Hello Beemer fans and other motorized single track vehicle fans. We made it through the tropical month of July. I hate to say this, but some of those days had me dreaming of December and cross-country skiing in the Newton Hills!! If you don't know it by now, I hate riding in 100 degree heat index conditions. I have trouble concentrating on my riding, I get drowsy, and it’s just darn right uncomfortable. I know, I know, its summer and we have to expect hot days, but this past month was awful.
Oh well, enough complaining, there are better days ahead. Like Baxter Cycle's Open House in Marne, Iowa, for example, and Hawes Biker Days in Sept. By the way congrats to Larry & Mary on there 50th wedding anniversary. Sorry I couldn't be there, I hate to miss important events like that. It's been a busy summer with family from out of state here for two weeks and everything else going on. To those who did attend, I envy you. I did get to one rally, and that was the BMW-RA Rally at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Several Autobahners were in attendance, and a good time was had by all.
Another motorcycle gathering was held at the Diner downtown on Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, July 28th. This was the first of what many of us hope will continue to happen on the LAST THURSDAY of every month. I guess there isn't a name for it yet, but it is for anyone that likes motorcycles, especially vintage or unique models, and just likes to mingle with other riders. I counted about 40 bikes there with many belonging to Autobahners. It is a non-Harley sponsored night-out for the rest of us who aren't impressed with "chromed-out noisemakers", but still like bikes. I guess that's how I'd best describe it. It’s not a commercial event, just a place and time to "kick back" with fellow or non-fellow riders. Ladies are welcome, too, of course.
There were several Autobahners at the Newton Hills State Park over the weekend for the 32nd Annual Sioux River Folk Festival. Gerald & Sandy Winters, Gary Wilson & daughters & grandchildren, Dale, Romie, & Will Nordlie, and Jan & I were there for this excellent musical event.
I guess that's all I care to yak about for now. See you on down the road.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Motorcycle Trip to Alaska for the Summer - Part 2
“A trip of a lifetime, this rally begins wherever you are and culminates in Dawson City at the Downtown Hotel”
Submitted by Gary Pedersen
First, I apologize for not explaining how I got my 650 fixed in Part 1 (July issue). I took it to Tigard BMW of Western Oregon. Within 10 minutes of arriving at the Service Department they had the bike in the shop. They worked on it for 2 hours, found and fixed the problem and had me on the road. It seems that the computer in the F650GS sometimes decides to “remap” itself. Scary! The tech put all the settings back to where they should be and it runs great. I suppose the “Air-head” guys are now all going: “See, we told you so!”
June 20th. I met my Alaska riding buddy, Tom (who grew up in Junius, SD), in Eagle River at 10:00 and we left for Tok. Tok is only 330 miles so it’s an easy day that starts with a ride up the Matanuska Valley on the Glenn Highway. It’s a reasonably clear day with views of the Chugach Mountains and the Matanuska River on the right, and the Talkeetna Mountains on the left. You could go into scenery overload. From Palmer to Sheep Mountain Lodge is one of the great motorcycle rides in North America. However, the Alaska Department of Transportation is working steadily at changing this part of the road to a great motorhome ride. The DOT projects have removed or straightened hundreds of curves in the last several years. By leaving at 10:00 we arrive at Sheep Mountain Lodge about noon for lunch. Their soup, rolls and pie are legendary. Then it’s on to Glenn Allen for gas, and then on to Tok. The weather has changed to heavy overcast and it will start raining in the next few miles. The first 24 miles of the Tok Cut Off have just had the marbles put on the chip seal. Alaska and the Yukon both use the same method for chip sealing roads. (See picture at left.) A thick layer of oil, and then several inches of ½ to ¾ inch round rock for the surface. You can imagine what this is like to ride on. The temp has also dropped to 40F and it is raining. Just great! With Firstgear Kilamanjaro suits and Gerbings liners we do stay dry and warm. We have never ridden from Glenn Allen to Tok without rain.
June 23rd. We wake up to a torrential downpour. The first thing I do is call my wife and wish her Happy Birthday. Not the best circumstances to wish your wife Happy Birthday. It’s only 195 miles from Tok to Dawson City but most riders spend the night in Tok so they will have an entire day to make the ride to Dawson City. The 195 miles can take from 4 to 10 hours depending on conditions, and the conditions today are bad. The first 74 miles are either paved or chip seal so we’re in Chicken in a little over an hour, even with the rain. The temp is now down to 38F, there is thick fog and the rain is relentless. We arrive at Chicken drenched, and ready for some hot coffee. From Chicken to the border is a sea of mud mixed with bottomless mud pits where the permafrost is pushing clay up through the road. The mud on the surface is like riding on 2 inches of grease on a polished steel plate. It takes us 2 hours and 45 minutes to go the 48 miles to the border. From the border to Dawson City is 66 miles with about 20 of those chip sealed. The rest is more mud! It’s another 2 hours and 15 minutes to Dawson. Yuk! Trying to pick a line to go through the mud is exponentially more difficult due to the fog in the air, the fog on the face shield, and the fog on my glasses. Several riders are down in this stretch, but no one requires hospitalization. I’ve made this run every year since 2002 and this is the worst I have ever seen this part of the road. I guess if it didn’t get like this it wouldn’t be called Adventure Touring. As we start down from the ridges to Dawson the rain finally lets up. While waiting for the ferry to cross the Yukon River I notice that I have a problem. Either my 12 year old Firstgear riding pants are leaking at the crotch, or I relieved myself when I went through one of the bottomless mud pits. Or both? At least the rain has stopped. Dry clothes, coffee, not beer, and I feel much better.
Later that afternoon we notice that we have an interesting development in Dawson City. This is for the record books. There seems to be a large number of people dressed like the Village People walking around the D2D bikes on the street. Besides the 230+ riders in Dawson City for D2D, there are 90 Harley Davidson “owners” in Dawson City. Notice, I did not say HD riders. These 90 HD owners are on a BUS TOUR, a BUS TOUR, of the Yukon and Alaska because everyone knows you can’t ride real motorcycles in the Yukon and Alaska. That was basically a quote from one of the HD owners. They are wearing their leather ON A BUS! They even have special patches commemorating their “Harley Davidson Tour of Alaska and the Yukon.” Someone forgot to tell us, and us includes 3 HD riders, 2 Victory riders and 6 Goldwing riders that made it to Dawson City that you can’t ride motorcycles in Alaska and the Yukon.
June 24th. We wake up to “not a cloud in the sky” and it is going to be warm. The high points for today are the Poker Run and the Banquet. I’m with Joe on check point 5 today for the Poker Run. Check point 5 is at the top of Midnight Dome above Dawson City and because of the rain the day before and the sun today the views are spectacular. Joe’s rear tire is flat when we are ready to leave so he’ll be up later. There are 2 ways to the very top of Midnight Dome from the parking lot at the overlook. The backside has an old trail that the Canada Parks people have tried to make impassible, but not for a GS. The front side is straight up a bluff about 80 feet above the parking lot and is as steep as the middle of a hill climb. Only a couple of riders each year attempt the front hill climb side. Joe arrives and motors up the back trail on his R1100GS. Joe is 74. This year 2 riders came up the front hill climb. They are 20 somethings with 1 on a R1150GS and 1 on a 2 wheel drive KTM. As everyone is complimenting these guys a HD Street Glide comes into the parking lot, downshifts, does a left turn, and comes straight up the hill climb on the same line as the 2 young guys. Now this is a HD rider! After Joe and I are done on the Dome, we head back to the Downtown Hotel. Joe heads into the bar to find the guys with the air compressor and I head to my room to drop of my stuff and then back to the bar to rehydrate. When Joe comes out of the bar his back wheel is missing. He goes back into the bar and someone buys another round, when he comes back to check on his missing wheel it is back on his bike, with a new tire. These are D2D people.
