless. I kept seeing these signs for ATV/UTV routes. Apparently, there are a lot of routes throughout Wisconsin that connect minor roads to rural two-track, and ATV's are allowed on the roads to transit between sections. Which brings up an observation; I was surprised by the number of ATV's and UTV's (side by sides) that I saw being operated on the street. Not just in Wisconsin, but in much of the country. Anyway, it appears that these trails have been defined as being for vehicles with three or more wheels, apparently to exclude dirt bikes. Still, I'm guessing a plated bike could access a lot of this stuff.

Another thing that caught my interest is that Wisconsin has this whole program for what they call Rustic Roads. These roads are all over the state. They range in length from a couple of miles to twenty or more. This might be a good way to find some local goat roads. arty I've already sent for the guide.

This area has lots of promise, and I want to go back. My niece and her husband have explicitly invited me back for a longer stay. If the prices of used bikes ever come back to earth, I'm tempted to buy a local DRZ or KLR and go spend a week exploring these roads.


To be continued.

 

[budman]

Beautiful barn. Love that it was rebuilt.

 

[flying_hun]

Day 15 & 16 map

Not all that far from Rockford to Davenport, so I had to go investigate Galena. Day 16 was just in and around Davenport, so there was a bunch of local riding, looking at the old neighborhood, the elementary school, etc. Another way of saying the map doesn't nearly reflect the miles.

Why not go directly to Davenport? Well, other than the obvious of wanting to explore more roads, the childhood friend who was hosting me let me know that The Bix was running that day, and that the part of town I was heading to would be a mad house. The Bix is sort of Davenport's Bay to Breakers. Big run, big party.

Okey-doke, never been to Galena. What's Galena? It was a lead mining town even before the Civil War. After the war is the home of US Grant for some time. It's nicely preserved, and very scenic, and very touristy. I hadn't really thought about what it would be like on a sunny and temperate Saturday in late July. In a word: crowded. Almost all the bikes I saw in town were Harleys (a KLR stood out as an exception), but this was pretty much my experience of riding in Illinois. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of non-cruisers sighted, and I could count on the fingers of one finger the number of cruiser riders I saw wearing helmets.

A roadside museum on the way to Galena.

After the obligatory stroll down the crowded main street, I got back on the goose and headed out of town. Traffic was backed up on the route to Dubuque due to construction, so I headed south on the Illinois side of the river. It was very pleasant once I got away from the traffic around Galena.

Mainly, my time in Davenport was spent visiting family and old friends, going to a play, visiting my sister's grave, attending the church we belonged to when I was a kid, and having great ice cream. Seriously great ice cream.

Of course, I had to visit the park.

I had been watching the daily updates the NYT was posting predicting day time highs across the country, and it was clear that a scorcher was headed to the upper Midwest. I had been planning to leave on Tuesday, but I figured if I took off on Monday that I could limit my exposure to that heat. Limit not eliminate.

To be continued.

 

[flying_hun]

Day 17 map

Visiting with friends on Sunday afternoon, I mentioned that I needed to get west, but I wasn't thrilled by having to ride on I-80. My friend said, take US 20 instead. Much nicer. Cool! It's a plan.

I rolled out from my friend, Scott's house, bound for Hwy 20 on that old Bob Dylan favorite, Hwy 61. This could take me to Dyersville, the home of the Field of Dreams, but I had visited it with my kids in 1995, and didn't need to go back on this day. However, Dyersville has another, lesser known tourist spot, the Farm Toy Museum, and I needed a souvenir from this trip, but I'll come back to that.

Grinding straight up 61 to Dubuque to connect with 20 didn't sound that fun, so at Maquoketa, I took off on a diagonal, taking advantage of the ridges and river valleys to find some interesting roads, and the road were pleasant. The surprise of this route was a town I don't recall ever hearing about called Cascade. Maybe it was the morning light, or my frame of mind, but this was a nice town. It didn't look like some other small towns you see where many of the local shops are boarded up, and all there is around is a dollar store and a gas station. This town had stuff going on. Beautiful parks, a bank, a main street that looked nice, and a cool looking diner, so I circled the block and headed in for some local breakfast. The waitress was chatty, as was a couple from Wisconsin who were passing through, and before I left I got collared by the local gadfly who told me all about the history of the town and local politics. It was fun.

