How I spent my summer vacation, or 6000 miles on a dual sport

I've been neglecting to post this here because I 1)hate formatting posts in html and 2) hate having to retype the damn thing just to put it up here thanks to the odd-ball-in-the-net-world html instead of ubb format, but I think y'all would enjoy it. So here goes...

Bike now has 13,290 miles (had about 6500 on it when I left) and has been everywhere from near as it matters sea level to 14,000+ feet within a week of each other. I'll get working on translating the story but for starters, here's a preview.

Mods, feel free to move this to sprockets or Off-Topic if its more appropriate there.

Its been a long time since I had a voluntary vacation from work and school, 10 years this summer to be exact. I had been planning a long road trip off and on for the last few years, but always ended up having to cancel due to lack of job, lack of money, or lack of suitable vehicle. This year, no such excuses. So grab some popcorn, pour yourself a drink, and settle in.

My last summer class ended at 10:30am on August 6th and my first fall class starts on 8/31 at 11am, so I had just over 3 weeks to spend on the road. There was a basic itinerary for at least the first 2 weeks: ride Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, Deal's Gap, and the TransAmerica Trail from the beginning in Jellico, TN to Salida, CO. After that, ride home on whatever route looked appealing.

A note on gear... what I wore reflected the trip. Just under half was dirt and just over half was pavement. As such, I wore street gear on my upper body (Shoei RF-1000 helmet, Rev'It Air jacket, Joe Rocket leather gloves) and dirt gear on my lower body (Klim Baja pants, Alpinestars Tech6 boots, EVS knee guards). Everything worked perfectly and was comfortable to the point that I mostly forgot that I was wearing it during the trip, especially the helmet.

Day 1 - Towson, MD to the Blue Ridge Parkway

Loaded up to go, goodbye Towson University!

I got moving around 11am. I wanted to be the hell out of the Baltimore/DC metro area before rush hour even thought about starting, so it was time to slab it. On the Baltimore Beltway...

...and the DC beltway

...to US 29.

Time for the first, but certainly not the last gas and food stop of the trip:

As I was sitting there eating, this guy pulled out and walked into the store. We're not in the city anymore... :

Not too much later, it was time to get the trip started for real:

A quick note about the setup: Side bags are Dirtbagz Scouts. Tail bag and tank bag are Wolfman Enduro models. I planned on camping most of the way (more on that later...) and stored my Hennessey Hammock, sleeping bag, stove fuel can, and camp shoes in the left side bag. In the right bag was rain gear and clothes. In the tail bag was everything else (tools, a few spares, food, notebook, first aid kit, toiletries, and some other odds and ends) with the big ass REI camp pad out in front making a nice back rest for the road portions of the trip. The tankbag There is also a 2gallon rotopax gas can on the left side. I had a 1gal water rotopax strapped to the rear rack when I started (in the first pic), but I hated the extra weight and added difficulty of strapped everything down securely so I ditched it at my Mom's house as I went by. More on it all later...

Anywho... Skyline Drive didn't take too long getting to the goods.

First of several tunnels over the next few days

There's not much to be said for these, the pictures speak for themselves.

Motoring

And before you know it, its over.

The road itself was wonderfully curving and twisting, and being a Thursday it was fairly empty. Its hard to say which was more fun, the views or the road. As nice as it was though, the first hundred miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway simply blows it away:

One of my favorite road signs of the whole trip

Another tunnel

And as day faded into night, I made it to Otter Creek Campground, ~60 miles in on the BRP and ~300 miles from home. Cooked up a quick dinner, set up the hammock, and got some much needed sleep with a plan to be up near dawn.

Cool photos! I went on a road trip this summer, too- flew out to Los Angeles and drove a ZX2 all the way back to MA. Keep the pics and stories coming!

Day 2 - Moar Blue Ridge Parkway, mostly.

Someone forgot to tell the mountains it was August as it got down to about 50 degrees that night and I damn near froze in my hammock. I left the camp pad on the bike since it was hot when I went to bed, and with no insulation under me when the temps finally dropped over night I woke up cold. The pics of camp didn't turn out, put I have more later.