D2D is now too large for any of the available banquet capable places in Dawson City. The Fire Marshall has limited the Opera House to only 150 people, and there are over 230 in attendance this year. We hope to get Diamond Tooth Gertie’s, the casino, for next year but that will be a stretch. The good news is that I ran into Jeff Sar (pic at left.) from the Sioux City BMW Club at the banquet. I haven’t seen Jeff since we ate lunch together at The Dock at Running Water. Since the Sioux City club members are also (well honorary anyway) Autobahners, we’ve had a 100% increase in attendance of Autobahners at D2D. In order to have a similar increase next year there will need to be at least 3 more of you to make the trip. The bike games were over at midnight and the bikes were posted. Jeff now has a “Dust to Dawson 2011 sticker. And he earned it in the mud on Thursday.
June 25th. Another clear, warm day. The Top of the World and Taylor Highways are the best I’ve ever seen. They are still damp from the rain and hard packed like the clay on a flat track oval. Yeeee Hawwwww!!!!!! The bad news is that several riders get carried away and we now have at least 2 that were hospitalized. I have supper with Jeff at Fast Eddie’s in Tok and he heads back to the campground and Tom and I head to the Golden Bear Motel. In the morning Jeff will head home and Tom and I will head back to Eagle River where I have to make amends for missing yet another birthday.
June 26th. There is only a light sprinkle this morning as we head south, and this lets up after about 20 miles. The sun is trying to come out, but the St. Elias Mountains are still covered with clouds. However, a record has been set. The temp is in the 50s and it ISN’T RAINING OR SNOWING! What a pleasant ride. Gas at Glenn Allen, lunch at Sheep Mountain Lodge and on to the curves. Well, some good things do end. It seems that every Ma and Pa Kettle in America is on the road this afternoon. One guy with Washington plates in a Lincoln Navigator is doing 40 mph in the straights and 20 mph on the curves. Sure enough, when one DS passes in a straight section and probably hit something way over 55 mph the Alaska State Troopers were johnny-on-the-spot to point out his errant ways. Tom and I are just patient and take our time.
I’m 7100 miles into this summer’s trip. America is great. D2D 2011 is history. 2012 will be the 20th anniversary of D2D. Now is the time to start making your plans. See you in Dawson City on June 21-22, 2012.
Submitted by Gary Pedersen
First, I apologize for not explaining how I got my 650 fixed in Part 1 (July issue). I took it to Tigard BMW of Western Oregon. Within 10 minutes of arriving at the Service Department they had the bike in the shop. They worked on it for 2 hours, found and fixed the problem and had me on the road. It seems that the computer in the F650GS sometimes decides to “remap” itself. Scary! The tech put all the settings back to where they should be and it runs great. I suppose the “Air-head” guys are now all going: “See, we told you so!”
June 20th. I met my Alaska riding buddy, Tom (who grew up in Junius, SD), in Eagle River at 10:00 and we left for Tok. Tok is only 330 miles so it’s an easy day that starts with a ride up the Matanuska Valley on the Glenn Highway. It’s a reasonably clear day with views of the Chugach Mountains and the Matanuska River on the right, and the Talkeetna Mountains on the left. You could go into scenery overload. From Palmer to Sheep Mountain Lodge is one of the great motorcycle rides in North America. However, the Alaska Department of Transportation is working steadily at changing this part of the road to a great motorhome ride. The DOT projects have removed or straightened hundreds of curves in the last several years. By leaving at 10:00 we arrive at Sheep Mountain Lodge about noon for lunch. Their soup, rolls and pie are legendary. Then it’s on to Glenn Allen for gas, and then on to Tok. The weather has changed to heavy overcast and it will start raining in the next few miles. The first 24 miles of the Tok Cut Off have just had the marbles put on the chip seal. Alaska and the Yukon both use the same method for chip sealing roads. (See picture at left.) A thick layer of oil, and then several inches of ½ to ¾ inch round rock for the surface. You can imagine what this is like to ride on. The temp has also dropped to 40F and it is raining. Just great! With Firstgear Kilamanjaro suits and Gerbings liners we do stay dry and warm. We have never ridden from Glenn Allen to Tok without rain.
June 23rd. We wake up to a torrential downpour. The first thing I do is call my wife and wish her Happy Birthday. Not the best circumstances to wish your wife Happy Birthday. It’s only 195 miles from Tok to Dawson City but most riders spend the night in Tok so they will have an entire day to make the ride to Dawson City. The 195 miles can take from 4 to 10 hours depending on conditions, and the conditions today are bad. The first 74 miles are either paved or chip seal so we’re in Chicken in a little over an hour, even with the rain. The temp is now down to 38F, there is thick fog and the rain is relentless. We arrive at Chicken drenched, and ready for some hot coffee. From Chicken to the border is a sea of mud mixed with bottomless mud pits where the permafrost is pushing clay up through the road. The mud on the surface is like riding on 2 inches of grease on a polished steel plate. It takes us 2 hours and 45 minutes to go the 48 miles to the border. From the border to Dawson City is 66 miles with about 20 of those chip sealed. The rest is more mud! It’s another 2 hours and 15 minutes to Dawson. Yuk! Trying to pick a line to go through the mud is exponentially more difficult due to the fog in the air, the fog on the face shield, and the fog on my glasses. Several riders are down in this stretch, but no one requires hospitalization. I’ve made this run every year since 2002 and this is the worst I have ever seen this part of the road. I guess if it didn’t get like this it wouldn’t be called Adventure Touring. As we start down from the ridges to Dawson the rain finally lets up. While waiting for the ferry to cross the Yukon River I notice that I have a problem. Either my 12 year old Firstgear riding pants are leaking at the crotch, or I relieved myself when I went through one of the bottomless mud pits. Or both? At least the rain has stopped. Dry clothes, coffee, not beer, and I feel much better.
Later that afternoon we notice that we have an interesting development in Dawson City. This is for the record books. There seems to be a large number of people dressed like the Village People walking around the D2D bikes on the street. Besides the 230+ riders in Dawson City for D2D, there are 90 Harley Davidson “owners” in Dawson City. Notice, I did not say HD riders. These 90 HD owners are on a BUS TOUR, a BUS TOUR, of the Yukon and Alaska because everyone knows you can’t ride real motorcycles in the Yukon and Alaska. That was basically a quote from one of the HD owners. They are wearing their leather ON A BUS! They even have special patches commemorating their “Harley Davidson Tour of Alaska and the Yukon.” Someone forgot to tell us, and us includes 3 HD riders, 2 Victory riders and 6 Goldwing riders that made it to Dawson City that you can’t ride motorcycles in Alaska and the Yukon.
June 24th. We wake up to “not a cloud in the sky” and it is going to be warm. The high points for today are the Poker Run and the Banquet. I’m with Joe on check point 5 today for the Poker Run. Check point 5 is at the top of Midnight Dome above Dawson City and because of the rain the day before and the sun today the views are spectacular. Joe’s rear tire is flat when we are ready to leave so he’ll be up later. There are 2 ways to the very top of Midnight Dome from the parking lot at the overlook. The backside has an old trail that the Canada Parks people have tried to make impassible, but not for a GS. The front side is straight up a bluff about 80 feet above the parking lot and is as steep as the middle of a hill climb. Only a couple of riders each year attempt the front hill climb side. Joe arrives and motors up the back trail on his R1100GS. Joe is 74. This year 2 riders came up the front hill climb. They are 20 somethings with 1 on a R1150GS and 1 on a 2 wheel drive KTM. As everyone is complimenting these guys a HD Street Glide comes into the parking lot, downshifts, does a left turn, and comes straight up the hill climb on the same line as the 2 young guys. Now this is a HD rider! After Joe and I are done on the Dome, we head back to the Downtown Hotel. Joe heads into the bar to find the guys with the air compressor and I head to my room to drop of my stuff and then back to the bar to rehydrate. When Joe comes out of the bar his back wheel is missing. He goes back into the bar and someone buys another round, when he comes back to check on his missing wheel it is back on his bike, with a new tire. These are D2D people.
