Club HOG 25

The Thursday portion of the festivities is for the HOG (Harley Owners Group) 25th Anniversary over at Miller Park, where the Brewers play. There is a national rally annually, and every 5th year it is in Milwaukee in conjunction with the H-D anniversary celebrations.

We had an iffy forecast this morning and got a leisurely start today after some well-deserved rest. Eventually, we did make it over there and found the banner that our chapter made, checked out the bike and tattoo contests, and watched the stunt and drill teams for a while. It never did rain and the sun came out in force, so we took the short ride back to the hotel for some A/C and maybe even a party nap. There are about a million bikes over there, and the line coming off the freeway has been a mile long all day. Tonight will be Sugarland and Kid Rock on stage, and I'm very much looking forward to both. We found the super double-secret back way into the park and should hopefully ride right in.

Internet service is $10 a day here, so I'll probably save it and not bore you with the details of Harley's 105th celebration Friday. We'll walk over and spend the day enjoying the festivities, and then Saturday morning Lisa and I will ride in the parade carrying our HOG chapter's flag. I've never done that before, and I'm pretty excited about it. Here in Milwaukee, parade participation is VIPs, one flag bearer per chapter, and the other couple thousand by lottery. Should be pretty cool. The 105th festivities continue Saturday, concluding with the big Springsteen concert on the lakefront. I'm not a huge Boss fan, but I did like him and hear he puts on a great, great show. Plus, you gotta admit it's perfect match for this event (Better than their choice of Elton John for the 100th!) That will probably also include whatever closing ceremonies they are planning, so it should be a good night.

I may update Sunday morning before we leave, but you're more likely to see the next post from Dayton, Ohio on Monday morning.

Chicagoland

Our final leg today was a short one into Chicago on the last 40 miles of old 66, then an hour up I-94 to Milwaukee. Our overnight in Joliet seemed to mark precisely the transition from corn belt to rust belt. This is where stuff gets made.

We came into Chicago on Ogden Ave. and down Jackson to Grant Park on the lakefront. Buckingham Fountain there marked the endpoint of the route. We went down to see Soldier Field then ran back uptown through the Loop on Michigan Ave. and up Lake Shore Drive. Katrina would have been jealous of my ride up the Magnificent Mile among all the luxury brand stores.

I was really impressed by the city and have to admit it seemed a lot nicer than New York. The only other time I was here was also on the bike, but it was in via the expressway and right back out. I'm kind of surprised by how much I liked it. Very cool indeed.

At the rest area outside of Chicago, it was a mob scene with bikes. From there it's been all bikes, all the time. We hooked back up with the others at the H-D Museum and checked ourselves in to the swank Hyatt Regency downtown. Quite the contrast to the $80 specials we've been sharing the last 4 nights. Lisa, and Jay's wife Scoop flew in today and we are making plans for tomorrow. Life is good...

Gettin' My Kicks

Here we are in Joliet, IL, about 150 miles up Rt 66 from where we picked it up this morning in Lincoln, and about 40 miles from the end in Chicago. What a cool time today poking along leisurely and finding all sorts of remnants from the abandoned route. And the weather was even better than yesterday; crystal clear and barely 80 degrees.

Tell you what, this part of the world is F-L-A-T. Where there's no corn, you can see for what seems like 100 miles. I discovered that you can tell where the towns are by the water towers scattered around the horizon for miles. Even the power transmission lines look strange, strung together straight as an arrow and disappearing over the horizon. Just a strange perspective that I'm not used to.

We lost our three new riders before lunch today. Hopefully, we'll learn that they found their way home OK.

OK, actually we lost them because they have their rooms for the Milwaukee celebration tonight already. We'll catch up with them tomorrow, which is great because these guys are like a party on wheels and just a ton of fun. Great times on the road with good people. This is why we go to work the other 50 weeks.

Tomorrow is another short day, 40 miles into Chicago and another 80 or so to Milwaukee. I'm getting really stoked as we get closer. This is gonna be big...

Don't forget to use the link over there on the right and check out the pictures, which are up-to-date and tell the story so much better than my words.

Today's Word is "Agriculture"

Now, let's use it in a sentence: When you ride through Indiana and Illinois, the only thing you will ever see on either side of the pavement is agriculture.

If corn was, say, $1 an ear retail, we saw first hand about $870 billion worth of it today. We had a long day, 350 miles plus the museum, plus two dealer stops trying to find a kickstand spring to replace the one Jeff bent when he bottomed out on the curb leaving the hotel in Columbus in the morning. We got off the old pike route in Indianapolis after lunch and made a beeline for Rt 66 in Lincoln, and stopped about 45 mins short of it here in Decatur IL, where ADM rules and and has a huge, mysterious industrial facility where they produce, uh, something. We didn't get in until after 7, and our watches were showing 8 before we adjusted them. That and the need to drink beer and get know our new friends better means the post is a little tardy. Sue me.

