| Author | Message | ||
     Whatever |
Day One Lift off July 2 at 9 AM... Madison WI to Saint Ignace MI 422 Miles  Packed light with one pair of cargo pants... one pair of rain pants and one pair of heavy riding pants... couple of t-shirts, one sweat shirt and rain gear... and best of all gore tex boots... and winter riding gloves...  Crossed through northern Kettle Morraine Area around Dundee, which has some nice twisties... passed Road America... stopping in Elkhart Lake for lunch...  Being a long time cheese head, I failed to pack a Wisconsin map... I wandered around a bit and ended up going into Manitowoc before Green Bay... oops... Stopped to pick up some Harley oil for the bike... and found this cute little Royal Enfield at the dealership... picking up oil was probably the brightest idea I had on this trip...  The road to Marinette sucked some but at least I beat the holiday traffic... now I was on the map...  Made Escanaba fairly quick... checking out the downtown marina and light house... unfortunately the Coast Guard museum was closed...  By this point I had to push it a little bit... my butt was pretty sore, but I wanted to make the Soo by the night in case I decided to do the north around Superior Loop... I stopped at St. Ignace, just east of the Mackinac Bridge... found a spot to crash... around 7 PM my time and 8 PM Yoop Time... had some nice fresh Lake Trout for dinner... | ||
| Whatever |
Day Two Soo and Marquette July 3 at 9 AM... Saint Ignace MI to Marquette by Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario 272 Miles  I managed to get up and get breakfast at a cool little cafe in downtown St. Ignace... "Best Lil Cafe in the Straits"...   Decided to check the oil on the City X... it was low... very low... so I filled her up... then I thought I might have over-filled her so I bought some hose for a siphon just in case... oops... Wanted to go to Canada for a cappucino... and customs was a long hot wait... I was sitting on the bridge about in hour just baking... so I snapped a few photos...but they were nice and let me pass...  Didn't find a decent coffee house, but I did spot an off road golf cart trail.... Hell if it is good enough for golf carts... the Buell can handle it... but I passed the putting green and high tailed it towards a nice looking cliff...  Only problem was the big chunks of talus in the road... and I parked it so I wouldn't have to embarass myself by dropping the piglet...  Upon closer inspection I found... a fault... the Superior region is a failed rift system... one of the oldest on earth... and I found these nice slickensides with serpentine on them... I am parked on the "down" side and the cliff face is the "up" side... you can run your hands on them and the direction that is smooth is the direction of the movement of the rocks... the direction that is rough on the hands is the opposite... or micro fractured result of resistance to the movement...  (Message edited by Whatever on July 09, 2010) | ||
| Whatever |
After US customs I was fried... good thing all I brought back was a rock... the customs guy was kindof a dick... but he let me pass anyhow... What does it look like I am doing? Riding my bike! Simple isn't it? I went to check out the Soo Locks... Lake Superior is approximately 25 feet higher than Lake Huron... so the big boats have to go through the Soo Locks... Looking North East  Looking North West  | ||
| Whatever |
It was hot... and I was feeling a little grumpy... but the lake was on my right and I was passing through the Bay Mills Indian Reservation when I saw the Dancing Crane...   And I managed to procure a double shot of home roasted fresh espresso over ice... oh yeah baby... this is what I am talking about...  One of the owners was making it tough to leave by giving me samples of all the iced blended drinks he was making... kinda felt like an alcoholic trying to leave a bar...  (Message edited by Whatever on July 09, 2010) | ||
| Whatever |
And we all know what happens when you drink too much coffee... it kinda gets things moving... if you know what I mean... so an hour later I pulled into the creepiest spot of the trip... The rest stop from hell... One car and no one around... turned on the cell and no reception... and NO ONE around... and I had to pee... so I snapped a few photos just in case I disappeared... the hairs were standing up on the back of my neck...  And then I got outa there...   | ||
| Whatever |
It was hot as poop on a griddle when I turned towards Marquette... and it was a challenge to find a hotel in town on a holiday weekend... but I found a place... and in the process... the orange "V" light lit up... check engine... engine over heating... Talked to a few friends that night and thought I might have to exact a rescue... but let it sit over night and the light went off in the morning... | ||
| Whatever |
