Pacific Coast Highway 2004
Welcome to my trip report for the August 2004 trip. If you've found this page by mistake, my name is Daniel Brewster and I'm really into long-distance motorcycle rides and try to take at least one fun trip a year. I'm 39, married with two kids and a great wife, and live in Chicago. The best part about all of it is the family is incredibly tolerant of me taking off on trips every now and again.
In 2002 I toured from Chicago to Yellowstone and back with two pals, Antoine and Adam. The group trip was really fantastic and we stopped at a bunch of parks - Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, and a few other cool spots. We had so much fun we decided to do a joint trip each year. In 2003 we talked about another trip out west but it never materialized due to work schedules and all that. Although unable to embark on a joint trip, I managed to pull off a visit to the Grand Canyon via Chicago to Phoenix and back in 2003. In 2004 we talked about doing a long trip and just found that it wasn't going to work - money, time off from work, etc. Well, never one to give up when I set my sights on something, I thought about combining another work trip. Happenstance has it that I need to be in Reno for a work meeting for a few days in August... hmmm... why not combine this with a motorcycle trip? And if I'm going all the way to Reno, why not go all the way over to the left coast and see some of California from the motorcycle? Good idea, I thought. I dusted off Microsoft Streets & Trips and started planning a route.
Here's a high-level overview of my intended route - I'll probably make changes along the way and try to see interesting sights off the slab (interstate). The yellow areas out west are some State Routes that look interesting...
I leave on August 6th early in the morning. I'm still putting together last minute details and will update the site with all the stuff I'm bringing with me, as well as other logistical details.
This blogging software, btw, is new to me, so I may edit and rearrange the posting order to make it easier to read/follow. Since I know I want to include photos in my posts, I'm going to create a bunch of "templates" that cover my intended route and will simply edit them while on the road when I'm able to get access to the net. Check out the "day1, day2, etc." posts for more info.
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 110v power on the road
So I'm getting ready to do a marathon (to me) cross-country trip and I've been giving a lot of thought to power while on the road. My concern is this - I'm camping a good bit of the way and I want to be able to relax at the end of the day and use the laptop (I guess I can live without the net for awhile...!) to update my journal, edit digital images, listen to my mp3 library, charge my camera batteries, etc., etc. I went out and got a 140w 12v power inverter from radio shack and a few other odds and ends.
I ride a BMW K1200LT and it has a six disc CD changer in one of the side cases that takes up a lot of room. I've finally decided to remove the CD changer and had planned to use that space for my power solution. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that the bracket that held the CD changer might prove useful - the inverter has a fan on it and it needs (I assume) some space so it doesn't overheat. I've also never really been happy with the power solution for my XM radio. I originally wired the XM radio to the power spot on right ride side of the bike thinking that it was switched - ah, no, it's not. Every time I got off the bike I would have to open the sidecase and disconnect the little m/f cable going into the brain box for my XM radio. A pain...
As I was thinking about the power, I thought it would be nice if I had switched power back there - yeah, I know I *could* have found a switched connection on the bike somewhere, but I decided to put together a power bridge that had a manual switch. The power bridge would power my XM radio, the power inverter, the radar detector, and a few spares. I took power off the battery and put a fuse inline and created a "power box."
The power box is screwed under the old CD changer bracket and the entire thing is switched. One lead comes out and powers the XM radio (so I don't have to tinker with that little connector anymore.) A second lead comes out and powers the inverter - once I had everything together and turned on, I realized that the fan on the inverter comes on whenever it has power... I thought it would do that only under load. I'm probably going to add another switch that makes the inverter separately switched so I don't have to have that on and generating heat when it is not being used (anybody know if that will drain my battery if there is nothing plugged into it? I think so - eventually. Good thing I took my time and used connectors instead of just wrapping the wire around the screw on the power bridge - it'll take five minutes to add a new switch for the power inverter.).
Here's a photo of the guts of my "power box"
The power strip on the top is for power - the one on the bottom is a spare and could be used for power or it could be used for audio - more on that later.
Making the box took me about an hour or two. Installing it on the bike took about an hour. I had to take the right side panel off the bike due to how I had previously wired the XM solution and because I wanted to run a cable from my new power box along the right side of the bike, around the gas tank, and up through the front forks and along the right handlebar to provide power/audio to an Escort 8500. I used a regular RJ11 phone cord to go from the power box to the radar. I suppose I could have purchased the extra special version from Escort - it's something like $10 and looks just like the $2 version I got at Radio Shack. Hmmm, hope I don't find out that the $8 would have kept my 8500 from melting down!
Since I used the RJ11 cable to the radar detector, I thought it would be kind of neat to just put a RJ11 phone jack in my powerbox. Believe it or not, I didn't think about this up front and had already put the posts in the box - ah, such is life. The phone jack went outside the power box but still under the CD changer case. I'm currently just running power to the phone jack, but am already thinking about what I want to do with the audio out from the radar detector. That signal will come down the other pair of the RJ11 phone cable, so I'm thinking that I could easily put in a powered speaker or something that will really blast/bleep/whatever when it gets a signal. I'm also contemplating hooking up a $2 LED and putting it on my dash somewhere - a hell of a lot less expensive than that sexy HARD system that I was thinking about.
Here's a view of the installation (the laser detector is just sitting there - it's not serving any role... although it would be neat to put in a detector that supported remote antennas).
And a close up:
The nice thing about this is that my laptop and a few other chargers for my cameras will fit in the case perfectly - I'll only charge one at a time, but can easily see simply changing the plug for the charging device at a gas stop.
Cool, huh?
(oh yeah, since I'm camping most of the way, I'm going to bring a 25ft extension cord so I can plug in when I happen to be in a KOA or someplace that offers power... may as well get something for that $20/night camping fee!)
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Pre Trip Planning
Well, it's the day before the big day. Today is Thursday, August 5th, and I plan to leave the Chicago area around 6:00a tomorrow morning.
