Reaver's Ramblings - Toronto to LA on the GS Twins

I do off course expect you having a live gps tracker turned on so we can click on your position.....

I fear this is too late but I have to try. Avoid Chicago like the plague! Regardless of time of day. I had never seen 18 wheelers backed up as far as the eye can see until attempting to take I-94 South around Chicago once. If this reaches you in time, go very far South of Chicago to bypass the fairly all day (I mean, like, 10pm) traffic problems around this area. Joliet is not far enough, keep going... Sadly, it will be a lot of small towns and no expressways but it's still a better deal. Going North via the ferry to Wisconsin is good and of course around the top of the Great Lakes is super, but both of those are probably a bit late to adjust to. Have fun!

Having pissed off the neighbours, there was no one to take a pic of us both.......




Here's the Radio Face with my "New Mother" haircut. Wash and wear. At least I still have it all.


Watch traffic, watch the road, keep an eye on Zumo, enjoy the scenery, monitor the gauges......Oh F! Good, she's still there.







I heard about this "Sturgis" place on the History channel I think. Isn't that where the Pirates come from?

I actually picked up a SPOT but left it in the store. More crap to monitor. I just wanna ride!

Yup. Too late. We did it today (Saturday) and it was no prob except the gas station (rant later). We've done a Great Lakes tour a few years ago. Yes, it's awesome!

Welcome.

Day 1

949 kms, 11 hrs in the saddle!

That's almost 600 miles for you Yanks.

So much for my endurance worries. We're in Geneseo Illinois at what Zumo thinks is a Super 8 Motel. I forget what the sign says buy the lady at the desk gave us a single person rate with some discount for a membership we don't have. Sweet. We'd stopped at a Best Western with a vacant lot and they told us $100. F that S. At the 800 km mark I saw Bec drift across a lane. She later said she was struggling to stay awake. Not good. I was cruising at 80 mph when my engine suddenly cut out. For a sec I was in shock but quickly realized I'd simply let go of the throttle. Interstates are extremely boring and tiring. We made it although stupidly pushed ourselves.

Normally Border crossing into the US is a breeze. No paperwork, no fees just a passport check and a few questions. NOT TODAY! We got Special Agent "Thorough" with a "Not on My Watch!" attitude. He was checking trunks, poking in windows and every other car went for secondary inspection. Twice our lane was shut down because inspection was full. OMFG! With about 10 cars in front of us, it took an hour. We'd had a late start because the stray cat that showed up at my house days before I moved, and I reluctantly adopted, started acting weird like it was sick. Bec had to reassure herself it would be ok. The Pet sitter is a vet. Cats are free, can we go now? I call him "Broken Tail" but I think it should be "Broken Head". It's weird, even for a cat.

It was a beautiful day for a ride. Sunny and 26-28 C which feels cool at 80 mph. I chose to wear my System 6 helmet for various reasons like my sunglasses got trashed during the move and it has a flip down sun visor. It's modular which makes it wider than my Shoei Hornet creating more wind resistance. My neck was sore after 2 hrs and that doesn't happen with the Hornet. The peripheral vision is less as well. It's always windy and turbulent in the Great Lakes areas but soon it will be much hotter as we leave them behind.

I look like Marvin Martian.

The Sun's getting low..............





And the shadows are long..............






But my alternator is still working..............




We gained an hour heading West so the day was longer. Coming home is a different story.

Reave
Your bike is way too clean Ride safe
Thanks for sharing your RR

Welcome stateside Amigo......

Oh Darrryl, sweetcakes. Do you already miss me? As I see you still can't live without me. Sorry for the late joining but I needed to wait for some guys to leave, to take care of their home for the next three weeks. Fingers crossed their internet connection seems to be working ). Stupid thing is someone emptied their beer stock and I need to buy some 6 packs for the party I'm giving in their home. You know that film project X? That is only the prequel ).

These cheap pricks only left a cat, what the hell am I supposed to do with that?!

Well enough about me. Do you still brag about that "jet mechanic for dummies' program you took a couple of years back? You know that you couldn't even fix santa's magic sleigh with that knowledge.

As said before you should leave that "public relation" part to your wifey, as well as the logistic part since it involves:"the detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies", and "the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation"... Well over your league buddy... Keep following your sat-nav and try to stay on your bike. Oh and that black color scheme? Who are you kidding? You can't pull of the Ba(d/t)man look .

Ride safe you too... oh and isn't SHE scared riding with you??

And don't start giving me crap about that color, someone already took my "green" for this RR (I'll hunt you down!). So I'm trying to add a feminin side to this man chauvinistic RR... You're welcome WORLD!

