ADVRider.com – Andrew Gore

Don’t Be Late! 2 Singles and a Twin KTM Ride the TWAT Day 5

Posted on November 4, 2015 by admin

Day 5 (Thursday) – Gays Mills, WI back home.

All good things must come to an end. My forks (which had been leaking since day 1) would thank me.

I woke up plenty relaxed after a relaxing evening. I had all day to get the 180 miles (taking highway) home. I was in no rush, and for the first time on the trip, I was flying solo. Caleb had his 690 loaded on his trailer, Jameson was off in Minneapolis and on his way to ride some more at Black River Falls. I had a general idea of how I wanted to get home. I wanted to just work my way west, and around Janesville area, work my way to State Line Road, follow that home, and end up in one piece, with no issues.

I snapped a couple quick pics before I left my parents.

Red suspenders…ready to roll!

The sky was overcast, I was stocked up with random snacks in my tanktail bag, and I was excited to be back on the familiar Seat Concepts seat. I decided to ride South on 61 until I got into Boscobel (South of the Wisconsin River). Normally when driving out this way, I stay North of the River. I figured I’d switch things up a bit. What a great decision. As soon as I began exiting out of Boscobel I saw what looked like the perfect off-shoot to take. I found myself winding through old farm lands, weaving into darkly lit tunnels of trees with a fresh feeling of early Fall in the air. No sooner was I enjoying the ride, when the sky opened and began a light rain on me. I didn’t care. It was part of what I was riding, and with the time I’d spent on my bike in the past few days, every move I made, I felt one with the machine. No concerns that I was riding over wet leave strewn roads. I was in my element, a very happy place.

This twisting and winding went on for a good hour and a half. Look over there, yah that road seems good, let’s take that. Where does this one go…..OK, let’s find out. So I continued on attempting to somehow delay the inevitable of more open corn\farm fields and the reality of getting back home. That was OK though, as I was feeling accomplished. Thinking in my head, just a few days prior, I had just started to ride out this way, pondering……will this little 350 single do this? This high strung race bike, how far away am I going to be when something on it pops. Who’s gonna take one for the team and drive my truck way out here to pick me up. It never happened. My bike without a hiccup was doing everything (and more) that I asked of it.

The rains eventually began to subside, which gave me time to stop and enjoy an early lunch snack.

I ended up only stopping another time or two on the remainder of the trip home. My bike at some point needed fuel and I needed another round of gas station food (pop tarts and nutbars). I really found myself enjoying the scenery. Yes, it’s open corn lands, but there just seems to be a calm in it. Nobody around, just the delicate wind to keep you company.

With that, I found my way home. My wife was at work, so I was greeted by my pup. You can see my eye was still bugging me from the mosquito incident early on in the trip.

My total tallies were in….GPS Total:

Bike Total (put a 1 in front of this…it rolls over at 999):

Left at 11:30am Sunday, and was back home by Thursday 2pm. Right around 4 days of actual riding time. Awesome.

With that, Day 5 Map:

For me, I could have continued riding this stuff for the next several weeks. I’m sure anyone else would say the same. I had been wanting to do a trip for awhile where I ended up in a new location each night. There is something exciting about not knowing exactly where you’re going to sleep. What you’ll do for food, what kind of fun you’ll run into as you cruise down the road. I knew going into this ride that the little 350 was far from an ideal machine. I didn’t care. If it blew up, I’d deal with it. It wasn’t the most comfortable of bikes, but is motorcycling ever about being comfortable? For me, it’s not. There is something about being open and vulnerable to the elements and being that much closer to your surroundings. All that said, for a ride like this, I’d love a bike with a bit more giddyup. Had I of been able to cruise more comfortably over 60-65mph, you could really cover ground a bit quicker. It’s ok. I wouldn’t hesitate to take the 350 on this trip again, and would gladly hop on it tomorrow to go ride the same thing again.