D2D is now too large for any of the available banquet capable places in Dawson City. The Fire Marshall has limited the Opera House to only 150 people, and there are over 230 in attendance this year. We hope to get Diamond Tooth Gertie’s, the casino, for next year but that will be a stretch. The good news is that I ran into Jeff Sar (pic at left.) from the Sioux City BMW Club at the banquet. I haven’t seen Jeff since we ate lunch together at The Dock at Running Water. Since the Sioux City club members are also (well honorary anyway) Autobahners, we’ve had a 100% increase in attendance of Autobahners at D2D. In order to have a similar increase next year there will need to be at least 3 more of you to make the trip. The bike games were over at midnight and the bikes were posted. Jeff now has a “Dust to Dawson 2011 sticker. And he earned it in the mud on Thursday.
June 25th. Another clear, warm day. The Top of the World and Taylor Highways are the best I’ve ever seen. They are still damp from the rain and hard packed like the clay on a flat track oval. Yeeee Hawwwww!!!!!! The bad news is that several riders get carried away and we now have at least 2 that were hospitalized. I have supper with Jeff at Fast Eddie’s in Tok and he heads back to the campground and Tom and I head to the Golden Bear Motel. In the morning Jeff will head home and Tom and I will head back to Eagle River where I have to make amends for missing yet another birthday.
June 26th. There is only a light sprinkle this morning as we head south, and this lets up after about 20 miles. The sun is trying to come out, but the St. Elias Mountains are still covered with clouds. However, a record has been set. The temp is in the 50s and it ISN’T RAINING OR SNOWING! What a pleasant ride. Gas at Glenn Allen, lunch at Sheep Mountain Lodge and on to the curves. Well, some good things do end. It seems that every Ma and Pa Kettle in America is on the road this afternoon. One guy with Washington plates in a Lincoln Navigator is doing 40 mph in the straights and 20 mph on the curves. Sure enough, when one DS passes in a straight section and probably hit something way over 55 mph the Alaska State Troopers were johnny-on-the-spot to point out his errant ways. Tom and I are just patient and take our time.
I’m 7100 miles into this summer’s trip. America is great. D2D 2011 is history. 2012 will be the 20th anniversary of D2D. Now is the time to start making your plans. See you in Dawson City on June 21-22, 2012.
National BMWRA Rally, by Marlin Wolter
Betty & I arrived at Chippewa Falls, WI, Thursday afternoon, July 21, for the BMW Rider Association Rally. We checked into our motel and then went out to the rally sight to check in. It was held at the Northern WI State Fair Grounds, which had plenty of room etc. I didn’t tent this time but I’m sure some of the Rally attendee’s would have liked to see a few more trees for shade.
After we checked in we walked around a little and ran into Tom Meister and Dave Mc Bride. Tom and Dave were relaxing on a bench under a big shade tree close to the Beer Garden (these guys had their priorities straight). We left the grounds and explored Chippewa Falls, looking for a place to eat and get some much needed ice cream. You see “IT WAS HOT”.
Friday morning our phone rang and Gerald Winter was on the phone. They made it OK last night, and do we want to go for a ride together today? I said well it’s going to be hot, but sure we would go. So we met at the Rally site and headed north. It was very pretty scenery but it got hotter and hotter. When we finally got far enough north and decided to start heading back we saw a thermometer that said 99 degrees. It felt good when you were moving but when you stopped for a break “It Was Hot”. I found out later they set a record high temp that day. I’ve only been to two Rally’s this year so far and they both set record high temp’s while I was there, my luck I guess. Anyway we had a good ride and we found some really nice riding roads.
Friday night the Rally had a fish fry which Gerald and Sandy attended, Betty and I dined with the Veteran BMW Riders’ group. They had brats and all the fixin’s for a donation. I like this group, as we meet new people every time we get together. We sit around and tell how we won the war and how we’d win this one. Have to give Mike Johnson credit for keeping this group going and informed, he and his wife do everything. That evening we were beat from the heat. We went back to our air-conditioned room and crashed.
Saturday morning Sandy called inviting us to join them and Gary Johnson and Dale Nordlie for breakfast. “Thanks for the invite” but we weren’t moving too fast. We ate a little later. Saturday was a lot cooler. A weather system went through in the night and dried out and cooled off the air. Betty and I did some shopping and looking around down town in the morning then went for a ride north east of town. That turned out to be a real nice ride also.
Had to get back to the Rally for the Closing Ceremony and the last walk through the vendor area before they closed. We had supper and hung out with our group waiting for the band to start. And “Start They Did”. I will have to say that band had their sh-t together. Just hanging out there and listening was the highlight of the Rally (that’s only my opinion). I’m sure Betty would say the same thing. Oh, yes, the Mason Shoe Factory Outlet Store would probably be her close 2nd highlight.
Sunday we took our time coming home. Had to stop at Lanesboro, MN, for lunch and a walk, then on to Harmony, MN, for a stop at that big Antique Mall. You never know what you might find there.
After we checked in we walked around a little and ran into Tom Meister and Dave Mc Bride. Tom and Dave were relaxing on a bench under a big shade tree close to the Beer Garden (these guys had their priorities straight). We left the grounds and explored Chippewa Falls, looking for a place to eat and get some much needed ice cream. You see “IT WAS HOT”.
Friday morning our phone rang and Gerald Winter was on the phone. They made it OK last night, and do we want to go for a ride together today? I said well it’s going to be hot, but sure we would go. So we met at the Rally site and headed north. It was very pretty scenery but it got hotter and hotter. When we finally got far enough north and decided to start heading back we saw a thermometer that said 99 degrees. It felt good when you were moving but when you stopped for a break “It Was Hot”. I found out later they set a record high temp that day. I’ve only been to two Rally’s this year so far and they both set record high temp’s while I was there, my luck I guess. Anyway we had a good ride and we found some really nice riding roads.
Friday night the Rally had a fish fry which Gerald and Sandy attended, Betty and I dined with the Veteran BMW Riders’ group. They had brats and all the fixin’s for a donation. I like this group, as we meet new people every time we get together. We sit around and tell how we won the war and how we’d win this one. Have to give Mike Johnson credit for keeping this group going and informed, he and his wife do everything. That evening we were beat from the heat. We went back to our air-conditioned room and crashed.
Saturday morning Sandy called inviting us to join them and Gary Johnson and Dale Nordlie for breakfast. “Thanks for the invite” but we weren’t moving too fast. We ate a little later. Saturday was a lot cooler. A weather system went through in the night and dried out and cooled off the air. Betty and I did some shopping and looking around down town in the morning then went for a ride north east of town. That turned out to be a real nice ride also.
Had to get back to the Rally for the Closing Ceremony and the last walk through the vendor area before they closed. We had supper and hung out with our group waiting for the band to start. And “Start They Did”. I will have to say that band had their sh-t together. Just hanging out there and listening was the highlight of the Rally (that’s only my opinion). I’m sure Betty would say the same thing. Oh, yes, the Mason Shoe Factory Outlet Store would probably be her close 2nd highlight.
Sunday we took our time coming home. Had to stop at Lanesboro, MN, for lunch and a walk, then on to Harmony, MN, for a stop at that big Antique Mall. You never know what you might find there.
Instead of The Bohemian Alps Rally, by Brion Hase
June 25th would have normally been the weekend of the Bohemian Alps Rally in Verdigre, but the BMWMOA ON magazine and website reported earlier this spring that the rally had been canceled. By the Monday of June 20th, I knew I was going to need a ride on Saturday and was thinking about camping. Folks had been talking about an informal campout at the Verdigre City Park and Campground, so I called the City of Verdigre to see what was going on. The lady there told me there would be 40 to 50 families camping in the city park there that weekend for a family reunion so I decided that I didn’t want to camp there.
I woke up Saturday morning at 6 AM and it looked fantastic outside… for the first 15 minutes of the day anyway. I still needed a ride. A few minutes after the Big Sioux Rider breakfast with it being heavy overcast, I called Dale Nordlie on his cell phone. Dale said Gary Johnson and he were heading over to look at the Fort Randall Dam, but Gary had to be home by 7 PM. Dale also said that Larry Hawes and Bill Claussen were heading to Verdigre to camp. The weather to the south looked worse so I told Dale I would ride that way from Sioux City and try to run into them somewhere, then maybe drop down to Verdigre to see Larry and Bill.