The last several weeks have been spent planning routes and thinking about what I want to see while on the road. I've given serious thought to how much "stuff" to bring along on my journey and started with a grand plan that I would have two waterproof bags strapped to my K1200LT. Believe it or not, I've succeeded in doing just that - but I had kind of thought one bag would have my camping gear in it and the other bag would have my clothes. Ah, well, it didn't really work out that way. I'm attending a work function for a few days in Reno, so I needed to bring work clothes (nice shorts, nice shirts - hey, it *is* Reno...!), as well as my laptop. Of course I probably wouldn't have left the laptop behind anyway.
Without going into way too much information, here's a brief rundown on what I've brought along:
* Laptop * Digital SLR * A bunch of Nikon camera lenses (I'm into pictures...) * Compact P&S Digital Camera * 25-ft extension cord (for power when camping at KOA) * Firstgear HT Air jacket * HT Air pants * Liners for both * 2 coolmax t-shirts * 3 lycra shorts (no seams!) * boots * gloves * heated vest & pants * clear & dark visor for helmet * 3 pair sunglasses * sleeping bag * camelback waterbag * thermarest sleeping pad * poncho liner * eureka tent * ground cloth for tent * 2 pair blue jean shorts * 2 polo shirts * loafers * cell phone * ham radio * national park pass * shaving gear
There's more, but you get the idea. The laptops & cameras and one or two other fragile items ended up in the side cases or the top case, everything else ended up in these two big red waterproof bags I've got. I've been rained on in a huge downpour for an hour and these things stay waterproof - very cool.
I recently added a RAM mount for my radar detector - hopefully I'll hear the darn thing when it goes off. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to wire a large buzzer to it so it blasts when it goes off. I tried to interface it with my XM radio by getting a Y cable and feeding both the radar earpiece and the XM output into the amp for the radio. You EE types probably already know that wasn't going to work very well - it didn't. I wish I had thought of screwing around with it a week or two... ah, such is life.
So I get everything packed up and ready to go - here are a few shots of the bike ready to go. Bailey wants to go too.
I've decided to attempt an Iron Butt ride on the outbound leg (outbound to Reno). I typically do 500 miles a day, but the Iron Butt people have this idea of an endurance contest that clocks up 1000 miles in 24 hours. I've been close before - 925, 950 miles, something like that, but I've never taken the time to document the process. I'm gonna document the start this time - we'll see if I feel like actually doing it. Visit www.ironbutt.com if you feel the need to learn more about this crazy thing. Of course the only reason I'm doing it is because everybody will think I'm cool if I do. Plus that snazzy little license plate holder. I feel kind of like Homer Simpson who just has to finish that porterhouse at the all you can eat place. Anyway, check back here in a few days and you'll see whether or not I made the 1000 miles in a day. I'd need to go from Chicago to at least Rawlins, WY tomorrow. I think it can be done... hmmm. We'll see.
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Day 1 - Chicago to Rawlins, Wy - 1127 miles
Today was a long day, but the miles seemed to fly by. As planned, I completed the Iron Butt 1000-mile “Saddle Sore” riding contest. The idea behind this is to ride 1000-miles within a twenty-four hour period.
Day1
Like most riders who accomplish this ride, I planned 1100 or so miles – just to be on the safe side. I completed the ride in about 15 hours. I left the Chicago area around 6:00a and navigated through a few country roads to Interstate 88 and took 88 west to Interstate 80. I’m still riding on Interstate 80 as I pen this, but am ready to branch off into the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area – but more on that in Day 2!
Why the 1000-mile contest? More to see if I could do it than anything else, I suppose. I had done long days before, but never 1000-miles. And I had never documented those trips – the start time is the date/time stamp on a gas or ATM receipt. I fueled up near home and was presented with a 6:06a departure time. My motorcycle, the BMW K1200LT, can go about 200 miles per tank of gas, although I try to never go more than 150 miles. The bike weighs in at 800 lbs or so – I’d hate to have to push it down the road! I didn’t take any breaks for the first few fuel stops, but then did take time to stretch and walk around for 15 minutes or so once I hit the 500 mile mark. Things were going very well at this point and I thought that I could continue on with no problem… but as the day progressed, I began to find myself yawning and thinking of other things – not desirable traits for a long-distance motorcyclist…! A few yawns weren’t going to kill me, so I decided to move on – with the proviso that I would stop if I found my attention wandering. Part of the issue, I think, was just the simple boredom of the scenery. Apologies to those of you who happen to live in Western Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska… there’s not much to see. The roads are all pretty flat and there’s nothing but farm after farm. Yeah, I suppose we could talk about the stockyards in Nebraska, but, ah, you can smell them way before you see them and then you see them – and they seem to go on for miles and miles. Lisa Simpson sure would be disappointed. Things picked up in the western half of Nebraska – I was getting closer to my goal and was feeling pretty good. 600 miles turned into 700 into 800, and so on. I exercised pretty good fuel management during this leg of the trip, but I did pass by one station yesterday and a nagging thought started in the back of my mind, “turn around and get gas.” Nah, I thought, I’ve got plenty of gas. Shoot – all I can say is not long later it seemed I wasn’t going to make Laramie, WY. Good thing two people with a sense of humor built a gas station at Buford, WY. There was a sign at the exit ramp that said “Buford, WY Population 2.” The station was closed when I rolled up, but they had a pay at the pump situation. Phew. I cruised Laramie and rolled into Rawlins, WY about 90 minutes later. The first place I stopped did not have pay at the pump and I really wanted an “official” end time for the Iron Butt thing. I went on to the next gas station and got one. The kid at the station didn’t want to be my witness (it’s an Iron Butt thing – visit their website for more info… www.ironbutt.com). Thankfully Michelle at the Day’s Inn had no problem being my witness, so I settled in for the night. I had planned (and still do) to camp on a lot of this trip, but 1127 miles later, I thought I deserved a well nights rest. The room was seventy bucks! So much for a low-cost trip. The room was so-so, the bed was uncomfortable. Too late, I thought, I should have slept on the floor. I’m really going to be better about this camping thing as I go along!