On the way out of town, my eye was captured by another big stone church, though by this time the light was kind of harsh. This would be spectacular at the golden hour.

Next stop was Dyersville and the museum. I wasn't looking for a tour, I just wanted to visit the gift shop. One of the enduring memories of my childhood is the sound of a two cylinder Deere working under load. I don't know why, but it makes me nostalgic. These old tractors were known as "poppers" or "poppin' Johns", and in this clip you can hear why.

[YOUTUBE]IehsfYhldlY?t=225[/YOUTUBE]

Anyway, I was hoping they'd have a model of a two cylinder Deere, and they did! arty

When I got on 20, it was a divided highway. I was fighting drowsiness again, so I stopped in the town of Independence for a coffee, and there I found Historic 20, the old two lane alignment, and did my best to follow it the rest of the way to the Missouri River. As always, stops in small towns inevitably led to friendly conversations with the locals, one of the best things about a trip like this. The downside of this approach is that it's slow. Well, it's the upside too.

The sun was getting low in the sky when I got into Nebraska, and there was lots of road construction. At my first gas stop, I was able to buy 91 octane, but the next time I saw gas there was only 87. I didn't know it yet, but this would become a theme. I assumed it was because the towns were sort of remote, so I thought if I headed south to pick up I-80, that I'd find high octane fuel, so that's what I did. I was getting dark as I pulled into Norfolk, and I saw this big old motel on the side of the road, and decided to give it a shot. I think this motel was probably pretty grand when it was built (60's maybe?), but both it and the town had seen better days. Oh well, it was a bed.

BTW, the big surprise of the latter portion of the day is that Nebraska has hills! Who knew?! It was actually kind of pretty.

BTW, it was fairly warm this day, with temps in the upper 80's, and fairly humid. It kept getting more humid as I headed west.

To be continued

 

[SFMCjohn]

Almost all the bikes I saw in town were Harleys (a KLR stood out as an exception), but this was pretty much my experience of riding in Illinois. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of non-cruisers sighted …

all the Harley guys I know also have
a pre-gen KLR in their garage …

probably a transformation joke in there, somewhere.

 

[flying_hun]

all the Harley guys I know also have
a pre-gen KLR in their garage …

probably a transformation joke in there, somewhere.

True for you for sure. Not sure what the joke would be, but we can work on that.

 

[SFMCjohn]

True for you for sure. Not sure what the joke would be, but we can work on that.

idk ... something about the KLR guy you saw really being a Harley guy who was just hiding his lamp under a bushel, depending on which bike he's riding.

having a Harley and a KLR in the garage is like a caterpillar transforming into a caterpillar.

ok, maybe I need to work on the delivery ...

loving the church pics ... carry on, brother!

 

[flying_hun]

Day 18 map

Today was the day I knew I'd be fighting heat, so I was keen to get going in the morning. The free breakfast at the motel was grim. The TV station playing in the breakfast area was grimmer. The average vlogger has higher production quality, and connection to objective reality was even more remote.

I was hoping for 91 octane on this day. The goose has a big tank, and is pretty thrifty if I keep the speed down, but I am not one to run on the bottom quarter of a tank, so I dribbled a gallon or so of 87 into the tank at my first gas stop. I also tried to remedy one of the biggest mistakes I made on the trip, not bringing any paper maps.

When it comes to looking for interesting alternatives, Google Maps isn't super helpful. I hadn't brought paper maps because I didn't want to use the space. Before the trip I loaded the free version of Calimoto on my phone to see if I wanted to get the paid version for the trip. Maybe it was me, maybe it was my phone, but I couldn't get Calimoto to work very well on my phone, as it kept hanging. Then I thought I'd try Rever, but after my disappointment with Calimoto I figured I'd read the reviews first. Nope. So, I was pleased when I found a road atlas that would easily fit in my topbox. Not ideal, but it would give me the context to make good choices in Google Maps.

In each town I'd roll up to a gas station looking for 91, and each town I'd be disappointed. Eventually I saw a NAPA store, and stopped in for some octane booster. They had some that were packaged in tubes measured out to blend with five gallons of gas. I picked up three, and stopped worrying about it.