I got the GS ready and left home about noon. The water from the Big Sioux and Missouri river were nearly touching I-29 as I headed through all the road construction to the Vermillion exit. Figuring I was running late, I hurried to Yankton where after searching around a bit, I went down to the river side park and took some flooding photos. I also got to look at the new and old bridges. From there I followed all the traffic to the Yankton dam where I got a front row parking space below the dam to see what 160,000 CFS looks like leaving the dam. The force of the water coming through the gates of the dam was impressive, but it’s was also one of the most popular tourist attractions in South Dakota at the time.
After taking some photos and looking around for a few minutes, I left the crowds and the water behind and headed towards Pickstown. I pulled off at the Fort Randal Casino to look for Gary and Dale’s bikes and found that the new Casino was open. The new casino looked nice, but I didn’t go in. There was a Pow Wow going on down the hill behind the facilities. I didn’t see any BMW motorcycles in the parking lot, so I headed on.
At the Fort Randall Dam there were signs asking people not to park by the roadway, but to use the visitor’s area. From the visitor’s area one could hike down the dam and watch the water go down the spillway. I decided I would get a better look of the spillway from the Fort Randall Recreation area below the dam. At the gate there was a young college aged gal sitting in a chair, reading a novel, and watching out for people like me… people without a SD park pass. I was able to sweet talk her to let me into the park for a few minutes without paying. I got some nice photos of the park shore and the spillway and generation station in full action.
Next I rode up to the overlook area just west on the south side of the dam were I got some more great photos. After that I headed west on Highway 18 and then down to Spenser, NE, where I intended to take Highway 12 (the “Outlaw Highway”) east to Niobrara. When I got to the turn, the sign said that Highway 12 was closed. I headed south on the detour a few miles and then exited the detour and took the next paved road west, which was appropriately called “Old County Road” on my old GPS. After about 12 miles the pavement, “Old Country Road” ended abruptly. It was only about 22 more miles to get to Verdigre, so I decided to take gravel and hopefully get there in time to have dinner with Larry and Bill. After about 6 miles of really bad gravel, the road was paved again. After this it was a great old road with lots of curves which went directly to the east side of Verdigre.
When I got to the campground the first people I saw were Dale, Larry and Bill. They offered me a beer and a crushed beer can for my side-stand. Well, one beer can was not enough to keep my heavy GS “Pig” from sinking into the soft ground, so the guys threw down 4 more crushed cans and it held. I was guess I was lucky they started without me and had plenty of beer.
After drinking a beer (or two... as I was really thirsty by this point of the day) and some talk, the four of us headed up to what was the Flyway Café in Niobrara. The café was under new ownership and they are still working on a lot of things, including a larger menu and new name. They had built a sandy bank around the restaurant, but it looked like the water still had a ways to go before it would cause any problems for them. We all ordered burgers and had a nice meal. The new owners were really friendly. After dinner we went into town, filled up the bikes, and took some photos of the flooding there. Afterwards we headed back to the campground in Verdigre where we talked for a bit. I didn’t have any camping gear so after saying hello to George Forst, (prior years rally chair) I got back on my bike and headed home.
Riding though Nebraska at night can be… different. Near Verdigre I saw a car which had spun off the road for no apparent reason and slid against a steep embankment. There were plenty of people there and it didn’t look like the car had rolled, so I kept moving. With the 6 lights on the front of “Pig” I was able to see deer out feeding but they were all some distance from the road. I did encounter a raccoon at an unsafe distance, but he quickly got out of the way. Shortly before midnight, somewhere in a flat area of Highway 20, pretty much out of sight of any human dwellings, I passed a 6’ man in a white t-shirt, heading west… on a skateboard. I cannot imagine what the explanation for this would have been had I turned around to ask!!
I got home about 12:30. It was nice sleeping in my bed, but I missed a great night of camping in Verdigre with the Autobahn.
(Check out Brion’s Picasa site with all his flood pictures and more at: www.picasaweb.google.com/brion.hase
I woke up Saturday morning at 6 AM and it looked fantastic outside… for the first 15 minutes of the day anyway. I still needed a ride. A few minutes after the Big Sioux Rider breakfast with it being heavy overcast, I called Dale Nordlie on his cell phone. Dale said Gary Johnson and he were heading over to look at the Fort Randall Dam, but Gary had to be home by 7 PM. Dale also said that Larry Hawes and Bill Claussen were heading to Verdigre to camp. The weather to the south looked worse so I told Dale I would ride that way from Sioux City and try to run into them somewhere, then maybe drop down to Verdigre to see Larry and Bill.
I got the GS ready and left home about noon. The water from the Big Sioux and Missouri river were nearly touching I-29 as I headed through all the road construction to the Vermillion exit. Figuring I was running late, I hurried to Yankton where after searching around a bit, I went down to the river side park and took some flooding photos. I also got to look at the new and old bridges. From there I followed all the traffic to the Yankton dam where I got a front row parking space below the dam to see what 160,000 CFS looks like leaving the dam. The force of the water coming through the gates of the dam was impressive, but it’s was also one of the most popular tourist attractions in South Dakota at the time.
After taking some photos and looking around for a few minutes, I left the crowds and the water behind and headed towards Pickstown. I pulled off at the Fort Randal Casino to look for Gary and Dale’s bikes and found that the new Casino was open. The new casino looked nice, but I didn’t go in. There was a Pow Wow going on down the hill behind the facilities. I didn’t see any BMW motorcycles in the parking lot, so I headed on.
At the Fort Randall Dam there were signs asking people not to park by the roadway, but to use the visitor’s area. From the visitor’s area one could hike down the dam and watch the water go down the spillway. I decided I would get a better look of the spillway from the Fort Randall Recreation area below the dam. At the gate there was a young college aged gal sitting in a chair, reading a novel, and watching out for people like me… people without a SD park pass. I was able to sweet talk her to let me into the park for a few minutes without paying. I got some nice photos of the park shore and the spillway and generation station in full action.
Next I rode up to the overlook area just west on the south side of the dam were I got some more great photos. After that I headed west on Highway 18 and then down to Spenser, NE, where I intended to take Highway 12 (the “Outlaw Highway”) east to Niobrara. When I got to the turn, the sign said that Highway 12 was closed. I headed south on the detour a few miles and then exited the detour and took the next paved road west, which was appropriately called “Old County Road” on my old GPS. After about 12 miles the pavement, “Old Country Road” ended abruptly. It was only about 22 more miles to get to Verdigre, so I decided to take gravel and hopefully get there in time to have dinner with Larry and Bill. After about 6 miles of really bad gravel, the road was paved again. After this it was a great old road with lots of curves which went directly to the east side of Verdigre.
When I got to the campground the first people I saw were Dale, Larry and Bill. They offered me a beer and a crushed beer can for my side-stand. Well, one beer can was not enough to keep my heavy GS “Pig” from sinking into the soft ground, so the guys threw down 4 more crushed cans and it held. I was guess I was lucky they started without me and had plenty of beer.
After drinking a beer (or two... as I was really thirsty by this point of the day) and some talk, the four of us headed up to what was the Flyway Café in Niobrara. The café was under new ownership and they are still working on a lot of things, including a larger menu and new name. They had built a sandy bank around the restaurant, but it looked like the water still had a ways to go before it would cause any problems for them. We all ordered burgers and had a nice meal. The new owners were really friendly. After dinner we went into town, filled up the bikes, and took some photos of the flooding there. Afterwards we headed back to the campground in Verdigre where we talked for a bit. I didn’t have any camping gear so after saying hello to George Forst, (prior years rally chair) I got back on my bike and headed home.