Photos from the trip to follow...
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Day 2 - Rawlins, WY to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area - 197 miles
I slept in today! Why not? I departed Rawlings around noon and motored down Interstate 80 towards Rock Springs, WY. So I’m cruising down Interstate 80 and I see a sign that says “Continental Divide 7000 ft” – I motored right on by and almost instantly began to regret not getting a photo. I knew I would traverse the divide several times (think twisty roads) on the way back – still, though, it felt wrong.
As I’m going down Interstate 80 I see one of those great American sights – a train with two locomotives and about 100 freight cars. I quickly pass by the train and get up the road five or six miles and find an exit and am able to position myself pretty close to the tracks to get some pictures. I’m shooting my photos with the compact Sony S500, and wish I had taken the time to unload the Nikon D100 and all the stuff that goes with that… the S500 will have to do (it’s a great camera). As the train comes around the bend, the engineer sees me and gets on the train whistle – it was cool. My friend Tom – a certifiable train nut would have enjoyed it. The engineer let the whistle go a few times and then really laid it on – it was a long, piercing, soulful sound. You had to be there – but it was very cool.
I load back up and get on the road and see two bicyclists going down the side of the road – in the middle of the desert! As I’m contemplating this (about 85 degrees at the moment), I see another sign that says “Continental Divide” – I’m not passing up this opportunity twice – remember I’m really not on that much of a schedule. I turned around and came back to the sign at the same time the bicyclists made the sign. Hanley and Marty are both in their sixties and are biking across the country! They started in New York – wow! They’re going to the west coast too – although I’m certain I’ll beat them by a mile. We laughed for a few minutes, shot a few pictures, and then bid each other safe travels. Man.
I have no particular destination in mind, other than I have to be in Reno for work on Monday night. I’ve been tinkering with the map software and have decided that I want to visit the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Using MapPoint, I discovered there were two ways to visit the Gorge – the east or west route. I considered doing the western route, but stopped at a huge Harley store and asked a few folks and everyone said the eastern route was better. I thought I’d fuel up with a hamburger, so I stopped at the local Burger King – which is where I sit now and write in my journal. Everybody here thinks the eastern route is better too!
So, it’s several hours later as I sit near the campfire to continue in my journal. It was an interesting afternoon. I left the Burger King around 2:00p or so and had a wonderful ride down US191. It’s a very pretty ride and the traffic is sporadic – I’d go thirty or forty minutes and not see anybody, and then I’d see six or eight cars or bikes in a row. I had already decided to stop when I see something interesting, so this ride was full of brief stops for a photo break. The route from Interstate 80 to the dam at Flaming Gorge is only about 50 miles – and it took me at least two hours to make the trip… yes, I was taking lots of pictures. So I just entered into Utah and there was a Caddy in front of me poking along. In a very nice way, I blasted past the guy, gave him a wave, and road up a great big hill and around a few curves. What’s this I see? Off to my right is a fantastic view of the lake at the Gorge – I have to stop. Of course I’ve already rolled past the entrance to the cutout, so I look both ways and then begin a very low-speed u-turn. Now, you have to understand something about this motorcycle – it’s heavy. It’s top heavy. You also have to understand something about u-turns – you gotta be careful even when the ground is flat. You gotta be extra careful when it’s a two-lane road out in the country and you’re on a hill. Also, you gotta understand – there are two types of motorcyclists out there: those who have dropped their bikes and those who will drop their bike one day. Well, sad to say, I moved from one club to the other today. The good news is it really was more of a very slow controlled descent into the ground as I eased her down. I could come up with all sorts of great explanations about how such a thing happened to an obviously talented motorcyclist, or I could tell you there was sand on the ground, or… bla bla bla. I joined the other club today. So… there I am. In the middle of the desert, on a hill, wondering how the hell I’m gonna get this thing right-side-up. Let’s not forget that the bike weighs about 800 lbs – and that’s before you add in all your camping stuff. I figured I was looking at close to 1000 lbs of stuff. There was no way I was going to be able to get this thing up. I gave thought to taking everything off it and trying again, but it was on a hill and then I’d still be dealing with the 800 lbs. It wasn’t gonna help. So, there I am, thinking about what to do, wondering how long it will take for somebody to come along. The guy in the Caddy roles up and I’m thinking that grandpa is gonna hop out and yell out me for speeding and then wrecking – it actually looked a whole heck of a lot worse than it was. Thankfully it’s a young guy who walks up with a smile and helps me right her right side up. Of course by this time, there’s a virtual traffic jam – two or three cars from both sides have stopped. One little old lady is running around with her cell phone asking if she should call 911 and wondering where “he” is. It took me a minute, but I finally realized that I was the “he” she was looking for. I think she was looking for somebody lying by the side of the road. Sorry to disappoint and all. I thank everyone for their help and gently motor on back to the overlook to get some pictures.
As you can imagine, it was a pretty interesting afternoon. I roll through a small town called “Dutch John” and stop to see the dam at Flaming Gorge. Pretty cool, great views. I roll over the damn and around a few curves and up a pretty big hill and I see a campground run by the National Park (or State Park?) system. It’s still relatively early – around 5:00p. I’ve only done 197 miles today. I think about it for a few second and decide to pull in to investigate. Despite all my pretensions to the contrary the camping thing and I are somewhat new to one another. Yeah, I camped when I was a kid. Yeah, I slept out in the woods when I was in the Army (but I had an M16 with me then…), Yeah, I thought that this was a pretty snazzy campground as those things go. And likely a lot better than what I would find by the side of the road in the middle of Utah three or four hours later. I decided to call it a day. That, by the way, is one of the best parts about riding a motorcycle. I pull in, find a spot, pay my $14 for the night and get settled in. I buy a bundle of wood ($5) from the guy running the place and pitch my tent. I’ve got a nice fire pit, a picnic table, a cleared area for my tent, and – best of all – a concrete slab for part the LT. And, oh yeah, uh, “facilities.” Pretty cool. I unload everything and get setup and then ride a few miles down the road to the “Lodge” and do some grocery shopping. They’ve got a fancy schmancy restaurant attached to it, but Gene (the guy running the place) has already clued me in that they’re gonna want something like nine bucks for a so-so hamburger. I bought some groceries and motor back to the campsite. It’s still pretty light out (it’s 8:15p mountain time as I write this and the sun is just now thinking about peaking below the ridge across the way), so I’m not quite ready for dinner. I sit at the table and finish reading one of the books I brought along and then I took a walk around the campsite and said hello to some of my neighbors. This is apparently a pretty good place to hang out if you’re camping and you’ve got a boat – at least 25% of the people here have boats or empty trailers with them. Anyway, I get back to the tent and it’s still somewhat early, so I decided to lie down in the tent and take a nap. Man, what a life.