For the Non-North Americans:

The US is far different than Canada. You can't mistake what country you're in. Both have their merits and both are great, but different. The rest of the world tends to group us together.

We're bouncing back and forth between the two.

My body panels are new and I've washed all the North Carolina bugs off it from Woody's place earlier this year.

It's like underwear, I like to start out fresh.

I am starting to think loutre, and you really enjoy each others company......

We have a long distance relationship.

There is no excuse for my level of fail. I knew we'd forgotten a couple of jobs with the new experience I had at the end of April. We found one the other day, and when I started reading your RR, I had an "Oh fuck" moment.



PM me when you're back or on the road, and I'll make sure we remedy that.



Here and subscribed for the RR.

But there is no excuse for my level of fail. Have fun guys - wish I could be out there on the roads with you.

End of day 2. We did 1000 kms today. That's 600 miles. Slabtacular. I'll try to make it sound interesting but it was just 11 hrs of boring interstate.

This is what it looks like to the Bespectacled Geeks:

Note the gas stops and construction zones.



And to the "Big Picture" types:




And some Sunflowers for the ladies. Fields as far as you can see....

Gas Stations

In Canada we're bombarded with media propaganda to visit the US as it's the "Land of Dreams". Fine, but if I may suggest you start your welcome at the damn gas pumps!

We were in the Chicago area yesterday looking for gas. It was a busy station.

Pumps are pre-pay. Fine.
They don't accept Canadian Debit cards. Fine.
They WILL accept our Visa IF we provide a Zip Code. We don't have a Zip, we have a Postal Code. "See Cashier"
Great, go to the store, wait in line and pre-pay. How much? I dunno, enough to fill two bikes.

So Bec goes in and lays down a $20. I'm out standing by the bikes twiddling my thumbs unable to pump. The lineup is growing and everyone is looking at me like WTF? I just stand there beside the Canadian flag on my topcase. Finally I get the go ahead and try to pump. Nothing. "Grade not authorized" Huh? So now I wait for Bec to walk back and say "oh I chose the cheap grade". Great. Hang up the nozzle again and start over. Finally! Well my bike got filled but we hit $20 before hers was full. F it, lets go before we get mobbed! If she'd paid $25 and it came to $23, then we'd have to go back in the store, wait in line and get the change. Holy F I hate filling up. Not we have to stop sooner cause she's at 3/4. Repeat 4 times a day.

If there was only some kind of aux tanks.............. Oso, you there?

Pictures!

Soooo, we need gas today. My lights on and the countdown has begun. Oh look, there's a place!




Yeah, great. We get there and it's DESERTED with no trespassing signs. Zumo says another 2 miles down some road so good! So we get to the next station.





This is what I get:






The lady comes out and says "Sorry, SOMEONE forgot to order the gas". Awesome. Funny thing was that she wanted her 52 cents! I quietly prayed that whatever got pumped was combustible. Another mile down the road then, knowing the end may be near.

So we get to this place:




When's the last time you seen a pump with a drum type display? All I could think of was fuel pump failures. He was a great, friendly guy but obviously a goldfish in a small glass. I explained the concept of ear plugs while he was aghast at a GPS being installed on a bike. Not making fun of the locals, it's just that I haven't met such a small town guy in awhile.



I HATE GETTING GAS!

Can someone get me a price on a few thousand decals with a sticky face and some type of mobile windshield applicator?



















Thanks.

We started out this morning at 9 am and it was already hot. We hit the interstate and gradually the landscape got flatter and more turbulent. The Prairies. It's a means to an end and must be experienced at least once. This was twice for me. I got bored and tried to add excitement by locking the throttle, letting go of the bars and steering aerodynamically like a bird. Bec just backs off at this point while I wave my hands in the air. Later when more boredom set in I suddenly felt a serious burning sensation in my side. I let go of the throttle, punched my jacket and lifted up my shirt. Damn that hurt. Later I found a big red spot on my waist. Yep, must've caught a hornet or something. It ached for a half hour.

Had a serious close encounter with an SUV. The highway diverged and buddy was undecided. I was minding my own business when he sailed across into my lane. Instinct kicked in and I gassed it fully. I honestly felt like my rear case was going to get some new black paint. Bec rode upside him and . That's my girl. She had her own run in later with a cube van in a construction zone. Just another day on the road.

The high today was 37 C indicated. Even at 85 mph that's too hot.

Tomorrow, Mt Rushmore and the Devil's Tower. Our vacation begins. Less mileage, more stops. Finally some scenery.

Perhaps like this for your own windshield?



Fred