glenfiddich
TravelsWithBarley.com
Good to hear you're underway at last. Be sure to keep the weather ahead of you on that iPad!
Pete
Pete
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MD to NV on US 50: Advice, please!
- Thread starter MDCRUISER
- Start date
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
Day 2: Madison IN
What a lovely town Madison is! The ride from Athens was quite windy (gas mileage dropped from 50 to 44) with maybe 30 miles of rain, and the Interstates near Cincy were reminiscent of the DC area, but I love Madison. Photos to come in a couple weeks when I get home, but suffice it to say that in addition to the great pix Eric posted above, I have photos of the considerable part of the town that is currently submerged by the Ohio River.
Lottie Mae B&B is fantastic. Downtown is a delight to explore.
Tomorrow, off to Ste Genevieve MO.
What a lovely town Madison is! The ride from Athens was quite windy (gas mileage dropped from 50 to 44) with maybe 30 miles of rain, and the Interstates near Cincy were reminiscent of the DC area, but I love Madison. Photos to come in a couple weeks when I get home, but suffice it to say that in addition to the great pix Eric posted above, I have photos of the considerable part of the town that is currently submerged by the Ohio River.
Lottie Mae B&B is fantastic. Downtown is a delight to explore.
Tomorrow, off to Ste Genevieve MO.
Hwy 50 in Colorado
I made a run over Hwy 160 (just south of, and parallel to, Hwy 50) in Colorado about 10 days ago. I rode west from I-25, west on Hwy 160, over La Veta Pass and then over Wolf Creek Pass, to Pagosa Springs. The weather was perfect. There was snow on the top of Wolf Creek Pass, but the sky was clear and the highway was perfectly dry. The snow at the top was deep where the snow plows have plowed it off the road.....so deep you couldn't read the sign that they have at the top of the pass, indicating the Continental Divide. (And, if you need a good soaking after many days in the saddle, spend the night at Pagosa Springs and enjoy the natural hot springs).
At the time I was making this ride, the high country west of Denver (across I-70) was getting snow. This pattern is pretty common......snow in the highest elevations, nice at the lower elevations, and further to the south.
So, keep that Hwy 50 option open to Colorado. As posted earlier, Hwy 50 offers some great biking and great scenery!!! If it's questionable when you get to Pueblo, check the highway conditions and maybe you can run over Hwy 160 to the south.
Ride safe,
piperjim
I made a run over Hwy 160 (just south of, and parallel to, Hwy 50) in Colorado about 10 days ago. I rode west from I-25, west on Hwy 160, over La Veta Pass and then over Wolf Creek Pass, to Pagosa Springs. The weather was perfect. There was snow on the top of Wolf Creek Pass, but the sky was clear and the highway was perfectly dry. The snow at the top was deep where the snow plows have plowed it off the road.....so deep you couldn't read the sign that they have at the top of the pass, indicating the Continental Divide. (And, if you need a good soaking after many days in the saddle, spend the night at Pagosa Springs and enjoy the natural hot springs).
At the time I was making this ride, the high country west of Denver (across I-70) was getting snow. This pattern is pretty common......snow in the highest elevations, nice at the lower elevations, and further to the south.
So, keep that Hwy 50 option open to Colorado. As posted earlier, Hwy 50 offers some great biking and great scenery!!! If it's questionable when you get to Pueblo, check the highway conditions and maybe you can run over Hwy 160 to the south.
Ride safe,
piperjim
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
Days 3-4. Set. Genevieve, MO & Clarksdale, MS
Much flooding en route from Madison to Ste. Genevieve. One very close call on Indiana 37 near Paoli, where IDOT stupidly declined to close a road covered with 12 inches of rushing water. Got through in 2nd gear, but if I had stalled I was going to be swept into the temporary lake that surrounded the road... Anyway, Ste Genevieve was great, and the Southen Hotel is a perfect B&B. The route to Clarksdale along the swollen Mississippi led through Missouri and Arkansas. I found the southern 'burbs of Memphis and Tunica, MS to be pretty sorry spots. Clarksdale, however, perhaps the capital of Mississippi's impoverished "black belt", is one of the most fascinating cities I have visited. The Deltta Blues museum is phenomenal, and the Shack-Up Inn (former sharecropper shacks) is far and away the most interesting "hotel" I have ever stayed at in our country. Again, photos to come when I get my iPad home (question to administrators: why can't I upload photos from the iPad?