It’s about 7:00p and time for dinner. Come on now, ask yourself, when’s the last time you had toasted marshmallows? Very cool. I foraged around for a few minutes and found some dry brush and some kindling and came back to the fire pit and crossed my fingers. I had a very nice fire going within minutes. It’s nice to know that Boy Scout training paid off. Or maybe it was just the dry brush…! Either way, tent pitched, fire going, dinner time. A few roasted (ok, burned) hot dogs later, a handful of marshmallows, some more picture taking, and I’m ready for some work on the journal. I haven’t looked at the pictures yet – I’ll load them on the laptop in a few minutes and do that for another hour or so before bed. I expect I’ll be up with the sunrise (whenever that is) and then on the road shortly thereafter. By the way, I forgot to mention, I’m wearing bicyclist shorts (no seams) and coolmax t-shirts under my riding gear. Man, what a joy. I could go on and on and on about how comfortable they are – put it this way, at the end of the day, I’m feeling great – not hot, now sweaty, not, ah, gross. Anymore than usual that is. ? Also, I’m using a Camelback 3 liter hydration system – I have it strapped to my gear on the back of the bike and am able to take a sip whenever I feel the need. I went through the entire thing yesterday, and, man, was it the sweet sweet nectar of the gods. I filled the thing with water before I left home and left it in the fridge overnight – and then added ice right before I left Chicago. It stayed cooled all day long. I’ll never do a long trip without a camelback and the snazzy riding gear again. Oh yeah, the 110v charging system on the motorcycle worked fine today – I charged up the laptop from about 25% battery to full power during my ride. See my trip planning part for more info on that – www.twentyninewest.com/roadtrip.
Nite! See ‘ya tomorrow.
Because sometimes it's not important where you're going, it's where you've been that counts.
It happens to all of us eventually...
Home Sweet Home
Most handsome rider I've ever seen...
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Day 3 - Flaming Gorge NRA to Wendover, NV - 319 miles
Before I hit the sack last night, I reviewed some of the photos I’ve taken so far and while there’s still a lot of reviewing and editing to go I’m pleased with what I have so far. I crashed in the tent and listened to MP3s for about an hour or so while eyeballing the photos.
Day3
I drift off to sleep pretty early and was so comfortable that I didn’t use the sleeping bag – I was wearing shorts & a t-shirt and just curled up in a poncho liner… ah, that was a mistake. Around three in the morning I wake up and realize that it was pretty cold, that I was pretty cold. The temp was in the mid-thirties. Ouch! I broke out the sleeping bag and dashed out to the bike to get a set of sweats. The awesome stillness and clarity of the night-sky was a sight to behold. If I hadn’t been so cold I would have figured out a way to snap a few shots… as it was, I was back in bed in a few minutes.
I wake (again) with the sunrise and have things packed and ready to go within half an hour or so. I load up and am cruising down SR40 (Utah), south of the Flaming Gorge Area, when I see movement off to the left side of the road. I hit the brakes just in time as some monster cow walks out into the road. Get this – the cow is walking on top of one of those cattle guards! Sheesh, I thought those were supposed to keep the livestock from crossing the road! I continue a lot slower than before and run into a small herd a few hundred feet up the road. I toot the horn a few times – some nervous looks, but no real movement. I slowly weave my way through them, conscious of the fact that one of them could knock me over in a heartbeat. I stop and take some pictures. Some bonehead in a Honda Civic comes up behind me, waits for about two seconds, and then guns it and blasts around me – he came really close to whacking a cow that ran in front of his POS car. Would have served him right. Anyway, I get going a few minutes later and continue to bump into cows for the next couple of miles. I cannot imagine what it would be like to run into a 1000-lb cow (how much do those things weigh anyway?) with an 800-lb motorcycle.
The next couple of hours were just spectacular. There were a lot of great curves, a lot of great scenery, and not a lot of traffic. I probably stopped every 15 minutes for pictures. It was one of the better motorcycle rides I’ve experienced. I found a great overlook on Route 44 that was positioned at the beginning of three or four switchbacks and sat there for half an hour and just watched the day go by. It was wonderful.
I motored up to Manila and crossed back into Wyoming and eventually got back on Interstate 80 pointed my way towards Salt Lake City. I found a Borders Bookstore and spent about an hour there and got online using the TMobile hotspot. I waited for the heat of the afternoon to pass and then got back on the road. I had planned to 500 miles or so today, but Interstate 80 west of SLC was hot and I was getting a little fatigued. Never one to keep pushing when tired (and this coming from a newly minted Iron Butt dude…), I decided to stop at the next town and find a campsite. The camping thing worked out so well last night, I was very comfortable with the idea of doing it again. Campgrounds like KOA are all over the place – and in this part of the country it’s also pretty easy to just find an isolated spot and pitch the tent. Well… I’m all ready to camp. I cross over the Utah/Nevada state line and see they have casinos all over the place. Rooms for $22. Hmmm. It’s not the Mirage. It’s not Pleasure Island. But it is $22. Heck, I paid $14 to camp last night. My resolve melts and I think that a hotel is a good thing. I pull in and get settled. Turns out they’re having a $3.49 dinner special – strip steak with all the fixings. Hmmm. Not bad.
