(Portions Unpaved)
Weather: Scattered showers
This is what that dotted line on the map looks like on the ground.
I knew this was going to happen. My commute is becoming routine.
In order to add thirty minutes to my sleep time, I have started taking the freeways to work. Frogwing handles this well, and we get there in half the usual time. Of course, that means thirty minutes fraught with danger and aggression, and not pleasant at all in the normal, peaceful sense. But the warrior in me likes the challenge. It is totally different from our relaxed after-work ramble along the sidestreets and parkways.
But the Rush Hour Ramble has been curtailed of late. Domestic obligations have largely prevented Frogwing and I from wandering on the way home. This will change pretty soon, however.
Next week, I am planning another cross-country expedition, on the audit trail of my company’s remote plants in northern Minnesota and South Dakota.
When not engaged in Official Business, Frogwing and I will set off across the vast open prairies, in search of small towns at the end of dotted lines on the map.
Call me a dual-sport dinosaur, but I still haven’t embraced the modern technology of the Global Positioning System. I have used them, and been impressed by their capabilities. But when I am heading out into the great unknown, I don’t want my navigation aids to depend on satellites, electronic circuits, and batteries.
No, when I am lost, I want to be able to pull that DeLorme’s Atlas out of it’s waterproof case, line it up with my compass, and turn the pages until I am found again.
That said, I have to admit to being a frequent user of Mapquest. It is such a user-friendly program, and it produces turn-by-turn directions that can be printed out on paper, and slid under the clear plastic top of my tank bag for ready reference.
My favorite notation on a Mapquest route sheet comes between the parenthesis, after a turn onto one of those dotted-lines that lead to some little town in the middle of nowhere.
“(Portions Unpaved)”, it says.
YES! Now we get to do some dual-sportin’ for REAL!
There are several of these notations on the route sheet I made up for the weekend after the audits.
During the week, between plants, we have to keep it on the “strait and narrow”, as it were. But come Friday afternoon, once I finish the audit in Huron, South Dakota, Frogwing and I will have the whole of the Missouri River Valley before us, and more dotted lines than you can shake a pencil at.
Lake Oahe is a wide spot in that river, and there are several interesting roads along it’s shores.
I will have the big tripod with me, for those Ansel Adams opportunities, and I plan to fill the memory stick on my camera with images that I can share with you here in this blog.
I’ve never been to Pierre, which is the capital of South Dakota. There are bound to be some historic buildings and landmarks around there, and I plan to spend some time tracking them down as well.
Frogwing’s new tires, the same Kenda K761 type that I used on “The Baron in Winter “, arrived in the mail yesterday. (Thank you, Laura Hunter!) I will be mounting them this weekend, along with the sponsor decals, and at the same time I will do all other necessary maintenance before the big road trip.
This is going to be big fun, and the fact that I will be taking you all with me, in a sense, makes it that much more exciting. There will be lots of photos. I will probably have to break the trip into several blog-sized bites in order to tell the whole story in a manner that will accomodate dial-up users.
I’m going to try to do a Postcard-style entry from the Ramkota Hotel in Aberdeen, South Dakota. They have a web-connected P.C. in the lobby. Other than that, you will probably have to wait until the following Monday for updates. I will try to make it worth the wait.
May 10th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Third star on the right and straight on ’til morning. I’m envious! By the way, Bro’, you’re not lost if you don’t care where the road goes.
Dan
May 10th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Yeah, It is always a rush to get to work but more leasurely to get home. I have often gone to work the shortest and quickest way and the longest twistiest way home after work. Unfortunately it shows my priorities for work are higher than home. Oh well. At least you get to meander one direction.
May 10th, 2006 at 10:32 pm
I must confess, I’m jealous. So what is it you do for a job? Have a great time and it sounds like a tons of fun. Looking forward to the photos. I’m itching for a motorcycle adventure but been too busy myself, wish I could somehow make work and riding mix. Can’t imagin hauling a bunch of tools with a motorcycle, unless…. Ciao, Nick
May 11th, 2006 at 1:35 am
Nick,
Side-car time? The upside is that it might become a business deduction!
May 11th, 2006 at 8:31 am
I wish Illinois had some of those Portions Unpaved roads. I’m always looking for places to take my Tracker (an SUV that is not oversized an does actually go offroad).
May 11th, 2006 at 9:39 am
What happened to your “Marines!” sticker? Did you get a new front clip?
May 11th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Irondad, you speak the Truth. My best riding experiences have always occurred while getting “lost”.
Dick, I don’t think it’s about priorities so much as the fact that there is a definite time that I have to be at work. Most nights, I don’t have to be home by any set time, so I am free to ramble. Lately, however, that has not been the case.
Nick, I am a R&D Quality Technician by trade. That encompasses a whole bunch of different skillsets, including auditting our manufacturing facilities for compliance to various regulatory agencies. I do these trips several times a year, and usually ride my motorcycle. Only in winter do I have to resort to four wheels.
Keith, I’ll bet if you took some time to research, you would find some dirt roads out in the boonies. Or has Chicago and it’s suburbs taken over the entire state now?
Jib, good eye! That photo was taken last year, on the Pierre to Deadwood Telegraph Trail, during one of my audit trips. I didn’t have the Marines sticker yet, and the fairing was a bit less faded than it is now.
