Day 1: Flat 4 Tour - Winona, MN

You know how when things are going well you should never say that they are going well because that’s how you jinx yourself? Well, I guess that’s what happened to me although I have no scientific proof of it.

All summer long I kept thinking how lucky we’ve been that every weekend we ride, we either don’t get rained when rain is in the forecast, or get rained on very little, like 5 minutes of rain out of the whole day or we just miss the rain and ride wet pavement for a while. So for all the rain we’ve missed this summer, this weekend we definitely made up for it because instead of thinking it I finally said it. Jinx!

It was another Flat 4 Tour weekend, this time we were heading up to Winona, MN. At 7:15AM the morning was cool in the low 60’s, thick clouds hovered over us as we rode out of the suburbs in to the sticks. An hour later we pulled up to the gas station where the groups were all meeting. The rain started, very light at first. One group of bikes pulled out of the gas station just as we pulled in.

As we gassed up a blackbird pulled in, it was Mark. The three of us took off toward the west. RT20 had a few spots under construction and a bit of traffic also. For a while the rain stopped but as we got closer to Stockton, the skies ahead of us started threatening some big rains, the clouds smooth and sculptured, resembled meringue as in lemon meringue pie, just up side down and very dark navy blue gray.



Delays on Rt 20

The rain started to fall about half a mile before we pulled over in Stockton for gas. We were not rushing at all, then a woman came up to us and informed us there was a motorcade running though town in a few minutes. That could mean further delays, we finished up quick and headed out in to the rain, the fire trucks and police vehicles were already blocking off all the side streets, we just made it out of town in time.

The rain continued at a moderate pace and by the time we reached the Culver’s in Dubuque, my gloves and hands were wet and so were my arms all the way up to my elbows. Somehow water was getting in to my sleeves. This was my first experience wearing my Fieldsheer Adventure jacket and pants in the rain, both are 100% waterproof, it seemed like the rain was possibly coming in though the opening in my gauntlet glove, which has happened before in heavy rain on another jacket.





Culver's parking lot Dubuque, IA

Everyone was already at Culver’s eating lunch when we arrived. Forty five minutes later we were on our way again, the rain had stopped now and I caught a glimpse of the sun for a minute or two, but then the clouds swallowed it up again. This was to be it’s only appearance today.

We rode C9Y, which is supposedly one of best motorcycle roads in Iowa, and part of the Great River Road. This road was under construction for the last couple of years, but now it’ finally finished. I’ve been avoiding it during the construction years, so I almost forgot what a great road it is. My favorite part is from North Buena Vista to Millville, traveling west, this direction allows you to see more of the upcoming curves. The curves here are some nice medium sweepers, nothing tight, but there are hardly any houses or driveways on this section and really nice views of the Mississippi River valley.





Scenic overlook on C9Y with the Mississippi River Valley below

The first section of C9Y north of Sageville has been redone with new “grooved” pavement. The grooves don’t bother me and the shoulder is wider on the new sections, but there is quite a bit of houses along that part of the road. We stopped at the overlook west of Balltown, which is really nice and I do believe it’s new. Actually there are three scenic overlooks here really close to one another, I like the middle one the best.



Iowa’s C9Y





Since the rain had stopped, C9Y was dry, but as we were running the sweepers west of North Buena Vista, I saw a few lightning bolts in the sky not that far away and the skies were dark again in the direction we were going. We arrived at the gas station in Guttenberg just as the skies decided to open up. We waited for the big down pour to pass, but as we left the gas station the rain still kept coming down pretty good, the water running off the roads creating streams and puddles. With enough gas in our tanks to get all the way to Winona, MN we kept going, not even stopping in Lansing at the designated stop. Since we were the last ones to leave Culver’s no one would be there anyway. The rain flowed steady and hard all the way north, my gloves were beyond soaked, and other parts were also wet now. We stopped in La Crescent, MN to just stretch our legs and continued on to Winona. The rain never let up.





Newer grooved section of C9Y

We arrived at the Quality Inn just after 5PM. Even with this wet weather, there were at least 20 bikes here scattered thought the parking lot. The rain continued through the night. We weren’t prepared for a wet walk to the Green Mill for dinner in the wet, so we all took taxis there, embarrassing really since the restaurant is technically “across the street” from out motel.



Our table at the Green Mill restaurant in Winona, MN

We got two large tables and had a good meal. I always order the smoked chicken ravioli when I’m here, and today was no exception. It was yummy per usual. Mike and few others got the ravioli also, since I rave so much about it. We finished the meal with dessert, cheesecake.



Smoked chicken ravioli

Harrison, MI - national enduro race

Today’s event - the 2007 Mosquito Classic National Enduro. We woke up early to the sounds of dirt bikes. By 7AM I was up, making my way to one of the Porta Potties. Of course with hundreds of people here, there was a line. I’m just glad there were porta potties here, the shower or sink I can do without, and I had to do without those last night.



