Friday, August 28, 2015

Road Trip Day #10–Iowa, Minnesota, and Home

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I woke up and checked out of the hotel early. I wanted to enjoy a day of riding twisty roads while everyone else was at work.

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My plan worked. The roads were remarkably empty on a Monday morning. I left Dubuque and started riding north towards home. The rolling hills and windy roads were very enjoyable. The farms looked so picturesque.

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I loosely followed the Great River Road through the driftless area. This area was supposedly not touched by glaciers and as such is more rugged with steep cliffs, bluffs, deep valleys. All of which mean twisty fun motorcycle roads.

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Then great views like this jump out at you. A shot of the Mississippi River looking north.

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Looking over at the Wisconsin side

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Getting closer to the MN border. A nice bridge over to WI and a river boat.

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Many of the roads in this area have neat names like CY9 and X56 (two of my faves). They sounds like names for fighter planes instead of roads, and you sure feel like one carving around the sweepers.

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I took some time to explore a bit and found myself on a stretch of gravel road. The beginning was nice, but by the end it was large marbles. Not fun. The scenery made it worth while winding through a wooded valley to the farms on top of the bluffs and back down the other side.

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Hello Minnesota! It was nice to see this welcome sign.

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One of the first overlooks on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi. Bald eagles like to nest in this area. I didn’t see any this time, but have seen them on previous trips.

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More twisty roads and great views of the river bluffs. SE MN is one of my favorite parts of the state. So beautiful. 

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Yup, this kind of view for over 100 miles.

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I stopped at a park near Lake City, MN for a picnic lunch. It was nice to get off the bike and relax for a bit before taking the final 50 miles back into the metro area and heavy traffic. My last day of riding was just over 300 miles most of which were on beautiful, empty, two-lane roads.

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I really enjoyed my short 2800 mile motorcycle adventure to pick off my 49th state and watch some amazing riders at MotoGP. Now that I am home, I am eager to go on another trip!

 

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Monday, August 24, 2015

Road Trip Day #9–Indianapolis MotoGP

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Sunday is race day. I arrived early to get a good parking spot and to watch the warm up sessions.

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Again, thanks to my very generous friend William, I had a great parking spot next to the museum which made my escape after the races much easier.

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I enjoyed watching the warm up near the back straight. One of my favorite parts is after the session ends, the riders stop and practice their starts. It is a great chance to see them a bit closer up in race form. Above is from MotoGP.

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Fortunately, this helicopter wasn’t needed during the races. The TV chopper was constantly flying around during the races capturing all the action.

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The seat I had overlooks turns 1-4 and parts of 5. I really enjoyed watching the action. The higher altitude afforded a nice cool breeze.

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There was some good action at these corners as well during the races. Several passes took place and way too many crashes. All of the crashers I saw were able to stand up and walk away to the cheers of the crowd.

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The Moto2 race was the best of the three (Moto3,Moto2, and MotoGP). There was lots of passing and several people swapped for 1st place during the race. The threat of rain made Moto3 interesting. It sprinkled a little just enough to make it interesting for the racers.

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I was comfy in my rain gear, so I didn’t mind. I also enjoyed chatting with the guy sitting next to me. He travels a lot, and this was his first race at Indy. We had a fun and good natured time as we cheered for rival riders. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the speedway. I hope to be able to go back again next year.

As soon as the MotoGP race concluded, I ran back to my motorcycle to escape Indianapolis and start riding back towards Minnesota. Having been here a few times now, I was much better prepared to navigate without my GPS since the police were directing traffic.

The rest of the ride back was rather uneventful on I-74. I made it to Dubuque, Iowa after a 300+ mile ride. The hotel had a hot tub which I made very good use of. Exhausted, I went to bed early with the intention of getting up early to enjoy riding the twisty roads of IA and MN on the way home. They didn’t disappoint.

 

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Road Trip Day #8– Part 2/2 Motorcycles on Meridian

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Saturday after the fun at the Indianapolis Speedway I went downtown to experience the second night of Motorcycles on Meridian which went from 4pm to midnight. There were even more motorcycles than on Friday. It was fun!

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All varieties of motorcycles from stretched out sport bikes to giant trikes were present all celebrating motorcycling together.

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This trike was very unusual. The coffin was functional…

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Some of the paint jobs were just so detailed. It was really impressive. This sportbike even had the grooves on the tires painted.

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Thousands and thousands

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of motorcycles surrounded the monument and along meridian.

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Cool spider web paint job on this can am.

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Tons of people on meridian. So fun.

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Motorcycles in every direction!

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A custom chrome bike. This guy should meet up with the guy begging for chrome from the Friday post.

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Again, Icon, did a great stunt show. I caught the entire performance this time, all three acts.

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No molten tire burning my arm this time, so it was a success!

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A custom grom with nitro. I want to ride it!

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Amazing detail on some of the motorcycles.

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I don’t think any of my bikes have ever been this clean.

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A fuzzy motorcycle! I wonder how hard he works to keep it clean.

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Elmo came to visit. Different than the motorcycle above.

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Another cool helmet

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So. Many. Motorcycles!

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Hulk smash! I love the detail on the helmet and the little figurine on the back.

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A shot up the street from where I parked. It was fun to just sit on my bike and watch the crowds ride past.

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Whiskey powered I think.

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A pink bike

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And another pink bike.

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Cool little grom.

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Just like Friday, Saturday was a great time. I really enjoyed the people and bike watching. I didn’t stay as late as on Friday. I was tired, and I really wanted to get to the races early to watch some of the practice. A full and fantastic day of motorcycling. Stay tuned for the next post for a day #9 recap: racing and beginning to ride home.

 

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