That’s one of the things I like best about my O.D. Green KLR: it fades in the sun like an old pair of blue jeans. I think it looks better now than it did new.
Ride well,
=gc=
May 11th, 2006 at 11:20 am
Sounds like a lot of fun. Don’t take any wooden nickels, and don’t get snake bit. Looking forward to some great reading, and photos.
Rubber Down.
May 12th, 2006 at 7:58 am
Gary, I sent you an e-mail w/ some trip info.
Best of luck.
Dan
May 12th, 2006 at 8:55 am
Irondad I’m glad you didn’t suggest a trailer. I like sidecars and tax deductions for the poor too. I’d like to try the sidecar thing sometime. Then I’d wouild be able to bring my whole family places via motorcycle, instead of finding a babysitter and then my wife and I ride. Ciao, Nick
May 12th, 2006 at 11:14 am
SGP, I’ll try not to let you down.
Dan, Thanks. I’ll check into those links this weekend and send you a reply.
Nick, Sidecars are evil. They are the devil’s way of luring you back towards an automobile. Start riding one of those, then you start looking at convertibles. Pretty soon you start thinking, “Well, it’s only one more wheel… and I wouldn’t have to wear a helmet all the time…etc.”
Beware! Most of the current staff of Milquetoast… er, I mean Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly have succumbed to this sidehack disease, and now look what’s happened to them. It seems I got out of there just in time.
Disclaimer: These opinions are mine, and mine alone. Ride To Work is a friend of MMM, and I still hold on to a sliver of hope that their 3-wheeled affliction can someday be cured. But alas… they’re not getting any younger.
Ride well,
=gc=
May 12th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
It sounds like you are approaching a fine adventure. Resisting the technological tools to protect you from loss will keep the journey a rareified experience in deed and memory. I know how seductive they can be having used them in the ocean. They are a comfort when the skies go dark and the waves hide the horizon but in the end you feel like a bus driver moving from one coordinate to the next.
I love the rush of being lost whether hiking, riding, or driving. It seldom happens and the knowledge that here in the East you are never really far from anything. In the Dakotas you’ll be able to find that place…
Your doohickey post and now your tire changing reference has me reluctantly thinking about doing some of my own work on the scooter. I have a shop manual but have been absolutely, insanely disinterested in any maintenance work save checking fluid and air levels. I rebuilt the engine in my truck a few years ago and swore never again would my fingers engage the workings of any confounded machine again. I had enough after years of tinkerings. But it probably makes some sense to learn a thing or two about the Vespa…. damn.
Good luck on the Audit Trail!
steve
May 12th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
This sidecar thing it must be caused by your anti-filtering laws because I haven’t seen one here for donkey’s years. If you can’t filter then, hey, why not fit an extra wheel and cary more people? So sad, all bikes have to be thin to fit through the gaps, it’s unatural to stop them!
May 12th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Gary, here are a few suggestions:
In Ft. Pierre, stop in at the Hopscotch some evening. Haven’t been there myself; this tip is from some S.D. natives.
Look up Martin Earl (Revmaaatin) on DSN_KLR650, and try to meet him. I think he’s in Highmore.
Dan Flittie knows some roads on the James River south of Mitchell. A report with photos would be welcome.
Going as far west as Murdo? Go to Casa Blanca on Main Street and let Moe make you a carbonara.
May 13th, 2006 at 8:56 am
Steve, motorbikes of any kind are always easier to work on than any kind of cage. Just remember to take your time, and think through each step before you do it. Clean the area you are going to work on ahead of time, and it will be a more pleasant experience. Though I don’t see much grease or dirt accumulating on your beautiful Vespa in any of your photos.
If you approach it with the right attitude, you might even enjoy it.
Mad, you might be onto something. In California, where filtering IS legal, I saw very few sidehack rigs. But in places where you have to sit in traffic just like a car, I can see where the temptation comes from.
Still, the sidehack is such an awful compromise, and so terribly Wrong from an engineering standpoint. If I had to stop riding standard, 2-wheel motorbikes for some reason, I would go straight for a sporty roadster or an old Jeep CJ, skipping the flawed, 3-wheel configurations altogether.
Once again, these are my opinions. Ride to Work encourages motorbike use in any of it’s current forms.
Buster, I will be sure to visit the Hopscotch and get some photos while I’m there. I’ll put a shout out to revmaaatin on the list today.
I’m in contact with Dan, and we are making Plans…
Not sure about Murdo yet, but you make it sound intriguing. Does this “Carbonara” you speak of contain some sort of exotic meat product? I’ll be sure to pack a roll of TP in my saddle bags, just in case.
Ride well,
=gc=
May 16th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Gary, thanks for the jingle, just checking out your site looks like good summer fun. Lots of Lewis and Clark history, The Oahe Dam is awsome, the capital building is beautiful in Pierre, Lake Sharpe has walleye that are as fun to catch as they are to eat, and Lake Oahe have big salmon, big walleye, and big waters. This is also the home of the famous cowboy Casey Tibbs. Watch out for the buffalo, antelope, and deer on the road.
B-Safe
May 16th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Thanks for the warning. Yes, I have come to expect just about anything to cross the road in South Dakota. I was almost brained by a low-flying, kamikaze pheasant last time I went to Huron. It bounced off my helmet, luckily. If I hadn’t been wearing that…?
I look forward to meeting you folks on Friday evening.
All the best,
=gc=