A note about Nebraska: My experience with Nebraska has primarily been on I-80, and just like in Iowa and other places, I-80 is routed through the flattest and most boring parts of the state. It's like judging California by I-5 between Redding and Bakersfield. The areas I rode through prior to approaching the freeway were prettier than expected. Okay, I've fulfilled my obligation to say positive things about Nebraska. My overarching objective for the day was to get the hell out of Nebraska.

When I got on the freeway in North Platte it was 101 and humid. I ended up stopping at the first rest stop I found and re-soaking and putting on my evaporative vest. It helped, but only to a limited degree because it was humid.

Now it was just sitting in and grinding out the miles. Even the stops were not as interesting because travelers are no novelty in towns by the freeway, so people aren't curious, and so don't approach. Oh well, I was in the mood to go more than to talk.

So, as I got to the freeway I had assumed that 91 octane would be available for all the out of state vehicles, and you know what you get for assuming. I found a pump that had two nozzles and five buttons, and thought at least one of them would be for 91 octane. Nope. One button and one nozzle for diesel. Four buttons and one nozzle for the rest. 87 octane with no ethanol, 87 octane with 10% ethanol, 88 octane with 20% ethanol, and 94 octane E85.

I looked at the weather report before I rolled out in the morning, and saw there was a cold front coming down from the northwest to impact the heat bubble I was riding in, and that thunderstorms would result. My goal was to get as far as I could before encountering that front. In the Nebraska panhandle I could see the squall lines organizing in the NW and heading my way, with lightning in attendance. As the squalls approached I was prepped to look for cover. The first storm cell passed to my right and then behind me, as did the second. I was hoping that the alignment of road and the track of the storms would interact in such a way as to keep me out of the mess, but such was not to be.

The first drops hit me just as I pulled into Wyoming, so I waited a bit at the rest stop on the border until it passed, then I jumped back on the road to get through Cheyenne. The view towards the pass between Cheyenne and Laramie looked ominous, but I decided to plunge into it.

I don't know if it was because of the slab sided luggage on the goose, or all the weight concentrated on the back wheel due to the way I had it loaded, but it was a handful in the side winds generated by the cold front. Gusty side winds in the rain wasn't much fun. Gusty side winds in the hail was even less fun. The arrival of lightning had me looking for an off-ramp and an underpass to use for cover. Semis were also getting off the road, a good sign that I was making the right choice.

Sitting there waiting for the storm cell to pass, I plopped my butt down on a Jersey barrier while I waited. Then I looked down, and right next to me I found this:

The key to the trunk of an old Cadillac! All kinds of symbolism here! What led to that key being there? What is the symbolism of finding it? Too many questions! I took the key and got back on the road.

I rolled into Laramie on the bottom quarter of the tank, and was only too happy to find high octane fuel after the 91 octane desert that was Nebraska! I had been planning to camp this night high in the Snowy Range, but given the weather, I decided that another night in a motel was in order. No shortage of those in Laramie, so I looked in my phone for the directions to the closest Best Western, and made a beeline for it.

While on the way there I saw another motel, and this one had a completely over the top and rather kitschy wild west theme, and it was so over the top that I decided I had to stay there.

They had vacancies, and the price was right (cheap!), so I got a room and unloaded the bike. There was a Chinese place down the street that provided dinner, and I was a happy guy.

Without going into much detail, this place was far more magical than I could have imagined. It was like passing through a portal into a different world in a sort of Alice In Wonderland way. That's about all the detail I'll post, but if you really want to know about it, reach out. It was special.

To be continued.

 

[flying_hun]

Day 19 map

It was a beautiful morning in Laramie as I chatted with other motel guests and loaded up the goose. My goal this day was to revisit some other childhood memories by hitting the Snowy Range. We used to camp and fish here when I was a kid, so I wanted to go back. Lots of good memories.

On the way out of Laramie I came across these historical markers for the Overland Trail.

The first town to hit was Centennial. I remember this town from my childhood when it only had 55 residents. It's grown a little.

I had to get the above picture, and the one below to document for my BIL. My late sister loved this area. Notice the elevation of the town. This is at the bottom of the pass.

Then it was up to the summit to get some of the scenery.