Much flooding en route from Madison to Ste. Genevieve. One very close call on Indiana 37 near Paoli, where IDOT stupidly declined to close a road covered with 12 inches of rushing water. Got through in 2nd gear, but if I had stalled I was going to be swept into the temporary lake that surrounded the road... Anyway, Ste Genevieve was great, and the Southen Hotel is a perfect B&B. The route to Clarksdale along the swollen Mississippi led through Missouri and Arkansas. I found the southern 'burbs of Memphis and Tunica, MS to be pretty sorry spots. Clarksdale, however, perhaps the capital of Mississippi's impoverished "black belt", is one of the most fascinating cities I have visited. The Deltta Blues museum is phenomenal, and the Shack-Up Inn (former sharecropper shacks) is far and away the most interesting "hotel" I have ever stayed at in our country. Again, photos to come when I get my iPad home (question to administrators: why can't I upload photos from the iPad?
E
Earache
Guest
Ca't wait to see the pics!
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
Day 5: Vanquished by the weather
If you've been reading these posts, you'll know I was to have travelled to Jefferson, TX from Clarksdale, MS today. Alas, my good luck skirting the century's worst storm just came to an end. In Brinkley, AR I've been grounded by 4 inches of driving rain (3 more inches expected tomorrow) and a tornado warning (sirens blaring as I write this from the motel where I was forced to take refuge). I can no longer make it to Vegas in time for the Grand Canyon trip. My wife cancelled her plane reservations, and I will travel home in 2 days when it will be safe to leave Brinkley. Then I'll post my pix.
It's been a great and memorable trip, evev if it was cut short by these awful and tragic storms.
If you've been reading these posts, you'll know I was to have travelled to Jefferson, TX from Clarksdale, MS today. Alas, my good luck skirting the century's worst storm just came to an end. In Brinkley, AR I've been grounded by 4 inches of driving rain (3 more inches expected tomorrow) and a tornado warning (sirens blaring as I write this from the motel where I was forced to take refuge). I can no longer make it to Vegas in time for the Grand Canyon trip. My wife cancelled her plane reservations, and I will travel home in 2 days when it will be safe to leave Brinkley. Then I'll post my pix.
It's been a great and memorable trip, evev if it was cut short by these awful and tragic storms.
glenfiddich
TravelsWithBarley.com
Are you going straight home, or taking an alternative scenic route..?
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
Bob, I'll take a rain check on your hospitality in Silver City!
I had skirted this absolutely incredible weather for 4 days, but my good luck was not to last. By the way, the flooding I've seen on the bike has been unbelievable. And I've become an expert on riding through standing water, though it still fills me with terror.
B
BACKROAD.ADV
Guest
Based on what the weather appears to be doing you might want to consider heading southeasterly (when you can) before trying to head north. It looks like the flood warnings will are coming to an end Monday in late afternoon and early evening. If you elect to do so, by the time you get to Georgia you should be able to swing north and stay out of this nasty weather moving east.
Also, it looks like you are in the worst of it right now.
Best of luck and safe journey home.
WX Forecast to the SE of you
Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. South wind between 10 and 15 mph.
Monday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Tuesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 61. South wind 10 to 15 mph becoming northwest. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 63.
Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 43.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 67. WX
Forecast northeast of you
Monday: Periods of showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 56. North wind between 9 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Monday Night: Showers. Low around 45. North wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 58. North northwest wind around 9 mph.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41. Northwest wind between 5 and 7 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 68. Northwest wind at 5 mph becoming southwest.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 45. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph.
