Yesterday I rode in the Flint Hills. It was just a great day for a ride with the temperatures in the upper 60’s to low 70’s. My kind of riding day. I went west of Topeka on I-70 about 8 miles then took the Vera road exit and headed south through the country on rock roads. I came to and intersection and went west to Boot Hill road and then went south again. As I reached the top of a large hill I stopped to take some pictures of the countryside. This is Jeffery Energy Center about 25 miles away.
The rolling hills of the Flint Hills.
I came to a small cemetery that I had stopped at before. I got off and took a picture of a grave and while stooped over a turkey flew out of the weeds and it about scared me to death.
Some of the roads had large rocks on them.
Then I came to this area where not many had traveled because grass was growing on the road.
I soon found out why no one was traveling this road.
I wanted to check this out before I ventured down the hill so I walked down a ways to see if I wanted to try it. This is what I saw.
Well I decided I could probably make it if I picked my way down and didn't go too fast. The problem with the GS is low gear is not slow enough to suit me. With 6 gears low should be slower IMHO.:evil
I made it to the bottom with much bouncing around and stopped to check out the mud. It didn't look too bad so I went through. This is what it looked like looking back up the hill.
There were many birds out enjoying the nice day too. I saw doves, finches, red tail hawks, turkeys, kingbirds, cardinals, flycatchers, killdeer and other birds.
Here are pictures of a male scissor tailed flycatcher.
So it was a great day for a ride and I made it home safely. The only damage was the loss of my garage door opener I had attached to the bike. Darn! Now I need a new one.
Monday, May 18, 2009
A Ride in the Flint Hills
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Preparing for Alaska Trip
My plans are to leave Topeka June 8, 2009 for my second trip to Alaska. In July I purchased a 2005 BMW 1200GS for this trip. I have rode about 6,000 miles on it since purchased and many of these miles have been on rock and gravel roads to become familiar riding it on roads similar to Alaska. Since I purchased it I added the following farkles:
Russell Day Long seat
Aeroflow clear half faring
Aeroflow headlight cover
Happy Trails panniers
Marsee Tank bag
Kaoko throttle control
Jesse luggage rack
Garmin GPS
Sirius satellite radio
Coleman hydration bag and probably a few things I forgot about.
But before I head for Alaska I should have a shake down cruise so I did a Saddlesore 1000 from Topeka to Wakins, CO and back this week. I made the trip in 16 hours for 1031 miles. Since I was riding hard I only averaged 37 mpg which wasn’t very good.
I left Topeka at 4:11 am on Thursday May 7 on I-70 in a light rain. I don’t like riding in the rain, especially in the dark, so I rode about 65 to 70 to begin the trip. There are many deer in our area and I don’t like surprises. By the time I got to Salina, which is 100 miles, I was getting cold so I pulled up an exit ramp and put on another jacket. I noticed quite a lot of water on the seat and didn’t think it was raining that hard. I wiped it off and away I went.
As I got west of Salina the rain quit and daylight began to appear so I cranked it up to about 77mph and tried to maintain a speed about there. I sure miss the cruise control I had on my K1200 LT. I have the Kaoko throttle control but it’s still not a cruise control but did give me a chance to let go of the throttle and give my hand a rest. Just west of Salina there is a huge wind charger farm and they were hardly turning so there was not much wind.
Some people don’t like these but I think they are rather fascinating to watch. Some of these are right next to the road. I went on to Russell that is about 180 miles from Topeka and stopped for gas, potty break, coffee and a couple of sausage McMuffins. The temperature was 59 degrees.
I headed on west on I-70 trying to maintain 77mph. This area is pretty flat and if the wind blows, which it usually does, it can be a tough ride. Today was a good day however. There are spots where there are trees and some low areas where deer cross. In the east bound lane a semi was the side of the road and a Trooper behind it. The semi had struck a deer and it was stuck in the grill. Glad it wasn’t me! My next stop was at Goodland for gas and a short potty break. I was now about 335 miles into the trip.