This is a ride that anyone in the Midwest area should add to their list of rides to do. There is nothing inherently technical with it. If you’re not a fan of sand, there really isn’t all that much of it. There are some ATV trails, but if you keep your pace reasonable, they’re nothing to be concerned about. One thing that I found after this trip was that my ability to drift my bike went through the roof. I’m not sure if it was the hours of fun on gravel roads with (in my eyes) glorified street tires, but I rode an Egg Hunt race not long after on the 350 (albeit with knobbies) and was so confident in riding with both front and rear wheel sliding out on me. I couldn’t have been happier.

Post ride, my only real complaint was with my Garmin Montana. I don’t know actual times\mileages, because as soon as I hooked my GPS to my computer, it freaked out and I lost all my data. Kinda crappy to happen after the units first use. Garmin stepped up and sent me a new unit, so all is well…just no data.

And so it ends. I’m looking forward to spending some time this next year scrambling around the Driftless area. I foresee several more trips to the area. That much is true.

For a few other random pictures from the trip see:

Picatures Here

Andrew

Don’t Be Late! 2 Singles and a Twin KTM Ride the TWAT Day 4

Posted on November 4, 2015 by admin

Day 4 (Wednesday) – Day Lake to Gays Mills, WI

Day 4 for me, would be a day of hunker down and get cozy on that there KTM saddle. I’ll explain later, so let’s start at the beginning.

Morning found me putting my fancy Wal-Mart coffee mug to the test:

From here, we discussed the days plans. I was confident I had the location of my SPOT sorted, so I decided I’d packup quickly, find the SPOT, and meet at the local gas station. If I didn’t find it, I didn’t find it. If I did….rad. According to Google Maps, the unit was in a small clearing on this side trail we were on. Sure enough, that silly thing was exactly where the internets told me it would be.

Welcome back old friend…

Later on, I figured out why my Garmin gave me an odd reading. There was a discrepancy in how I input the GPS coordinates. Once input correctly, sure enough, it showed the correct location of m SPOT. I hopped on the 350, giddy as could be and blasted my way back to meetup Jameson & Caleb, who hadn’t even made it to the gas station yet. We thought about things, and contemplated a mad dash to at least get back to the Black River Falls area. We wanted to hit some sections on the way South that we skipped (fuel\time\light) on the way up. Rustic Road 111, we officially meet again:

I can’t recall if it was after or during this RR 111 section that we got to ride some more ATV Trails. Wherever it was, Caleb informed us that that was the section that they had rode……..at night……with the trail completely flooded. When we rode the ATV sections, there were some soft spots, but absolutely nothing worrying. Ride the side, and you’re through. Caleb explained that when they rode the year prior, there were football field length sections under water, where they hoped they wouldn’t sink. Now that’s adventure. :lol3. Just before we were to hop on the road, in a quick turn-around, Jameson found himself in the dirt.

Nothing to see here….

We’re going how far on the road from here????

We blasted straight South on 70. Yes, we blasted about 130 miles straight highway. Now that isn’t that far or that long. It just slightly more a PITA when you’re riding a bike that feels like its top cruising speed is 65mph. Yes, 70 started feeling more comfortable as I wanted to get done with it sooner, but 65 was where we needed to be. We stopped about half way in Cornell, WI. Grabbed some fuel & some snacks. At this point Jameson realized that the glass jar of jelly he had in his side pannier decided to open itself. Yes, a pannier full of strawberry jelly :lol3 Go figure that where we stopped, also happened to be home to a handful of wasps. I took pity and didn’t snap any pictures of Jameson during this scuffle.