In 2002 I toured from Chicago to Yellowstone and back with two pals, Antoine and Adam. The group trip was really fantastic and we stopped at a bunch of parks - Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, and a few other cool spots. We had so much fun we decided to do a joint trip each year. In 2003 we talked about another trip out west but it never materialized due to work schedules and all that. Although unable to embark on a joint trip, I managed to pull off a visit to the Grand Canyon via Chicago to Phoenix and back in 2003. In 2004 we talked about doing a long trip and just found that it wasn't going to work - money, time off from work, etc. Well, never one to give up when I set my sights on something, I thought about combining another work trip. Happenstance has it that I need to be in Reno for a work meeting for a few days in August... hmmm... why not combine this with a motorcycle trip? And if I'm going all the way to Reno, why not go all the way over to the left coast and see some of California from the motorcycle? Good idea, I thought. I dusted off Microsoft Streets & Trips and started planning a route.
Here's a high-level overview of my intended route - I'll probably make changes along the way and try to see interesting sights off the slab (interstate). The yellow areas out west are some State Routes that look interesting...
I leave on August 6th early in the morning. I'm still putting together last minute details and will update the site with all the stuff I'm bringing with me, as well as other logistical details.
This blogging software, btw, is new to me, so I may edit and rearrange the posting order to make it easier to read/follow. Since I know I want to include photos in my posts, I'm going to create a bunch of "templates" that cover my intended route and will simply edit them while on the road when I'm able to get access to the net. Check out the "day1, day2, etc." posts for more info.
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 110v power on the road
So I'm getting ready to do a marathon (to me) cross-country trip and I've been giving a lot of thought to power while on the road. My concern is this - I'm camping a good bit of the way and I want to be able to relax at the end of the day and use the laptop (I guess I can live without the net for awhile...!) to update my journal, edit digital images, listen to my mp3 library, charge my camera batteries, etc., etc. I went out and got a 140w 12v power inverter from radio shack and a few other odds and ends.
I ride a BMW K1200LT and it has a six disc CD changer in one of the side cases that takes up a lot of room. I've finally decided to remove the CD changer and had planned to use that space for my power solution. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that the bracket that held the CD changer might prove useful - the inverter has a fan on it and it needs (I assume) some space so it doesn't overheat. I've also never really been happy with the power solution for my XM radio. I originally wired the XM radio to the power spot on right ride side of the bike thinking that it was switched - ah, no, it's not. Every time I got off the bike I would have to open the sidecase and disconnect the little m/f cable going into the brain box for my XM radio. A pain...
As I was thinking about the power, I thought it would be nice if I had switched power back there - yeah, I know I *could* have found a switched connection on the bike somewhere, but I decided to put together a power bridge that had a manual switch. The power bridge would power my XM radio, the power inverter, the radar detector, and a few spares. I took power off the battery and put a fuse inline and created a "power box."
The power box is screwed under the old CD changer bracket and the entire thing is switched. One lead comes out and powers the XM radio (so I don't have to tinker with that little connector anymore.) A second lead comes out and powers the inverter - once I had everything together and turned on, I realized that the fan on the inverter comes on whenever it has power... I thought it would do that only under load. I'm probably going to add another switch that makes the inverter separately switched so I don't have to have that on and generating heat when it is not being used (anybody know if that will drain my battery if there is nothing plugged into it? I think so - eventually. Good thing I took my time and used connectors instead of just wrapping the wire around the screw on the power bridge - it'll take five minutes to add a new switch for the power inverter.).
Here's a photo of the guts of my "power box"
The power strip on the top is for power - the one on the bottom is a spare and could be used for power or it could be used for audio - more on that later.
Making the box took me about an hour or two. Installing it on the bike took about an hour. I had to take the right side panel off the bike due to how I had previously wired the XM solution and because I wanted to run a cable from my new power box along the right side of the bike, around the gas tank, and up through the front forks and along the right handlebar to provide power/audio to an Escort 8500. I used a regular RJ11 phone cord to go from the power box to the radar. I suppose I could have purchased the extra special version from Escort - it's something like $10 and looks just like the $2 version I got at Radio Shack. Hmmm, hope I don't find out that the $8 would have kept my 8500 from melting down!
Since I used the RJ11 cable to the radar detector, I thought it would be kind of neat to just put a RJ11 phone jack in my powerbox. Believe it or not, I didn't think about this up front and had already put the posts in the box - ah, such is life. The phone jack went outside the power box but still under the CD changer case. I'm currently just running power to the phone jack, but am already thinking about what I want to do with the audio out from the radar detector. That signal will come down the other pair of the RJ11 phone cable, so I'm thinking that I could easily put in a powered speaker or something that will really blast/bleep/whatever when it gets a signal. I'm also contemplating hooking up a $2 LED and putting it on my dash somewhere - a hell of a lot less expensive than that sexy HARD system that I was thinking about.
Here's a view of the installation (the laser detector is just sitting there - it's not serving any role... although it would be neat to put in a detector that supported remote antennas).
And a close up:
The nice thing about this is that my laptop and a few other chargers for my cameras will fit in the case perfectly - I'll only charge one at a time, but can easily see simply changing the plug for the charging device at a gas stop.
Cool, huh?
(oh yeah, since I'm camping most of the way, I'm going to bring a 25ft extension cord so I can plug in when I happen to be in a KOA or someplace that offers power... may as well get something for that $20/night camping fee!)
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Pre Trip Planning
Well, it's the day before the big day. Today is Thursday, August 5th, and I plan to leave the Chicago area around 6:00a tomorrow morning.