Riding though Nebraska at night can be… different. Near Verdigre I saw a car which had spun off the road for no apparent reason and slid against a steep embankment. There were plenty of people there and it didn’t look like the car had rolled, so I kept moving. With the 6 lights on the front of “Pig” I was able to see deer out feeding but they were all some distance from the road. I did encounter a raccoon at an unsafe distance, but he quickly got out of the way. Shortly before midnight, somewhere in a flat area of Highway 20, pretty much out of sight of any human dwellings, I passed a 6’ man in a white t-shirt, heading west… on a skateboard. I cannot imagine what the explanation for this would have been had I turned around to ask!!
I got home about 12:30. It was nice sleeping in my bed, but I missed a great night of camping in Verdigre with the Autobahn.
(Check out Brion’s Picasa site with all his flood pictures and more at: www.picasaweb.google.com/brion.hase
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The Prez Sez, by Gary Johnson
Hello Autobahners! Wow, it will be July when you read this, and we all know how fast summer disappears after the 4th. I hope all of you had a good 4th.
I'm planning on riding to Chippewa Falls, WI., for the BMWRA Rally. The BMWMOA Rally is just too far away for someone with little vacation time and even less money! I have the new front tire on the old RT and will be putting in the Autolite 3923's and hope everything else holds together for the trip.
I guess you all know about the Hawes' 80th Anniversary coming up (has it really been that long?) That should be fun. It will be a good time to see old and new friends that I haven't seen in awhile. Wow, 80 years! :)
It has been a busy summer, with too little riding time. Too much rain, too much mowing, too many other distractions. Maybe July and August will be better. Keep riding, keep smiling, stay safe.
See you soon. Gary.
I'm planning on riding to Chippewa Falls, WI., for the BMWRA Rally. The BMWMOA Rally is just too far away for someone with little vacation time and even less money! I have the new front tire on the old RT and will be putting in the Autolite 3923's and hope everything else holds together for the trip.
I guess you all know about the Hawes' 80th Anniversary coming up (has it really been that long?) That should be fun. It will be a good time to see old and new friends that I haven't seen in awhile. Wow, 80 years! :)
It has been a busy summer, with too little riding time. Too much rain, too much mowing, too many other distractions. Maybe July and August will be better. Keep riding, keep smiling, stay safe.
See you soon. Gary.
Member Profile - Scott Taylor
I’m Scott Taylor – a recent member to the Autobahn Society. I joined last spring after purchasing a blue and white 2004 BMW R1150GS. I’ve been working at Wells Fargo for the last 12 years as a programmer in student loans. My wife, Marcelle, and I and our two children Autumn (5 years) and Mitchell (4 years) live in Brandon, SD. I’ve been riding motorcycles since I graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1996.
My first bike was a 1992 Kawasaki Ninja 600R, followed by a new red Honda CBR600F4 in 1999. At the time, I had the choice between the CBR600F4 and a red 1999 VFR800 Interceptor. Eventually, I grew to regret not buying the VFR800 because of some of its advantages over the F4. It was more Sport Touring orientated, had a center stand, EFI, and single-sided swing arm. I sold the CBR600F4 about the time my wife and I were expecting our first child. I held out a while, but eventually bought a 2002 Victory V92C in the spring of 2008.
I’ve been interested in cruisers, sport, and sport touring motorcycles for some time, but my focus has since changed to adventure sport motorcycles after reading numerous books and articles and (most notably) watching the “Long Way Round” and “Long Way Down” documentaries with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
The BMW GS has been the favorite motorcycle I’ve owned for a number of reasons. It’s large, comfortable, has heated grips, the saddle bags are great, and it is one of BMW’s most popular models so aftermarket parts and accessories are available. As mentioned earlier, I also appreciate having the center stand which my first bike had and I’ve missed ever since.
I haven’t had much opportunity to tour yet, aside from a trip to the Black Hills in the summer of 2010 for a fresh set of tires at Sturgis BMW and a quick tour through Custer State Park. As I write this, I’m planning a trip to Minneapolis for service at Moon Motorsports and on to Duluth, MN, to visit the Aerostich Rider Warehouse. I plan on purchasing a pair of Darien Pants and (if budget allows) maybe the jacket too. I may also do the North Shore drive along Lake Superior. I look forward to meeting you all in the future.
My first bike was a 1992 Kawasaki Ninja 600R, followed by a new red Honda CBR600F4 in 1999. At the time, I had the choice between the CBR600F4 and a red 1999 VFR800 Interceptor. Eventually, I grew to regret not buying the VFR800 because of some of its advantages over the F4. It was more Sport Touring orientated, had a center stand, EFI, and single-sided swing arm. I sold the CBR600F4 about the time my wife and I were expecting our first child. I held out a while, but eventually bought a 2002 Victory V92C in the spring of 2008.
I’ve been interested in cruisers, sport, and sport touring motorcycles for some time, but my focus has since changed to adventure sport motorcycles after reading numerous books and articles and (most notably) watching the “Long Way Round” and “Long Way Down” documentaries with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
The BMW GS has been the favorite motorcycle I’ve owned for a number of reasons. It’s large, comfortable, has heated grips, the saddle bags are great, and it is one of BMW’s most popular models so aftermarket parts and accessories are available. As mentioned earlier, I also appreciate having the center stand which my first bike had and I’ve missed ever since.
I haven’t had much opportunity to tour yet, aside from a trip to the Black Hills in the summer of 2010 for a fresh set of tires at Sturgis BMW and a quick tour through Custer State Park. As I write this, I’m planning a trip to Minneapolis for service at Moon Motorsports and on to Duluth, MN, to visit the Aerostich Rider Warehouse. I plan on purchasing a pair of Darien Pants and (if budget allows) maybe the jacket too. I may also do the North Shore drive along Lake Superior. I look forward to meeting you all in the future.
Little Flock, Dave McBride & Arkansas, by Tom Meister
“What the flock” do these words have to do with each other?? “What the flock” in deed. I will try to explain.
Dave and I have known each other for over thirty-five years but have never ridden together – anywhere. Dave has a history of dirty, non-shining motorcycles. I on the other hand I like clean, polished motorcycles. So why Dave did this to me has me puzzled??? Was he jealous of my much older but much shinier BMW or of my brand new silver riding jacket? ”What the flock!”
We were both attending the Missouri BMW Rally this last weekend at Crane, Missouri. I wanted to go to Bentonville BMW in Bentonville, Arkansas, to ask some questions and maybe spend some money on my Shiny Red RT. I have never been in this area in my life so I rode down in a group ride. We rode over 90 miles on nice, clean, curvy, PAVED ROADS.
Bentonville BMW served grilled brats and hamburgers. Life is good! I wanted to ask the parts lady some questions about my Shiny Red RT so I got in line – a long line. Finally it was my turn. Parts lady didn’t know the answers about my Shiny Red RT so she put me in 1st place in line #2. Waited some more. Mean while the group ride leaves to return to Crane, Missouri, without me. NOT GOOD. After speaking with the shop manager and not buying anything, my biker buddy Dave walked up and wanted to know if I wanted to ride back with him to Crane. “Why the flock not”, I said to myself, because I really could not have found my way back because of all the different roads – PAVED ROADS - we took to get to Bentonville.
Three BMWs in front of us turned left after leaving the dealer’s parking lot. Dave and Shiny Red RT turned right. “What the flock”, I thought. Oh, well, Biker Buddy Dave has been here many, many times and has a GPS to guide us home. The road ahead looked good, not much traffic, curves, this could be fun. Soon the road narrows and starts to become rougher. Dave pushes on with Shiny Red RT behind him. Then to my horror the road turns to gravel, rough gravel, dusty gravel. Shiny Red RT does not like gravel. I do not like gravel. Dave and his confused companion press on. The ride continues. The road gets rrrrrougher and bbbbbumpier. I am eating dust – Biker Buddy Dave’s dust. We came to a dead end! A “flocking” dead end with a GPS???
