Illinios to Atlanta.....and beyond. Spring, 2010.

[Easy Rider]

After the Shadow riders meet near Carbondale, IL on 5/23/10, I'll be headed for Atlanta and points south.

I have used US 41 for the whole trip before and it is good......except for going through Nashville and Chatanooga, that is.

It appears just from looking at the map, that US 231/431 might be a good alternative......just for something different. I plan to stay in Murfreesboro, TN one night.

It looks like it might be more rural (gas stops??) and more twisty than I really want though. Anybody have any first hand knowledge ??

If anybody wants an "eyeball" and/or coffee along the way, drop me a PM with a phone number. No promises though, as my schedule might change daily......or hourly, if needed.

Southern most point in the trip probably will be Gainesville, FL for a few days. Returning thru Atlanta about 6/3.

[BillInGA]

PM sent.

[Easy Rider]

Here I am, just south of Chattanooga, Tn.
Been out for 3 days and it's OK.....but not real good.....especially the BUTT!!

Turned hotter than HELL and that limits my riding time to about 6 hours a day, even if I start early; well, then there is the bony butt, which always tells me when it's time to quit for the day.

Yesterday I made a bad navigation choice which ended up adding a day to the trip.
Today I noticed a little head shake; front tire is wearing unevenly so I'll be looking for a new tire in Atlanta.

No major problems just lots of little ones.

[burkbuilds]

Hey Easy, I don't have classes on Tuesday if you are up for lunch or dinner I'll buy I'm just North of Atlanta in Marietta. I'll send you a PM with my phone number and you can call me if it fits into your schedule and you'd like to meet up.

[Easy Rider]

if it fits into your schedule and you'd like to meet up.

When life hands you lemons.........................
Thanks again for lunch.
The new tire rides real nice. :cool:

[Easy Rider]

No major problems just lots of little ones.

As it turns out, I didn't think this whole thing through very good.
It is HOTTER than it should be, I can't tollerate as much time in the seat as I thought, it's a holiday weekend when the people I wanted to see in Fla. won't be working...............AND if I wait until next week to go back, the "Worlds biggest yard sale" will be in progress along about 90 miles of US 41.

SO......I have decided to head back north this morning, Thursday. Should overnight somewhere around Chattanooga tonight and Evansville, IN tomorrow.

For those who I have contacted farther south, I'll try not to lose your numbers and will try again next trip.

[music man]

As it turns out, I didn't think this whole thing through very good.
It is HOTTER than it should be, I can't tollerate as much time in the seat as I thought.



I was wondering about that, because I don't know where you are and how hot it is there, but yesterday here, it was 110 in the sun. I rode a hundred miles down open highway yesterday and was still cooking like an egg, it was miserable. Usually if I stay moving its not too bad, no such luck yesterday though.

And you are right, about it being hotter than it should be, at least here, it doesn't usually get that hot until about the end of June, NOT May.

[burkbuilds]

I'm sorry your trip got cut short. It was nice to get to meet you though, glad you made it at least to Atlanta. Hopefully you will not have any more tire and traffic problems heading back home.

[Easy Rider]

Hopefully you will not have any more tire and traffic problems heading back home.

Tomorrow starts the holiday weekend; traffic wasn't bad today. I actually did about 60 miles on I-75 once I cleared Atlanta and it wasn't too bad. Amazingly enough, most everybody seemed pretty content at doing the speed limit. Maybe the new speeding law in
Georgia IS having some effect.

Since "time in the seat" really is my problem and not mileage as such, I think I'll do most of the rest of the trip on the Interstates once I clear Chattanooga tomorrow morning. I can always drop back to 41 if it gets too heavy.

[GZ250]

nice to read the updates. are you riding VT600?. good luck and be safe.

here i never dare to go for a long ride on GZ. no power in this bike for highways and i worry about a flat tire too and can't take the hassle of tire repair kit for a ride on GZ.

[blaine]

nice to read the updates. are you riding VT600?. good luck and be safe.

here i never dare to go for a long ride on GZ. no power in this bike for highways and i worry about a flat tire too and can't take the hassle of tire repair kit for a ride on GZ.



I beg to differ.I have rode my G.Z. up to 400 KMS per day with no problems.In 31/2 years I have never had a flat on the road.(Knock on wood).I always check tires before startup.I never worry about flats on the road.Of course max speed limit here is 110 KMS.

[Water Warrior 2]

nice to read the updates. are you riding VT600?. good luck and be safe.

here i never dare to go for a long ride on GZ. no power in this bike for highways and i worry about a flat tire too and can't take the hassle of tire repair kit for a ride on GZ.
Don't sweat the small stuff. Lynda rode her GZ over 5000 kms on vacation. Not a problem if you start with decent tires and maintain them. My present tires have 18000 kms on them and they are going to take me to the far north this summer. Then they will be used up and replaced. The rear already has a plug covered by a patch and a tube installed. Been that way for most of it's life. I found a really nasty nail a week after the tire was mounted.

