raptorrider

MY ducati buddy and i are on vacation the week of Aug. 23 and have been discussing going to Colorado for some rocky mountain riding. Our location is Omaha, Fremont area of eastern edge of Nebraska. Going across Neb. on Interstate 80 can be a challenge, because of heavy semi-truck traffic. They peel of through Wyoming however, mostly as I70 Colorado is a truckers nightmare across the mountains. We are fairly firm on our plans, but are also considering going to the Arkansas ozarks.

autoteach

keep me i the loop

autoteach

so, in talking with my buddy, I think that I will be making a trip to denver, then to yellow stone, then to mount rushmore, and then back to wis. The days will probably go:
day 1- iron but to denver/colo springs (1000 + miles)
day 2- rest/ Pikes Peak
day 3- yellow stone(600+)
day 4- mount rushmore or slightly before (300-500 depending on stop)
day 5- wis (880-1000)

I know it grew in length, but why not knock out 3000 miles in a week.

autoteach

I think that we are planning, atleast right now, on leaving Sheboygan, WI on august 13 at 10:00pm. That way we can knock out the dark stuff while we are fully with it and get into Denver about the time we should eat, shower, and sleep. This is all tentative, as my buddy is unemployed and flexible, and it really doesn't matter when I take off work.

autoteach

Well, due to various reasons, this trip is being bumped to the following week. We will be leaving thursday the 20th. Anyone interested?

autoteach

just got back. I ended up changing the trip because my bud backed out the day before. I did 2771.1miles (per gps), all but 200 in 4 days. Today I did 900ish. I could easily have done the 1000 the last day, but no way on the first day. I feel like a wimp though...
ran into two lady lovers riding two up on an r1200r bmw, they did 1500 miles in 36 hours. I ran into a bmw gs rider that had been on the bike for 3 years and 6 continents. He had extra tires, a top box the size of a ice chest, and every thing that you would need to circumnavigate the planet.
i will post pics when I have a chance

Liquidogged

Sounds like an awesome trip. Pics!

autoteach

I wasn't able to take the time to shoot pics during most of the trip because it was a stop and gas, or as they have the gas stations out west, Kum and Go.

If you soom in on the bic on the on ramp, you will see it covered in shiz. That is the bmw gs guy. I should have gotten pics of the bike up close, you would have pooped. The pic of me at the "heads" was taken by "the bull". She was very nice and talkative. She said that I should just keep on filling the tank until I had an iron butt in. (this after going through wyoming in 100 degree heat and gusting winds). I didn't take any pics of the bike loaded, unfortunately. I will throw the crap back on tomorrow and shoot a pic.

autoteach

Oh yeah. on a further note:
the best state that I rode through during the whole trip. The one that had the cleanest, coolest air, The all around most enjoyable roads (back roads and I-system), the best fuel mileage, great scenery almost all the time (not to be confused with some plateaus and then barren wasteland for hundreds of miles), the most trees, and the one I enjoyed riding in the best, was ............
Wisconsin.
here are the rest in order of enjoyment:

2. SD-the ride to Mt rushmore was great, very much like the riding on NC's famed roads.
3. Colorado Mts- separating the mts from the east half and denver for good reason. Riding up towards Vail was cool (both physically and scenic). The bike didn't like the elevation so much, but that is what happens when you are tuned for 500 ft and pass 11,500ft through the tunnel.
4. A tie- Nebraska and Iowa- how much corn can one person look at. The good thing was the mild temperatures and seeing green (foliage) as well as the occasional lake (even though most were private)
5. Illinois- dodging traffic gives you something to do
6.Minnesota- its really nothing to get excited about. It is void of anything that might keep you awake when you are 600 miles into your day. The highway is just highway.
7. Denver and east CO- east CO sucks, its hilly and brown. Not a cool brown, like you went away for a summer and the neighbor forgot to water the grass. Denver blows because the sun is ten inches away, as it would seem, and the pavement gets so hot on 225 when its moving at 25mph that your legs feel like they are actually burning. Its like driving through town otherwise, one that doesn't end. I ended up strafing traffic to keep my legs chilled to 180degrees.
8. Wyoming- ???????? whiskey tango foxtrot! So, the eastern portion is alot like SD, the middle (by Kaycee and on the way up towards Gillette) is barren. Its void of anything remotely resembling life. I stopped for food at a subway, yeah i was surprised that they had one, and asked the girl behind the counter what she was doing here. She laughed and said she knew exactly what I was talking about. It was 97+ and blowing windy hot n nasty. This was the worst!

Now, its likely that I have offended some of you out there in no man's land. I won't apologize. I won't call it God's country, because one would assume that would be a place that one should go. What I will offer is a place to stay. Anyone, anyone that is an active part of this forum, is welcome to come and stay at my place while they ride WI. There are plenty of states that have better twisties, some might have more monuments (I could explain the whole lack of national monuments/parks in Wisconsin, but that is another story), but you have to ride it to know what I am talking about. The state park system is extensive, and the worst road won't disappoint you for 400 miles, more like half a tank until you find what you came for.

This was a rewarding ride and vacation, I am just saying that I wouldn't ride to these locations for riding's sake (at least from WI to any of these, maybe fly or take a car with AC)

autoteach

no straps as this was after the journey...

Redone

If anyone ever wants to ride across either Nebraska or Wyoming....

The obvious Interstates on the south side of these States are an endurance contest. When I do them, for the sake of time, it's in a car with the CD reading me a book.

But, the obvious two lanes across the top edge of the State are pretty good. The one in Wyoming is quite scenic at the East and West ends (the very middle- not so much), and the one in Nebraska not bad at all, hills, forests, even some curves. The difference between these and the Interstates is night/day.

I know of no cure for Iowa.

autoteach

Well, i rode 80 to CO, and 25 north to 59 to 90, headed east and so on. I will say that there is some ok riding in IA around DBQ, but that is all I will say. Someone will have to speak up on there states behalf.

I made a comment to some motorcycle guys about the trip-
There are many places with roads worth riding but few are worth riding to. I suppose that would be diff if I had a GL1800, but I can only guess.