The ride continues. Came to an intersection with gravel in all four directions. Biker Buddy Dave is peering into the GPS like it was a magic “flocking” crystal ball. Companion on Very Dusty Red RT wants to use his boot to adjust the GPS or Biker Buddy Dave on the pick of roads. I yell at FORMER Biker Buddy Dave, “Where in ‘flocking’ hell does it say GS on Dusty Red RT???” We continue on for more miles and finally come to a paved road that I remember. Yes, we are on the same road & going in the same direction that we took to Bentonville. The sign ahead of us says we are very near Little Flock, Arkansas, not Crane, Missouri.
Confused rider on Very Dirty Red RT and no longer clean new silver riding jacket wonders “where in the flock” is Little Flock, Arkansas? After many more miles former Biker Buddy Dave turns onto a road I recognize going back to Crane and the rally site.
After arriving home Sunday night I drained all my oils and removed my saddle bags. I have custom made limited edition mufflers on Dirty Red RT. The left one was ready to fall off. If I ever go riding with Biker Buddy Dave again it will be with a “flocking” GS. And Dave can follow me.
Dave and I have known each other for over thirty-five years but have never ridden together – anywhere. Dave has a history of dirty, non-shining motorcycles. I on the other hand I like clean, polished motorcycles. So why Dave did this to me has me puzzled??? Was he jealous of my much older but much shinier BMW or of my brand new silver riding jacket? ”What the flock!”
We were both attending the Missouri BMW Rally this last weekend at Crane, Missouri. I wanted to go to Bentonville BMW in Bentonville, Arkansas, to ask some questions and maybe spend some money on my Shiny Red RT. I have never been in this area in my life so I rode down in a group ride. We rode over 90 miles on nice, clean, curvy, PAVED ROADS.
Bentonville BMW served grilled brats and hamburgers. Life is good! I wanted to ask the parts lady some questions about my Shiny Red RT so I got in line – a long line. Finally it was my turn. Parts lady didn’t know the answers about my Shiny Red RT so she put me in 1st place in line #2. Waited some more. Mean while the group ride leaves to return to Crane, Missouri, without me. NOT GOOD. After speaking with the shop manager and not buying anything, my biker buddy Dave walked up and wanted to know if I wanted to ride back with him to Crane. “Why the flock not”, I said to myself, because I really could not have found my way back because of all the different roads – PAVED ROADS - we took to get to Bentonville.
Three BMWs in front of us turned left after leaving the dealer’s parking lot. Dave and Shiny Red RT turned right. “What the flock”, I thought. Oh, well, Biker Buddy Dave has been here many, many times and has a GPS to guide us home. The road ahead looked good, not much traffic, curves, this could be fun. Soon the road narrows and starts to become rougher. Dave pushes on with Shiny Red RT behind him. Then to my horror the road turns to gravel, rough gravel, dusty gravel. Shiny Red RT does not like gravel. I do not like gravel. Dave and his confused companion press on. The ride continues. The road gets rrrrrougher and bbbbbumpier. I am eating dust – Biker Buddy Dave’s dust. We came to a dead end! A “flocking” dead end with a GPS???
The ride continues. Came to an intersection with gravel in all four directions. Biker Buddy Dave is peering into the GPS like it was a magic “flocking” crystal ball. Companion on Very Dusty Red RT wants to use his boot to adjust the GPS or Biker Buddy Dave on the pick of roads. I yell at FORMER Biker Buddy Dave, “Where in ‘flocking’ hell does it say GS on Dusty Red RT???” We continue on for more miles and finally come to a paved road that I remember. Yes, we are on the same road & going in the same direction that we took to Bentonville. The sign ahead of us says we are very near Little Flock, Arkansas, not Crane, Missouri.
Confused rider on Very Dirty Red RT and no longer clean new silver riding jacket wonders “where in the flock” is Little Flock, Arkansas? After many more miles former Biker Buddy Dave turns onto a road I recognize going back to Crane and the rally site.
After arriving home Sunday night I drained all my oils and removed my saddle bags. I have custom made limited edition mufflers on Dirty Red RT. The left one was ready to fall off. If I ever go riding with Biker Buddy Dave again it will be with a “flocking” GS. And Dave can follow me.
Motorcycle Trip to Alaska for the Summer by Gary Pedersen
(Ed.Note: Gary lives in Chester, SD,and spends his summers in Alaska working as a guide.)
I left Chester May 26th for this year’s trip to Alaska. I found a new short cut and my first stop was the Spam Museum in Austin, MN. The museum is on the “should do list” for anyone going to or from the Money Creek Rally. It is actually interesting - for me anyway. But then I do keep Spam in my tank bag.
After the Spam Museum I headed south to Anamosa, IA, and the National Motorcycle Museum. This museum is a definite MUST DO for anyone reading this article. There is a Super 8 Motel across the street and Wapsipinicon State Park is nearby for those who prefer to tent it. I spent three hours in the museum and then headed in the general direction of Indianapolis. I spent most of the afternoon on roads that weren’t on my map and spent the night in Rantoul, IL. The best part of the day was the absolute lack of wind. I had no idea how much trouble the wind would be for the next several days.
I got to Indy on Saturday at noon and helped with the preparations for the Saturday night party. The people that I stay with live about a mile from the front gate of the Indy 500 Track and Saturday night is a big deal. The race was great as always with several of the antique race cars used as honorary pace cars this year.
I left Indianapolis early May 30th and headed back to Chester. By 10:00 am the cross wind was terrible. I had no idea that the cross wind would last until Missoula. I stopped at a couple of rest areas to ease the pain in my neck from hanging onto the handle bars. My mileage had dropped to 45 mpg, and that is very bad for an F650GS. I know what Gary Johnson was dealing with.
I had just worked my way through a large group of lemmings as I was coming to Iowa City (lemmings: a large group of vehicles traveling as a pack on the Interstate at the same speed). I noticed a DS (DS is the politically correct abbreviation for a dumb s--t) in a four door S10 Blazer on the ramp with a box spring and mattress on the roof with one orange tie down on it. The DS will get to the Interstate in front of me if I don’t speed up considerably. As the DS gets under the overpass and hits the wind the box spring and mattress pop up at about a 45 degree angle to his roof. When I get far enough ahead to check my mirrors, sure enough, the tie down breaks and the box spring and mattress each land in a lane. In my mirrors I see vehicles in the ditch, the median, the word FORD (reversed) on the tailgate of a pickup, and lots of dust. I did not stop.
I spent the day riding west until my neck got stiff and then north for a ways, then west, then north. I finally ended up on I-90 and was out of north. As I was coming to Blue Earth, MN, I could see a huge black, green and blue wall with lots of psychedelic light flashes to the west. That can’t be good. It was 5:30 pm so I stopped at a Dairy Queen for something to eat and to check the news and weather. No radio, no TV, but one of the other customers had an I-Phone and checked the weather for me. The radar screen on his phone was also wild and the voice on the phone was talking about grapefruit sized hail and wind gusts in excess of 80 mph east of Mitchell. I knew I couldn’t make Chester before the storm so I stayed in Blue Earth that night.
May 31st I got to Chester about 10:30 am for my scheduled pit stop. I changed the oil and filter, changed the chain and sprockets (yes Toto, this BMW has a chain), changed the rear tire, did laundry and went to supper at Buffalo Trading Post. This is a culinary delight that I suspect many of you have missed. Tuesday nights are 50 cent taco nights at Buffalo Trading Post and the tacos are a reasonable size and quite good. Bet you can’t eat just one. I spent Wednesday getting the house ready for summer and visiting my mother-in-law and my folks.
June 2nd I left for Portland, OR, another shortcut on my way to Alaska. Our youngest son had called and wanted to know if I could detour through Portland. He had just bought a 2005 R1200GS and wanted to ride to Alaska with me. Another BMW convert from the sport bike set. Yes! The wind was again against me as I headed west. I had also tried 511 on the phone for some non-interstate roads and every road that I was looking at was closed due to flooding. I spent a boring day on I-90 noticing a lot of high water and stayed in Gillette, WY, that night.
