As noted on the map below ...TWELVE
stops to get gas and/or document time/location. blue X's represent
stops for the latter -got gas for the purpose of getting time/location
stamped receipt.
 |
Those who know me, know that I've taken a little time away from "regular scheduled riding" in 2007 to dabble in this "LD" (Long Distance Riding) stuff. An arena of motorcycling that I've never really done. I have not done any disciplined efforts in this arena other than a couple of SS1K's. No no rallies, etc etc. This summer I'm knocking out some rides and doing a few rallies. Kind of fun, -certainly interesting, and another arena to the great sport that we share. Will it take me away from my true love of adventure touring? Not likely, but I always have fun while on a motorcycle and this LD stuff is no exception.
This (Memorial Day) weekend's original plan was to head to Utah and ride those roads hard. I wanted learn the lay of the land so-to-speak for an upcoming LD rally (1088) that I'll be doing. But, a few things came up and just not enough time to do Utah this weekend. So, I decided an IN-STATE 1500+ mile ride would be a good compromise. I thought it would be fun to keep in the "bestest" state of Battle Born Nevada.
An auxiliary fuel
cel is a big plus on a ride like this ...and while i've got one ordered,
I didn't have one for this trip. It made it more challenging because
not only more stops for fuel ...but Nevada is sparse and i'd be getting
gas where I didn't necessarily need it just to get to the next spot.
Still I looked at this as a great opportunity to practice efficient fuel
stops -of which I'd have plenty..
| As noted on the map below ...TWELVE
stops to get gas and/or document time/location. blue X's represent
stops for the latter -got gas for the purpose of getting time/location
stamped receipt.
|
By coincidence, Dale (Warchild) W from the tri cities (WA) was doing some LD riding and he was staying over at the house Saturday night. His midpoint on a big ride. This worked out great, as I'd be heading out very early Sunday ....as would Dale. Dale has got a real passion and strong tenure in this arena. Looking over his fancy LD prepared and accessorized bike, I realized how modestly I was equipped from an equipment perspective.
Dale arrived late afternoon on Saturday and after some food, errands and silliness it was lights-out for the tired one. A few hours later we were up and ready to hit the road. I stopped for a time/stamped gas receipt, ...and eventually caught up to Dale near Pyramid Lake. I stayed about 1/3mile back (or about 3.5seconds at our pace). I don't believe in Global Warming ..but if I did, I'd blame it all on Dales HID lights ...fun watching him light up the baron Nevada sky with those.
As we neared Nixon,
I realized I had forgotten to rub Dale's head for good luck before we left
(his luck, not mine). As we stopped at the stop sign in Dixon
...I thought it would be pretty ghey to ask him to take off his helmet
so that I could do that now, ......so, .instead we gave each other
the secret hand gesture ...Dale headed north toward Gerlach and the Pacific
Northwest -and god knows what else in between. I turned the opposite
way with a huge appetite to exploit, violate and molest the roads of Nevada.
Thanks Dale ....you've
been great help -but the good sillyness ..THAT is the best quality in my
book.
The sun coming up over the BATTLE BORN state of Nevada!!
|
| The Warm Springs Intersection fell
very close to the midpoint of the trip. ...just over 750miles. Geeze
9.5hours ...I'm way ahead of schedule!! So I decided to celebrate
by taking a whiz along the side of the road ....yep, tastes clear so in
good shape hydration wise. Also opened up the vents on the stich
as it was getting warm!
This intersection is also where the
Extra Terrestrial Hwy starts .....the direction I'd be going. This
place is so weird that even the humans aren't human.
.....Matt from the tri-cities had mentioned his fondness for the ET hwy
. ...Hmmm, I should do something for Matt while I'm here .....but
a a souvenir from the A'LE'INN wasn't what I had in mind.
|
| ... Instead I thought I'd park the
FJR on the Rev-Limiter for a while.
Damn, I honestly thought these pics
turned out better.
I kept the obese sport bike there and waited, and waited for the rear end to blow out ...but that didn't happen so I kept it wide open ......waited for the engine to suck a valve or something ..but that didn't happen either. These jap bikes are pretty bullet proof. I've never had a street bike that
you could take to redline in top gear as easily as the FJR ..kinda cool.
Matt, sorry you weren't here ...but
I had enough fun on the ET highway for both of us!
|
The obligatory shot at the Little A'LE'INN.
Now, because I was so far ahead of schedule, I started screwing around.
Should have taken this pic while still
on the pavement ...the new BT-021 was getting a rubber-shedding workout
on the fast pace of the ET highway.
BTW ....as mentioned above ....There
were some serious cross-winds through the valley ....had to stay on your
toes or risk ending up blown out in the fields with the cows. Steady
wind with some ferocious gusts.
|
| Enough with the straights ...now for
some high-speed sweepers. Easter Nevada, it's own kind of scenery
and fun.
BTW: I had originally planned
to take 318 North up to Ely ....but that route was very "close" as far
as the 1500miles I would need. ....I had plenty of time so I decided
to take 93 north instead -it would give me more miles should the IBA question
my original route ...and besides, I was in the mood to ride.
Damn, what beautiful day.
|
| Took this picture at Panaca Junction
because this spotis the furtheast east on my jaunt --wanted proof that
I was here -didn't need gas but wanted a stamped time/location receipt.
And, of course, THIS pump receipt made no mention as to location ....went
inside and had the attendant write the addres/ info and phone # on the
receipt.