One of the interesting bits about the parkway... there aren't any gas stations on it once you get off of Skyline Drive. I pulled into Otter Creek just as the reserve light popped on, and the closest Garmin listed gas station was 25 miles off the parkway... I could have made it, but it would have been very annoying so I used the big green gas can to give me some extra range for the first time.

Time for the first annoying bit of the trip: the rotopax can was leaking from the corner opposite of the vent cap. There wasn't an obvious spot, just a tiny weep hole near where you can lock two rotopax's together. Some JB kwik weld over the hole and it was fine for the rest of the trip. Getting the can off the bike with the dirtbagz was also annoying, but less so than wasting an hour wandering around for a gas station. An inelegant solution at best...

No worries, time to motor. First thing of interest was this little pond

and not too much later I stopped for breakfast at one of the Inn's on the parkways and ran across my first herd of Harley riders.

Nice people, took a bunch of pictures of the group for them on their cameras, pretty sure they were on a memorial ride but I can't remember now and didn't write it down.

No worries, lets get moving!

Somewhere around mile 100 on the parkway (campground was around 60) I took notice of two things. 1) The parkway had gotten decidedly less scenic and less on the Ridge 2) there were miles and miles of nice gravel roads paralleling the parkways. Hmm.... time for a dirt detour!

Pretty soon I came to the first route decision for the trip. I had two maps routed in my Garmin, one followed US 58 west from where it crossed the BRP to Jellico where the TAT starts, which was my original plan. See, I only had a rough idea of how far I thought I could comfortably go on the bike each day and a hard date I needed to be back in Towson for class to start. The original route plan had me 265 miles to Jellico...

... the second route had me finishing the Blue Ridge and heading to Deal's Gap before cutting north to Jellico to start the trail.

It was an extra day on the road guaranteed (or so I thought), and as amazing as it is looking back it required some serious thinking... Ooooh look, water! Lets ride while we think!

You have chosen... wisely.

There's no simple way to put it, the parkway in North Carolina is one of the most beatiful roads in the country.

Made it to another campground about 60 miles north of Ashville, another 300+ mile day on the bike. I thought this thing was supposed to be uncomfortable? Fuel range was also hovering around 60mpg and I was by no means taking it easy.

Tomorrow would debatable as the most scenic day of the trip...

Day 3 - End of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Deal's Gap, and Jellico, TN

One thing I like about camping: waking up at dawn. One thing I don't like about camping, at least in a crowded public campground: other people. For example I woke up around 1:30am to the sounds of a couple obviously having more fun than anyone else going by her moans... There were a lot of noisy kids, noisy pets, and people in general, and big (and unwelcome) change from the relative solitude of the last few days.

Whats nice about waking up at dawn? Other than getting out before everyone else, the views are pretty nice:

First stop for gas was around 8am, as I came off the parkway I found this little sign...

They weren't kidding. I learned something about North Carolina that morning: when the sign says its a 20mph curve, its a 20-fricking-mph curve. Had a close call when the road curved around a cliff face and tightened back up with no warning...

As nice as that was, it was just a taste of what was to come.

Back to the Parkway:

But first a little breakfast. This is a big part of how I could get up and going quickly in the morning. I tended to pass a town big enough for a walmart every few days, so I would get a box or two of clif bars to eat first thing in the morning. Before stopping for the night I would also get a gatoraide and drink about half of it. Waking up, the two combined makes a decent way to start the day. Cheap, somewhat filling, and tasty.

More early morning beauty:

It wasn't all sunshine and happiness unfortunately, as I was coming up one of the mountains after my breakfast stop, I ran into these guys

The guy in the white and red shirt was responsible for the skid marks in the grass, lost it on the corner and went for a pretty decent tumble. His bike was ok except for the mashed up highway pegs (the bike pictured is his), and he was fine except for a few bruised (or broken?) ribs, few bumps, small cuts and a abarsions. Used my first aid kit and helped patch up what I could. Keep it safe out there guys...

As I entered the Cherokee reservation that serves as the terminus of the Parkway, I couldn't help but notice some more dirt roads off to the side that again seemed to parallel the parkway... Off we go!