The last several weeks have been spent planning routes and thinking about what I want to see while on the road. I've given serious thought to how much "stuff" to bring along on my journey and started with a grand plan that I would have two waterproof bags strapped to my K1200LT. Believe it or not, I've succeeded in doing just that - but I had kind of thought one bag would have my camping gear in it and the other bag would have my clothes. Ah, well, it didn't really work out that way. I'm attending a work function for a few days in Reno, so I needed to bring work clothes (nice shorts, nice shirts - hey, it *is* Reno...!), as well as my laptop. Of course I probably wouldn't have left the laptop behind anyway.
Without going into way too much information, here's a brief rundown on what I've brought along:
* Laptop * Digital SLR * A bunch of Nikon camera lenses (I'm into pictures...) * Compact P&S Digital Camera * 25-ft extension cord (for power when camping at KOA) * Firstgear HT Air jacket * HT Air pants * Liners for both * 2 coolmax t-shirts * 3 lycra shorts (no seams!) * boots * gloves * heated vest & pants * clear & dark visor for helmet * 3 pair sunglasses * sleeping bag * camelback waterbag * thermarest sleeping pad * poncho liner * eureka tent * ground cloth for tent * 2 pair blue jean shorts * 2 polo shirts * loafers * cell phone * ham radio * national park pass * shaving gear
There's more, but you get the idea. The laptops & cameras and one or two other fragile items ended up in the side cases or the top case, everything else ended up in these two big red waterproof bags I've got. I've been rained on in a huge downpour for an hour and these things stay waterproof - very cool.
I recently added a RAM mount for my radar detector - hopefully I'll hear the darn thing when it goes off. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to wire a large buzzer to it so it blasts when it goes off. I tried to interface it with my XM radio by getting a Y cable and feeding both the radar earpiece and the XM output into the amp for the radio. You EE types probably already know that wasn't going to work very well - it didn't. I wish I had thought of screwing around with it a week or two... ah, such is life.
So I get everything packed up and ready to go - here are a few shots of the bike ready to go. Bailey wants to go too.
I've decided to attempt an Iron Butt ride on the outbound leg (outbound to Reno). I typically do 500 miles a day, but the Iron Butt people have this idea of an endurance contest that clocks up 1000 miles in 24 hours. I've been close before - 925, 950 miles, something like that, but I've never taken the time to document the process. I'm gonna document the start this time - we'll see if I feel like actually doing it. Visit www.ironbutt.com if you feel the need to learn more about this crazy thing. Of course the only reason I'm doing it is because everybody will think I'm cool if I do. Plus that snazzy little license plate holder. I feel kind of like Homer Simpson who just has to finish that porterhouse at the all you can eat place. Anyway, check back here in a few days and you'll see whether or not I made the 1000 miles in a day. I'd need to go from Chicago to at least Rawlins, WY tomorrow. I think it can be done... hmmm. We'll see.
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Day 1 - Chicago to Rawlins, Wy - 1127 miles
Today was a long day, but the miles seemed to fly by. As planned, I completed the Iron Butt 1000-mile “Saddle Sore” riding contest. The idea behind this is to ride 1000-miles within a twenty-four hour period.
Day1
Like most riders who accomplish this ride, I planned 1100 or so miles – just to be on the safe side. I completed the ride in about 15 hours. I left the Chicago area around 6:00a and navigated through a few country roads to Interstate 88 and took 88 west to Interstate 80. I’m still riding on Interstate 80 as I pen this, but am ready to branch off into the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area – but more on that in Day 2!
Why the 1000-mile contest? More to see if I could do it than anything else, I suppose. I had done long days before, but never 1000-miles. And I had never documented those trips – the start time is the date/time stamp on a gas or ATM receipt. I fueled up near home and was presented with a 6:06a departure time. My motorcycle, the BMW K1200LT, can go about 200 miles per tank of gas, although I try to never go more than 150 miles. The bike weighs in at 800 lbs or so – I’d hate to have to push it down the road! I didn’t take any breaks for the first few fuel stops, but then did take time to stretch and walk around for 15 minutes or so once I hit the 500 mile mark. Things were going very well at this point and I thought that I could continue on with no problem… but as the day progressed, I began to find myself yawning and thinking of other things – not desirable traits for a long-distance motorcyclist…! A few yawns weren’t going to kill me, so I decided to move on – with the proviso that I would stop if I found my attention wandering. Part of the issue, I think, was just the simple boredom of the scenery. Apologies to those of you who happen to live in Western Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska… there’s not much to see. The roads are all pretty flat and there’s nothing but farm after farm. Yeah, I suppose we could talk about the stockyards in Nebraska, but, ah, you can smell them way before you see them and then you see them – and they seem to go on for miles and miles. Lisa Simpson sure would be disappointed. Things picked up in the western half of Nebraska – I was getting closer to my goal and was feeling pretty good. 600 miles turned into 700 into 800, and so on. I exercised pretty good fuel management during this leg of the trip, but I did pass by one station yesterday and a nagging thought started in the back of my mind, “turn around and get gas.” Nah, I thought, I’ve got plenty of gas. Shoot – all I can say is not long later it seemed I wasn’t going to make Laramie, WY. Good thing two people with a sense of humor built a gas station at Buford, WY. There was a sign at the exit ramp that said “Buford, WY Population 2.” The station was closed when I rolled up, but they had a pay at the pump situation. Phew. I cruised Laramie and rolled into Rawlins, WY about 90 minutes later. The first place I stopped did not have pay at the pump and I really wanted an “official” end time for the Iron Butt thing. I went on to the next gas station and got one. The kid at the station didn’t want to be my witness (it’s an Iron Butt thing – visit their website for more info… www.ironbutt.com). Thankfully Michelle at the Day’s Inn had no problem being my witness, so I settled in for the night. I had planned (and still do) to camp on a lot of this trip, but 1127 miles later, I thought I deserved a well nights rest. The room was seventy bucks! So much for a low-cost trip. The room was so-so, the bed was uncomfortable. Too late, I thought, I should have slept on the floor. I’m really going to be better about this camping thing as I go along!
Photos from the trip to follow...