I did snap one picture of myself at this stop to send to the Mrs. back home. Classy selfies:

From Cornell, we decided to stop just outside of Black River Falls, at the Mocha Mouse. A small little coffee\whatever place. It was early afternoon and we had to decide what we were going to do for the rest of the day. We knew ride, but back to the cabin? Off-Road in BRF? We didn’t know. For me, it was becoming apparent enough as to what I needed to do. At this point, I knew I wanted to be home some time Thursday. I also knew that I was within striking distance of my parents cabin near Soldiers Grove. I could tell Jameson was itching for some more off-road riding. Caleb, seemed to be erring on the side of getting back to the cabin, to trailer home the next day. With a healthy dose of Caffeinated Mocha drink (and maybe a jumbo chocolate chip cookie), Caleb and I would say Farewell to Jameson. His plan however was to meet up with some friends…..in Minneapolis. Yes. He ran from BRF back up to Minneapolis to visit some friends (and then back to BRF the next day to ride some more trails).

We’ll see you later Jameson!

We gotta ride how far now???

Caleb and I hopped on our trusty KTM’s, and worked our way down through Sparta and onto the Ontario area. Now this is where things got a bit…..interesting. I’ll tell the story as best I recall, but I could be off in my recollection, and for all I know, it didn’t even actually happen. We went to stop for fuel outside of Ontario, but I missed a turn. I figured we’d be fine on fuel, and saw that Ontario had a gas station of its own just outside of Wildcat Mountain (which we had ridden on the way North…and I wanted to ride again heading South). We roll up to this small gas station, and I see a younger guy on a street bike. Caleb stops at the pump across from the street bike guy. I pull up next to Caleb, since there were only like 3 pumps here. Caleb hops off his bike, and tells me….Hey, I gotta pull all this crap off my bike to fill up. For those that don’t know, a KTM 690 has underseat gas tank, with the fill spout kinda above the rear fender. In Calebs case, it requires him to remove all of his gear to get to.

So, I roll up and fill up my gas tank. When I’m done, I roll my bike back and let Caleb in spot to fillup with fuel. I am checking some stuff on my GPS when sportbike guy rolls up. We start chatting, with him explaining he’s from around the Madison area, and loves the roads around here. We talked Wildcat Mountain a bit, and I explained where we were headed. He started to fill me in on some of his favorite roads in the vicinity, when all of a sudden some older gentleman gets up out of his car all worked up. Caleb at this point had literally just finished topping up with fuel and was beginning to strap his luggage back on his bike.

This old guy starts coming at us, screaming to GTFO of the way of the premium pump. Caleb, sportbike guy, and myself all look at eachother like…what are you going on about? Old man starts yelling at Caleb to move his bike, and quit sitting around talking. I try to reason with the guy that he literally just finished fueling up, and we had no idea that this was the only premium fuel pump at the station. Trying to reason with a crazy person in and of itself is crazy, so I just tried to get the guy to calm down. Sir, we’ll move the bike, we didn’t mean to inconvenience you here. Now at this point, sportbike guy get a bit lippy with the man. On one hand, I can’t blame him. The old man could have been cool about it, but he came out a blazing hot-head.

So here I am, standing next to my bike. Caleb is standing at about my 1 o’clock, a few steps away. Old man is to my 3 o’clock about a step away, and Sportbike guy is at my 9 o’clock. Sportbike guy begins making a few comments about the old mans car, at which point he pushes me out of the way to get at sportbike guy. These two kinda lock eyes, looking like I’m about to witness a brawl. Old man gives sportbike guy a big shove. I try to step in a bit and try to get the guy to calm down. Sir, Sir……Sir, just go back to your car. There is no need for this. We will move our bikes, we had no idea we were inconveniencing you today. Sportbike guy looks like he’s about to exchange fisticuffs with the man. After a few more of my reassuring pep talks, the old man slowly walked back to his car. Caleb and I roll our bikes away, and begin getting our gear on.

As we’re gearing up, sportbike guy comes up to Caleb and I, and makes mention he’s gonna retaliate. Caleb and I look at each other, toss our gear on, and get out of dodge. We stop a bit up the road, and kinda run over to ourselves what just all went down. We both agree this was crazy. Where we stopped was close enough to still kind of see the gas station. At which point we kinda see the sportbike guy circle around old mans car, and then zoom off in the opposite direction. Caleb and I look at each other. I tell him if he sees a Mercedes in his mirrors, to just stay on the gas. We fire up our bikes and make our way through Wildcat Mountain……thankfully with no Crazed Old Man behind us.