It popped me out basically into the town of Cherokee at the end of the parkway. I found the town odd and harsh on the eyes and ears after being in the woods for 3 days. I guess I just don't get the casino thing maybe?

Oh well, lets motor! Kudzu!

I like where this is going...

This is the dam Harrison Ford's stunt double jumped from, if I read the sign correctly.

Its only a few minutes away from...

Here's hoping I don't make a contribution...

Lots of amazing hardware, lots of bikes, lots to look at.

But screw it, lets ride it!

I made 3 runs through the gap, two of which I pushed the bike as hard as I dared to. What. A. Fantastic. Road. The fact that its a US highway gives me some faith that the US government can indeed occasionally get something right. Blind squirrels and nuts and all that. I can say that I felt my boots touch down several times, and that was on D606's. I certainly wasn't holding anyone up on the dragon. But the same can't be said for the D606's... by this time they had about 3000 or 3500 miles on them, the last thousand of which were pretty hard street miles on the Blue Ridge and North Carolina back roads. Every knob on the front showed evidence of overheating around the base, and the rear was pretty well worn. More on the tires later....

In any event, my last trip through was taken at a much more relaxed, cruiser pace (especially because I got caught behind a few dressers). So, I took some pics:

and pulled off at the scenic overlook. One of these bikes is not like the other

It was only another 100 miles to Jellico, and I had plenty of day light left... so I pused it and made it. It was something like 350 miles, can't remember the exact total as I didn't write it down.

More slab...

Oh thank Jesus...

You gotta start at the beginning, and I had laundry to do, so I took advantage of the reasonable rates at the Days Inn Jellico and turned in for the night, excited for what the next day would bring as I've read that the first 60-100 miles of Tennessee were great.

I may have missed it, but what model bike is that?

Its a 2008 Yamaha WR250R. Fuel injection, 6spd transmission, ~25-30hp, ~300 pounds wet. IMO, the best 50/50 dual sport on the market. It'll roll 65+mph all day long and take you anywhere off road you're brave enough to ride it short of maybe sand dunes and hill climbs.

Awesome post!!

Just awesome, thanks for taking the time to share with us, I am inspired

Day 4 - Start of the TransAmerica Trail

Got a decently early start today, earliest hotel checkout of the trip. The water main in Jellico had burst overnight, leaving me without a shower for the morning (fortunately I had taken care of it the night before after enjoying the pool and hot tub and utilizing the guest laundry). One thing I found neat about the Days Inn Jellico though, unlike most hotels that have their room bibles hidden in a drawer, theirs were out and open on the table when you first walked in.

Even though I'm not particularly religious, I thought it was a neat little personal touch.

And we're off! It was hot and muggy as I expected TN to be, that would change soon enough however...

One neat thing about eastern TN: the pavment and gravel are the same color. Made for some, uh, interesting riding with the early morning sun peaking through the trees distorting your view. Also got my first big lesson of the trip: you never know whats around the corner on these roads. I had several encounters like this on the trip, slow down for the curves fella's.

First bit of water!

Neat old studebaker(?), in someones front yard on the trail

Right around here I had another insight: bring a quiet bike for this as you'll basically be going through someone's front yard all the time and you really don't need the extra power. This isn't a race and the only opponent is the distance.

I also had my first reroute near here. Sam's (the guy who mapped out the trail) maps (or my Mapsource interpetation of them) had me going down someone's driveway. It took a little while to get rerouted out of the neighborhood I was in, but pretty shortly I was back on the little purple line on the Garmin.

Oops, time for another detour, this time intentional! Saw this forest access road off to the side and decided to get some mud on the bike.

Passed this little roadside cemetary, very quiet and very pretty spot.

Right around Wartburg, TN, where I stopped for my first TAT gas stop and subway sandwich (seriously, there were subways EVERYWHERE! I'd be in a town that basically consisted of a post office, a co-op, and a gas station, and there would be a subway in the gas station. berkeleying weird...), the skies opened up on me. I had planned on detouring to the Nemo Bridge rail road tunnel, but the weather changed my mind.

