Saturday, July 31, 2010

Great River Ride – The Plan

4000 miles in 18 days across 14 states two up on one bike!

Google Map of Route - Great River Ride

Starting on Thursday, August 5, 2010, my wife and I will be riding my 2001 SV650 from the beginning of the Mississippi River to the end at the Gulf (or as close as the oil spill lets us get) by following the “Great River Road”. We have followed the northern part of this route a couple times now, and are excited to see the rest. The plan is then to ride north east through the Appalachians and then back up to Minnesota. The map above reminds me of a deformed Africa.

We plan on riding through the following fourteen states roughly in this order:

Minnesota
Iowa
Illinois
Missouri
Kentucky
Tennessee
Arkansas
Mississippi
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota

I will attempt to blog each day. Thanks to my new netbook, I should be able to post pictures and maybe even videos. Many of the pictures will be sent as they happen from my phone directly to flickr. I am also going to attempt to use a GPS tracker, so you can follow along as we go. If it works, the widget will be here on the blog.

The SV650 in two up touring mode:

sv650 loaded up on the way to bayfield

We have nearly everything ready for the trip. Our trip to Bayfield a few weeks ago was the perfect shake down ride. The brown Santa aka UPS delivered my new tires last night, so I just need to get those put on, and we’ll be ready to go.

New dulop q2s front and rear for the sv650 and our big river tour  starting next week

We’re very excited!

 

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11 comments:

  1. Looking forward to the postings...have a safe ride!

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  2. How exciting for you! This is adventure on its grandest scale. Could you do me a favor? Could you photograph the source of the Mississippi River for me? I have crossed this river by car four times, and it always takes my breath away. I would love to see where it starts.

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads

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  3. Jack: I was planning on taking a picture of the lake, but now that you've asked I don't know if I will be able to! haha! :) I will most definitely take a few photos. Hopefully, I will also be able to walk across the river. When I was a young child I visited the source and walked across the Mississippi. I remember it being only a few feet wide and less than a foot deep.

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  4. i hope you plan on going up the Natchez trace and riding the Blue Ridge Parkway, some of the best riding roads in the US

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  5. Wow! Sounds like a great trip...will enjoy watching you along the way. Hubby and I hope to ride all of Route 66 next spring.

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  6. Anonymous: We do hope to get to the blue ridge parkway and related roads!

    Donna: Thanks! It should be fun. Finally finished all the bike maintenance. Now, just need to finish packing.

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  7. Wow leaving TODAY!! You'll be very close to me when you get to Alabama!! I think I'm looking forward to your trip! What a beautiful ride it will be!
    Ride Safe!

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  8. Eve: Welcome! Yes, leaving today after work!! Nearly finished packing last night before we collapsed. Can't wait to start, so we can get some sleep! LOL.

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  9. I'm so totally excited and now much catch up so that I'm riding "vicariously" with you.

    Are you using the "SPOT"? I'll have to wait and see.

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  10. Sharon: I'm glad you are feeling better and can catchup on posts! Nope, not using SPOT. You'll see in a future post... :)

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