Not far after the Wildcat Mountain, we came upon another Rustic Road. I couldn’t resist:

We moseyed on down the way, taking one of the roads suggested to us by sportbike guy. It was a great road, and had my bike of been faster…..even more fun. We stopped for a quick restroom break and enjoyed the peaceful area, away from anyone else.

Fun Bridges….and portapotties :lol3

From here, we followed whatever way we felt like. I have to say, it was an incredible portion of the trip. We meandered through farm land, on winding paved roads, darting in and around spotted gravel sections. The 350 was in its element here. You could really ride the bike fast, without going illegal speeds. I carved like I was on a supermoto, and was able to still take in the scenery. Sooner or later, we were getting close to some locations I had ridden, and knew I needed to snap a quick pic where I had forgotten to when my wife and I had been riding nearby earlier this year.

With that, we finished our ride back to my parents cabin. It was a long day, with a LOT of riding. A LOT of varied riding as well. It beat the prior days for excitement, that’s for sure. Very good, fun day. Caleb and I grabbed a frozen pizza and cooked it up, enjoying a few leftover beers from Sunday night.

Day 4 Map –

Andrew

Day 5 to follow –

Don’t Be Late! 2 Singles and a Twin KTM Ride the TWAT Day 2

Posted on November 3, 2015 by admin

Day 2 (Monday) – Soldiers Grove to Hawkins area, WI?

We woke up around 7am, and realized we had made a terrible mistake. Our first night on the trip, was us living lives of luxury. We had beds, fridge with food, running water, and yes, a shower. Caleb was found sleeping in his car outside. I think he slept for an hour after whatever wedding he was at, and drove his way out. He arrived bearing gifts of breakfast sausage, and other tasty foods.

A quick look outside showed that we’d be riding in some beautiful weather. Sun was out, and found us getting out on the road quite late around 9am. The portion of the TWAT from Soldiers Grove area on up to Black River Falls area is mostly road, and maybe some minor backroad stuff. OK, I think it also takes you through Wildcat mountain area (though we may have bypassed this?). Yes, now looking back I recall what happened. We wound our way through many random fields and Amish areas. We did some math, and felt if we wanted to get to the sandier and more off-roady areas, we’d create some bypasses of our own and get up to Black River Falls area. At which point, we made our first stop along the way

A side road on a sandy section of the TWAT –

I think at this point I finished the last of the peanut butter bars my wife made me. They were supposed to last the trip, but hey……I can’t fight the hunger feeling. As I’ve mentioned before, I am not the best at taking pictures. The next I have along the way are some additional Rustic Road pics. This was just on the outskirts of the BRF area.

We zipped along, at which point realizing that there were some open gravel areas. I don’t mind going as fast as possible on these roads, but Lord help me if that KTM 950 doesn’t kick up some killer dust. Jameson was rocking some Terraflex rear tire that was like a 3 mile long smoke screen of dust. The 690 wasn’t as bad, but sweet word. So as we scooted along, my eye spied another Rustic Road sign. I let Jameson and Caleb zip away as I snagged a quick picture.

You’ll notice in the above pic how my luggage locations changed. This changed probably each day as I found a new configuration to put things. Yes, I managed to burn some straps, and lose an item or two. Such is life.

Along we went, with us needing to take a quick break. Again, I don’t remember where, or exactly when. I do remember though that Caleb had found that his rotopax gas tank he had on his bikes rear rack had broken the rear rack. We found a stellar spot along the way to stop and fix things. We had a lake, a parking lot, shade, pit toilets. What more could you ask for?