Fortunately I had a covered place to change into my rain gear. Unfortunately my rain pants leaked like a seive. Soggy butt most of the day, which got better when I had to stand and it all ran down into my boots.

Old and new:

Well... this is the south...

Time for another reroute! It finally stopped pouring, at least for a while and I was motoring down this nice smooth wonderful gravel road when I looked down and noticed my Garmin had me turning. To where? Left of course, on a little road I didn't see that even existed when I first went by.

Screw it, its an adventure, lets see where this goes. After all, this is a road. Right?

Oh wait it gets better...

No wait...

Then...

Uh... hell no. Time to backtrack. Learned my second lesson: do NOT trust the Garmin over the actual conditions on the road. There were exactly three times that it was correct in taking me down a path that eventually faded out of existence, once was Warloop Road in Arkansas and twice was on county roads in the Oklahoma panhandle.

As I got back to the nice groomed gravel road, it started P O U R I N G again, found shelter at a gas station, I took refuge inside and got the bike out of the rain as best I could.

After about an hour, the skies cleared and I was able to dry everything out except my boots over the next few hours by riding.

Be sure with Pure!

I loved these little roads nestled on the old railroad grades, usually with a rock wall on one side with a creek on the other.

Finally, I came to this nice river. I recognized it immediately from other ride reports for the TAT, but noticed no one ever stopped to enjoy themselves like the locals did.

Screw that, I'm two days ahead of schedule and need a snack break anyways. I stripped out of my riding gear, put on some shorts and waded across to the far shore to eat and relax. Had a nice little conversation with one of the families that were there enjoying the summer sun one last time before school started.

After a while of watching everyone else play, it was my turn!

That was a LONG crossing, and fun! The water was only about mid-shin deep and while the surface was smooth it was kinda slick and filled with big holes, the best place to go was on the little ridge of rapids and stay STRAIGHT on it.

Back on the road!

Getting late, time to find a campground. Fortunately I was very near Rock Island State Park. Nice little detour for the dam closure... Not sure whom on ADVRider is responsible, but I got a nice laugh from it!

Camp all set up!

And here's the Hennessy Hammock:

Most comfortable thing I've ever slept in outdoors. With the camp pad underneath in a 40 degree down bag, I was comfortable down to the mid 40's. With just the bag underneath me as a mosquito barrier, it was still as comfortable as one could be on a HUMID 80 degree night. You're literally just floating, and since the hammock is cut assymetrically to the cord you actually lay mostly flat. Its a little fussy to set up as you need to have good tension and tree's just so apart, but it was a life saver to not have to find a piece of level ground in the mountains... it was also a PITA to use when I wasn't allowed to use the trees in Mueller State Park in Colorado. It works well enough as a bivy sack, but my back much prefers hanging in the air in my little bear burrito.

At night, I hung my riding pants and jacket outside of the hammock from the center line, under the tarp near the entrance, with my boots underneath where I could step into them. I could hang the next days clothes from the centerline on the inside above my feet and generally had as much room inside as I would in any other 1 man tent, but with the benefit that I plenty of places to put everything.

Only other thing I had with me for camping was a little coleman peak1 single burner stove I found at Walmart for $20, a pot, a fork, and a sierra cup. Didn't need anything else, as all I would otherwise do after camping was check the bike over and write in the little notebook I brought to remember what I saw and did. After eating and writing, I went to bed (usually just as the sun was setting) as riding 12 hours is tiring.

I ate about 10 meals on the trip while camping, which usually consisted of boil-in-the-bag rice (hence the stove), fresh salsa or a handful of mixed vegetables, and a packet of the ready to eat chicken or salmon or tuna, with a cliff bar and a banana for dessert. Cheap, very tasty after a day on the trail, very filling, and healthy. I just ate out of the pot I cooked the rice in and all the cooking supplies fit inside the pot except the fuel can, which was stuffed in between the hammock and sleeping bag on the side bag to protect it. The sierra cup was used mainly for a tot of rum or bourbon.