I did find out that Fred, Jeff, and Donna are not only good riders but great people. The "good riders" part means a lot because if you set out for 2500 miles with unknown people who you find out scare the hell out of you on their bikes, it's a long week. It has happened, but they're great company all the way around. Such a warm, fuzzy family we are. A motley crew for sure, but we're all having a great ride. The weather even cooperated for our marathon day; overcast and cool just about the whole day.

Tuesday we will hunt down the remains of the Mother Road on our way toward Chicago. Not a lot of miles at all on tap for today, and my Dad did the legwork setting up this leg. He will lead, and I will be along for the ride.

Sunday - Columbus, OH

Well, we're getting there... Today we knocked out a good chunk on a day that started out perfect, but turned out hot and ugly by afternoon. Which is par for the course for me on these trips, it seems. We did get checked into the hotel just before the rains came, and are sure glad to be high and dry.

One of our party awoke feeling sick, and when it got to 90 degrees by lunchtime we were all concerned that he wasn't going to make it through the afternoon. But Joe is a sturdy old fella and toughed it out like a champ. I was truly impressed, and here we all are right where we planned to be.

Our travels today brought us 250 miles further along the National Road, through the rest of Maryland, the southwest corner of PA, the 15 miles or so through West Virginia, and here just outside Columbus. Along the way, we saw some old toll houses, two of the Madonna of the Trail monuments honoring the spirit of the pioneer woman, and some crazy S-shaped stone bridges. We even made our way down a forgotten stretch of the road still paved with bricks. Very much a fascinating trip back through time.
Amazing when you think a wagoneer on this road would be thrilled to advance 10-12 miles in a day.

Finally, after something like 5 trips near Columbus on the bike, I'm going to see the National Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. Every time I've come through here it's either been closed for the day or I was too far behind schedule. That's actually the case again here, but the group decided to reprioritize it, put ourselves behind schedule right off the bat tomorrow, and deal with it later. Check back tomorrow to see how we fare. At least the weather is supposed to be clear and over 10 degrees cooler. So far, so good!

Saturday - Cumberland, MD

Today we set out for the National Road and began our journey westward. This road was built in the early 1800's to facilitate westward expansion, running from Baltimore to St Louis on the frontier. Today an Interstate highway follows much the same route, although you can travel almost all of the 800+ miles on an older route. MUCH older, in some cases, as we hope to prove tomorrow.

We sped to the outskirts of Baltimore and picked up the trail in Catonsville, then meandered the old road through a dozen "pike towns" and into the Appalachains, where we rest tonight just outside Cumberland. On the way, we stopped to check out a stone bridge built in 1819 for the original road, a monument to an even older bridge, and an unplanned visit to a Harley dealership in Hagerstown. Fortunately, it was only a burned-out headlight, and we were far enough ahead of schedule that we still arrived when we expected. Hopefully, that was our "bike trouble" for the week, and now it's behind us. The weather today was perfect.

For the record, there are 9 bikes and 12 people total along for the ride. Tomorrow we are heading for Columbus, Ohio and planning on a lot of sightseeing along the way.

Road Trip v.2008

Welcome to Kevin's 2008 road trip travelogue. This year's adventure will be a return to Milwaukee for the celebration of Harley-Davidson's 105th Anniversary, and the 25th of the Harley Owners Group. A handful of members from our local chapter (Lehigh Valley, PA - woohoo!!) will be riding along, while others read from home. A shout out also to my MetLife colleagues who may be reading as well.

First, for new visitors, a little background. This blog goes back to 2006, but does little more than document my travels. The origin of its name, "Speedy's World," is detailed in the very first post, but basically it's derived from my e-mail address.

There is a link to the right for photo albums, which will fill up as we go. The photos on this page can be clicked directly to view larger versions. Some days there may be no updates, but I'll try to cover each day sooner or later.

The outbound trip will reprise parts of several previous rides, with some time for new discovery on the way home. The westbound route will include the historic National Road to Indianapolis, and the ghost of Route 66 into Chicago. We were in Milwaukee for the 100th, and it was literally like Woodstock. Harley-Davidson knows how to do two things extremely well; the second is throwing a party. The slate for this year's entertainment is incredible, and I'm already buzzing with anticipation. Our return trip will feature the National Air Force Museum, a day zooming along a twisty hill and valley route, and a ride up the Ohio River.

We leave Saturday morning for the 9-day ride, interrupted by 4 nights in a posh Milwaukee hotel.

Happy trails!