[GZ250]

this is pretty decent for a GZ. i did not mean that GZ won't go, just that I don't do this. by the way i have done more than 270 miles in one go on a much smaller bike (100cc). will see may be one day i make up my mind for a long haul on side roads.

[Water Warrior 2]

will see may be one day i make up my mind for a long haul on side roads.
Exactly where the GZ excells and proves it's worth.

[Easy Rider]

nice to read the updates. are you riding VT600?.

here i never dare to go for a long ride on GZ.

Yes, on the Honda.....but I did the same trip 2 years ago on the GZ; 600 miles each way.
Absolutely NO Interstates on that trip !!

[diffluere]

I'm sad that I didn't get to ride your bike....I mean...meet you....

It's probably better you weren't down here for the rest of the weekend. It rained off an on the whole time. I rode over to Homosassa in my Jeep around 3pm saturday to see my mom and her boyfriend and by 5pm there was a storm coming in. I decided to leave and drive up to Cedar Key to see my friends and it rained off and on the rest of the evening. Sunday wasn't too bad until about 3pm, then it sprinkled the rest of the day but was sunny. Monday was just brutally brutally hot.

Are you going to try and make it back down again this summer?

[Edited because I hit enter too many times.]

[alantf]

Monday was just brutally brutally hot.



That's what we've got here. It's called a kalima (I think that's how you spell it) What we get is the hot, dry, fine, sand blowing over the ocean from the Sahara desert, so as well as being hot it's dusty. Everything gets blocked up with fine sand. Video players etc get blocked up, & you can't see the mountains for the cloud of dust. Still, it beats the cyclone we had in February! :2tup:

edit:- One of the local garages was offering a deal on air con servicing, so on Tuesday I took the car in (never had the air con serviced in the 7 years I've had the car) WOW! what a difference! Now it's cooler in the car than in the house! :)

[Easy Rider]

I'm sad that I didn't get to ride your bike....I mean...meet you....

Are you going to try and make it back down again this summer?


It would have been a little difficult to find you since I didn't have any contact info.
I did have visions of going to Home Depot and asking for the "biker girl" who knows everything there is to know about plumbing !!! :biggrin:

Wait......you think I would let you RIDE my bike ??? :shocked: :crackup

Yes, I'll be in the vacinity around Labor Day for the Cards/Braves series in Atlanta......but I'll be in a cage that time; don't think my daughter would like riding that far on the back of a bike.

I might venture down your way then......since weather and butt cramps won't be so much of an issue. :roll:

[diffluere]

I thought I gave you my info waaaaaay back when you first said you were looking for houses here? Maybe I forgot..hm...look for a PM.

Honestly if you came into Home Depot and said that, they'd know exactly who it was, haha! I'm in kitchen design now though so I get to sit a desk and talk to rich people instead of those guys that don't want to spend the extra dollar to actually SOLVE their problem instead of just "rigging" it...anyway..

I was kidding about the bike (sort of, had my fingers crossed), I figured MAYBE you'd let me sit on it and take a picture for the board to see, hehehe. Then I could photoshop it to make it look like I was going 100 down the highway. =P

It's still going to be insanely hot in September but at least you'll have a/c. There's a gator game that weekend though so coming here might yet again be a huge ordeal.

[Easy Rider]

I thought I gave you my info waaaaaay back when you first said you were looking for houses here? Maybe I forgot..hm...look for a PM.

As it turns out, you probably DID. When I went to add you to my Email addy list.......you were already there !! Guess I got a little too enthusiastic about deleting my old PMs.

Fixed now.

[dhgeyer]

Glad you're home safe. Sounds like you had an adventure, and that's really what it's all about. You'll have the memories for a long time.

I remember the saddle on the VLX600. Definitely not an all day affair. Can't blame you for not overdoing it. It sounds like you made the right decisions at the right times.

Dave

[Easy Rider]

I remember the saddle on the VLX600. Definitely not an all day affair.

I have a Mustang seat AND a gel/sheepskin pad. I think it's my bony butt that isn't made for all day riding. :biggrin:

Part of my problem now is getting over the concern about staying out extra days costing me extra money. I really can afford not to worry about that now.......but old habits are hard to break.

[blaine]

Part of my problem now is getting over the concern about staying out extra days costing me extra money. I really can afford not to worry about that now.......but old habits are hard to break.

Can't take it with you. :poke2: :biggrin: