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Manwohr 36 Tour

Since my last post, I've been suffering from Vermont withdrawals. After spending Saturday morning finishing up on the beautiful VT roads, I entered Canada. Somewhat shell shocked I believe. The Canadian countryside is pretty enough but what I drove through was not spectacular. It reminded me of Ohio or Indiana only with it's signs in French. I'm sure there must be some real great roads somewhere. I guess I took the wrong route. I've got to say that the Canadian people are some of the nicest, most cheerful people I've seen. It seems like wherever they are, they are super happy to be there.
 
The next day I awoke in Canada psyched and ready for a great ride. The weather was nice. 68˚ and partly cloudy. I fired up the Beemer and headed west on hwy 17 on my way to Sault St. Marie. At about the 100 mile mark, the clouds that I was watching to the west started to become ominous. At 12:30 the first drop of rain hit my windshield and I decided to pull over to put on my foul weather gear. Another 30 minutes later, it was coming down in buckets. Lightening bolts lit up the otherwise dark grey sky. My thoughts immediately went to a story my mailman told me about a buddy of his who went cross country on his motorcycle only to be killed by a lightening bolt in Idaho. It would be too weird for my mailman to have two friends killed the exact same way so I continued on. 68˚ soon turned to 58˚ but the rain only got worse. Just let me make it to the U.S. and it'll all be fine. Then a break. Just as I was approaching the U.S. border the rain stopped. I crossed into the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan and stopped to have a bite. After my meal I Looked to the west and the dark clouds were building once again. Thirty minutes later, I'm in a fight for survival. Thick heavy rain. Gusty winds. Two lane roads. Now I could have pulled over and gotten a hotel right then and there but I was determined to make Wisconsin before stopping. This was to be a defining ride. The temperature had dropped to 42˚ on Ol' Blues ambient temp display. The rain was relentless, but so was I. Heated grips and a heated seat made what I was about to attempt possible. My gear wasn't keeping all the rain out but given the conditions, it did a pretty good job. My gloves were soaked but again, the heated grips kept my hands toasty warm. Make no mistake, this was not a comfortable ride. I'm not sure exactly how long I drove through this cold and nasty stuff, 4, maybe 5 hours. The RT never missed a beat. I arrived in Iron Mountain at around 8pm with the rain still coming down. After checking in at the front desk, I looked back and noticed a huge puddle that had gathered were I had been standing. Went to the room, turned the heat to 90˚ and the fan on high. Slept like a baby.
 

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Today I looked out my Iron Mountain window and the sky was crystal blue. As I went to load up the bike, I was shocked to see just how nasty and dirty she was. You've probably seen what I'm referring to on the cars from up north when they finally make it to a warm climate. Just filthy. Anyway she sparked right up and off we went. My first destination was to go by Crivitz, WI. Our family and our friends family, who actually own the place, have spent a number of summer vacations on 55 pristine acres in a cabin on the Peshtigo River in this cool little town. It seemed so strange driving through the same place all by myself. After a couple of pics, I headed north to route 8 across Wisconsin. Finally, the Autumn leaves that I've been searching for. And all this beauty framing up some damn nice roads. Northern Wisconsin is beautiful this time of year. Crossed into Minnesota at Taylor's Falls and headed north, and around Minneapolis. The weather for today's ride was a bit chilly at 55˚ but otherwise perfect. Except for one strange occurrence at the end of my Wisconsin leg. I stopped to photograph a beaver lodge and as I was finishing up, I noticed a small cloud overhead. All of a sudden a bit of hail fell gently all around me. It almost looked like snowflakes. Not a drop of rain and this gentle hail floating down. Simply beautiful.

I ended today's leg in ND. To me it is the gateway to all things west.

Praying for a safe rest of the ride. Praying for good weather. Missing my family and friends.
 

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I woke up today in ND to the sound of thunder. What? No rain in the forecast.

By the time I had my coffee and went outside the skies were clear. Apparently everything had taken a nice soaking in the early morning hours.

Loaded up and on the road by 7:30 local time. Heading north to Fargo then west on I-94 towards Bismark. As soon as I hit I-94, it hit me. WIND! 45mph gusts out of the northwest. For the next 250 miles I battled some of the worst riding conditions I've ever experienced. When the road was all mine it wasn't as bad, but when overtaking semi's, it got weird. I found it best to accelerate to get past as quickly as possible. Spending too much time in a trucks wind blast, along with the prevailing winds sent the bike all over the place. It was either get blown in front of the 18 wheeler or get blown off the road and onto the median. At the posted 75mph speed limit, neither was acceptable. Obviously. Another practice I employed was to put the windshield down, lay my chest and rest my chin on the tank bag in a full tuck position. In doing this, it prevented the wind from separating me from the handlebars! This also allowed me to get my helmet out of the wind and be able to hear the Akropovic sing.

Thanks Mort.

Finally, I got off the highway and took route 1806 south, with the wind at my back. The road wound south and with any deviation in my direction of travel, by more than 10˚ - 15˚, and the wind would make its presence felt. I battled it all day, 585 miles, relentless.

My stay over stop is in Wall, South Dakota. Tomorrow, I will head back east 20-30 miles on I-90 and into the Badlands.

Up to this point, me and Ol' Blue have traveled approximately 5235 miles. I count 20 states so far. She's been rode hard and put away wet. Always eager to crank up every morning.

What's not to like?
 
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Epic Ride

I'm Hooked! Your pics are great the narritive wonderful. Keep posting my friend and we will keep reading.
Wish I were there with you.
PS. I have Ole Blues brother and we are leaving for the blue ridge tomorrow am.
 
Yesterday, I had no internet connection so I'll do my best to bring it all up to date.

Staying the night in Wall, SD allowed me to get to the Badlands first thing. The sky was slightly overcast as I pulled into the first viewing point. A thought came across my mind that since my dad was such a bad ass, wouldn't it be appropriate to spread some of his ashes here? As I gathered the ashes all of a sudden the light pierced through the clouds and lit up the formations that are unique to the Badlands. Amazing!

With that behind me, I got to the business of the ride.

Riding in the park, every so often, in the distance I'd see various types of animals from prairie dogs to antelope among others and I swore it was some sort of Disney animal-tronics. It wasn't until later that as I was driving by some of these prairie dog mounds, that a bunch of them popped out of the holes and watched me as I went by. You've seen people's heads as they watch a tennis match, well this was the same way these guys watched me. I was cracking up. Then I came around a corner and there were a bunch (herd?) of antelope right by the road. All of these guys were real!

After leaving the Badlands I hopped on over to the Black Hills. The scenery is beautiful and every so often I'd get a glimpse of Mt. Rushmore. The roads are really too tight for any serious sport riding; think of riding you bike inside of your house. Lots of switchbacks, but the roads are narrow with no guardrails or runoffs.

Heading north on route 385, I picked up I-90 to Gillette (think of Juarez, Mexico but in the U.S.) where I got onto route 14/16 into Sheridan, WY

In Sheridan, which is a sweet little town, I walked down to Main Street where they were having a street festival. Live music, bars and restaurants that have a feel from another time, like the 1800's.

Had a few beers and, what else, a great steak dinner.
 

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