Errors and Omissions

The Father's Day present that Katrina was talking about
was actually a birthday present. My mom had hidden it in
one of Dad's compartments and marked it "do not open until
July 1." The funny thing is, it could have gotten us
detained at the border on June 27 or 28. It turned out to
be a Swiss Army knife. The border guard's first question:
"Do you have a knife?"

Holiday Inn was the winner with two check-ins. The one in
Ontario was the nicest hotel we stayed at and also the
most expensive at $160+ with taxes. The Fairfield in
Detroit was the best bargain - a great hotel with free
dinner and breakfast for around $79, I think.

I found that reading this makes me sound like an
alcoholic. A case of beer and a fifth of Jim Beam will
last me the rest of the summer, and I don't go to bars.
But I do enjoy a libation when I don't have to get up to
go to work or do slave labor for Lisa. It's good to be
king for a week.

I get well over 50 mpg when cruising along at 60. Usually
I'm blasting my way into work or ripping around town and
"only" see around 45. I got 55 or better more than once on this
trip.

I think my rain gaiters (boot covers) are at the hotel in
Johnstown. They were only like $15 and were pretty well
worn out anyway.

90% of Ohio is flat as a pancake with nothing to see but corn and
soybeans (except for the 3 little oil derricks
we saw!?!) When, in the eastern counties, we finally had
some hilly, twisty roads, they were covered with tar snakes
and it was raining. Should have been the other way
around.

The picture of the bridge in the "rain" post below is from Zanesville, OH and if you click on it, you will see what makes it unique. It was built on the National Road in the 1800's, and rebuilt later in the same Y configuration with a traffic light right in the middle.

Route 22 is comprised of what was Zane's Trace in Ohio, the William Penn Highway in PA, and the original Jersey Turnpike from Phillipsburg to Elizabeth.

Much of current US 22 in Pennsylvania is expressway. I had wanted
to find the "old" route which exists near most highways,
to soak up the sights and small towns that get bypassed,
but we really didn't have the time. We did see everything
I had planned for except for the Motorcycle Hall of Fame
museum near Columbus.

• Total was 2266 miles, 7 states and one province (all but 2
  of which I had ridden through before) in 8 days of riding.
  

Next will be the PA State HOG Rally in August. Lisa will
be along for that one, along with all our friends from the
local chapter. This will probably not get blogged.

Hope you enjoyed riding along with me. If you missed last year's stuff, you can look back into the archives for another day's worth of reading, and if you check back next summer, you'll probably get to come along somewhere again.

Friday Narrative

Friday's post covering Pennsylvania is a history lesson. Follow along:

Back in the 1800's, water was the key to everything in the US. Cities were located on water for both supply and for commerce; the only way to get a large amount of anything from here to there was by boat. Roads were tedious and slow when they were passable at all, and navigation was simply following signs to the next town when the traveler reached a crossroads. Canal building reached a frenzy just as railroads were starting to be built. Anything beyond the Appalachians was "the West," and Mississippi was the southwest territory. Because water to the west drains into the Gulf of Mexico and into the Atlantic on the east, it was imperative to develop an economical Appalachian crossing to develop the frontier. A long boat trip around Florida and up the Mississippi was the only other option.

North of Johnstown, where the steel industry was in its infancy, an earthen dam was built by the canal company to stockpile water for the Union Canal. The Allegheny Portage railroad was built to connect canals on either side of the mountain range.

The railroads quickly caught up with the canal system, and soon the canal system was abandoned. The dam was purchased and the lake refilled for a resort for wealthy steel barons. When Horseshoe Curve was laid in Altoona, it completed an uninterrupted rail link, and the gateway to the West had finally been breached.

On May 31, 1889, after several days of tropical rain, the South Fork Dam gave way and unleashed 20 million tons of water down a creek bed 14 miles upstream from Johnstown, nestled in a tight valley in the hills. The flood was the greatest disaster of the 19th century and destroyed the booming city, killing over 2,000 people.

We woke in Johnstown, took our bikes down the funicular railway (look it up) and spent some time in the city before heading up to Horseshoe Curve. Threading through the Alleghenies via the old pre-interstate route was breathtaking, and really illustrates the challenges faced by early road-builders. Following Rt. 22 took us into Harrisburg right around rush hour, so from there we cheated and took interstates until hopping on "old 22" to finish the ride home. An hour after I got off the bike for the last time, it rained again.

There will be one more post to sort of tie things up and fit in some observations and pix that didn't make the on-the-fly log. If you haven't figured it out, you can click on the images for full sized versions.

Be It Ever So Humble

There's no place like home.

I rolled in today around 6:30, safe and sound 2266 miles and 10 days later. I'm pretty worn out and looking for a nice shower, so details will have to follow tonight or tomorrow. I will have a recap of some sort, and will add pictures to the previous posts that had none. Thanks for playing along at home.