I headed on west into Colorado. I was getting thirsty and picked up the tube from my hydration bag and nothing. I knew I put about two liters in it. Maybe that is why my seat was so wet! That was my first equipment malfunction. I have the Sirius radio and my Garmin connected to a MixIt 2 and have ear buds to listen to both of them. It makes the time pass quicker if I can listen to some music. The time changes just west of Goodland to Mountain Time. As I was coming to the Watkins exit I stopped and took some pictures, I thought. The camera was on video so no pictures. Another malfunction. Darn! So when I pulled into Watkins, CO which was my turn around place it was 11:02 MDT. I fueled up and purchased a large bottle of water and a Snicker bar. I checked the Coleman Hydration bag and the drinking tube was loose on the bottom so I screwed it in tight and filled the bag with water. That fixed the first malfunction.
I thought I sent a Spot signal but turned on the tracking instead. I called my wife at work and she said she received a Spot message at 4:11 AM when she checked her email. That was the time I fueled before leaving.
Well time to head home. So far I feel pretty good. I drive cars for a dealership in Topeka and make trips to Denver and back in about 16 ½ hours and it is 1,100 miles. The furthest I have ridden a motorcycle before today was 832 miles. I had some wind in Colorado but not terrible. I made a move to adjust something and my music quit coming out of one ear. I fiddled with the connection where the ear buds plug into the MixIt and that seemed to be where the problem was. Darn, no music! The third malfunction. It was starting to warm up so I pulled off a ramp and took off my Aerostich rain gear and put on my Olympia mesh gear. Ah, much better! My next stop was Goodland again where I fueled up. Then it was on to Russell where I fueled and ate a burger. Around Hays and Russell the temperature rose to 90 degrees and was still 89 when I went through Salina. I really enjoy coming from the west on I-70 towards evening. East of Junction City you enter the Flint Hills of Kansas and they are especially beautiful in the evening in the spring. Many burn the pastures to kill the cedar trees and to get rid of the old growth of grass. When the pastures green up like now, you can see the rolling hills of green grass with cows grazing. On top of some of the hills you can see for 20 to 30 miles. I love the views. Next stop was home and when I fueled it was 8:02 PM just shy of 16 hours with driving time of 14.02 hours and average driving speed of 73.5mph.
The Russell Day long is a great seat. My butt did not get sore. My neck and shoulders sure hurt though. I really like the Aeroflow windshield and half faring. It keeps the wind from beating me to death. My odometer showed 1021 miles and the Garmin 1031 miles.
So I sent in the paperwork for the Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 and hope to be added to the list of “Worlds Toughest Riders”. I don’t know how some of them can do this for 11 days though. Now they are Tough! Of course I am 66 so maybe in my younger years?
A very bug splattered windshield.
Everything seemed to be okay with the bike and the oil level was still full. I will need a new rear tire before heading to Alaska. I can do away with the MixIt and plug the ear buds direct to the Sirius radio and if I need direction I can plug the ear buds to the Garmin. So that is the way I will use it for now. It frees up a pocket in the Marsee tank bag for other things more important. I am glad I made the trip and will probably not try another 1000 miles trip unless I need to get somewhere quick.
Russell Day Long seat
Aeroflow clear half faring
Aeroflow headlight cover
Happy Trails panniers
Marsee Tank bag
Kaoko throttle control
Jesse luggage rack
Garmin GPS
Sirius satellite radio
Coleman hydration bag and probably a few things I forgot about.
But before I head for Alaska I should have a shake down cruise so I did a Saddlesore 1000 from Topeka to Wakins, CO and back this week. I made the trip in 16 hours for 1031 miles. Since I was riding hard I only averaged 37 mpg which wasn’t very good.
I left Topeka at 4:11 am on Thursday May 7 on I-70 in a light rain. I don’t like riding in the rain, especially in the dark, so I rode about 65 to 70 to begin the trip. There are many deer in our area and I don’t like surprises. By the time I got to Salina, which is 100 miles, I was getting cold so I pulled up an exit ramp and put on another jacket. I noticed quite a lot of water on the seat and didn’t think it was raining that hard. I wiped it off and away I went.