Day Three July 4 at 8 AM... Big Bay, Houghton, Copper Harbour, Ontanogan, Silver City 312 Miles  Drove up to Big Bay in the morning... it was cool and isolated on the way to the Big Bay lighthouse...   I found a cup of coffee at Big Bay Outfitters and had a great talk with the owner about the death of the Crandon Mine and Kennecott... Kennecott has mineral rights on the KBIC Indian Reservation and has begun the process of destroying one of the last great places of the Midwest...  Honestly, officer, I was only doing thirty...   This building was the county seat before it was a shop... so my friendly owner threw me in jail for a photo op... but then he let me out and I was on my way... (Message edited by Whatever on July 09, 2010) | ||
| Whatever |
About an hour later outside of KBIC and L'Anse the demon "V" light came back on... I made a few calls and checked the oil... The piglet had eaten 2/3 quart of oil in ONE DAY !!!  I was very dissapointed I may miss Copper Harbour... but Steve said the XB's eat a lot of oil the first 5K and I was at about 3K at this point... I fed it more oil... picked up extra oil... and babied the bike up to Copper Harbour... and the light went away...  Copper Harbour was a zoo and the coffee house was closed so I went to a busy bar and got a large iced tea to pick me up... it started to rain... there would be no place to stay and I was not about to eat, which would only make me sleepy... so I was off... The gore-tex boots were superb, but my crotch was soaked... although I had new "top of the line" Tourmaster rain gear... I was glad that things cooled off a little bit though...  I seen a black bear outside of Ontanogan, thank god, from a distance and found a place on the shore in Silver City... where I watched a glorious sunset over Lake Superior... (Message edited by Whatever on July 09, 2010) | ||
| Whatever |
Day Three July 5 at 8 AM... Silver City to Lake of the Clouds, Minocqua Wisconsin to Madison WI 370 Miles In the morning I checked out the backyard beach...   You could see the Porcupine Mountains to the South West...  So I ran up to the Lake of the Clouds...    (Message edited by Whatever on July 09, 2010) | ||
| Whatever |
And then I headed home... no more "V" light... Minocqua must have contained a billion FIB's but not more than I expected... So I grabbed a great sandwich and a little Machiatto at Horhay's one of my hometown favorites...   Then it rained... then it RAINED... note to self... rain gear doesn't work when you only put on half of it... Ran into some Harley peeps south of Steven's Point who were wetter than me... first time I have ridden in the rain with dry feet !!!  | ||
| Whatever |
Made good time out of the UP, but Minocqua to Madison was close to five hours... when I could do it in three...  I got back in one piece, despite the bike problems... today I found out that I need a new fuel pump... and I should not have been riding it at all... but the oil stayed up and it cooled off and I made it home.  A total of 1376 miles and roughly 9 to 10 hours on the bike a day... only casualty was my ass... but it stopped hurting on day four... and I thought I could really get used to doing this every day ! All in all the City X performed just fine... fortunately it will be fixed under warranty and I will plan the next trip.  | ||
| Court |
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| F_skinner |
Nice trip Char and thanks for taking us along for the ride. And, it was nice to chat with you at Homecoming.... Lynn really likes the pic of you two... Frank | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Char, You're my hero! I really need to do the circle tour again, it's been too long.. Thanks for the opportunity to ride along. Brad | ||
| Whatever |
Brad, Greg Casura and I talked a little bit about a group effort on the Superior Loop... maybe meeting up in Duluth. They had predicted a storm coming into Thunder Bay Saturday and hangin around Sunday... did not want to chance the weather with a new bike and alone... however we would have to shoot for August because it gets too cold after that... I have ridden in 40 degree rain in July up by Superior, through Bad River actually and had to turn around... it can be spectacular or hellish depending on the day... we will let you know tho if we cook something up... | ||
| Prior |
Sweet trip Char! Was good to see you again! | ||
| Whatever |
Sorry I could not help myself... (Message edited by Whatever on July 11, 2010) | ||
| Whatever |
It was nice meeting you... too many peeps not enough time tho... | ||
| Toecutter |
Very nice Charlotte! I was just talking about doing this trip with a friend of mine the other day. Thanks for the insight of what kind of weather we might be up against. Nice pics too! | ||
| Whatever |
I do not mind riding in the rain, but once it drops below 50 degrees it is real pain in the arse... you gotta keep an eye on the weather... NOAA National Weather Service has the most up to date... temps can drop real quick up around Gitche Gumee... |
