2008 US Trip

My friend Kermit travelled from DC to Oregon, up through Canada and back to DC. 16 Days of fun.

I thought it would be fun to post our exploits, and the details of the trip.

It was 7300 miles of fun on the notoriously "un"reliable R1200 GS, both with original everything, including Antenna Rings, Final Drives, and Servo-Brakes! Time to put my butt where my mouth is, as my normal 20K + miles a year just doesn't seem to do it! :-)

Feel free to e-mail me at:

jimvonbaden@msn.com

Jim (AKA Jim Von Baden)

Over the next few weeks my friend Kermit and I are going to take a little trip. The plan is to head out of the DC area on Friday the 11th and head west to the ocean, then north to the mountains, the east over the Great Lakes, and home.

Because I am into photography, I plan on taking a lot of pictures, and posting them here. I also plan on posting some interesting trip tidbits along the way, as well as thoughts and meanderings. I hope to post regularly when I have internet access.

The bikes:

Trip information:
Distance: 5,000-7200 miles

Time: July 11-27 (17 days)

Route: Roughly from DC to Mt Rushmore, then on to Tillamook, OR. From Tillamook up through Seattle, WA into Canada, through Banff, then across the Great Lakes in Canada, and back to DC. This route is variable depending on our moods, weather, and time.
Bikes:

2005 and 2006 R1200GS with 45,000 and 52,000 miles respectively.The 2005 R1200GS has the following equipment: Jesse Odyssey Saddle Bags JC Whitney Top Case Cortech SuperMini tank bag on SWMototech Mount Garmin 2610 GPS on a custom mount iPod Nano with S-plugs Ohlins Shocks Avon Distanzia Tires Hella FF50 Driving Lights Motolight conspicuity lights P3 LED lights, and Brake LED tail light Rick Mayer Seat Removed hand guards, stock windscreen and Cee Baileys Wind Wings Hepco and Becker Crash Bars Kaoko Throttle Lock Rock Stompa foot pegs Hammerhead shifter TT Dash cover and dash plate
The 2006 R1200GS has the following equipment: Factory Saddle Bags Givi Top Case Marsee Corona tank bag on Marsee Mount Garmin 2610 GPS on a Migsel mount Ohlins Shocks Avon Distanzia Tires Hella FF50 Driving Lights Brake LED tail light Sargent Seat Removed hand guards, stock windscreen Hepco and Becker Crash Bars Kaoko Throttle Lock Fastway foot pegs SPOT Satellite Tranciever

TO TAKE WITH ME LIST:Gear:

Mesh jacketMesh pants Frog Tog Jacket and pants Gerbing liner & CONTROLLER!! Summer gloves Rain cool gloves Rain Glove covers Balaclava Additional Water proof bag

Electronics:

Camera\w lensesComputer and charger/BMW Eprom Flashlight Batteries AA Nikon camera CPAP, mask and power cords iPod and charger Blackberry and charger Cell phone and charger

Clothes:

Various t-shirts and shortsSocks Skivvies Long sleeve shirt 1 pair jeans Tennis shoes Cap Mesh bag for drying clothes Toiletries

Bike Supplies:

Tire gaugeTire repair kit Tire inflator pump Full tool Kit Tank bag Extra ear plugs Spare key Water bladder Bug Spray

Paperwork:

Bike insurance paperworkBike registration paperwork Passport/creds KOA/Allstate paperwork

Just a few hours before we go, and boy do I need a vacation!!!!

Here is a map of out possible route:

I say "possible" because it might be that we decide to venture off in other directions based on whim and weather, time and just how much fun we are having!

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Jim

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Day 1 July 11th 2008

Commentary to come tomorrow if I am not so tired. (I was too tired)

Jim

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Day 2 July 12, 2008

Not a bad second day considering we got slammed with seriously hard rain for the first few hours out of Indianapolis. Otherwise the weather was not bad, and we made great time.

Here is a shot of the clouds just before they opened up for the second time!

Along the way a speedo/GPS shot.

How I felt after dinner tonight.

Cool shot of Kermit behind me.

For Tina, Peoria, IL

Cool IL rest stop.

A gas break in Iowa, cool dirt track cars. Reminded me of when I was a kid.

Awesome windmills! Speaking of wind, we had such a headwind that our gas milesage went from 43 to 33 for this leg of the trip.

The end of day two in Worthington, MN. 708 miles felt much better than the previous 625! Maybe we are getting numb.

More tomorrow from Sturgis, SD.

Jim

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Day Three: July 13, 2008

Long, long, lonely roads.

From Worthington, MN to Sturgis, SD 518 miles, with lots of stopping, and a total of 1849 miles in three days.

The following are some shots of the day. The first is the general view of the road for most of the ride.

And what was apparently the main crop!

At breakfast we came across this cool rig. How can you go wrong with Jack Daniels?

At lunch we stopped to take a look at the Corn Palace. There was advertising for nearly 300 miles for this place:

We decided not to go in.

Another icon was Wall Drugs, similarly billboard advertised for many miles, it looked like it was worth stopping.

Imagine our surprise when we were parking and Paul Mihalka pulls up! Needless to say we had lunch with him. He was coming back towards DC from the BMWST UnRally.

In front of Wall Drugs, yes there was a tiny drug store in there, we saw Tina, or what looked like her bike.

Off to the badlands near Rushmore. Very cool looking.

A little further on we came to Mt. Rushmore. Damn $20 parking, plus entry fee and we decided to just take a few shots by the road.

After Rushmore we went to the Crazy Horse monument. $5 each to get in, and very cool!

The finished schupture compared to present completion.

The man responsible for the concept was Sculpture Korczak Ziolkowski, who was a very accomplished talent. One of his schulptures.

Another shot of the ride, though not nearly as dull as I make it out.

In all, about 1000 bugs killed, 520 miles done, and bonding with a friend accomplished.

The daily tally!

Jim

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Day 5 July 13, 2008

Not too much to report today. We rode from Sturgis, SD to Butte, MT, via Wyoming.

From the Wyoming border to Butte we did over 500 miles of open road, mostly rolling hills, and saw not one cop!

Great high speed roads, virtually no traffic, and lots of bikes going both ways. We saw a bunch of BMWs heading towards Gillette, and passed through there. This must be a favorite motorcycle road judging by the number of bikes, many HD, and nearly � with no helmets!

We had breakfast at Donna�s Diner. Very good breakfast, and a nice small town feel.

There is a reason Montana is called �Big Sky Country�. Long roads, expansive vistas, and great riding.

The mountain roads were fun too, but few and far between.

Along the way we stopped at the Little Big Horn museum and had an ice cream!

So, at the end of the day, is this my GPS�

or, is this?

Just a few bugs along the way. Rain, crops, and cows, made for a mess of bugs. Anyone who has ridden with me knows how much I hate bugs, but this ride made them tolerable!