An hour and a half later, my gatorade had decided to work its way through me, requiring a quick pit stop. I waved Jameson & caleb past and hung tight for a bit to let some of their dust settle. We were mildly confused on the Wisconsin ATV Trail markings. When you see a motorcycle, with a line through it, you tend to think….motorcycles shouldn’t be there. That’s not always the case as we’d later learn. Street legal motorcycles are acceptable. This relieved me a bit, as I don’t like riding where I don’t belong, or am not allowed. We have too few of trail systems as it is, I don’t want to be the one to screw that up. :deal

Jameson scratches away some dust:

Caleb ready to keep groovin and a moovin:

After the more off-roady aspect of the area North of Black River Falls, things basically turn into farm lands. Wide. Open. Farm. We scooted pretty quickly at this point, with each of us keeping decent distance to keep the dust as tolerable as possible. Around 6pm, we figured we better figure out what we were going to do for camp. We stopped at a gas station I really wish I knew where (mapping shows Hawkins, WI) to get some quick food stuffs. At which point I sent my wife a stellar high fashion photo of myself.

We figured at this point, we’d continue to follow the trail, and see where we ended up. Around 630, Jameson figured we better really buckle down on location.

We found ourselves on an ATV Trail. I was in front (350’s are the fastest of course), with Jameson following Caleb. Caleb ended up washing out his front tire, so we decided we really must buckle down. and find camp. After a few minor detours, we found an appropriate locale for sleeping.

We realized in our spot we had no cell signal. I sent my Check-In\OK signal on my SPOT, but figured I’d walk to the entrance of our camp spot to see if I could get any reception. I hopped on my bike without my gear\helmet\etc. Go figure, I get a danged mosquito in my eye.

Yah…that one on your right. The one that’s making your eyes water right now :lol3

We relaxed through the evening. Cooked some foods, and around 9 or 10, Jameson decided he needed a cup of coffee. I odn’t understand how he did it, but he did. Caleb and I retired to our separate chambers. His a hammock nestled between a couple trees. Mine, my trusty Kelty tent. Not 2 minutes after getting into my tent, Caleb begins snoring like a bear. Thankfully, I was tired and zonked out quickly.

End of day, I think we did 275-300ish miles? I sadly don’t remember. It was a great day of riding, and I was ready for what the next day would bring us.

Day 2 Map

Day 3 (Tuesday) to follow.

Andrew

August – September Race Reports

Posted on September 24, 2014 by admin

I’m well behind on this. What can I say, I’ve been busy. Since my last version was a TLDR Wall o Text, I’ll keep it short & sweet.

August 17th Harescramble. I don’t remember how the race went. For the bulk of the race, I thought I was in 2nd place. Turned out there was a timing\scoring error in my favor. 1st place Open B, 18th\48 Overall.

September 20th GP Race:
I did this race for 2 reasons. 1. I hadn’t ridden the 350 since the last race, and 2. I was in 1st place for the FVOR Open B Overall and racing the GP would give me some bonus points, should I not perform well on Sunday First moto I had a bad start, but everyone seemed to be moving a good pace. I learned the course (short) and ended up 4th\11 in the B class. Not bad considering I was shaking off some cobwebs. Second moto things were great……until the skies opened . Goggles were removed. I couldn’t see a thing, and it was like riding on ice. Lap times dropped substantially. I was riding reasonably well until I stalled the bike on the simplest of climbs. Go figure my E-Start button decided to not work. I tried kick starting the bike, only to slide backwards into a tree I got back up & finished 4th again.

Recap – Moto 1 – 4th Moto 2 – 4th – Overall 3rd. Apparently some folks stopped riding when the rain came….I said bring it

September 21st Harescramble:
This was the race I wanted to race. I knew if I won this one, I’d have the FVOR Open B overall. It had rained a bit more overnight, but luckily the morning race combined with dry weather made the course plenty tacky (though still a bit slick in areas). My bike was coated in mud from Saturdays race. My gear was coated & mostly still wet. Luckily I had some dry gloves with & some alternate goggles to use. Once again, I had a weak start (starter button is on the fritz). This time though, the bad start was a blessing in disguise. A group of guys piled up on the inside of the 1st turn, allowing me to squeak around the outside of them.