Thursday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. South southwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.
Thursday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph.
E
Earache
Guest
Bummer!
Best of luck with the ride home then - hope you make it dry and safe.
I'll be headign towards teh Grand Canyon June 30 through July 11, you're welcome to come along then if you want to try again.
Best of luck with the ride home then - hope you make it dry and safe.
I'll be headign towards teh Grand Canyon June 30 through July 11, you're welcome to come along then if you want to try again.
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
Thanks. The choice seems to be to go to Birmingham (100 miles of crap today, but B'ham's weather tomorrow is awful) or to wait it out here and head to St. Louis tomorrow... I think that's what I'll do. It's a longer ride home than through Birmingham, but chances are good that the rest of my ride would be rain free. And that's worth an extra day in Brinkley!
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B
BACKROAD.ADV
Guest
All the best on your ride home.
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
It's been a heck of a ride. To recall, my goal was to go down the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys to Vicksburg, then go west to Nevada where I was to meet my wife (she would fly in and together we would ride to the Grand Canyon).
Well, as you surely know, the flood of the centuries (literally) has struck both valleys. I have experienced many flooded out roads, and for three days was myself involved in torrential downpours (I ride in the rain, but this was Noah's Ark rain). I was holed up in Brinkley, Arkansas for 2 days waiting out the rains and waiting for roads to clear of water that was over the axle of my wheels.
Anyway, this prevented me from getting to Las Vegas in time to meet Cynthia's plane. We tried to change her reservation, but Delta wanted $1500. So we decided to cancel the remainder of the trip, and I rode home (arriving home yesterday). Total trip was "only" 2400 miles, not the 4200 miles planned. I saw incredible devastation. I was actually in Cairo, IL when the Army Corps of Engineers blew the levy to save the town, and I saw dozens of Missouri farms flooded in consequence.
I ended up staying in Athens, OH, Madison IN, Ste Genevieve MO, Clarksdale MS, Brinkley AR, Louisville KY and Charleston WV. All (except Brinkley, alas) were highly interesting places.
Attached is a photo of where I stayed in in Clarksdale, MS (home of the Blues).
Feeling great about my trip. There is an old Jewish saying, "Man plans.... G-d laughs". G-d laughed at our plans this year, but I got in a trip I'll never forget.
Well, as you surely know, the flood of the centuries (literally) has struck both valleys. I have experienced many flooded out roads, and for three days was myself involved in torrential downpours (I ride in the rain, but this was Noah's Ark rain). I was holed up in Brinkley, Arkansas for 2 days waiting out the rains and waiting for roads to clear of water that was over the axle of my wheels.
Anyway, this prevented me from getting to Las Vegas in time to meet Cynthia's plane. We tried to change her reservation, but Delta wanted $1500. So we decided to cancel the remainder of the trip, and I rode home (arriving home yesterday). Total trip was "only" 2400 miles, not the 4200 miles planned. I saw incredible devastation. I was actually in Cairo, IL when the Army Corps of Engineers blew the levy to save the town, and I saw dozens of Missouri farms flooded in consequence.
I ended up staying in Athens, OH, Madison IN, Ste Genevieve MO, Clarksdale MS, Brinkley AR, Louisville KY and Charleston WV. All (except Brinkley, alas) were highly interesting places.
Attached is a photo of where I stayed in in Clarksdale, MS (home of the Blues).
Feeling great about my trip. There is an old Jewish saying, "Man plans.... G-d laughs". G-d laughed at our plans this year, but I got in a trip I'll never forget.
rockbottom
Steve
The Shack Up Inn?
MDCRUISER
Ride Safe!
Yup. One of the most interesting places I have ever stayed at in the USA.
Some more pix from the trip are below. The first is the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale. The second is Morgan Freeman's juke joint in the same town. The third was the inside of my "shack." The piano works great. The fourth is a downtown street in Madison, IN, under water.
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