As I got west of Salina the rain quit and daylight began to appear so I cranked it up to about 77mph and tried to maintain a speed about there. I sure miss the cruise control I had on my K1200 LT. I have the Kaoko throttle control but it’s still not a cruise control but did give me a chance to let go of the throttle and give my hand a rest. Just west of Salina there is a huge wind charger farm and they were hardly turning so there was not much wind.
Some people don’t like these but I think they are rather fascinating to watch. Some of these are right next to the road. I went on to Russell that is about 180 miles from Topeka and stopped for gas, potty break, coffee and a couple of sausage McMuffins. The temperature was 59 degrees.
I headed on west on I-70 trying to maintain 77mph. This area is pretty flat and if the wind blows, which it usually does, it can be a tough ride. Today was a good day however. There are spots where there are trees and some low areas where deer cross. In the east bound lane a semi was the side of the road and a Trooper behind it. The semi had struck a deer and it was stuck in the grill. Glad it wasn’t me! My next stop was at Goodland for gas and a short potty break. I was now about 335 miles into the trip.
I headed on west into Colorado. I was getting thirsty and picked up the tube from my hydration bag and nothing. I knew I put about two liters in it. Maybe that is why my seat was so wet! That was my first equipment malfunction. I have the Sirius radio and my Garmin connected to a MixIt 2 and have ear buds to listen to both of them. It makes the time pass quicker if I can listen to some music. The time changes just west of Goodland to Mountain Time. As I was coming to the Watkins exit I stopped and took some pictures, I thought. The camera was on video so no pictures. Another malfunction. Darn! So when I pulled into Watkins, CO which was my turn around place it was 11:02 MDT. I fueled up and purchased a large bottle of water and a Snicker bar. I checked the Coleman Hydration bag and the drinking tube was loose on the bottom so I screwed it in tight and filled the bag with water. That fixed the first malfunction.
I thought I sent a Spot signal but turned on the tracking instead. I called my wife at work and she said she received a Spot message at 4:11 AM when she checked her email. That was the time I fueled before leaving.
Well time to head home. So far I feel pretty good. I drive cars for a dealership in Topeka and make trips to Denver and back in about 16 ½ hours and it is 1,100 miles. The furthest I have ridden a motorcycle before today was 832 miles. I had some wind in Colorado but not terrible. I made a move to adjust something and my music quit coming out of one ear. I fiddled with the connection where the ear buds plug into the MixIt and that seemed to be where the problem was. Darn, no music! The third malfunction. It was starting to warm up so I pulled off a ramp and took off my Aerostich rain gear and put on my Olympia mesh gear. Ah, much better! My next stop was Goodland again where I fueled up. Then it was on to Russell where I fueled and ate a burger. Around Hays and Russell the temperature rose to 90 degrees and was still 89 when I went through Salina. I really enjoy coming from the west on I-70 towards evening. East of Junction City you enter the Flint Hills of Kansas and they are especially beautiful in the evening in the spring. Many burn the pastures to kill the cedar trees and to get rid of the old growth of grass. When the pastures green up like now, you can see the rolling hills of green grass with cows grazing. On top of some of the hills you can see for 20 to 30 miles. I love the views. Next stop was home and when I fueled it was 8:02 PM just shy of 16 hours with driving time of 14.02 hours and average driving speed of 73.5mph.
The Russell Day long is a great seat. My butt did not get sore. My neck and shoulders sure hurt though. I really like the Aeroflow windshield and half faring. It keeps the wind from beating me to death. My odometer showed 1021 miles and the Garmin 1031 miles.
So I sent in the paperwork for the Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 and hope to be added to the list of “Worlds Toughest Riders”. I don’t know how some of them can do this for 11 days though. Now they are Tough! Of course I am 66 so maybe in my younger years?
A very bug splattered windshield.
Everything seemed to be okay with the bike and the oil level was still full. I will need a new rear tire before heading to Alaska. I can do away with the MixIt and plug the ear buds direct to the Sirius radio and if I need direction I can plug the ear buds to the Garmin. So that is the way I will use it for now. It frees up a pocket in the Marsee tank bag for other things more important. I am glad I made the trip and will probably not try another 1000 miles trip unless I need to get somewhere quick.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)