A cool and cloudy morning, two hours before the race



KTM racing and Red Bull

At 9AM the race participants started to trickle to the start line. The cool thing was, the race started right by our camp site. It was nice to watch all the groups ride by without having to go anywhere.



The race is starting



Chris getting ready to take off



Darren's bike took a while to start



Chris and Darren at the starting line



And they are off...



And here are some random shots of people I don't know

















Once the race moved to another area, Mike and I finished packing up and started to get ready to leave. I rode back through the grass portion but couldn’t do the dirt road today. The entry way and the portion going up hill was now torn up and loose from the dirt bikes riding it back and forth, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the road was part of the enduro, and bikes were riding it right now, and so were the trucks, as people went to chase down the next place to watch the race.



The first section of the road was torn up and sandy today

Mike went ahead to investigate the road conditions, he came back saying that only the first portion was bad, the rest was good. With out any further delay, he took off on my bike and I followed behind him on foot, we me half way on foot and he handed me my bike key as he walked back to get his bike. I found my bike pulled over on the other side of the hill parked in someone’s dirt driveway, got on and rode it to the pavement where I waited for Mike.



The nice portion of the dirt road that I got to ride back on

Mike being followed by an enduro racer on the dirt road

We had to get going in a couple of hours but we at least wanted to make it to one of the rest sites where we could see Chris pull in. We rode west then south arriving at such a location. It was a sea of orange clad humans and machines.



There were a lot of KTMs here today



Racing through the woods

We hung out for a while waiting for Chris, but he was already late by the time he got there, so he zoomed past us and kept going, he didn’t have the time to stop and rest.

We had to get going now so we got on the bikes and started heading south, then west to Baldwin where I was finally going to meet someone in “real life” that I’ve know from the message boards for at least the last two or three years. I know Cheryl from two message boards and we have made previous attempts to meet up and ride, but somehow it had never worked out.

Mike and I arrived at the designated gas station on the corner of 10 and 37 at exactly 1PM and five minutes later Cheryl and Don arrived. It was time for lunch, the four of us rode seven miles north on 37 to the Club 37 restaurant.



Club 37 - my chicken burger on the left, Mike's burger on the right

Cheryl and I

Mike checking out to see how Don's topcase fits on his bike

After lunch Don led us on some back roads to the Hardy Dam located in Newaygo at the Muskegon River, one of Michigan’s largest rivers. This dam is the third largest earthen-filled dam in the world and the largest east of the Mississippi River. As we walked the dam Cheryl was our tour guide, telling us stories of the biggest flood on the Muskegon River in 1986.



Checking out the Hardy Dam

Mike and I at Hardy Dam

After riding a couple more back roads, Don and Cheryl escorted us to I-196 in Grand Rapids, where we said our good bye’s just as it started to drizzle lightly. There was rain near Chicago today, which I was hoping not to run in to but it looked like it was closing in on us. Today we didn’t see the sun at all, there were thick rain clouds hanging above us all day, many times I thought it was going to rain but it didn’t. The temperature was cool all day, the highest reading that I saw was 73 degrees.

Riding some back roads, Don's ST1300 and my Duc behind him

Now at 6PM eastern time, I finally put on my rain/quilted liner, to keep me dry and warm when the temperatures dropped tonight. The drizzle didn’t last very long, I-196 was moving nicely and before we knew it we were on I-94. The all the sudden the sun came out and the temperature went up like 20 degrees. The next time to pullover was for gas, and that wasn’t for a while, I unzipped my liner underneath my jacket to let some air in, but it was hot and very humid now, the roads were wet, it had rained here recently and I was still way too hot. The heat finally became too much to deal with so we made an uncheduled stop to get the extra layers off, top of with gas, drink something and continue.

The traffic got heavier as we got closer to Chicago. Around Holland, MI, I noticed that most of the cars on the interstate had Illinois plates. It was just like coming home on Sunday evening from Wisconsin, highways packed full of Illinois residents that get away to their weekend homes in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.

It’s been a long weekend and I was looking forward to getting home already, but the worst was still to come as we got closer to the big city. The I-90 Indiana tollway was packed, as was the Chicago Skyway as well. There was no rest stops anywhere for a while so we decided to stop at the McDonald’s oasis on the skyway and since we were there and it was already late, we grabbed some food also. The traffic was backed up at the toll booths and even though I read the signs “cash only” and “I-pass only” I have never seen a cash toll booth that didn’t accept the I-pass. When we got going again, I decided against passing 4 lanes of traffic to get to the I-pass lanes and sure enough the cash only lanes didn’t accept the I-pass so we had to dig for cash.