As I was setting up to eat dinner, I heard an animal coming up behind me:

Cute little guy was aparently a runaway that liked the campground so much that anytime he was returned to his family he would promptly escape and come back. Nice little guy, very friendly and happy! All in all, thanks to the fire to dry my boots and gloves, and camp showers, it was a nice day on the trail.

these types of stories are very cool to read about and with pics they are even better. i remeber the story about someone driving a saab from ebay acrross the county a while ago and there was a story in past year or two in mrpoar musle about driving a superbird around the west. keep up the posts on this and its cool reading....need to put a bee in per's bonnet about saying something about these thrips in the zine.....

Thanks, glad y'all are enjoying it! There's plenty more to come...

Day 5 - More Tennessee

Up at dawn again and on the road by 7:30am. Some of my favorite riding was early in the morning before the world had woken up...

Not that there was much to be woken out here. One of the nice things about this route is the rarity of being around other vehicles. I saw just enough cars, trucks, and tractors to keep me honest coming around corners, beyond that I was mostly alone on the road (and loving it).

Lots of Tennessee has been paved unfortunately, and they're working on paving more of it all the time. One of the few bits of gravel left:

And the first brown moment of the trip:

Looks innocent right? Just a stream rolling over concrete? Nope, this was the first of the infamous TN water crossings. I think at one point I was perpendicular to the road it was so slick, made it across though! Seriously, think wet ice with slimy snot on top, coated in teflon, and you're getting close.

A short while later I decided to take a breather under a pair of bridges. There was a boat ramp leading down to the shore where there was some nice shade, so I stopped and ate a quick snack and relaxed.

More water... very gunshy now going across, but this one turned out to be nothing.

Saw this one out of my mirror as I went past, so I had to go back and try it too. This was deeper than any of the other TN crossings, and was rough getting across as it wasn't paved or covered in smooth stones like the others, but I had traction so it was pretty mild overall. Fun through. :D

More of this endangered species

Another false alarm...

Uh oh, here we go. I've seen this one before.

Stopped, got out and walked it. Just as slick as the first one, except the bottom was smooth river rock covered in slime and moss. As slick, if not slicker. Found a place I thought was a little less slick and decided to try to ride it across...

Made it!

Was it trials perfect? Hell no! But my ass stayed on the bike the whole way and it moved across under its own power. And I didn't go down.

Another false alarm, pretty routine.

Under the Natchez Trace

So I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Making good time, no crashes at the slick crossings, and its a beautiful sunny da.... wait what the hell is that.

Ah dammit... This was by far the worst of the crossings. I've seen so many ride reports of people falling on this one, like just about everyone. I wasn't about to join the club so I walked it again. Slicker, faster moving water, and deeper. But I made it just as easily as the last one. :D

TAT - 0, me - 3 ... for now. The trail would get her revenge later...

More roads...

Ended the day in Savannah, TN and grabbed a hotel because my boots were soaked again and I wanted to dry them out and take a hot shower. Also the skies started threatening t-storms, and I did not want to be out in it if I could avoid it. Regardless, I was happy to be almost out of Tennessee and with luck I would be in Arkansas tomorrow. 330 miles today.

Great Ride Report.

Are you on www.advrider.com ? Over there I am a big fan of Vermin and his bike named Cack. If you have not read his prose, search for it and read about his ride to San Diego. It's legend.

Great Ride Report.

Are you on www.advrider.com ?
Over there I am a big fan of Vermin and his bike named Cack. If you have not read his prose, search for it and read about his ride to San Diego. It's legend.

Come on skierd, its only 10pm, the wife and kids are sleeping and I living vicariously as hell through your ride post! Keep on going. Thanks and looks like you had one amazing journey.

Yup, I'm on ADVRider, post as skierd there as well.

Moar you say?

Day 6 - Get me the hell out of Tennessee and get to the big river

Woke up with a decent hangover thanks to eating at a decent restaurant called Uptown the night before (http://www.uptowntn.com/home.asp), ended up drinking a bottle of wine with dinner after a 2 beer appetizer.

Thats ok though, it decided to pour down rain first thing in the morning, so I slept in a little.

