{"id":547,"date":"2017-08-23T11:50:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T16:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nyemoto.com\/?p=547"},"modified":"2017-08-23T16:10:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T21:10:59","slug":"what-i-missed-riding-middle-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/23\/what-i-missed-riding-middle-america\/","title":{"rendered":"What I missed \/ riding middle America"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was tough leaving the group in Telluride. \u00a0It had been an truly epic trip and I was sad to be heading east yet I was riding an incredible high from the last five days.<\/p>\n

I figured I’d break my ride east in segments with the first being from Telluride to near the front range, there to Chicago and Chicago home. \u00a0No matter how much I hate slab going east from Chicago into New England on any sort of schedule requires big roads. \u00a0I really wanted to avoid the interstate as much as possible. \u00a0I figured it would make “re-entry” easier. \u00a0When you travel from New England there comes a point on the return trip when you’re reminded of how populated the region is. It’s the first sea of brake lights for no real reason that reminds me I’m heading back to the zoo. \u00a0I wanted to put it off as long as possible.<\/p>\n

One last stop to enjoy Colorado.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The guys headed to Alta Lakes to camp and I started east. \u00a0I decided to stay in Gunnison; there was no need to push on in the dark.<\/p>\n

Quite a day. \u00a0Start in Lake City, Engineer Pass “the hard way”, Black Bear Pass, lunch in Telluride and overnight in Gunnison.<\/p>\n

Friday, July 21, 2017 9:20 AM MDT
\nDistance: 186.2 miles
\nDuration: 9 hours, 6 minutes, and 52 seconds
\nAverage Speed: 20.4 mph
\nMinimum Elevation: 5900 feet
\nMaximum Elevation: 12851 feet
\nTotal climb: 15501 feet
\nTotal descent: 16197 feet<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had no real plan. \u00a0I was on 50 which could take me all the way to Maryland if I had a week (and the patience). \u00a036 is another good way east as is 32. \u00a0Good to have choices. I got an early start.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile my friends were waking up in Alta Lakes. \u00a0Today their plan was to ride Imogene Pass. \u00a0Chad Warner had his own plan which was to pull off his “Distinguished Gentleman’s Adventure Ride”. \u00a0This was a play on the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride which is a fund raiser for prostate cancer research. \u00a0For the ride folks bring out their vintage and classic motorcycles, dress up and have fun.<\/p>\n

Have fun. \u00a0That sums up being with Chad. \u00a0He’s the one who was a Marine Recon and jumped out of planes at very high altitudes with “just enough” oxygen. \u00a0I bet they give them more now.<\/p>\n

Chad brings hyperdrive to the group and he’s not afraid to pack heavy and drag along the perfect prop for the perfect moment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chad Warner: \u00a0A most Distinguished Adventure Gentleman.
\nJim Bean photo
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While they were enjoying one more pass I was moving east. \u00a0The last glimpse of the Rockies came early in the day. \u00a0It’s always a moment; the exciting first sight of the mountains coming west followed by the last glimpse in the mirror heading home. \u00a0One is exciting, the other bittersweet. This was bittersweet. \u00a0I was leaving the mountains where geography dictates that roads cannot be straight. \u00a0Or flat. \u00a0Middle America offers little in the way of barriers to travel and the settlers went straight as much as possible; MIT researchers proved Kansas truly is flatter than a pancake.<\/p>\n

In the United States there are a few ways to describe real estate. \u00a0One is Metes and Bounds and the second is Lot and Block. \u00a0Metes and bounds is used in New England and the eastern part of the United States where many natural boundaries exist. \u00a0For example the location of a property line in New England can be found by going to a known location (marker of stone) and then going xx feet in a specific direction to a stream or other natural feature (or another set \u00a0marker) followed by turn with another bearing and so on.<\/p>\n

Out west it’s flat and everything is a grid so it’s described in terms referencing a grid; this is how we got the four corners vs state lines that run down the middle of rivers as they do in New England.<\/p>\n

This is also why almost every local road between Chicago and the Rocky Mountains is dead straight, they follow the grid lines. \u00a0This also provides opportunity to get off the slab and see America.
\nI made my way east to Lincoln, Nebraska using a little chunk of slab at the end of the day. \u00a0I rode a bunch of dirt running north\/south or east\/west to successfully avoid rain. \u00a0It was fun and so much better than I-80.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s ride:<\/p>\n

Saturday, July 22, 2017 6:34 AM MDT
\nDistance: 701.0 miles
\nDuration: 13 hours, 32 minutes, and 30 seconds
\nAverage Speed: 50.6 mph
\nMinimum Elevation: 1161 feet
\nMaximum Elevation: 11090 feet
\nTotal climb: 12201 feet
\nTotal descent: 18827 feet<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On this trip I decided to see if I could save money by going to the mom n pop motels. \u00a0Mom and Pop are long gone, they sold to some immigrants hoping to make a start in America. \u00a0 After a career in shipping many of these people came from countries from which I’ve had colleagues which adds a nice dimension to it. \u00a0Some of these hotels are great and some are dumps. \u00a0Lincoln was a dump.\u00a0Even dumps can offer opportunities for entertainment but tonight they were not filming Cops so I got a good rest.<\/p>\n

Riding middle America is an experience everyone should have. \u00a0Get off the interstates and away from the truck stops and fast food. \u00a0Chat to the kid at the gas station and the waitress at the diner. \u00a0Try the pie. \u00a0Be approachable. \u00a0I had a great chat in Nebraska with two guys and their ladies who were riding wicked custom harleys and why not? \u00a0You’re in the heartland where roads were designed with a ruler, be loud and proud. \u00a0Well proud anyway; I don’t like straight pipes anywhere but the chrome and paintwork was very impressive, plus he had a sticker referencing a stripper on the rear fender. \u00a0When his gal approached she saw me look at the sticker and look up to which she said:<\/p>\n

“I’m not a stripper.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I told her I didn’t think she looked like one and I told him that if he got rid of the sticker perhaps she’d act like one. Behind closed doors of course.<\/p>\n

She was quite taken with my muddy bike, dirty rally suit and alpinestar boots; he explained that I was riding in the dirt. \u00a0He then wanted info on my TKC 80’s because he thought they’d look “badass” on his hog. \u00a0I pointed to my tire and said it was mounted 7 days ago. \u00a0We agreed it wouldn’t last more than 60 seconds in the burnout pit. \u00a0He decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to mount a TKC 80 on a custom Hog.<\/p>\n

From here it was some more off slab to just west of Chicago, then slab to Cleveland for the night. \u00a0915 miles in 18 hours, another dump and home for dinner Monday. \u00a0What a trip. \u00a0I’ve tried but it’s one where “words can’t describe.” \u00a0So many wonderful moments with fantastic humans. \u00a0New friends who are great riders, great people and welcome to visit my home, ride my bikes, smoke cigars and drink some rum. \u00a0Jury’s out on whether or not they get take home syrup.<\/p>\n

Upon my return home I was catching up with my best buddy, Seamus. \u00a0Seamus is a sailor and you can be a great sailor and be all thumbs around internal combustion powered machinery. You can be a sailor and have raced to Bermuda but never spent a night in a tent. \u00a0That’s Seamus so it’s always fun to catch up after a big ride. \u00a0I started telling him things about the trip and he interrupted me with the following:<\/p>\n

“So you found your balls you lost on that Iron Butt thing.. Glad to hear it.” \u00a0Let’s blast out to Block Island for lunch”<\/em><\/p>\n

I laughed and said: “Actually yes. \u00a0Yes, I did find my balls in Colorado. \u00a0When are we going to Mahogany Shoals?”<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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It was tough leaving the group in Telluride. \u00a0It had been an truly epic trip and I was sad to be heading east yet I was riding an incredible high […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8hV9j-8P","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyemoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}