Then through the construction again, it was much worse heading home, the ramp from the skyway to I-94/1-90 was stop and go all the way down and the traffic jam continued all the way from there to the I-290 exit. The bike was running hot, I was barely moving at 5-10MPH in first gear, stopping all the time. That just wore me out. Even I-290 had a lot of traffic on it, we arrived at the house at 10PM totally drenched in sweat and exhausted from the traffic and the heat. We did get lucky, all the way from Michigan, the roads were wet but we didn’t see any falling rain, except for some lightening in the background.

It was a fun weekend, packed full of new things, new places and new people. But I'm still shocked by the amounts of people traveling in and out of this state every weekend and all the construction and madness that we have to ride though, especially now that the high gas prices, you would think more people would stay at home.

As for the race today, KTM factory riders Mike Lafferty and Russell Bobbitt, along with Am-Pro Yamaha’s Barry Hawk, tied for the win at 34 points each today at round six of the AMA/FMF National Enduro Series. Lafferty now leads Bobbitt by 11 points in pursuit of his eighth National Enduro Championship.

West coast of Lake Michigan to Harrison, MI

Today we were riding up to Harrison, MI to watch one of Mike’s friends from Louisiana race in the national enduro tomorrow morning. We wanted to leave much earlier but ended up leaving around 8:30AM.

Heading east from Chicago’s western suburbs is a very painful process. It involves tolls, heavy traffic and construction, no matter the time or day of departure; it’s hardly ever a nice experience. It doesn’t even matter which interstate you choose, and we do have a few choices, the result is always the same.

Since we were heading up to Michigan, I wanted to try the I-90 Chicago Skyway again, known as the “shortcut to Indiana”. I took it twice the last two times heading out to Pennsylvania, and it’s a lot shorter route than taking I-249/I-80. But this time, with the construction on the expressway, I was wishing that I was going the long way around.

We started the day by heading in to Chicago, which wasn’t too bad, but the traffic on I-94 south of city was backed up and we spent almost 20-30 minutes creeping and crawling to get to the ramp for the Chicago Skyway. By the time I made it to the ramp, my clutch hand was totally killing me. The hydraulic clutch on the ST3 is one of the toughest to pull in. If it wasn’t for all the construction and the traffic, it would be great ride, especially since I really like the views from the Chicago Skyway. You can see the city of Chicago to the north and the Little Calumet River and Calumet Harbor below, and Lake Michigan to the east. At night, the bridge is nicely lit up.

It is a toll way though. The Chicago Skyway toll bridge costs $2.50 to cross, but it’s pretty unique. It’s a 7.8 mile road that features a 1/2-mile long steel truss bridge, known as the "High Bridge", which is the highest road in Chicago. After approximately four years of construction, the Skyway was rebuilt and completed in 2004. My first time riding it was in 2006, I’m still not very familiar with Chicago’s south side.



Welcome to Michigan

Once we got on I-94 north the traffic was moving nicely. We stopped at the Welcome to Michigan sign, all those trips to Michigan and I’ve never taken a picture of it. There were actually three welcome signs here, the big one over the interstate, a smaller one further down the road and a really nice wooden one at the Michigan welcome center. We stopped there for the bathroom and the place was packed. I grabbed a free map of Michigan, many welcome to centers have free state maps.



Michigan Welcome Center

This welcome center also had free booze today. There was a table set up with free wine samples from one of Michigan’s wineries. Free booze at the rest stop? I’ve never seen that before.



Free wine samples at the rest stop

A first for Michigan

We turned on I-196 and took an exit for 31, then in Holland where we stopped to gas up.
Once we got past the town, 31 looked very much like an interstate. We were flying and making really good time, but all that stopped in Grand Haven.

Here are the headlines from the Grand Haven Tribune website. That first paragraph just says it all, doesn’t it?




Well, let me paint the picture for you. Saturday was the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival and parade, the biggest event in town. 90,000 to 100,000 people lined the streets of the parade route. (That’s the number that was given in the article). Right after the parade is done, the water main breaks under US 31, floods the southbound lanes while at the same time we are coming up in the northbound lanes.

We didn’t know why there was a huge traffic jam at first. While I was inching along with the ST3’s fans on full blast trying to cool the engine down from it’s 213 degrees, I started to notice the banners for the festival and tons of people walking with lawn chairs, so I’m thinking that’s it, there is some festival in town. Once we get past the next couple of blocks it’s smooth sailing.

Then as we creep and crawl some more, I realize the road ahead is underwater. The water was all muddy and at first I couldn’t tell how deep it was. The cars that went ahead of me didn’t look too submerged so I proceeded, at this point realizing there was only about a foot of water on the road, no big deal, until my front tire hit some debris underwater, and I realized that this wasn’t as fun as I though since I couldn’t see the road, there could be some big pot hole or a rock in the way. We were very lucky that the break didn't undermine the two northbound driving lanes, only the southbound lanes were closed and detoured.