Waiting out the storm

Cleared up, mostly around 10:30 and I was on the road by 11.

Oops, not quite yet. About 20mins later, another storm rolling through, ended taking shelter at this body shop:

If you're ever near Savannah, TN and need body work, stop in and see these guys. Very nice, old school run type shop and were very nice to let me cower in one of their bays, stink up their waiting room, and read their magazines.

I ended up dodging storms all day, fortunately the trail swung me between and around the rest of the rain and I stayed dry the rest of the day.

Western TN was such a disappointment. Why? They're paving it. 80-90% of TN was paved, much of it was obviously in the last few years as well. The last 70-80 miles were almost completely paved and treeless (I guess from logging?) and as such it was kinda miserable riding. Fortunately, just before the border, it turned back into dirt... and then suddenly...

turned red. Welcome to Mississippi!

Got my first taste of how the roads would be for the next 300+ miles: 2-8" of dirt and gravel dumped on the road and left to sit. Great for cars, great for drainage too I guess, not so great for a motorcycle. At least the storms kept the weather cool...

Had another brown moment, or more accurately a black and yellow moment, shortly after taking the above picture. I hit a bee at 40mph, stung me in my neck when I hit it, went down my jacket, and stung me 3 more times before I could stop the bike and get the little berkeleyer out. No more (stinging) insect encounters after that, though I did run into a june bug (bounced off the armored knuckle on my gloves, and it still smarted) and hit a few big horseflies along the way. I started wearing my Aerostich scarf to keep the bastards off in the buggier area.

Most of Mississippi was pretty nondescipt fields and country lanes. As I approached the River, it got better though.

Thanks to another ride report on ADV, I bypassed the first of the two main bridge closings without incident. Then I came to the other one that most people say you can ride over (gotta love all the tire tracks).

Note the kudzu reclaiming the road... I decided not to risk it, there were a bunch of loose nails on the former bridge surface and I didn't trust my riding abilities that late in the day to get over the assorted bits of lumber other riders had used to get across, especially since the detour was only a few miles.

Getting flat... and hot...

Here's something I was really looking forward to, riding the levee roads:

Easy riding, but fun because you're so much higher than the surrounding land. Great views and cool to be off the main roads again.

Back on the highway and there... can you see it?

Ahh.. the bridge to the west, across the Mississippi River! But for now, tonights destination is in sight:

Stayed at the Isle of Capri casino. Can't beat $40 a night, my low for the trip, with an included all-you-can-eat buffet and comp drinks if you gamble a little. Also can't beat the parking, right up front at the hotel entrance:

My night ended up costing me about $15 total as I won $25 on the slots. :toast:

The food was decent at the buffet, wasn't expecting much for the price honestly. Got to see a bunch of country ass people, and the absolute fattest family of four I've ever seen. Each, individually, was so fat that they couldn't sit at the same 4-top table together, the mom, dad, son, and daughter had to each get their own table to fit their disgustingly fat asses. And the mountain of food each required, of course.

I was less than pleased when the fire alarm when off at 4:30am, but all in all it was a decent place to stay, considering the price. There certainly wasn't anywhere I'd trust to stay in Helena, Arkansas, just across the river, thats for damn sure.

Tomorrow... the West!

And I followed you, Big River, when you called...

more, more, more, please!

Boy I miss my KLR 650.

gah, adventure ride threads always suck me in. There goes another hour. Keep em coming

DAMN YOU

I ended up going to an enduro riders ISDT reunion thing in southern ohio a few weeks back (long story) and ever since I have been thinking about getting a dual sport. Even have a friend who is thinking about selling his honda 450 for $1500. I have been trying to resist (I am determined to wait on this lust and see if it sticks).

dual sport, race car, dual sport, race car.. DAMN YOU!

when is SPEED airing the runoffs coverage? i need to get racecar on the mind again.

Looks like a ton of fun! My dad and I are planning to take a summer trip around the perimeter of the country sometime, motorcycle trips are FUN!

Thank you so much for posting this. Its a great read and looks like a lot of fun.

Great story I wish I had written down and photographed my vacations this well!

How did you take the POV pics?