Gives you an idea of the scale.

Another note is that this was the first (only?) place where Harleys didn't represent the vast majority of other bikes. Lots of GS's, KTM's, Huskies, etc. Mostly there to do some adventure riding. It turns out that jdubau was there about the same time on his KTM.

I took a few moments to record a video while I was up there.

[YOUTUBE]cH6U_2dtCIU[/YOUTUBE]

And, of course, wildflowers!

Fellow BARFer, mlm (George) went to school in Laramie, and he had some roads to suggest. Two of them were already in my plan, but the third one, Wyoming 70 was the best of the bunch, and there was NOBODY on it. Highly recommended. Might have been the best road of the trip. There was an overlook near the top, and while it was a little hazy, it offered great views.

Then it was down into Colorado before heading west again. Back in 2019 I drove on some of these roads to get to Steamboat Springs for skiing, and it was fun to get to ride them instead. Entering Utah, I headed for Vernal, and stopped for my second root beer float of the trip.

I briefly considered finding a campsite, but didn't like the only one that came my way, so I decided to use the remaining daylight to cover ground, then book into another motel, this time in Payson, UT where I had a remarkable conversation with the desk clerk. It was a good day.

To be continued.

 

[budman]

Loved that vid. I love meeting people on travels. If they are open I try to dig in to find something special about them. Their journey and experience with life.

 

[CDONA]

Spent a few days in museums in Vernal, Dino's Nat. Monument

 

[bikewanker]

As always, stops in small towns inevitably led to friendly conversations with the locals, one of the best things about a trip like this. The downside of this approach is that it's slow. Well, it's the upside too.

So many roads traveled and often my lasting memories are of the positive people along the way. I’m grateful that many people find motorcyclist interesting and that I’m no longer in a hurry.
Thank you Kurt

 

[flying_hun]

Loved that vid. I love meeting people on travels. If they are open I try to dig in to find something special about them. Their journey and experience with life.

Sometimes you don't even have to dig, you just have to listen. It's amazing.

Spent a few days in museums in Vernal, Dino's Nat. Monument

Yes, I stopped in there too. Fascinating.

So many roads traveled and often my lasting memories are of the positive people along the way. I’m grateful that many people find motorcyclist interesting and that I’m no longer in a hurry.
Thank you Kurt

Slowing down was a big part of the trip. Two things that I wanted to avoid were ambulance rides and roadside conversations with Officer Friendly. I often rode at, or even below the speed limit, saving my speed for the fun roads. The upside was making room for the people and places overlooked in fly-over states.

Day 20 map.

I got going early in the morning. The sky got my attention as I was loading the bike.

The question for the day was whether to cross Nevada on 50, or to route down towards 6. I'd never ridden the full width of Nevada on 50, having only ridden west from Austin, NV. On the other hand, Hwy 6 has some personal significance, as my grandmother's house was a half block off of Hwy 6 back in Iowa, plus Hwy 6 would take me down through Tonopah and out to Benton (dreaming of soaking weary muscles in hot water). When I looked for a weather forecast for Benton, there were flash flood warnings. Then I realized there were flash flood warnings in much of Nevada because it's "monsoon" season in the desert southwest. Looking at the weather map, I concluded it would be worse further south, so Hwy 50 it was.

Early morning miles were quiet out on the road, having it mostly to myself. On the last big pass in Utah I spotted a heavily loaded bicycle wobbling up the grade. It's a long way between water, or even shade out here. As I approached the cyclist I slowed and lifted the chin-bar on my helmet to ask him if he had water. Then we stopped to chat. Kevin had left Denver at the end of June. He was bound for Hwy 395, and the plan when he gets there is to ride to Arizona, then head east to Florida. Yes, I'm a wimp. Kevin had some water, but he was heading into a vast emptiness, so I gave him a liter of mine. I offered to leave it at the top of the pass so he wouldn't have to carry it up the hill, but he declined, and we parted.

At the next stop, a gas station / convenience store and not much else, I pulled in to top up my fuel, get some coffee, a snack, and more water. There was a guy standing there next to his loaded up KLR, and we started to chat. Dave is from Michigan, and he was out here riding the TAT solo. He said that he had ridden sections with others, but found it easier alone. He had started in West Virginia four weeks prior, and was headed for California. We had an enjoyable chat, but I needed to get some miles under my wheels.