I had 2 or 3 guys in front of me from my class. I ended up making quick work of them & had them passed before the end of the first lap. Lap timer showed I was in 1st place. I knew at this point it was mine to lose, so I kept as sharp as I could, and kept pushing as hard as I could. Riding the GP helped a lot, as most all of the GP course was part of the harescramble course.

The Harescramble course first half was windy stuff through some sloppy wooded areas. After the first lap, this area tacked up pretty well. Next up was the endurocross. Normally I was jumping these obstacles. This time I kept the same speed, but tried to keep as low as possible on them. I wasn’t in the mood for heavy impacts. Next up was the 1st half of the moto track. I did what I could to keep pinned through here as it felt like “free time” to me as most guys don’t keep it full speed there. I tucked the front on a sandy turn though. Thankfully slow speed & the bike kept running.

After the 1st half of the moto track, we did a small climb\descent, hit the moto whoops, and back up another climb to the 1st grass section. This was good fun here. I’d do the climb in 3rd gear (slightly lugging) which kept good traction on the bad surface. It allowed me to rev out through 3rd into the first grass turn, keep in 3rd for the turn and up into 4th before dropping back into the woods. From here it was back onto the moto track, and another off-camber uphill climb. I was loving this climb. I went into the first portion in 3rd, and then dropped to 2nd when the hill got steeper. At the top, you’d jump out into the 2nd grass track section, where I’d click into 3rd, 4th, and then pinned in 5th to the end. It felt good to stretch the bikes legs a bit. From here it was some windy 2-track type stuff, through timing & scoring, and then across and down into the creek section. Again, another spot where I felt I made good time.

The entire race, I felt I was riding extremely well. I was confident on the bike (moreso than I’d been all year) and above all, just felt in control of things. I was a little sore from Saturday, but it wasn’t really affecting me. I wasn’t out of breath, and my muscles weren’t really feeling it. I was just having fun riding as fast as I could. On top of that, I was incredibly consistent. My times were within 5-10 seconds throughout the entire race.

I was fast, consistent, and having fun. Unofficial results 1st in Open B, 9th\48 overall.

These finishes should get me the FVOR Open B Overall too
Good weekend, finished off with a nice glass of beer when I got home:

And while it’s not much, a couple pics.

Bike after Saturdays GP (and before Sundays HS):

EXTRA PICS:

FreeMotoPix again snagged some photos from the weekend.

The bike was nice & clean at the GP

Leaving Timing & Scoring:

Probably the 2 slickest spots, there were others, but these 2 were the only ones I thought about in the race:

On the gas on the MX track:

Endurocross section:

Hillclimb just before getting on the 2nd portion of grass track:

Working the creek section (wow a shot where I have decent form ):

And a parting shot:

Andrew

Rustic Roads to Ruin pt4 – Loop 2

Posted on August 29, 2014 by admin

Rustic Roads Loop 2

This past Tuesday I wanted to get some more Rustic Roads in. IIRC, the weather was iffy in the morning, but leveled out by the time work was done. I topped myself up with a dinner of refried beans, chipotle cranberry cheese, kale, all upon a wonderful Udi’s gluten free spinach wrap. Health conscious and all that . I geared up and I was off……to fillup with gas.

Here was the rough route:

The map is a little off. I wanted to get away from the main area as quickly as I could, so I hopped on Rte 12 North and set my mental cruise control to get up and away from the local area. I really enjoy being able to make quick time on these roads in Wisconsin. The minimal traffic, wide open roads, 65mph speed limits, and all, it adds up for making up quick time.