June 3rd my 650 decided to have issues. It didn’t want to start cold, and once warmed up it didn’t want to idle. I had again checked 511 and again the roads I wanted to take were closed to either flooding or too much snow. I started at 6:00 am to get out before the wind, but it didn’t work. The wind was already up. I hate wind. I stayed on I-90 all day and spent the night in Missoula.
June 4th, the 650 was having issues again, but what a great day to ride. Lolo Pass is open!!! I got to do Lolo Pass for the 4th time and I finally got it right. The first three times didn’t count. Why? Twice in my mega cage (motorhome) and once in my little cage (Saturn SL) really don’t count. I found myself doing 60 to 65 mph several times coming out of corners which is not good in a 45 to 50 mph speed limit area. I have always seen ID Highway Patrol Cars on Lolo Pass, but I was lucky and did not get a formal written welcome to ID. I got to Graingeville, ID early in the afternoon and was able to spend the night with a retired friend and fellow BMW rider from Alaska.
We left West Linn Thursday afternoon, June 9th, and stayed in Seattle that night at his girlfriend’s apartment. We went from Portland to Seattle on back roads and probably beat the I-5 time by hours.
June 10th was on to Canada and the land of good roads. When we got to Cache Creek, BC, we almost didn’t get a place to stay. There was a weeklong celebration in progress call Graffiti Days. There were 300 to 500 hot rods and race cars in town, along with what looked like a very large RCMP convention. We each had “some” beers with supper and then went out to look at the cars. There was a gathering of the owners under our motel window and the owners wouldn’t take no for an answer. We had several more beers. The Canadians are a friendly bunch, eh.
June 11th we were back on the road and stopped at Smithers, BC, for the night. We had supper in a microbrewery/restaurant. They made four beers on site so we ordered a sampler. Each sample was a 12 oz. glass. Great place. We stopped about 90 miles short of Watson Lake for about an hour for a forest fire. At Watson Lake, my favorite place, The Air Force Lodge was full so we ended up in one of the more questionable motels.
June 13th was a long day, 640 miles. When we were getting gas at Destruction Bay there were 2 Harleys out front and 2 riders in the dining area. One was from Faulkton, SD, and one was from Willow Lake, SD. We had supper at Burwash Landing and got to watch a guy catch 2 very large lake trout from the dock. My son ordered the 24 oz schnitzel that he was sure was caribou. We got to Tok, AK about 11:00 pm. I normally wouldn’t have ridden that far, but we had reservations at the Golden Bear Motel and putting the frost heaves between Burwash Landing and the border behind us was good.
June 14th, the last day out, we only had 330 miles to go and only about 30 of those were under construction. We talked to another father and son group from IL at Glenn Allen when we got gas and coffee. We had lunch at Sheep Mountain Lodge and then rode on to Eagle River and the end of a great trip.
I must say, to ride with an ultra-marathon runner who happens to be a professional photographer was interesting. At each gas stop he was on his cell phone with his work, had to eat a large meal, and photo stops were always at least 30 to 45 minutes. To take this trip with one of my sons was the best motorcycle trip I have ever taken.
I left Chester May 26th for this year’s trip to Alaska. I found a new short cut and my first stop was the Spam Museum in Austin, MN. The museum is on the “should do list” for anyone going to or from the Money Creek Rally. It is actually interesting - for me anyway. But then I do keep Spam in my tank bag.
After the Spam Museum I headed south to Anamosa, IA, and the National Motorcycle Museum. This museum is a definite MUST DO for anyone reading this article. There is a Super 8 Motel across the street and Wapsipinicon State Park is nearby for those who prefer to tent it. I spent three hours in the museum and then headed in the general direction of Indianapolis. I spent most of the afternoon on roads that weren’t on my map and spent the night in Rantoul, IL. The best part of the day was the absolute lack of wind. I had no idea how much trouble the wind would be for the next several days.
I got to Indy on Saturday at noon and helped with the preparations for the Saturday night party. The people that I stay with live about a mile from the front gate of the Indy 500 Track and Saturday night is a big deal. The race was great as always with several of the antique race cars used as honorary pace cars this year.
I left Indianapolis early May 30th and headed back to Chester. By 10:00 am the cross wind was terrible. I had no idea that the cross wind would last until Missoula. I stopped at a couple of rest areas to ease the pain in my neck from hanging onto the handle bars. My mileage had dropped to 45 mpg, and that is very bad for an F650GS. I know what Gary Johnson was dealing with.
I had just worked my way through a large group of lemmings as I was coming to Iowa City (lemmings: a large group of vehicles traveling as a pack on the Interstate at the same speed). I noticed a DS (DS is the politically correct abbreviation for a dumb s--t) in a four door S10 Blazer on the ramp with a box spring and mattress on the roof with one orange tie down on it. The DS will get to the Interstate in front of me if I don’t speed up considerably. As the DS gets under the overpass and hits the wind the box spring and mattress pop up at about a 45 degree angle to his roof. When I get far enough ahead to check my mirrors, sure enough, the tie down breaks and the box spring and mattress each land in a lane. In my mirrors I see vehicles in the ditch, the median, the word FORD (reversed) on the tailgate of a pickup, and lots of dust. I did not stop.
I spent the day riding west until my neck got stiff and then north for a ways, then west, then north. I finally ended up on I-90 and was out of north. As I was coming to Blue Earth, MN, I could see a huge black, green and blue wall with lots of psychedelic light flashes to the west. That can’t be good. It was 5:30 pm so I stopped at a Dairy Queen for something to eat and to check the news and weather. No radio, no TV, but one of the other customers had an I-Phone and checked the weather for me. The radar screen on his phone was also wild and the voice on the phone was talking about grapefruit sized hail and wind gusts in excess of 80 mph east of Mitchell. I knew I couldn’t make Chester before the storm so I stayed in Blue Earth that night.
May 31st I got to Chester about 10:30 am for my scheduled pit stop. I changed the oil and filter, changed the chain and sprockets (yes Toto, this BMW has a chain), changed the rear tire, did laundry and went to supper at Buffalo Trading Post. This is a culinary delight that I suspect many of you have missed. Tuesday nights are 50 cent taco nights at Buffalo Trading Post and the tacos are a reasonable size and quite good. Bet you can’t eat just one. I spent Wednesday getting the house ready for summer and visiting my mother-in-law and my folks.
June 2nd I left for Portland, OR, another shortcut on my way to Alaska. Our youngest son had called and wanted to know if I could detour through Portland. He had just bought a 2005 R1200GS and wanted to ride to Alaska with me. Another BMW convert from the sport bike set. Yes! The wind was again against me as I headed west. I had also tried 511 on the phone for some non-interstate roads and every road that I was looking at was closed due to flooding. I spent a boring day on I-90 noticing a lot of high water and stayed in Gillette, WY, that night.
June 3rd my 650 decided to have issues. It didn’t want to start cold, and once warmed up it didn’t want to idle. I had again checked 511 and again the roads I wanted to take were closed to either flooding or too much snow. I started at 6:00 am to get out before the wind, but it didn’t work. The wind was already up. I hate wind. I stayed on I-90 all day and spent the night in Missoula.
June 4th, the 650 was having issues again, but what a great day to ride. Lolo Pass is open!!! I got to do Lolo Pass for the 4th time and I finally got it right. The first three times didn’t count. Why? Twice in my mega cage (motorhome) and once in my little cage (Saturn SL) really don’t count. I found myself doing 60 to 65 mph several times coming out of corners which is not good in a 45 to 50 mph speed limit area. I have always seen ID Highway Patrol Cars on Lolo Pass, but I was lucky and did not get a formal written welcome to ID. I got to Graingeville, ID early in the afternoon and was able to spend the night with a retired friend and fellow BMW rider from Alaska.
We left West Linn Thursday afternoon, June 9th, and stayed in Seattle that night at his girlfriend’s apartment. We went from Portland to Seattle on back roads and probably beat the I-5 time by hours.