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Day 2 - Rawlins, WY to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area - 197 miles
I slept in today! Why not? I departed Rawlings around noon and motored down Interstate 80 towards Rock Springs, WY. So I’m cruising down Interstate 80 and I see a sign that says “Continental Divide 7000 ft” – I motored right on by and almost instantly began to regret not getting a photo. I knew I would traverse the divide several times (think twisty roads) on the way back – still, though, it felt wrong.
As I’m going down Interstate 80 I see one of those great American sights – a train with two locomotives and about 100 freight cars. I quickly pass by the train and get up the road five or six miles and find an exit and am able to position myself pretty close to the tracks to get some pictures. I’m shooting my photos with the compact Sony S500, and wish I had taken the time to unload the Nikon D100 and all the stuff that goes with that… the S500 will have to do (it’s a great camera). As the train comes around the bend, the engineer sees me and gets on the train whistle – it was cool. My friend Tom – a certifiable train nut would have enjoyed it. The engineer let the whistle go a few times and then really laid it on – it was a long, piercing, soulful sound. You had to be there – but it was very cool.
I load back up and get on the road and see two bicyclists going down the side of the road – in the middle of the desert! As I’m contemplating this (about 85 degrees at the moment), I see another sign that says “Continental Divide” – I’m not passing up this opportunity twice – remember I’m really not on that much of a schedule. I turned around and came back to the sign at the same time the bicyclists made the sign. Hanley and Marty are both in their sixties and are biking across the country! They started in New York – wow! They’re going to the west coast too – although I’m certain I’ll beat them by a mile. We laughed for a few minutes, shot a few pictures, and then bid each other safe travels. Man.
I have no particular destination in mind, other than I have to be in Reno for work on Monday night. I’ve been tinkering with the map software and have decided that I want to visit the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Using MapPoint, I discovered there were two ways to visit the Gorge – the east or west route. I considered doing the western route, but stopped at a huge Harley store and asked a few folks and everyone said the eastern route was better. I thought I’d fuel up with a hamburger, so I stopped at the local Burger King – which is where I sit now and write in my journal. Everybody here thinks the eastern route is better too!
So, it’s several hours later as I sit near the campfire to continue in my journal. It was an interesting afternoon. I left the Burger King around 2:00p or so and had a wonderful ride down US191. It’s a very pretty ride and the traffic is sporadic – I’d go thirty or forty minutes and not see anybody, and then I’d see six or eight cars or bikes in a row. I had already decided to stop when I see something interesting, so this ride was full of brief stops for a photo break. The route from Interstate 80 to the dam at Flaming Gorge is only about 50 miles – and it took me at least two hours to make the trip… yes, I was taking lots of pictures. So I just entered into Utah and there was a Caddy in front of me poking along. In a very nice way, I blasted past the guy, gave him a wave, and road up a great big hill and around a few curves. What’s this I see? Off to my right is a fantastic view of the lake at the Gorge – I have to stop. Of course I’ve already rolled past the entrance to the cutout, so I look both ways and then begin a very low-speed u-turn. Now, you have to understand something about this motorcycle – it’s heavy. It’s top heavy. You also have to understand something about u-turns – you gotta be careful even when the ground is flat. You gotta be extra careful when it’s a two-lane road out in the country and you’re on a hill. Also, you gotta understand – there are two types of motorcyclists out there: those who have dropped their bikes and those who will drop their bike one day. Well, sad to say, I moved from one club to the other today. The good news is it really was more of a very slow controlled descent into the ground as I eased her down. I could come up with all sorts of great explanations about how such a thing happened to an obviously talented motorcyclist, or I could tell you there was sand on the ground, or… bla bla bla. I joined the other club today. So… there I am. In the middle of the desert, on a hill, wondering how the hell I’m gonna get this thing right-side-up. Let’s not forget that the bike weighs about 800 lbs – and that’s before you add in all your camping stuff. I figured I was looking at close to 1000 lbs of stuff. There was no way I was going to be able to get this thing up. I gave thought to taking everything off it and trying again, but it was on a hill and then I’d still be dealing with the 800 lbs. It wasn’t gonna help. So, there I am, thinking about what to do, wondering how long it will take for somebody to come along. The guy in the Caddy roles up and I’m thinking that grandpa is gonna hop out and yell out me for speeding and then wrecking – it actually looked a whole heck of a lot worse than it was. Thankfully it’s a young guy who walks up with a smile and helps me right her right side up. Of course by this time, there’s a virtual traffic jam – two or three cars from both sides have stopped. One little old lady is running around with her cell phone asking if she should call 911 and wondering where “he” is. It took me a minute, but I finally realized that I was the “he” she was looking for. I think she was looking for somebody lying by the side of the road. Sorry to disappoint and all. I thank everyone for their help and gently motor on back to the overlook to get some pictures.
As you can imagine, it was a pretty interesting afternoon. I roll through a small town called “Dutch John” and stop to see the dam at Flaming Gorge. Pretty cool, great views. I roll over the damn and around a few curves and up a pretty big hill and I see a campground run by the National Park (or State Park?) system. It’s still relatively early – around 5:00p. I’ve only done 197 miles today. I think about it for a few second and decide to pull in to investigate. Despite all my pretensions to the contrary the camping thing and I are somewhat new to one another. Yeah, I camped when I was a kid. Yeah, I slept out in the woods when I was in the Army (but I had an M16 with me then…), Yeah, I thought that this was a pretty snazzy campground as those things go. And likely a lot better than what I would find by the side of the road in the middle of Utah three or four hours later. I decided to call it a day. That, by the way, is one of the best parts about riding a motorcycle. I pull in, find a spot, pay my $14 for the night and get settled in. I buy a bundle of wood ($5) from the guy running the place and pitch my tent. I’ve got a nice fire pit, a picnic table, a cleared area for my tent, and – best of all – a concrete slab for part the LT. And, oh yeah, uh, “facilities.” Pretty cool. I unload everything and get setup and then ride a few miles down the road to the “Lodge” and do some grocery shopping. They’ve got a fancy schmancy restaurant attached to it, but Gene (the guy running the place) has already clued me in that they’re gonna want something like nine bucks for a so-so hamburger. I bought some groceries and motor back to the campsite. It’s still pretty light out (it’s 8:15p mountain time as I write this and the sun is just now thinking about peaking below the ridge across the way), so I’m not quite ready for dinner. I sit at the table and finish reading one of the books I brought along and then I took a walk around the campsite and said hello to some of my neighbors. This is apparently a pretty good place to hang out if you’re camping and you’ve got a boat – at least 25% of the people here have boats or empty trailers with them. Anyway, I get back to the tent and it’s still somewhat early, so I decided to lie down in the tent and take a nap. Man, what a life.