As I moved westward, I could see the clouds starting to get organized for a storm. They started light and fluffy and spread out, and got bigger, darker, and more densely packed as the day wore on. The upside of these storms was that the sage and bunch grass had vividly green new growth that was startlingly beautiful. I saw the first sign of a serious storm not long before getting to Eureka, NV, so it seemed like a good time to stop for lunch.

Sidebar: Nevada is a weird place. It seems to attract folks who have trouble fitting in elsewhere. Is it a need for independence, or just poor social skills? The answer depends upon how you look at it, I suppose. It occurred to me that Nevada is California's Nebraska, or maybe Nebraska is Iowa's Nevada. Take your pick. Apologies to offended Nevadans.

After lunch the sky to the west was clear and blue, and I was congratulating myself on my superb judgment in waiting out the storm. That hubris lasted about five minutes. The storms were blowing from the south, so the sky ahead being clear meant nothing because it would no longer be clear by the time I arrived as these violent storm cells were on a path perpendicular to my own. And then the next storm hit. Just like between Cheyenne and Laramie, the sidewind was fierce, combined with rain, then hail, then lightning. Unlike Wyoming, there was no cover, no overpasses, no place to shelter, so I kept going. If the lightning had gotten really close, I might have parked the bike and gotten down into a ditch.

Continuing towards Austin, I could see another cell on course that would intercept my own. As I considered my options I encountered the only rest stop I recall seeing in Nevada, and it had shelter! I stopped and watched the distant storm move across my path. When I rolled into Austin it was clear that they'd gotten a lot of rain in very little time, and I was grateful to have missed it.

At this point, I was thinking Fallon would be my overnight spot. I've stayed overnight in Fallon before, and wasn't really looking forward to it based on that sample size of one. Still, I wanted to get west because I was ready to be home. As I was trying to pound out the miles to get there, I rode past this little RV park by an old Pony Express station called Cold Springs, and noted that they had a motel. I really wanted to get further, but it was good to know it was there.

A mile or two down the road the next storm cell came into view, and I thought, "Fuck this, I'm going to see if they have a room." They did! Nice people. Nice clean, quiet, functional room. Cheap rates. arty They have a restaurant and bar and gift shop. I still had camp food, so I made my own dinner, but I got some beer from the bar, then sat on the covered front porch of my room and watched the storms move through, lightning dancing off the surrounding peaks, and enjoyed the last night of my journey.

Throughout this trip, the milestones of the hero's journey manifested in my experiences; crossing the threshold, meeting mentors, allies, and opponents. I'd already encountered a cyclops. This night, Yoda appeared. How did I know he was Yoda? He had the right bona fides. First, he pronounced Moto Guzzi correctly. Then we started talking bikes and journeys, and the first three bikes he listed that he'd owned were all ones that I'd associate with a true aficionado, Yamaha SRX600, Yamaha XV920, and Yamaha RZ350. All desirable, all demanding, all with limited model runs. This guy was the real deal. He shared the most memorable quote of the trip, "Riding across Nevada is like riding across the moon, except the moon has more trees."

From the porch:

To be continued.

 

[bikewanker]

Sidebar: Nevada is a weird place. It seems to attract folks who have trouble fitting in elsewhere. Is it a need for independence, or just poor social skills? The answer depends upon how you look at it, I suppose. It occurred to me that Nevada is California's Nebraska, or maybe Nebraska is Iowa's Nevada. Take your pick. Apologies to offended Nevadans.

As someone who lives in the other Nevada Cold Springs no offense taken. I appreciate the insight to why I like it here even though it reveals a fractured personality. In my defense I have a room and garage space for occasional interactions.
I grew up in the Kansas City area and once we found Arkansas roads never considered riding north, fortunately I think I’ve got more miles to go.

 

[flying_hun]

As someone who lives in the other Nevada Cold Springs no offense taken. I appreciate the insight to why I like it here even though it reveals a fractured personality. In my defense I have a room and garage space for occasional interactions.
I grew up in the Kansas City area and once we found Arkansas roads never considered riding north, fortunately I think I’ve got more miles to go.