June 10th was on to Canada and the land of good roads. When we got to Cache Creek, BC, we almost didn’t get a place to stay. There was a weeklong celebration in progress call Graffiti Days. There were 300 to 500 hot rods and race cars in town, along with what looked like a very large RCMP convention. We each had “some” beers with supper and then went out to look at the cars. There was a gathering of the owners under our motel window and the owners wouldn’t take no for an answer. We had several more beers. The Canadians are a friendly bunch, eh.
June 11th we were back on the road and stopped at Smithers, BC, for the night. We had supper in a microbrewery/restaurant. They made four beers on site so we ordered a sampler. Each sample was a 12 oz. glass. Great place. We stopped about 90 miles short of Watson Lake for about an hour for a forest fire. At Watson Lake, my favorite place, The Air Force Lodge was full so we ended up in one of the more questionable motels.
June 13th was a long day, 640 miles. When we were getting gas at Destruction Bay there were 2 Harleys out front and 2 riders in the dining area. One was from Faulkton, SD, and one was from Willow Lake, SD. We had supper at Burwash Landing and got to watch a guy catch 2 very large lake trout from the dock. My son ordered the 24 oz schnitzel that he was sure was caribou. We got to Tok, AK about 11:00 pm. I normally wouldn’t have ridden that far, but we had reservations at the Golden Bear Motel and putting the frost heaves between Burwash Landing and the border behind us was good.
June 14th, the last day out, we only had 330 miles to go and only about 30 of those were under construction. We talked to another father and son group from IL at Glenn Allen when we got gas and coffee. We had lunch at Sheep Mountain Lodge and then rode on to Eagle River and the end of a great trip.
I must say, to ride with an ultra-marathon runner who happens to be a professional photographer was interesting. At each gas stop he was on his cell phone with his work, had to eat a large meal, and photo stops were always at least 30 to 45 minutes. To take this trip with one of my sons was the best motorcycle trip I have ever taken.
Notes From A Rally Virgin (Hiawatha Rally) by Gordon Courbat
On Friday, June 3rd, Jerry Zeeb and I met Dale Nordlie, Izzy Szkok and his wife Deb at Pilot and we headed out for The Hiawatha Rally at Money Creek Campground in Minnesota. At 8 am the weather looked pretty promising with the usual 30+mph winds. For most of the way I was following Izzy who was pulling a trailer with his R1200RT. When I saw him suddenly lurch to the left or right I braced myself for a turbulent gust of wind and did my best to ride through it. As I have mentioned to some of the coffee crowd since then, it is a strange and tense feeling when you are passing a semi while battling strong cross winds. As you approach them from the rear there is a sudden turbulence that grabs you and tries to push and pull you back and forth. Then as you near the back of the cab it sucks you in for a few seconds before blowing you in the opposite direction as you speed on past them. Hang on and throttle up was my best way of dealing with it. Man, dirt track racing was relatively safe compared to this. Was I having fun yet? Well, I kept telling myself, “I think I am”. All was going along pretty well until we neared the I-35 crossing at Albert Lee when it started to sprinkle and then it turned to rain as we rode into Austin. It’s kind of fun riding in the rain as long as you can see where you are going. I got a kick out of people’s expressions as you passed them in their cars. They look at you like you are “nuts”! And, it occurred to me that maybe they were right?! Oh well, as long as you get a little rush and have some fun, right?
Somewhere after leaving I-90 and turning onto Hwy. 16 we stopped for lunch at Tootsie’s. After eating we stepped outside and the sun was now shining bright and the humidity had shot up quite a bit. From here on the roads got more interesting as we wound our way around the twisties leading into Money Creek. The campground and facilities were really nice and pretty well filled up as we arrived. The Autobahn group was camped out right near the entry so we didn’t have to look for them.
(I’ll try to shorten this up for all of you who have attended these rallies and know the routines.) Pitch the tents, take a break and have a beer, discuss the day’s journeys, drink some more beer, etc., etc. and look forward to dinner time. Vege soup and hotdogs……. and some more beer. Worked for me, although I’m not a big drinker. It’s not that I don’t like it, I just don’t handle it well. Especially when I’m around bikes. Great people, enjoyable conversation and just a relaxing good time.
Sunday morning I woke up about 6am looking forward to some hot coffee and a little breakfast to start the day. As I headed toward the pavilion I met some people returning from there who said an electrical breaker had blown during the night and those big urns of coffee were stone cold. Wouldn’t be ready for quite a while yet. Oh well, go back to camp and start getting things together was my next thought. Back at camp I grabbed my towel and toilet items and headed for the shower. By the time I got back to the tent some of the others already had tents torn down and their bags packed. How did they do that so quickly? I expected everyone would be sitting around drinking coffee, shooting the bull and getting ready for the day ahead. Wrong! These guys were packed up and ready to roll?#* What was the rush, we had all day? Maybe I’m just a slow starter.
In summary: Naturally, after I get home I pull out the program prepared by the BMW Owners Club of Minn. and learn about all the events that I missed. Polish Cultural Institute, Ed’s Museum, Harmony Toy Museum, etc., etc. And I am told, let’s not forget that this is the area where the world’s SPAM is made! There was one opportunity missed .
All in all a great time, wonderful people and a lot of neat bikes. I realize I was caught up in the mechanics of the thing (how to tie all that camping stuff on this damn bike, I just bought an air mattress but no pump, will my saddle bags leak in the rain, how do you keep from having such a sore butt and so on). With a little more practice I can figure this thing out. Hope to see you at another rally one day soon and I’m always open to your helpful suggestions. Enjoy the wind in your face, the beautiful scenery flying by and the comfort in knowing that the next gas stop is coming up soon. Be safe and enjoy the ride.
Somewhere after leaving I-90 and turning onto Hwy. 16 we stopped for lunch at Tootsie’s. After eating we stepped outside and the sun was now shining bright and the humidity had shot up quite a bit. From here on the roads got more interesting as we wound our way around the twisties leading into Money Creek. The campground and facilities were really nice and pretty well filled up as we arrived. The Autobahn group was camped out right near the entry so we didn’t have to look for them.
(I’ll try to shorten this up for all of you who have attended these rallies and know the routines.) Pitch the tents, take a break and have a beer, discuss the day’s journeys, drink some more beer, etc., etc. and look forward to dinner time. Vege soup and hotdogs……. and some more beer. Worked for me, although I’m not a big drinker. It’s not that I don’t like it, I just don’t handle it well. Especially when I’m around bikes. Great people, enjoyable conversation and just a relaxing good time.
Sunday morning I woke up about 6am looking forward to some hot coffee and a little breakfast to start the day. As I headed toward the pavilion I met some people returning from there who said an electrical breaker had blown during the night and those big urns of coffee were stone cold. Wouldn’t be ready for quite a while yet. Oh well, go back to camp and start getting things together was my next thought. Back at camp I grabbed my towel and toilet items and headed for the shower. By the time I got back to the tent some of the others already had tents torn down and their bags packed. How did they do that so quickly? I expected everyone would be sitting around drinking coffee, shooting the bull and getting ready for the day ahead. Wrong! These guys were packed up and ready to roll?#* What was the rush, we had all day? Maybe I’m just a slow starter.
In summary: Naturally, after I get home I pull out the program prepared by the BMW Owners Club of Minn. and learn about all the events that I missed. Polish Cultural Institute, Ed’s Museum, Harmony Toy Museum, etc., etc. And I am told, let’s not forget that this is the area where the world’s SPAM is made! There was one opportunity missed .
All in all a great time, wonderful people and a lot of neat bikes. I realize I was caught up in the mechanics of the thing (how to tie all that camping stuff on this damn bike, I just bought an air mattress but no pump, will my saddle bags leak in the rain, how do you keep from having such a sore butt and so on). With a little more practice I can figure this thing out. Hope to see you at another rally one day soon and I’m always open to your helpful suggestions. Enjoy the wind in your face, the beautiful scenery flying by and the comfort in knowing that the next gas stop is coming up soon. Be safe and enjoy the ride.
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