BTW -at least half of the pumps that
I hit on this ride did not print receipt so I had to get up and walk in
the station, wait in line and have the attendent print one out at the counter
for me. ....that hurts time
|
This also hurts time.......
Good and bad learned on this .......I made a stupid mistake that likley cost me this LEO encounter .....but I made a good recovery -as well as learned a valuable lesson for the future. I also got to practice my roadside negotiations -which this day worked out very well. I'll go into all the details below (clicky) |
I noticed I was nearing the 1,000mile
mark ...at 13hours into the ride. ...not bad!
 |
Nevada is the BEST ...from the warm
dry (and windy) area around Rachel ...now up north rain showers!
 |
| I'm going like hell down this rural
road and come on this guy very quickly. .....!!.OOOPS
!!, that "looks" like a cop .....no other cars, he knew how fast I had
came from nowhere so he knows I've been going 'way fast'.
I keep distance and continue to look hard to see if it is a cop. This was loooong and slow and costing me time. ...eventually see that yep, lights on top -It *IS* a cop ...I wanted to keep ths distance so I stayed way behind and it was slooow. Later he turned off and I see it was
a federal ranger -NOT a county sheriff. CRAP, i could have gone by
...I'm sure he wouldn't care. In hind-sight I should have crept
up on him to see the jurisdiction ...but I figured that might be pressing
my luck.
|
| The sun sets over the state of Nevada
......
Your mind plays weird games with you
when you're on the bike so long. This sunset occurred when
I was about three hours and fifteen minutes from home ......the same amount
of time that the sun came "up" from leaving home. [insert twilight
zone music here]
Today those are just memories of how stooopid (stupid) we get. One thinks some weird shit when you spend too much time on a bike in the desert LOL LOL -Clear visor back on and the vents to
the stich zipped up.
|
Back home my love is waiting and takes
my picture. She thinks I'm crazy ...but I look much cleaner
and fresher than when I come off an adventure ride. "Street
Pussy" she says. And I wonder to myself if maybe i'm not becoming
one of them.
 |
|
-Odometer 1575 -Mapping Sofware 1555 -GPS 1549 Time: 21hours 10minutes (21:10) (nearly 3 hours to spare!) |
|
Glad I did:
Improvements for
next time:
-Enough with the powerbars ...taste like cardboard after a while. I ate more early on when I didn't need to than later when I probably needed it more. I need to think the food thing throug better. -Organizaition. I felt that I was organized and duplicated what I do on all rides: BUT much room for improvement. I keep an ignition key in my arm pocket with the credit cards ...as to not have to take the key out of the ignition to open the fuel tank. This works ..but there must be an easier way to get quick easy access to the tank. Reciepts were kept in my stich leg pocket ....but again I bet there is a better solution. Keeping them with log and other stuff in tankbag is not any better ..I need something quick and easy. |
So, had a lot of fun and really glad I did this. Learned some stuff and got some practice. It was a challenge, but my preperation (which partly consisted of being on good roads) helped. I felt good when it was over ...but good enough to get 2hours of sleep and do it again???? Yes, I could have ..but the next day would have been tougher. I've had much tougher days than this while Adventure Touring. One of the differences is that on a street pussy ride like this you know where you are ...maps are good and accurate, gps is doing calculations and for the most part, public highways with help available.
Lots of folks have been giving me suggestions and mentored me on this LD stuff -and this ride was kind of a tiny test to put some of that advice into action. I 've got a long way to go before I'll consider my self "prime-time" in the LD arena ...and we'll see if I pursue it past this season ...but thanks much to the guys that have giving me advice and I'll continue to bug you .
...Much more LD stuff to do this summer!! ...and I'll be having a lot of fun pursuing this new (to me) arena of the great sport of motorcycling that we share.
Thanks for the ride-along.
| Let's talk about the good and bad of
this LEO encounter
Heading norht on hwy93 at between 95MPH
and 100MPH.
-I'm real positive and go through the normal routine. Very friendly, positive and professioanl. And, no shame when I tell him I've got a clean record and work hard at keeping it that way. Never too early to negotiate, no need to wait until it gets to court. ....and this time it worked. he came back and said, "I don't want
to ruin your record ....is this OK with you":
This guy was great and I'm very appreciative of how he handled the situation. Certainly he could have made my life difficult if he wanted. Thanks!!! I was still baffled at how he clocked me at 88MPH without my alert going off. I put the radar back on, plugged it in ....and remote indicator didn't go off ....I then instantly realized that earlier, when using ear plugs i had turned the volume down ...but it needs to be all the way up to trigger the remote visual indicator. I had been going about 90miles like this and should have realized!!! Most likely, if i had it on, i would have sniffed him out before he was right on top of me. Lesson learned. He had a few minutes on me when i started
off .........and about 10minutes laterr I see the radar detecctor go off.....and
plenty of time afterwards ....I see him coming at me ...just as before
...but this time plenty of time to react. I had plenty of time to
drop my speed to (yes you guessed it) 79MPH -like I told him earlier
I also don't think it hurt to have the radar detector hidden away ...and my maps and emergency card were in plain view -which all made it look like I knew what I was doing.
I'll have to add this picture to my collection of this season's LEO encounters: Coming back from Mexico ....north of Las Vegas, south of Beatty (clicky) ..and a personal escort out of Acapulco while adventure touring there last month NO moving violations on the bike .....4 for 4 this season Now, time to cool it. |