We were now behind schedule so we skipped the first scenic leg of the trip and rode north of Muskegon to make up some time. We took an exit at Winston Road and took that to B15, which is the South Scenic Drive. We never did see the Lake Michigan from the road but we felt the coolness of it in the air. Since it was overcast all day, it was almost chilly now and only in the low 80’s or high 70’s. The Scenic Drive was a nice break from the interstate, it is a narrow road, and somewhat bumpy and patched pavement in places. It winds though fields and trees.





Michigan's B15

As we got closer to Silver Lake state park, the area became congested. We pulled over at the Whippy Dip for some food, it was way past lunch already. The food took a while to be ready, as we waited we enjoyed our raspberry smoothie and the vanilla malt. After Mike finished his foot long chili dog and I finished my chicken strips, we realized that we didn’t have enough time to continue north to Ludington. We were going to have to head east at the first opportunity and get on 31 and head east to Harrison, MI so we could be there by dinnertime. Michigan is on the eastern time zone so we were already an hour behind.



Whippy Dip near Silver Lake State Park

Mike's chili dog and my chicken strips

Outside dinning at the Whippy Dip

Lunch stop

Silver Lake along B15

Highlighted in yellow is the portion of B15 we did today

There was a lot of cops on 31 heading east, at least the speed limit is a respectable 70MPH. Near Ludington we turned east on 10. The sun finally came out now and it warmed up right away. Two hours later, including one gas stop, we arrived in Harrison. For anyone that wanted, free camping was available at the Heber Ranch, where the enduro race was starting tomorrow.

At 6:30 PM eastern time we turned on to the road to Heber Ranch. And then I realized that the road was dirt. Not just dirt, that soft sandy dirt. I was tired at this point and wasn’t looking to challenge myself so late in the day. I examined the surface of the road and decided that I, at 115 lbs., and the fact that I don’t flat foot my ST3 and the fact that my ST3 weights 500+ lbs., that together wasn’t a good combination on a dirt-sand road after riding all day. And since we didn’t know how long the road was and how far to the camp sites, we decided for Mike to go alone and get more details, if it wasn’t too far, then I could walk and he could get a ride to my bike from his friend and ride my bike there. That would surely be better then me dumping my bike in the sand.

After a few minutes of waiting I decided to go for it. I just had this feeling that the road went for a while and it would be a big pain to get my bike there with out me riding it. So I collected myself mentally, started up the bike and went. It wasn’t too bad at first, I was riding in the middle of the road where the dirt was packed down harder, then all the sudden I was heading downhill and speeding up, all the sudden I realized that I had to make a right. I got on the brakes and as I descended from the hill I realized that the sand was much deeper here, my back tire started to slide out from under me, I was pretty sure that at some point the bike was going to fall, but it didn’t, I held it up.

The last road of the day is a dirt road, this is the smooth section

Once I was stopped I realized that I overshot the entrance by a couple of feet the turn in to the ranch. The entryway was down in to sand and up on grass, I wouldn’t have even stopped to think about it on my XT225, but on the heavy ST3 it was very scary looking. I didn’t want to make a sharp turn right in to sand, I was so sure I was going to dump the bike now since I didn’t before, but I had no choice as vehicles and bikes were coming in and out of the entry way and now I was in the way.

I turned the handlebars all the way, got on the gas and made the turn almost disbelieving that I was still upright. I rode the grass for a long while until I saw the tents and campers but there were hundreds of them and I had no idea where the camp site was so I called Mike. A few minutes later he and his friend Chris’s came to get me. Their camp was set up on the other side, but I couldn’t ride all the way there. The grass was all matted down on the main drag, but the field where everyone was camping had longer grass, that was just cut and the dry loose ends were still all over the place, also there was a bit of a hill to climb. At this point after my dirt excursion, I was done riding, so Mike rode my bike the rest of the way to the camp site.

After the dirt came the grass

After Mike and I finished setting up our tent, we changed our clothes, then along with Chris and his buddy, the 4 of us pilled in to the van and drove in to town for some dinner. We found a local place called Monte's, the food was pretty good and inexpensive, although this place didn’t serve any liquor.

Our camp site at the national enduro

Dinner at Monte's, my manicotti

Mike's Ribs

The entertainment for the night was the sky. It was a clear night and the stars were out. It’s amazing how many stars you can see away form civilization. First we saw something very bright move cross the sky and we were told that it was the international space station; we later saw two more satellites go by, but not as bright as the first one. I’ve never seen so many in one night. Then, right before going to bed, we saw a meteor.

The temps dropped in to the mid/low 50’s. I had on a long sleeve t-shirt, a micro-fleece shirt and the quilted liner from my Fieldsheer jacket, and my 40 degree sleeping bag and I was very comfortable and didn’t even have to zip myself up all the way.

We did 370 miles today, with all the delays and traffic, felt more like 500 miles :)