It’s about 7:00p and time for dinner. Come on now, ask yourself, when’s the last time you had toasted marshmallows? Very cool. I foraged around for a few minutes and found some dry brush and some kindling and came back to the fire pit and crossed my fingers. I had a very nice fire going within minutes. It’s nice to know that Boy Scout training paid off. Or maybe it was just the dry brush…! Either way, tent pitched, fire going, dinner time. A few roasted (ok, burned) hot dogs later, a handful of marshmallows, some more picture taking, and I’m ready for some work on the journal. I haven’t looked at the pictures yet – I’ll load them on the laptop in a few minutes and do that for another hour or so before bed. I expect I’ll be up with the sunrise (whenever that is) and then on the road shortly thereafter. By the way, I forgot to mention, I’m wearing bicyclist shorts (no seams) and coolmax t-shirts under my riding gear. Man, what a joy. I could go on and on and on about how comfortable they are – put it this way, at the end of the day, I’m feeling great – not hot, now sweaty, not, ah, gross. Anymore than usual that is. ? Also, I’m using a Camelback 3 liter hydration system – I have it strapped to my gear on the back of the bike and am able to take a sip whenever I feel the need. I went through the entire thing yesterday, and, man, was it the sweet sweet nectar of the gods. I filled the thing with water before I left home and left it in the fridge overnight – and then added ice right before I left Chicago. It stayed cooled all day long. I’ll never do a long trip without a camelback and the snazzy riding gear again. Oh yeah, the 110v charging system on the motorcycle worked fine today – I charged up the laptop from about 25% battery to full power during my ride. See my trip planning part for more info on that – www.twentyninewest.com/roadtrip.
Nite! See ‘ya tomorrow.
Because sometimes it's not important where you're going, it's where you've been that counts.
It happens to all of us eventually...
Home Sweet Home
Most handsome rider I've ever seen...
Pacific Coast Highway 2004 Day 3 - Flaming Gorge NRA to Wendover, NV - 319 miles
Before I hit the sack last night, I reviewed some of the photos I’ve taken so far and while there’s still a lot of reviewing and editing to go I’m pleased with what I have so far. I crashed in the tent and listened to MP3s for about an hour or so while eyeballing the photos.
Day3
I drift off to sleep pretty early and was so comfortable that I didn’t use the sleeping bag – I was wearing shorts & a t-shirt and just curled up in a poncho liner… ah, that was a mistake. Around three in the morning I wake up and realize that it was pretty cold, that I was pretty cold. The temp was in the mid-thirties. Ouch! I broke out the sleeping bag and dashed out to the bike to get a set of sweats. The awesome stillness and clarity of the night-sky was a sight to behold. If I hadn’t been so cold I would have figured out a way to snap a few shots… as it was, I was back in bed in a few minutes.
I wake (again) with the sunrise and have things packed and ready to go within half an hour or so. I load up and am cruising down SR40 (Utah), south of the Flaming Gorge Area, when I see movement off to the left side of the road. I hit the brakes just in time as some monster cow walks out into the road. Get this – the cow is walking on top of one of those cattle guards! Sheesh, I thought those were supposed to keep the livestock from crossing the road! I continue a lot slower than before and run into a small herd a few hundred feet up the road. I toot the horn a few times – some nervous looks, but no real movement. I slowly weave my way through them, conscious of the fact that one of them could knock me over in a heartbeat. I stop and take some pictures. Some bonehead in a Honda Civic comes up behind me, waits for about two seconds, and then guns it and blasts around me – he came really close to whacking a cow that ran in front of his POS car. Would have served him right. Anyway, I get going a few minutes later and continue to bump into cows for the next couple of miles. I cannot imagine what it would be like to run into a 1000-lb cow (how much do those things weigh anyway?) with an 800-lb motorcycle.
The next couple of hours were just spectacular. There were a lot of great curves, a lot of great scenery, and not a lot of traffic. I probably stopped every 15 minutes for pictures. It was one of the better motorcycle rides I’ve experienced. I found a great overlook on Route 44 that was positioned at the beginning of three or four switchbacks and sat there for half an hour and just watched the day go by. It was wonderful.
I motored up to Manila and crossed back into Wyoming and eventually got back on Interstate 80 pointed my way towards Salt Lake City. I found a Borders Bookstore and spent about an hour there and got online using the TMobile hotspot. I waited for the heat of the afternoon to pass and then got back on the road. I had planned to 500 miles or so today, but Interstate 80 west of SLC was hot and I was getting a little fatigued. Never one to keep pushing when tired (and this coming from a newly minted Iron Butt dude…), I decided to stop at the next town and find a campsite. The camping thing worked out so well last night, I was very comfortable with the idea of doing it again. Campgrounds like KOA are all over the place – and in this part of the country it’s also pretty easy to just find an isolated spot and pitch the tent. Well… I’m all ready to camp. I cross over the Utah/Nevada state line and see they have casinos all over the place. Rooms for $22. Hmmm. It’s not the Mirage. It’s not Pleasure Island. But it is $22. Heck, I paid $14 to camp last night. My resolve melts and I think that a hotel is a good thing. I pull in and get settled. Turns out they’re having a $3.49 dinner special – strip steak with all the fixings. Hmmm. Not bad.
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