I wanted to take a more back way into the first rustic road, and so I kept south of 12 just as I got past Elkhorn. I found some nice roads that while not the windiest, they were still scenic in their own right. I was basically right at the very South end of Kettle Moraine. There was a nice spot to stop for the Ice Age Trail. If you’re into walking\hiking in the woods, this is supposed to be quite nice. I’m not a fan of walking, so any time I’ve spent in this area has been on their Mountain Bike trail system just north of here. I stopped here for a quick restroom break:

I then worked my way up towards Whitewater. I forgot that they are still doing construction in the downtown area. If you’re in the area, check out the Sweet Spot Cafe. They do great coffee and they may or may not have delicious pastries & snacks My wife & I like stopping in as they do have a good selection of gluten free items if that’s how you roll.

As I worked around the construction, I ended up riding around Whitewater college. It was kind of odd, as the only real memories I have of being in that area were from around 2001\2002 when a band I was in at the time recorded with a friend who was a DJ for the college radio. While I’m not in any bands anymore, the guy who recorded us is, and they’re pretty darn solid. Check em out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qgXEoYptqc4

I worked my way out of town and hit the first rustic road for the night.

RR 88:

This was a mostly straight road. Nothing super about it, but it got me in the mental mindset for chasing down the signs. I’ve noticed that some roads have the # designation at both ends of the road. Others, it’s only at one end or the other. Then there are some that as noted before, have nothing. It keeps things interesting. I reached the end of the road, and worked my way North to the next one. I saw an absolutely rundown road that seemed to be someones driveway, so I hopped on it. It was a real adventure….all 1/8 mile of it A nice smooth road followed and I was then lined up West to hit the next RR.

RR 84:

This road was mildly populated, but on the West end worked its way around some mucky looking river\creek. I didn’t hang around there too long and really shoulda snapped some extra pictures. I’m seeing there is a minor flaw in my attempts at snagging as many RR signs in an evening, after work, while trying to get home early enough to get enough sleep for work the next day. Minor details.

After 84, it was South from Fort Atkins to catch RR87. This one based on the map had some promise to it.

RR 87:

You could even get your Seal Coating done here. Though there was no phone number. . This road was quite fun. It wandered along quite a few farm areas. I think one road was called Creamery Road. You could smell the pungent farm smell as you wound round the turns. Not really many sweeping turns, but some fun blind 90 degree bends that I seemed to go around far slower than in my mind I should be going triple digits through.

The reality was also that the sky is darkening earlier and earlier. I had planned for 2 more Rustic Roads for this ride, but the last one would put me getting home around 1030pm. I don’t really mind the lowered amounts of sleep, but I know that deer & other wildlife were gonna be more prevalent now. It reminded me I need to add some additional lighting to this bike. The OEM lights are good, but I’ll never argue with having MORE lighting.

At the end of RR87, I was greeted with a bridge under construction:

I had no reason to go over it, but every reason to hop on the highway just below it & zip on down to my last RR for the evening.

RR 35:

I had the high beams on for most of the time at this point. It was full on dark out, and I was out in the sticks so to speak. I snagged this last sign and began working my way towards Cr-M. Or at least I thought I was. I hadn’t realized that they were doing all this nice construction up there, so roads I thought were there…..were not. A minor detour later, and I was back on Cr-M (that road on the 45* angle in front of Harmony Twn). I used the moon, open road, and my high beams to my advantage here. I may or may not have made some really good time here. Towards the end of M, there were some nice smooth sweeping 90 degree turns. They had some minor elevation, and needless to say, I would have much preferred to do them during day time. I took what I could get though.

The only issue I had on the route home was as I came to a 2 way stop after my making time on cr-M. It gave me a good sampling of the lovely Brembos on the Ducati. Oh how they grab and pull you top a stop. Just lovely. From here on out, I opted to hop on the main roads to get myself home. I figured there was a bit more safety from critters with this, and it’d get me home quicker. 43 North to 12 South. Both with 65mph speed limits. I set myself to cruise and got myself home.

Trip mileage: 142 miles.

Andrew