Yeah, I knew that opinion might have been a bit unfair. Just an impression, primarily from my stops in Austin and Eureka.

Regarding the Ozarks, I suspect that might be the best riding around that longitude, and I'm not sure the riding further north would be any "better" than what you had there. I really enjoyed the riding in the Driftless, but I'm not sure it's as good as the Ozarks.

 

[budman]

A great journey lived and told Hun.

From the Motley Crew to the Park named after you a lot of fun

With the scenic beauty of roads never seen for me. Thanks mucho...

 

[Grissom]

I finally took the time to read and listen to your entire ride report - its been awesome

I nominate both yours and @nonemoreblack as reports of the year!!

Your video in post #51 made me feel something inside and I hope to embark on my own transformative journey someday soon as I really could use it

 

[flying_hun]

A great journey lived and told Hun.

From the Motley Crew to the Park named after you a lot of fun

With the scenic beauty of roads never seen for me. Thanks mucho...

Thanks!

I finally took the time to read and listen to your entire ride report - its been awesome

I nominate both yours and @nonemoreblack as reports of the year!!

Your video in post #51 made me feel something inside and I hope to embark on my own transformative journey someday soon as I really could use it

Thank you very much! I appreciate it. Let me know if I can help. I run a tour business that addresses this particular need, you can find more at my website.

Day 21 map

It was still overcast and threatening as I loaded the bike in the morning. It was Friday, and time to get home. When I got on the road, I could feel both the anticipation of getting home, and the regret of the trip ending.

There was a third feeling that is hard to put into words. I think the word is "ineffable", meaning that it defies description, but I will do what I can. As I was accelerating up to speed, I found my field of vision to be incredibly broad, horizon to horizon. It was like what Zen practitioners and some martial artists call "soft eyes". It seemed like I could see everything without looking at anything in particular, and it was all moving slowly. This may be the experience of day after day after day of deep presence, deep meditation, and it was remarkable.

Rolling towards Fallon, I encountered something that many of you have probably seen, but I was unaware of it. There is a long stretch of Hwy 50 east of Fallon, where people have gone out in the desert and have created a type of graffiti in the ditches by using the rocks used for the roadbed to make letters on the sand background. I guess I was vaguely aware that something was going on in the ditches, but it was when the words, "to create a more perfect union", got my attention that I really began to notice. What an odd thing to break through into my consciousness first!

I noticed something else too. You may recall earlier that I'd posted that big cities seem to have their own gravitational pull. That became apparent as I rode west. It's as though a major city and its surrounding area are a solar system. Sun in the middle, and planets surrounding. I could begin to feel the gravity of the Bay Area as I got into Fallon. Traffic became faster, more dense, more aggressive, and maybe even more clueless as I progressed. People seemed to become less friendly, more selfish too. It was kind of a shock, and it only got worse as I got closer to home.

Oh, and the rain. Man, I'm glad the Sierra got some rain, but from Carson City up through South Lake the rain was bringing all the gunk out of the pavement, but the rain hadn't yet been enough to wash it away. That white foam you see when it's really slippery was in evidence everywhere. In many places the entire road surface was white. It was scary, made scarier by the cagers who seemed oblivious to conditions and who gave me very little room. My strong desire to get home overcame my better judgement, and I kept going anyway.

I had been thinking of riding Ebbetts Pass on the way home, but Hwy 89 was washed out near Markleeville, so I chose 88 instead. Even though it was Friday, the traffic wasn't too bad. When it got worse, I got off to stop in Volcano for something to drink before heading down to my son's house in Sac to reunite, and he loaded me up with peaches from his trees. Then it was the grind from Sac to home on Friday afternoon, where my landlady met me with fresh, homemade tacos. Welcome home to California!

I'm still processing the experiences, writing about them here and in my journal, talking about it with friends, and recording a few YouTube videos. I'll include one below that I recorded a few days after my return.

While I am happy to be home, I miss the experiences of the road. In just over a week I'll be heading to the UK to ride there, so maybe that will give me the fix I'm craving. At the same time, I'm beginning to plan a return trip to the Driftless to explore it more completely. Want to come?

[YOUTUBE]qywQvsBvqdg[/YOUTUBE]